Chapter Six - Shadow of the Empire

I was meditating in my room, a jedi holocron unfurled in front of me, telling tales of the Clone Wars and the exploits of the Jedi during that time. Kyle and I had found it during an expedition into the Jedi Temple, and it had been miraculously undiscovered by looters and Imperial forces. Kyle had said that the strong light side presence there helped mask it until true Jedi returned.

My peace was disturbed by extreme turbulence in the Force. A dreadful tremor echoed across the planet, virtually shaking me in my meditative state. Snapping out of my trance, I called out to my Master. He was already heading towards me, with a sense of urgency about him.

"Master, I feel a heavy disturbance."

"I feel it too. Get your things together and meet me at the speeder. I get the feeling we're going to be called on soon."

Rushing to gather my gear, I grabbed my lightsaber and the dark Jedi's lightsaber, stashing both on my belt. Donning a metal mask that I had purchased last month, I also grabbed a personal shield generator and E-11 blaster rifle. Ushering Torak into the shuttle, we were already in the air when Commander Trayk contacted Kyle.

"Master Jedi, there's a situation. We need you immediately."

"We're already on our way, Commander. Be there soon."

"Understood. Hope you've been keeping up on starfighter training."

The flight to the CSF office was difficult, as there were many speeders in the air, chaotically breaking out of their established flight paths. Kyle swerved aside from multiple near collisions, and I fought to keep Torak calm as we were jostled around in the cramped shuttle. We touched down on the CSF landing pad and shuffled out. As soon as we had disembarked, an officer boarded our shuttle and took it away.

"Guess they don't want us leaving yet." Kyle remarked.

We entered the building, with Torak again waiting outside. As we were led to Trayk, the building was alive with commotion. We soon found out why when we were put into a room where the Commnder was delivering a briefing.

"...two Star Destroyers, an Imperial-class and Victory-II class in orbit. They are deploying fighters and are accompanied by smaller corvettes and gunships. They are not here to destroy our facilities, but to cover the mass evacuation of Remnant forces scattered across Coruscant. Shuttles and transports have been spotted travelling between Remnant-held facilities and the Star Destroyers. Our mission is simple: Destroy both ships. Ah, the Jedi are here. Master Jedi, please come forward and offer your insight."

Kyle and I, abruptly put on in the spotlight, traveled to the front of the room to stand next to Trayk. Kyle gestured to the holographic display of the two Imperial capital ships. They were surrounded by smaller ships in a defensive posture, not attacking anything at the moment.

"Well I agree that we need to neutralize both threats, but I know these ships well. The Imperial-class is the largest threat and needs to be destroyed; however, the Victory-II only has a complement of five thousand crew, and many of those aren't Stormtroopers. I propose we board and disable the Victory-II, then destroy or drive off the Imperial-class. Starfighters should run interference for the escaping Remnant forces, but stay clear of the capital ships and their corvette escort. We can trap the Imperial-class, as they most likely will try and rescue the Victory-II after we board it. That will keep them here long enough for the Republic fleet to arrive and help us destroy it. In the commotion, send your troop transports to help Torr and I secure the ship."

Trayk was following the battle plan and nodding as she evaluated the tactics.

"If you think that you and your apprentice can hold them off long enough for the fleet to arrive, then I won't stop you. Capturing another capital ship would go a long way to ensuring security and dominance in this sector. Very well, Master Jedi, we shall go with your plan."

I spoke up at this point.

"Torak, my acklay, won't fit into my starfighter but I can instruct him to accompany your troops. He's blind, so you can lead him with the sound of your voice. Load him into a transport with your soldiers and he can join me in the Victory-II hangar."

Trayk couldn't help but grin and shake her head at the preposterous image of loading a blind acklay on to a troop transport at the request of a Jedi. Regardless, she consented and dismissed the gathered troops. Kyle and I were sent up towards the hangar, where we were assigned X-Wings. We took off when we received clearance and began our ascent into the atmosphere. There were several Remnant shuttles also rising into the air, but Kyle ordered me to ignore them.

"The others will handle the shuttles. Right now we need to get on board that Star Destroyer."

As we left the planet's atmosphere and entered the void of space, I cleared my mind of all other distractions and instead felt the currents of the Force that flowed here. The Star Destroyers were massive, though the Victory-II class was considerably smaller than the Imperial-class. They were surrounded by a dozen smaller ships, and escorted by many TIE fighters. The CSF had begun to engage the escaping Remnant shuttles and transports closer to the planet, drawing away some of the defenders. Seeing an opening, I took the lead as I could see the bigger picture more easily than my Master could.

We were noticed by some of the TIE fighter wings, who moved to intercept us. With our S-foils locked, we were able to dodge around their fire and make a beeline for the Victory-II's hangar. My deflector shields absorbed a few glancing blows on my wings, and we unlocked our S-foils to dump speed as we entered the hangar. I had just barely touched down when I opened the cockpit and leaped out, lightsaber flashing. I had both blades extended, and deflected blaster fire from Stormtroopers and pilots in the hangar. Kyle had touched down and joined me, and I cleared our path with a fan of lightning, shocking and knocking back the Stormtroopers.

There were dozens of TIE fighters still unlaunched in the hangar bay, some resting on the ground and some hanging from scaffolds above us. Some ships were warming up and preparing for launch, which would pose a significant threat. Pulling out the Sith's lightsaber, I hurled it at the nearest TIE fighter and guided its flight. The blade sliced through the TIE's wings and left a deep gouge across the back of the fighter, igniting its fuel tank and blowing the fighter apart. This led to a chain reaction of the adjacent fighters detonating as well, and we had to run forward to escape the blast.

Charging through the door to the interior of the ship, we began to infiltrate the Star Destroyer. Our objective was the ship's engine to hold the ship in place and bait the Imperial-class into staying long enough for the Republic reinforcements to arrive. The ship itself felt like a city in space, but not nearly as dense as Coruscant. There were Stormtroopers all around us, trying to box us off. An alarm was blaring, and we heard an officer speaking on the ship intercom.

"Attention, all hands. We have a hostile boarding party, possibly Jedi. All available troops, converge on the hangar and stop them."

Kyle looked around, and located a ventilation shaft above us. He gestured towards it.

"Torr, make your way to the engine. These ventilation shafts lead to an air processing center on a lower level. You can bypass most of the patrols and get on the lift down to the control room. Go quickly."

Pulling the hatch above us open, I jumped up, grabbed the ledge and pulled myself into the cramped metal corridor. The shaft was just large enough for me to crawl through, and I closed the grate behind me. I could hear Kyle start to fight below me, causing a distraction to allow me to proceed. As I traveled forward, he began to lead them off in another direction. The shaft began to slope downwards, and eventually dropped sharply into a large fan-driven pit. I could see another intake shaft on the opposite side of the chamber below me, which would be a risky jump.

I went for it, hurling myself across the chamber and catching the ledge below. My grip nearly slipped, which would send me falling into the large spinning fan. Pulling myself into the shaft, I could feel the thrumming of the ship engine getting stronger. Using my Sight, I could tell I was heading in the right direction even if I didn't know the exact layout of the ship. The loud whirring of a lift told me I was close to my exit point. Finding a grate, I carefully opened it and dropped into the hallway below.

There was nobody around, and as I called the lift to me I could feel that I would have company soon. The engine control room was full of mechanics and technicians, as well as several Stormtrooper guards. Stepping into the lift, I began to descend. As I exited the lift, I reached out and used mind tricks on them, making myself not seem like a threat as I approached one of the technicians. The rest of them paid me no mind, like I was supposed to be there.

"You need to shut down and lock the engine. It's overheating and you need to begin the restart procedure."

"I.. Should shut down the engine. It's overheating." he said in a dazed stupor, turning around and beginning the shutdown sequence. As he completed his task, the engine went dark and quiet. The technician swiped his access card to lock the computer.

"You should go sit in the corner and take a nap, and leave your access card on the terminal." I said to him.

"I'm.. Tired. I should go to sleep." He repeated sluggishly. He laid his access card on the terminal and wandered off to pass out. I took the card, which would leave him locked out of the computer, nonchalantly striding back over to the lift, exiting the engine area without having to hurt anybody. I contacted my Master on comlink.

"Kyle, the engines are down. Where should we rendezvous?"

"I've barricaded myself in an armory. I'm going to need your help getting out." he responded, and I could hear the hissing of a plasma torch in the background, meaning they were cutting through the door.

"I'm on my way." I said, directing the lift to take me all the way back up to the level Kyle was on. There were about a hundred Stormtroopers on this level, and about half of them were between myself and the armory. The troopers here on high alert and wouldn't be fooled by my mind tricks like the unsuspecting guards in the engine room. I drew the dark Jedi's single bladed saber in my left and held the E-11 rifle in my right. I advanced down the corridor, using the saber to block incoming shots and shooting the Stormtroopers with the rifle.

It was an interesting change of pace. As I rounded a corner, I was face-to-face with a Stormtrooper who was coming to reinforce his comrades; a quick slash from the saber cut him down, and three shots from the rifle took down his two squadmates. I could feel Kyle fighting ahead, and continued to fight through the halls towards him. When I got sight of him, Kyle was trapped in the armory while a line of Stormtroopers were firing in at him and it was all he could do to parry their attacks.

One of the Stormtroopers had a thermal detonator on their belt, and I activated it using the Force. None of them noticed it had been turned on until it was too late, and the resulting explosion ripped a hole in the floor and walls, blasting in the armory door. The Stormtroopers were consumed in the blaze and thrown aside. I had taken cover around the corner and Kyle was ducking behind some crates when the grenade went off.

Meeting back up with him, Kyle gestured for me to grab several things from the armory and take them out to the hangar. We began to fortify and prepare for Imperial reinforcements. We set up two large stationary blaster turrets, which would punch a hole in a tank. The hangar was still strewn with wreckage from the exploded TIE fighters, which made it easy to place landmines across the ground. I sensed that shuttles had launched from the Imperial-class and were on their way.

They began arriving several minutes later, three Lambda-class shuttles swooping into the hangar. Kyle and I opened fire with the blaster turrets we had set up, forcing them to stay airborne and drop their troops on the mines we had scattered across the hangar floor. A series of explosions ripped apart the first wave of soldiers.

The second wave came soon after, weathering our blaster fire and dropping off a load of troops, who were blasted down under our combined turret fire. It looked like we would be able to hold out, but were forced to abandon our positions when a TIE fighter flew into the hangar and opened fire with its blaster cannons. The fighter ripped apart our turrets and its shots followed me as I tried to get distance. I blocked a few of its the bolts with my saber, but they hit so hard that my lightsaber was nearly torn from my grip.

Kyle attacked it from behind, his lightsaber slicing through the joints that held one of its large octagonal wings to the spherical body. The fighter lost control and slammed into the side of the hangar. Landing the ship quickly, the pilot struggled out of the cockpit with his hands up.

"I surrender! Don't shoot!" He yelled down at us. Kyle motioned for him to come down, and when his boots were on the ground the pilot was handcuffed. There was a lull in the fighting, and I could sense that most of the Remnant forces had pulled back towards the Imperial-class. The evacuation shuttles had either been destroyed or landed on the Star Destroyer, so they would normally begin to evacuate now.

As we hoped, the Imperial-class did not hyperspace out. I sensed more shuttles launch from the larger ship in an attempt to retake our commandeered vessel. Something was off about the incoming ships though..

"Master, we have to get out of here. The next round of shuttles are loaded with explosives! They're going to scuttle this ship!"

"Take the pilot and get to the turbolaser control room. I'm going to run interception."

Kyle returned to his X-Wing and took off, his attacks forcing the shuttles off course and buying us a few minutes to get to the control room for the external turbolasers. My prisoner resisted being moved at first, until I had to remind him of our situation.

"If you don't cooperate, you'll die along with the rest of us. Help me shoot down those shuttles and you'll save the lives of everybody on this ship."

Reluctantly, he stopped struggling and went along with me to the lift. We stepped over dozens of corpses on our way, which made the pilot stiffen up with obvious fear. The reality that I could kill him- easily- at any time was sinking in. We rode the lift up, the pilot running for cover when Stormtroopers began firing on me. My saber out, I knocked their shots aside and pulled their weapons from their hands. Catching one of the rifles, I returned fire and killed the three of them.

I didn't need to manhandle the pilot now, who walked in front of me as we approached the control room. He entered with his hands up, making the guards in the room raise and then lower their rifles. Pushing him aside, I thrust my hands out and pushed everybody in the room down with a powerful surge. With two saber blades out, I held it at an officer's throat and addressed the room.

"There are two Lambda-class shuttles loaded with explosives attempting to destroy this ship. If you want to live, you will stand up and man your station to shoot them down. If you want to die fighting a Jedi, raise your weapon."

I retreated back to the entrance to the room and let them stand one by one. The officer drew his pistol on me and brandished it threateningly.

"Attack!" He ordered, though none of the gunners made a move to shoot at me. He turned to fire on the gunner nearest to him, and I pulled the weapon from his grasp, shooting him twice in the chest. The officer slumped back and I motioned for the gunners to proceed, who immediately began to fire on the Lambda shuttles. They were large and slow enough to hit, and were quickly wiped out, exploding in enormous fireballs.

With the immediate threat removed, the gunners looked at me for direction.

"You've saved the lives of your comrades today. Now proceed to the hangar. You will not be harmed as long as you comply."

They shuffled out with their hands up, the helpful pilot among them. I led them down to the hangar area and gathered them around the damaged TIE fighter, magnetically locking their handcuffs to the fighter and guarding the entrance to the hangar in case more Stormtroopers came down to liberate the prisoners.

My comlink beeped as Kyle contacted me.

"Torr, you've got company! A fighter slipped past me while I was shaking some TIEs. I think it's another dark Jedi!"

As he spoke, a TIE Interceptor gracefully entered the hangar and touched down. A hooded and masked figure emerged from the ship and jumped out, dressed the same as the dark Jedi who had attacked me two months ago, back on my first day on Coruscant. The figure ignited their saber and advanced on me, but before we engaged each other they thrust their hand out and launched a barrage of lightning at the prisoners shackled to the TIE fighter. They began to scream in pain as they were electrocuted. Drawing the spare saber from my belt, I threw it at the dark Jedi who was forced to block it and cease their attack on the prisoners.

I dashed to put myself between my opponent and the prisoners, and pulled the saber I had thrown back to me.

"How sweet," my opponent said, her voice like poisoned honey, "what a brave protector you are. Such a shame that you're wasting the secrets of innumerable Sith Lords on such trivial pursuits. I shall enjoy pulling those lost techniques from your mind before I break you."

She launched at me with incredible speed, slamming into my guard and surprising me with a second lightsaber which slashed at my legs. I extended the other blade of my saberstaff just in time to block it, and shoved the dark Jedi back. Our duel began in earnest, and she was far more energetic an opponent than the previous dark Jedi I had faced. Her aggressive style was always striking me in two places at once, making me use both of my blades to defend.

"Show me!" She screamed at me as we sparred, "Show me the secrets you are selfishly squandering!"

As we fought, I could feel that she was holding back, not going for the killing blows. She was trying to force me to use the dark side knowledge I had acquired in Exar Kun's library. I refused to give her the satisfaction and would exploit her arrogance. Once I had both of her blades locked on mine, I deactivated my saber. Her blades flew towards my face but she stopped just short of killing me, a shocked look on her face. Pivoting slightly, I slipped behind her guard and reactivated my saber. Her head rolled off her shoulders and across the floor.

I stooped to collect her lightsabers- I was building quite the collection. I had to update Kyle as soon as I was safe.

"Kyle, I defeated the dark Jed. I think I know why they've been attacking me, I'll update you when we're done here."

"Alright, hold tight. Reinforcements are almost here and the Star Destroyer still hasn't jumped to hyperspace. They might start shooting at you, so be ready to bail."

The prisoners I had shackled to the TIE were mostly unconscious now. The lightning attack had severely wounded them, and I knew they would need medical attention. More Stormtroopers were breaking into the hangar, firing on me as I moved to defend myself again. A Stormtrooper primed a grenade and prepared to throw it, but I used the Force to keep it attached to his hand. He panicked briefly, then the explosive went off. His squadmates had fled in time to avoid being consumed by the blast, but they were scattered.

I levitated the corpse of the decapitated dark Jedi in front of me as a shield.

"I killed a dark Jedi, do you think I would have trouble killing any of you? Lay down your weapons and come out here with your hands up."

There was some pained groaning from the hallway, and the Stormtroopers who survived came limping out with their hands raised. I threw the body aside as they went to join the other prisoners by the TIE fighter. I went to go check the blast zone and dragged out some wounded Troopers who weren't able to move on their own. I pulled their destroyed armor off and healed their wounds with some bacta patches and Force energy.

The fleet was taking too long to arrive, and Kyle knew that as well. He contacted me with more instructions

"Torr, the Star Destroyer is going to abort its recapture attempts soon since we keep shooting down their shuttles. You need to reach the bridge and activate the tractor beam to hold it here long enough for the fleet to arrive in force!"

Seeing to the last of the prisoners' wounds, I left them to travel to the bridge. Holding my saber defensively, I encountered a few groups of Stormtroopers but they dropped their weapons and fled. I decided not to hunt them down, as speed was more important than killing. Taking the lift up to the bridge, I found the entry door sealed. My lightsaber cut it open, and I was immediately barraged with blaster fire. The garrison had been recalled to the bridge, and there were two dozen troopers stationed there to defend it. Retreating back into the lift, I detached one of my lightsabers and threw it into the bridge. Reaching my hand around, I fired lightning from my hand and into my lightsaber, using it to split the lightning across the first line of troopers, stunning them and knocking them back.

Using the Force to speed my moments, I drew the dark Jedi's saber and charged into their lines. I sent my levitating lightsaber on its own path of carnage, tearing into the Troopers' back line while I slammed into their front. My two sabers were whirling and slashing a path of destruction, and as the Stormtroopers attempted to pull back from me to get a better firing position, I sent out a wave of the Force to knock them down.

Within a minute of my charge, the Stormtroopers laid dead and the bridge officers were backed into the wall, cowering in terror. I advanced on them, covered in gore from the slain Troopers, one silver blade and one red blade. The captain attempted to shoot his pistol at me, but I easily blocked the shot and stretched my hand out towards him, gripping his neck with the Force and lifting him off the ground.

I turned to one of the bridge officers and started issuing commands.

"If you want to leave this bridge alive, do as I say. Lock a tractor beam on the Star Destroyer.."

The bridge officers looked between me and the captain, whose movements were getting slower as he choked to death. Keeping his head down, the officer scurried to a console and locked on to the Star Destroyer with a tractor beam. After a few moments, the Star Destroyer began to fire on us. Though our shields were holding, they wouldn't last long against the full power of the Star Destroyer.

Dropping the captain, he crumpled into an unconscious heap. He would live. In the meantime, I ordered the captains to push as much power into the shields as possible to hold out. Our reinforcements were moments from arriving, according to Kyle.

I sensed the Republic fleet arrive. There was a sudden jolt as they exited hyperspace and began firing on the Star Destroyer. Wings of fighters and bombers deployed to strike the capital ship as well. Their fire on us was disrupted, giving us some room to breathe. Two capital ships had emerged to flank the Imperial-class, and were quickly tearing through it. With nothing left to do on our end, I gathered the officers up and began to take them back to the hangar.

"Torr, get back to the hangar and get off the ship. Our job here is finished."

"On my way, Kyle. I've got a hefty collection of prisoners with me."

"The Republic will pick them up later. Just get clear."

Once the officers were locked to the TIE fighter, I returned to my X-wing. My body was cooling down, soreness and fatigue setting into my limbs after a prolonged conflict. I channeled positive thoughts and energy through my body, which helped but didn't remove the need for rest, and more importantly, food.

Taking off, I flew out of the Victory-II's hangar and joined Kyle in space. The fight was wrapping up at this point, with most of the TIEs destroyed and the Star Destroyer on its final ropes. Fire streamed out of the ship as it was ripped apart by the two Republic ships. The death knell was a barrage of torpedoes into a breached section of the ship's armor. The Star Destroyer's rear half blew apart, hurling the front half forward like a meteor. The battle was won.

Kyle and I took a final patrol around the battlezone while we watched several shuttles fly into the Victory-II, carrying troops to finish securing the ship. We tuned into their comlink frequency to get a live update of the boarding operation.

"Exiting the hangar now. Deploy the acklay. A damaged TIE fighter is on the far side of the hangar, along with approximately twenty prisoners handcuffed to the wing. Gold One and Two, stand guard and make sure they don't escape."

"Entering the bridge. The captain is unconscious and the bridge controls are unlocked."

"Engine room secured. Silver Seven took a blaster hit to the leg but he should live."

"Those Jedi cleaned shop. Light resistance throughout the ship but according to internal sensors, we have control."

"Master Jedi, please return to my office." Commander Trayk said. We descended back into the atmosphere of the planet and flew to the CSF headquarters. As we were once again led to Trayk, the atmosphere in the building was now absolutely joyous. Everybody was excited, and it created a vibrancy all around us, like the world was humming and vibrating with energy. People passing by would pat us on the shoulder as we passed, and Trayk greeted us with a warm handshake and a brilliant smile.

"Master Jedi, you two have done more for us in a few months than we were able to do on our own in the past year. We can use the Victory-II as an atmospheric assault ship to extend our reach across the planet. With most of the Remnant having evacuated, it's just criminal gangs to contend with now and they are far less organized."

The Twi'lek produced two datapads and handed them to us.

"These are for you. Gifts from the Coruscant Security Force. Suffice to say, we won't be requiring your bounty hunting services for quite some time, but we have included references to others who might."

Kyle and I nodded to the Commander and departed the CSF building, leaving their jubilant cheers behind. As we returned to the shuttle, I saw Torak waiting inside of the ship for me, eagerly awaiting my return. During our walk, I spoke with Kyle about the dark Jedi.

"I learned more about the dark Jedi that have been attacking me. Apparently they're after the secrets I learned from the Sith Masters on Yavin IV. They somehow know that I used the Sith holocrons, and even if I can't consciously activate most of their teachings, they seem to think they can pry them from my mind."

"That's bad news… Sith cults are no joke." Kyle said. "We'll come up with a plan to end their threat soon, I promise.

As we returned to our apartment, Kyle told me to be wary.

"Until this business with the assassins is over, don't consider yourself safe." He said.

"Master, fear and paranoia are what turned me to the dark side. I don't know if I can handle this." I said, worry spreading through me and awakening an all too familiar darkness. Kyle laid a hand on my shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, Torr, stay strong. You are going to make it through this."

Taking a steadying breath, I nodded. I had to fight through my fear to come up with a plan that didn't involve giving into my fear. Facing it, showing courage would be the only way for me to succeed without succumbing to darkness. Taking a circuit of the apartment, we closed all of the windows and set alarms on all of the entrances. These precautions wouldn't keep out a dedicated and talented assassin, but it did give us some peace of mind.

Sitting down to plan, Kyle and I opened our 'gifts' from the CSF. Two large crates had been loaded on the shuttle, containing extremely powerful weapons. Rocket launchers, concussion rifles, and a credit payout of 10,000 credits each. Kyle let out a long whistle.

"This is a fantastic gift. Never underestimate the utility of heavy firepower."

After our new weapons were secured in our armory, Kyle and I began to work out a plan to reveal and destroy the group who was so determined to get my head. First we would need to draw them out so we knew who we were dealing with. Then would come the killing blow.