Disclaimer: I wish I could take credit for creating Star Wars, but alas, I am not George Lucas, and I have no intention of getting sued.
Summary: As Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Bant protect the Republic from Darth Sidious, another Sith Lord emerges – Qui-Gon's presumably dead, former apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. Can the Jedi save the Republic, or is it already too late? The third story in the Jedi Trials series.
Author's Notes: Ah, m'dears, I am so, so sorry about the long wait between updates. School is...bleh. But, in honor of the end of my last first semester of high school, and because I can barely move after playing ultimate spoons for two hours yesterday (for those of who don't know, ultimate spoons is just like spoons, except for the fact that the spoons are placed as far away from the group of card players as possible, and when someone gets four of a kind, everyone has to run over to the spoons and get one - it's fun), I have decided to update with this pretty long, very important, sad chapter. And now, I shall watch a very long movie and enjoy my painkillers!
Revenge and Regret
By Kekelina
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Chapter Nine: Familiar Yellow Eyes
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A dark, unrecognizable presence…
Familiar, loathsome yellow eyes…
"You."
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"Lord Dementor." The hiss broke Dementor's concentration from a datapad. He quickly hid the hand-held device with a low growl, for it contained all his notes and thoughts on what Sidious had told him, and it reminded him of what he still needed to get:
The coordinates to Kamino.
His Master was unwilling to part from such valuable knowledge. There was no doubt that Sidious suspected him; he would be a fool not to.
"Yes, Master?"
"We have underestimated the Jedi." We, Dementor thought with a huff. No, you did. "They will be arriving on Korriban soon."
What? "They're coming here?"
Sidious nodded gravely. "Yes, my young Apprentice."
Dementor inhaled sharply. The Jedi were coming to Korriban. Those blasted idiots thought they could actually beat the two greatest Sith who had ever lived? He wanted to laugh. The Jedi scum wouldn't last five minutes against him and his Master. Not even that old troll Yoda would be able to stop the wrath they would bestow upon them.
Blundering idiots… Dementor couldn't wait to run them through with his lightsaber, to show them how much more powerful he had become since they abandoned him to die.
How their plan had failed to succeed…
"Lord Dementor, go to the surface and wait for them there."
"You're not coming, my Master?"
Darth Sidious let out a long, slow breath. "No, I am not." At this, Dementor glared suspiciously at the dark void beneath Sidious's hood. He had a bad feeling about this. "You are more than capable of defeating the Jedi by yourself. They will be no match for you."
Bowing in concordance, Darth Dementor, with a swish of his black robes, left the room and made his way to Korriban's surface, unable to shake the feeling that something horribly wrong was about to take place.
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He was waiting for them when they arrived.
He led them into a corner, baiting them with his Force signature, dark and unrecognizable, easily confused with Darth Sidious's…
They followed him into a canyon with only one exit. Fools… They were trapped. He had them on his terms, a strong advantage.
He stepped out, blocking the only exit, crimson lightsaber ignited and a taunting sneer on his half-hidden face.
They knew they were trapped.
His yellow eyes peered out from underneath his hood to find two familiar faces watching him warily.
Yaddle and Luminara Unduli.
He cursed and faltered. Sidious had betrayed him.
The two Jedi were strong. And Sidious had known.
He clenched the hilt of his lightsaber in rage, feeling the power course through it.
He was strong too.
He would survive.
With that, he leapt.
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Back on Coruscant, Yoda felt a surge in the Dark Side of the Force.
It had begun.
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The fight was brutal, a mesh of clashing lightsabers and Force attacks.
The lightsabers sizzled and popped, creating a show of color of the rocky walls.
Dementor roughly Force-pushed Luminara, sending her careening into a protruding rock with a satisfactory thud. His fingers closed around an imaginary throat, slowly sucking the Life Force from her.
Yaddle's lightsaber swung out of nowhere.
He swore and rolled to the side to avoid losing a valuable limb. He lost his concentration on Luminara, who fell to her knees and began gasping for breath.
A growl escaped his lips as he tightened his grip on his lightsaber. Yaddle would pay for that…
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"Master, there's something wrong with the Force."
"What do you mean, Anakin?"
"It's dark. Can't you feel it?"
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Their lightsabers spun in an unrecognizable haze before crashing together, the sizzle it created echoing around them.
They were locked in a stalemate. Dementor put all his weight on his lightsaber, hoping to drive her back, but Yaddle simply countered it.
His hand trembled under the pressure.
Perspiration dotted his forehead; his teeth grit together in concentration.
He wasn't going to let her win.
Ducking as he suddenly stepped backwards, he watched Yaddle stumble and fall, his weight no longer keeping her upright.
He advanced on her, twirling his lightsaber, bringing it down on the green Jedi Master.
But Luminara's blade, instead of flesh, met his own.
He hissed at her and was soon fighting both Jedi Masters, as Yaddle was on her feet in no time.
Suddenly, he was flying through the air, the result of a Force-push by the Mirialan Jedi.
Payback, he thought wryly, calling his Sith blade to him as the two Jedi leapt towards him.
He countered their stabs and wide swings, leaping onto a large rock to gain the high ground, a basic ingredient in victory.
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"Worry, I do, for Yaddle and Luminara. Strong the Dark Side is."
"There is a great disturbance in the Force."
"Mmm."
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He slashed viciously, his anger and rage pouring out in powerful attacks.
He could feel the Dark Side flowing through him, allowing him power he had never dreamed of.
He was on the offensive now, while the Jedi scum before him tried in vain to parry his ferocious swings, stabs, and cuts.
Malicious laughter bubbled up. They could not stop him. He was far more powerful than they would ever be.
He should probably thank them for abandoning him to die, for it had made him more powerful than any other being in the galaxy.
"Foolish Jedi," he hissed, kicking Yaddle in the face. She flipped in mid-air and landed back on her feet as the duel between Luminara and Dementor heated up, their lightsabers just a blur of color as they wielded them against each other.
Yaddle was soon back in this fray of chaos, another lightsaber added to the mix.
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The Force guided Qui-Gon down to the surface of Korriban. He could see the flash of conflicting lightsabers on the horizon as he set the ship down a good distance away.
He did not want to alert the Sith to his presence.
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A rock collided with his arm as it whizzed past.
He fell from his perch, cursing the Jedi as pain gripped his appendage.
Yaddle and Luminara wasted no time in attacking him.
He Force-leapt out of their path, twisting in mid-air and landing behind them.
He slashed, bringing his lightsaber around to cut them both in half with one fell swoop.
Luminara's standard issue hard-soled boot met his jaw.
He stumbled. Pain erupted in his head like a volcano on the planet Mustafar.
His hood slipped.
The Jedi faltered.
Dementor smirked, remembering a time similar to this, when another Jedi wavered as he revealed himself. Those pathetic fools… Had they really thought they could get rid of him so easily?
"Surprised?"
Before either could answer, he brought his lightsaber around in a powerful arch, separating the head from Luminara's shoulders.
It rolled to his feet as her body collapsed in an ungraceful heap of robes.
He bared his teeth at Yaddle as if to say "You're next."
She leapt.
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Barriss Offee sank to the floor with a strangled gasp in the middle of the lightsaber training salle.
Her sparring partner deactivated his lightsaber with a snap-hiss and knelt beside her worriedly. "What's wrong?"
A sob. "She's dead."
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The darkness grew stronger as he made his way towards the sounds of lightsabers hissing and cracking.
The Force screamed warnings of danger and pain to Qui-Gon, but he pressed onward.
It wasn't the first time.
Grunts and muffled words echoed off the rocky walls surrounding him.
The battle was fierce, of that he was sure.
He gripped the hilt of his lightsaber firmly, unsure of what he would meet when he rounded the corner.
Whatever he had been expecting, it was nothing like what he found.
Luminara's body lay in a heap off to one side, her head a meter-and-a-half away.
In the middle of the canyon were two dueling figures. The first was undoubtedly Master Yaddle, and the second, dressed in black robes and wielding a crimson lightsaber appeared to be –
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon gasped, losing his equilibrium and sinking to his knees.
It couldn't be… It wasn't possible…
He wanted to scream out in absolute joy. It was Obi-Wan; he was alive. He son, whom he had thought was gone forever, was alive.
And he was the Sith.
"No," he whispered. No no no no no no no.
Obi-Wan would never turn. He wouldn't…
He couldn't.
The sounds of the duel stopped as the two finally took notice of him.
Obi-Wan's head turned.
Loathsome yellow eyes glared at him…
"You."
Qui-Gon's breath caught in his chest as Obi-Wan advanced on him, rage consuming his once-calm features.
Obi-Wan has fallen.
Icy tendrils of pain gripped his heart.
He shuddered.
He is a Sith.
Suddenly, Yaddle swung her lightsaber and scorched Obi-Wan's leg, deterring him from reaching Qui-Gon.
Qui-Gon wanted to scream at her for harming Obi-Wan. What right did she have?
Every right.
Obi-Wan has turned to the Dark Side.
No, he wouldn't believe it.
He couldn't.
Not even when Obi-Wan hissed at Yaddle and Force-leapt over Qui-Gon, escaping into the shadows. Not even when Yaddle wearily placed a hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder. Not even when she knelt beside the body of Luminara, ears drooping in sorrow.
Not even when he remembered how familiar those cold, cruel yellow eyes had been.
Not even then.
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The Other Author's Notes: My heart broke for Qui-Gon when I wrote this. Stay tuned for Chapter Ten: The Beginning of the End, and don't forget to review!
Author's Edit: 8-21-2007