Star Wars: The Dark Empire
Episode 2 - Jenesis
Part 3 - Ultimate Foes and Form
Alderon, Jedi Academy
Marka woke mid-morning, immediately noticing Kaya's absence. He was stiff from having slept across her bed from a sitting position the entire night, and it took a few seconds of stretching before he was able to stand straight. He was amazed that he had slept so late; he always woke at dawn no matter little sleep he got or how exhausted he was the night before. Shrugging it off he went to check on his daughter, who was sleeping. He hadn't seen her awake yet. From what he had heard though – he didn't have much experience with infants – she would likely sleep almost all the time she wasn't being fed or changed.
Content that she had no pressing needs, he wouldn't know what to do in that case anyway, he left Kaya's quarters and crossed the corridor to the trainers mess. He found his wife there, chatting to her short; blonde friend Banali, who had been stationed as a trainer there. They had already finished their breakfast. She smiled as he entered, and Marka felt his heart leap. He was grinning openly as he took a bowl and filled it with one of the cereal grain mixes popular in the Republic. Apparently one was supposed to moisten it with milk excreted from some bovine mammal. Marka, though, found it fine with just water. Still, the thought of milk made him wonder if Kaya was producing any, with the baby and all.
His two padawans were there as well; they were sitting opposite each other, halfway though breakfast and busy talking. Lydale Halcyon, the dark skinned half-Miraluka, had a red band today to cover his blind eyes. The colour didn't really suit him. Marka's newer padawan, Cora Qel'Droma, raised her hand in greeting when he saw him. He gave a polite nod back, and she beamed.
Cora was an enigma to most; she never behaved like a woman should. Sometimes she would pretend to be a little girl, in an effort to get her way, most of the time though she behaved like a street tough, and could employ language that would put them to shame. She was undoubtedly strikingly beautiful, with long silky-blonde hair; soft blue eyes and a curvaceous figure. But she was a shade taller than Marka; who was tall for a man; she was also stronger than most men. She seemed to have no interest in men and often scared them with her strange ways.
Cora was from a family that had produced many famous Jedi, giving her considerable Force-potential. She had served as a soldier during the Jedi Civil war, lying about her age when she had signed up at 15, nobody had challenged her on it on account of her size. She saw combat on a number of occasions, gained a fearsome reputation in battle during the later stages of the war, and had risen through the ranks to Captain. She was reputed to 'take no crap from nobody', and be very difficult to work under or with. It was hard to believe with all that was said about her that she wasn't yet twenty-two. During her Jedi training on Coruscant she had outstripped most of the trainers, including the senior ones, in less than a month. She'd had little regard for their authority as a result, and had caused more trouble than they had felt she was worth, despite her obvious power. Marka had heard about the problems they had been having with her on a routine inspection, and had taken her up as his second padawan mainly as a favour to them. He didn't particularly like Astin, who was in charge of that academy, but he had to feel sorry for him on that occasion. It had gotten to the point where Cora would only behave if Astin had kept a constant eye on her.
Cora initially had been nothing trouble for Marka, making her voice heard on everything, from which planets to inspect first to what they should be having for dinner. He had quickly and ruthlessly put a stop to it. A few healed broken bones and bruises later, as well as a reset broken nose complete with two black eyes, and Cora became a model padawan. Lydale had been furious, stating angrily that Marka's actions were unbecoming of a Jedi and he was acting like a Sith. He had probably been right, Marka had concluded. Still, his harsh discipline had achieved its goal. Cora now would do whatever he wanted with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, and gave him utmost respect at all times. He was probably the only Jedi whose power, strength and skill she would never be able to top, now that she realized it things had become much easier and far more peaceful. Which was vital because during Marka's inspection missions the three of them would often be cooped up together for days at a time.
Marka crossed the room with his bowl. "Tenderheart," he murmured as he sat down besides his wife, and kissed her passionately, not caring that Banali was turning politely away just across from them. That was his pet-name for her, taken up soon after she had started calling him 'Braveheart' a few months ago. Force, he had missed her. He would have continued kissing, but Kaya pulled away.
"Brush your teeth first," she said, making a face. Banali managed somehow to turn her snort of laughter into a hacking cough.
Marka smiled, and took a spoonful of his cereal. While he was munching, they started to discuss what they had been doing recently. Before they had gotten too far, some of the trainers started pulling around the holovision set, which was displaying the top news story. At the request of one of them, they put the sound up, high enough that everybody in the room could hear clearly. It also drowned out Marka, Kaya and Banali's conversation.
"Citizens of Alderon woke up this morning to these scenes of terror," it was displaying images of burning vehicles, a small craft crashed into a building, and driving through to nearly the other side; while a female voice narrated. "Local fire-fighters have been working around the clock to try and halt the damage."
The image showed blackened buildings, with flames still licking the inside walls, while teams of men and droids sprayed massive bursts of water and foaming chemicals.
Marka swallowed his mouthful of cereal. "What happened?"
"It looks like there's been an attack," said Kaya, closing her eyes and slowly turning her face away from it.
"But by who?" said Banali.
"The death toll is shocking," the report continued. "Sixty-four confirmed dead, and over a hundred as yet unaccounted for."
"That's not that much," said one of the trainers audibly. Marka did not know his name, but knew that he was one of his five hundred ex-Sith.
"For the Republic in peacetime, it's a huge amount," Cora countered from the other side of the room.
"According to eyewitnesses," the female voice from the holovision set continued as lesser images of destruction continued to play, "at each of these scenes, a single dark-cloaked figure was seen. We're also receiving reports of bodies that seem to have been purposefully beheaded, and the heads taken. A spokesperson for the…"
Standing suddenly Marka exclaimed, "It's Korgul, it has to be," and immediately regretted it. The trainers who were from the Republic thought nothing of it, but those who had originally come from the Sith empire; who in the majority; stared at him with open-mouthed horror.
Marka immediately tried to calm them, but it was too late, he knew that word of this would get out. Those who came from the Sith empire knew all about Korgul Juglur, and they would make sure that all the others did. Fear would grip the Jedi order. Fear, the Sith's greatest weapon.
--
Coruscant, the Jedi Temple
"Good, well done Jaimian. Can you feel it well up inside you, begging to be released?" Bastila turned to see Mical Aurain striding in, his expression grim.
"We'll continue tomorrow, good work everyone," she told her five padawan learners, "class dismissed."
"You have five now?" asked Mical as they exited.
"Jaimian just joined yesterday," said Bastila, and added proudly, "He's making astounding progress."
Bastila Oneiro, formerly Shan, was one of only three Jedi in the history of the order to be able to produce the complete version of the extremely rare technique called Battle Meditation. It was an extremely powerful ability, able to sway battles, as its name suggested. It worked by drawing all the inspiration and hope from the enemy's, while feeding it to the meditator's allies. The technique had saved the Republic from succumbing to Malak's Sith, now it was hoped that between Bastila and the five padawans she was training that they would be able to affect the coming war in a similar way. She would train more if she could, but so few had any talent at all for it, and none of the five would ever be anything like as good as she was.
"There is an emergency high council meeting in half an hour," Mical told her.
"I already know about the meeting," said Bastila. "What is it that you really came to speak to me about?" She could sense a great deal of fear about him, he wasn't even bothering to hide it. She highly doubted that it was just because of the emergency meeting, which had been called by Battlemaster Marka because of the possible emergence of some assassin called 'Korgul', following the morning's attack.
He sighed. "Am I so transparent?"
Bastila nodded with a smile. Mical frowned before explaining to her what he had felt in senate. He had her full attention by the end.
"You're sure of this?"
"Absolutely," he answered.
"Our situation worsens," she said. "We have mad Jezebel roaming the galaxy, destroying at will and whim. Korgul, I know nothing about, but Marka and his people's reaction gives me reason to fear. We're still waiting for the Empire to make its move, and now we have a Sith on the inside, in a terribly compromising position for us."
"As if it couldn't get any worse," said Mical disheartened.
"I don't understand though why it was me you chose to tell," said Bastila."By your own admission, you don't know if I'll be powerful enough to face this Sith."
"You're the only one on the council I can trust that could possibly do anything," he said desperately. "I can't talk to anyone who has any connection to Astin Lamar, and I'd rather not involve anyone who has at any point been a Sith. That leaves only Kaah, Kaya and Tathleen besides you. Kaah is on Taris with Ramon, Kaya would certainly talk to Marka, and Tathleen is not nearly powerful enough. Together, we should be able to put an end to this new threat."
Bastila gave a short laugh. "You know, at one point, I was Malak's apprentice."
"You where WHAT?" Mical was thunderstruck.
Bastila calmly explained to him how she had been forcibly placed on the Dark path, and had even attempted to lure Revan onto it as well during the final stages of the Star Forge quest. How she had finally been defeated by Revan on the Star Forge itself, her heart clenched, that's when they had finally admitted their love for each other, with no reservations. Revan had gone on to defeat Malak, while she had helped to annihilate the Dark Lord's fleet with her Battle Meditation, after that the Jedi had taken her back in gladly.
Light, how she missed Revan. It didn't help that Marka bore such a striking resemblance to him. She found herself having very confused feelings when Marka was around, not helped at all by the fact that she and his wife, Kaya, were still at odds because of their parentage.
Bastila and Kaya shared a common father, which caused no end of problems between them. Bastila had loved her father dearly, and Kaya was living proof of his indiscretion. For her part, Kaya seemed bitter that Bastila's father hadn't left her mother for Kaya's mother, and seemed to hold Bastila accountable for that. They were slowly coming to terms with each other, they had to being on the council together. But it still wasn't easy for them to act civilly to each other.
"I had little choice in joining the Sith," Bastila said, finishing her story of Malak, Revan and the Star Forge. She had blamed herself constantly for falling into darkness before, but not now. By accepting her failure she had come a long way in accepting herself, and her feelings. "But think of those from the Empire, who risked their lives to come to our aid. They had no choice; they were born into darkness. Yet they still found the light."
Mical obviously guessed what she was getting at, "You want me to inform Marka and Ramon? Haven't they got enough to deal with, with Jezebel and this 'Korgul' besides their duties?"
"Just Marka," said Bastila. "He and I have been making some plans that involve Ramon, and will put him out of the picture for a while."
Mical's eyes widened, "With Ramon gone…you're expecting Marka to seek and destroy this Sith infiltrator as well as Korgul and Jezebel?"
Bastila lowered her eyes under Mical's incredulous gaze. It was already an impossible ask without adding anything more, even for one such as Marka. If only the one who looked so much like him were here, all would be right.
Bastila turned and looked out of the windows, currently blurred with the outside rain. "Revan, where are you?"
--
Alderon, Jedi Academy, Council chamber
"Master Cabanic, would you be so good as to explain to those who where not once true Sith who exactly Korgul is?"
Marka clenched his jaw. Astin's statement had not been particularly provocative, but the infliction he had used on the words suggested that he saw those who had once been true Sith to be far beneath his oh-so-righteous level. Marka briefly considered punching him, but Astin wasn't truly with him, just his image being projected from light-years away. He imagined how it would look with his arm stuck through a blue holo-image. The thought made him smile, and he relaxed as he began to speak.
"It all began twenty years ago. Darth Messiah finally decided that it was time to start preparing for the invasion of the Republic, he started inciting the Mandalorians to attack the Republic, promising them great glory."
"We know this, we've been over it already," said diminutive Vandar.
"Get to the point," snarled Astin.
"Patience," said Marka coldly. "The Mandalorians clearly had little choice, if they hadn't attacked, we would have slaughtered them." Marka subconsciously had referred to himself as a Sith, and winced at his error before continuing. "At the same time, the Dark Lord also made some changes to the laws, laws he had himself made when he first took power nine-hundred years ago. Before, the seven Sith masters had only been allowed fifty retainers and one apprentice each. That law was replaced by one stating that they could have as many as they wanted, provided it was below the halfway margin of the numbers of the Dark Lord's own retainers. They were also allowed to take on a second apprentice. He then increased the amounts allowed for each of their armies and fleets."
"Weren't those laws in place to lessen the chances a revolt by one of the masters might have had of success?" asked Kaah, who seemed to remember what Marka had told them previously about the empire.
"Yes, and also because accommodating large amounts of Sith puts incredible strain on any population," said Marka, "Sith tend to do what they please, and this leads to revolutions."
"So what happened then?" prompted Kaya. While most of the council members were blue holo-images to Marka, she was with him in the flesh. The only other one truly with him was Laman. All of them were using the Alderon council chambers to meet with the rest of the council, who appeared before them in walking, talking holograms.
"With the growth in armies, fleets and numbers of Sith, inevitably some of the master's armies grew faster than others. The Dark Lord still had by far the largest force, but now if any two masters combined, they would have had as many. Ten years after this reform; three of the most powerful Sith masters, Maugrim Babbadon, Anamos Yukil and Idrus O'del, formed an alliance to overthrow Darth Messiah. Their plan was to collectively defeat him through sheer numbers, and then systematically crush the other masters one by one with their combined might. Then each would have a one-in-three chance of becoming the new Dark Lord."
"Not very good odds, even if everything went according to plan," said Yuthura Ban.
"That's the Sith for you, always backstabbing; no sense of loyalty," growled Kaah. Yuthura for some reason blushed at this.
"Their initial attack went according to plan," Marka continued, "or so it seemed. They struck hard and fast, punching a hole in the Pandemic defences, and landed their forces. The other four masters, who could have rushed to the aid of their Lord, chose rather to wait and see what would happen."
Kaah muttered "No loyalties," again
"The invading forces got ambushed by the bulk of the defenders just as they were nearly at the Black Citadel, the throne of the Dark Lord. Leaving their generals, armies and Sith retainers to take up the fight, the three Sith masters pressed on, with only their apprentices and a core group of elites to support them. They were not challenged, though, and were able to enter the Black Citadel unopposed, and made their way up to face Darth Messiah."
"So what happened then?" asked Mical, his eyes rapt. He plainly was deeply engrossed in the story, he wasn't the only one. Even master Astin appeared to be hanging on his every word.
Marka spread his hands, "No-one knows, somehow they were all defeated. But the mystery is that the Dark Lord was certainly the only one in the Citadel at that time, it seems impossible that he would be able to defeat seven of the most powerful Sith in the empire, not to mention about a score of elite Sith. Four of the Sith masters and apprentices were masters in the Yoshi Ma form, all were at least as strong as I in the Force. Whatever happened, there was a huge amount of noise from the citadel for a time, again nobody knows what happened, but rumour has it that many things were shouted by those inside and overheard by others outside. Most of what was reported is too incredible to be true, but who knows? What is known is that half an hour later, Darth Messiah appeared at the entrance to the Citadel with the unconscious bodies of the three Sith masters, and the dead of their elite retainers. Their armies gave up quickly when they found out that their leaders had been beaten, and the Sith masters were imprisoned on Dus."
Marka had faced the three masters, maddened from ten years exposure to the moon's tainted aura, during his escape six months ago.
"What exactly does this have to do with Korgul?" said Astin impatiently.
"The betrayal of the Sith Masters proved that there was a need to be able to police them, route out insurgents and make chilling examples of them before the revolts even got going. The empire was counting the costs of that revolt for years after. If it hadn't been for that revolt they would have invaded the Republic long ago."
Ramon cut in, "There's another mystery in what happened in the Black Citadel. Nobody knows what happened to the four apprentices. It was assumed that they were all killed, but their bodies were never recovered. They simply disappeared. The theory is that one of them was trained and…changed. He would, or she would if it was Lurpa, eventually become Korgul." Ramon was an ex-Sith as well, and knew nearly as much as Marka about the events surrounding Korgul.
"The names of the apprentices were Jugan Sorge, Gulnion S'reida, Lurpa Claiton, Korvem Naj." said Laman helpfully. "I am one of those who thinks that it was Korvem who became Korgul, partly because the names sound similar, but mostly because Korvem was known for having a fetish for collecting heads."
"Naj…isn't that your surname, Ramon?" said Mical inquisitively.
Ramon gritted his teeth, "He was my father."
A shocked silence hit the council chambers.
"And before you ask," said Laman after about a minute of uneasy feet-shuffling, "Idrus O'del was my cousin. Don't look so surprised, almost all of the Sith masters and apprentices come from families with great Force-potential, and most of those families are related. Jugun for example was Lord Delhano and Tinlae D'eath's son. Generally they will swap daughters to mix the strong blood around."
Marka continued with the story. "In the aftermath of the failed revolt, Darth Messiah took three of the strongest apprentices of the four remaining Sith masters, and made them masters in the place of the ones he had imprisoned. My old master was one of them." Marka's life had been turned upside-down at the time by those changes, but he did not mention it. His story there was irrelevant. "The four original masters hadn't lifted a finger to help their lord in, what would have seemed to be, his hour of need. Naturally, they initially feared reprisal, but none came."
"Then nine years ago, a year after the attempted insurrection, the four Sith masters who had stood by during the revolt started dying violent deaths, mostly at night. All were apparently the work of an assassin who used a lightsaber, as well as some sort of blade, judging by the cuts on the bodies. Every one of them had their head removed, it would turn out to be the assassin's trademark."
"Korgul," Yuthura hissed softly.
Marka nodded. "Soon only one was left, Raoul Fer'rer, brother of my late master. He became so paranoid that he wouldn't even sleep without half a dozen security droids and one of the most complex sensor arrays ever devised set up around his apartment, as well as two of his retainers by the door. He also stepped up his defences around his entire academy."
"But none of it made the slightest bit of difference," said Ramon, scowling.
"Well, it did mean that they managed to detect Korgul just before he got to Raoul," said Marka fairly. "But Korgul cut through the two Sith retainers and the security droids in seconds. Now Raoul was a Yoshi Ma master, and was well known for his deadliness with his twin-blades. He never stood a chance against Korgul, who toyed with him for short while before dispatching him with ease. By this time Raoul's retainers were coming to the scene, but Korgul took the masters head, ran out and vanished in the middle of the compound. Seconds later the first retainers arrived, none found anything despite extensive searching."
"And Sith in the Empire learn techniques that render all stealth-field generators useless," added Laman.
"It was all captured by a security camera, and every Sith in the Empire has seen it. Ever since then, even a whisper of revolt has resulted in headless Sith. Needless to say, there hasn't been much threat of that recently." Marka finished.
Silence filled the council chambers again. Bastila finally broke it.
"Well, now that we know who he is, any suggestions as to what to do about him?"
--
Coruscant, Jedi temple, Council chambers
The emergency meeting went on for hours. It was decided in the end to go with Laman's suggestion, and move all the Jedi academies that were well known or visible, excluding the one on Coruscant in the Jedi temple, to other planets where they would be hidden. Laman's list of possible planets was accepted, with a few minor adjustments. The council also agreed to advise all Jedi to travel in groups, since Korgul's phantoms generally worked in small groups, unless they had changed their attacking style they were unlikely to go for more than three at once.
Most of the academies were to be very small, so if they were discovered losses would be minimal. The largest of the new academies would have two hundred pupils and trainers. Marka would oversee the evacuation process and the setting up of the new academies, while many of the other masters on the council would be in charge of these new academies. Of course, now there would be too many academies to have most of the students under the direct control of the high council. Other Jedi masters would be heading many of these other academies.
Something else came up as well. For although there were only ten recognised masters of the Yoshi Ma form in the Sith empire, there were many others who practised it, perhaps a hundred or more. If that hundred were to hit the Jedi, they would make mincemeat out of them. Marka and Ramon couldn't possibly fight them all, even if the other Jedi masters were up to the challenge they would be bogged down by sheer numbers. They needed to have a force capable of taking them on, and for that they needed Jedi capable of using the form, many Jedi. Ramon volunteered to take fifty of the most talented Jedi and train them, he was the only Jedi who knew the form well enough besides Marka to teach it, and Marka's duties dictated that he wouldn't have time for such extended training. It was a plan that Marka, Bastila and Ramon had been working on for the last little while; they had decided that fifty was the most that could be taught effectively. He would likely be busy with them for between six months and a year, perhaps even longer.
Deciding who was to go proved tricky. All of the Jedi who would be able to learn Yoshi Ma were serving currently as trainers, and to take them away would place huge strains on the academies, which were already suffering with too many padawans and not enough trainers. It had got to the point where Jedi who had only just reached the rank of padawan were teaching beginner classes. They desperately needed fully trained Jedi, and this proposal would drain them of fifty of the most experienced and powerful. But it had to be done if they were to have any chance in the future.
Another problem proved to be that many on the council felt that the Republic should have a decent representation in the fifty, but almost all of the Jedi at the required level were ex-Sith. In the end they were forced to place every last capable Jedi who wasn't an ex-Sith. Ironically, nearly all of them had at one point served as Sith under Malak. There were only ten of them. The other forty were the strongest of Marka's ex-Sith. Additionally, they agreed that as many council members as possible should learn. Astin and Mical would learn together, Marka would have to create a training holocron for them, as well as for Yarin, who would train with Brianna on Telos. Kaah, fortunately, had been training with Ramon, and had progressed far enough that he could continue on his own. Kaya had trained with her husband and, according to her, was also good enough to continue on her own; she would also be able to train with Laman.
"I think I should learn as well," said Bastila, at the point when the others obviously thought that they had covered everything and were getting ready to go.
"You'll be behind the front lines, with your Battle-Meditation," said Astin crossly. "You won't need it."
"Even so, I might end up in the front lines, and there's always the possibility that the Sith will come after me."
"But how will you learn?" asked Marka. "I could make another holocron, but without a training partner it wouldn't help. The others are too inexperienced to help anyone but themselves, they will be off Coruscant anyways. And you cannot go with Ramon, for obvious reasons."
"You're helping to set up the new academies," she said quickly. "I could travel with you. I could help out, and learn on the way."
"But…" Mical began.
"I think it's a great idea," said Kaya, surprising everybody. It was no secret that the two women did not get along. Bastila was grateful for it though, with Kaya's support Marka certainly would go along with it. Why she had, Bastila did not know.
"What about the grandmaster's duties?" said Kaah.
"That's why there is a second," said Astin, puffing up his chest importantly. He deflated slightly under the annoyed gaze of nearly the entire council.
"I'll only be gone for two months," said Bastila. That was if everything went according to plan and they did not hit any unexpected hitches.
"Then it is agreed," said Marka. "I'll expect you at the Alderon academy on evacuation day." Evacuation day was in five days.
--
Mical caught up with her in the passageways.
"What was that about?" he asked in a controlled voice, which was his way of showing that he was angry. "You are leaving me to deal with this Sith infiltrator all by myself?"
Bastila turned her face towards him as they walked. "I need you to expose them, Mical. I would do nothing but get in the way if I tried to help, I'm too well known. But if we're to face this Sith, we'll definitely need Marka's help. I need to meet with him. I don't trust the communication lines for this, if the Chancellor is a Sith, who knows how many strategically placed people he has. Even secure lines can be tapped. Besides, I do need to learn his form."
A small group of female initiates of various species passed by, greeting the two masters enthusiastically. Bastila and Mical murmured greetings and words of encouragement back. When they were a safe distance away they continued.
"Why involve him at all?" Mical said pointedly.
"We have to assume that the infiltrator has support. Force, there could be dozens of undercover Sith for all we know. With Marka on our side, and his two padawans, we could deal with a small army." Marka's padawans were two of the most promising that they had found, and both had progressed at an alarming rate, now even passing experienced knights and masters with regards to power and skill. Their help would be nearly as valuable as Marka's.
"And I'm to keep a close watch on Astin during our training?"
"That's why you're together."
"This is insane," he said softly, pronouncing each word precisely. Bastila knew from experience that Mical only did that when he was furious. "If Astin is the Sith, we are training him to be even more dangerous."
"We have no choice, we can't let the fact that we know anything slip," she countered. "Besides, if he isn't the Sith, we'll need his help in the coming war."
"Just be careful with Marka," Mical warned. "Regardless of what he is now, he was once the apprentice of a Sith Master. There is still a dark taint in him, which I believe will never truly leave. While he may be helping us now, just remember that he does so for his own reasons, not for any love of the Republic or the Jedi. And though he looks it, he is not Revan."
Then he stalked off, leaving an open-mouthed and bewildered Bastila in his wake.
--
Alderon, Jedi Academy
Kaya walked through the grounds, carrying her half-sleeping daughter, watching the various training groups. Tomorrow they would be assigned to their new academies, where they would be sent in less than a week's time when the Alderon academy was disbanded. Already most of them were beginning to pack their few belongs, for if there was any sign of nearby attacks they would have to evacuate immediately.
The entire Jedi order thought that Korgul was behind the attack; only Kaya knew the truth. She was the one responsible, she had killed all those people. She had used the Force to make sure Marka wouldn't wake up and sense what she was doing through the bond, and flown to nearly the other side of the planet, dressed in black. She made sure to have a vibroblade to make sword wounds in the bodies and a powerful stealth-generator, in addition to her double-bladed lightsaber. This was because Korgul was known to use a blade, be invisible and take the heads of his intended victims. Kaya had only had thirteen targets, all of them shady businessmen, criminal lords and gang bosses whose actions in the future would compromise the Republic. All of the other losses were guards, lackeys, clients and people who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. More than half the deaths had happened at one point when she had almost been caught, and had been forced to use the Force to create enough mayhem to escape, while making it look like an explosion.
Kaya tried to not blame herself for the murders. It had been the only way she had seen in the visions to get the Jedi to move their academies to safer locations fast enough. And the death of her targets would help the Republic's cause. But she couldn't stop playing the faces of those who were innocent through her minds eye. Yesterday she had only killed three in her entire life, and only in self-defence. Today she was responsible for the deaths of ninety-one more. She had felt every one of their lives go to the Force. Three of them had been little children.
The infant made a small noise, brushing her undeveloped mind Kaya easily discerned that she was hungry. She sat down on the grass and exposed a breast for her. Belaya dug into it greedily; Kaya winced as her nipple was bitten by currently toothless gum. Wait until she grows some teeth, she thought, and shuddered.
The worst part was that Kaya knew that this was this was just the beginning. She would do far, far worse before the end. Yet again she wondered if she could go through with it, but a glance down at Belaya, suckling contentedly, was enough to dispel her doubts. Even if she did not know if this future would hold hope, she knew for certain that the other paths had all led to defeat and death. And in that scenario there would be infinitely more deaths than there would be even if she killed madly for the rest of her life.
Marka came running into view, a long practice staff in his hands, his two padawan apprentices armed similarly and in hot pursuit. Kaya had seen the dark-skinned Miraluka before, but had never spoken to him and did not know his name. The towering blonde woman she hadn't met. Marka had taken her up shortly after their last meeting two months ago. Kaya wasn't jealous; she knew Marka would never cheat on her as long as he knew she lived. On the field Marka had turned to face them, the dull clash of the weapons sounding across the grounds, as well as the padawan's excited shouts and curses. Marka said nothing, except to instruct. As always, he fought cold. In Kaya's arms Belaya stopped drinking, and started making small mewing sounds. Plainly she was distressed by all the commotion.
Kaya got up to leave. At that point the tall, woman padawan managed to lock blades with Marka, while the Miraluka tackled him down. The women then jumped on top of them and the three rolled down the shallow hill to land in a jumbled heap in a small, muddy stream. Their laughter was infectious. Kaya found herself laughing until tears ran down her cheeks. She had needed a good laugh badly.
As Marka got up, somehow using the Force to dry his robes, Kaya saw him looking at her intently. With long strides he reached her, and was kissing her passionately almost before she registered that he was in front of her. He broke away seconds later, leaving her breathless. She reached up with her free hand and brushed the grass out of his hair. He was smiling, that same smile that he given her when they had first kissed, on that perfect Sedan night. Kaya thought her heart might burst. He only ever smiled like this for her.
"And what's this, who do we have here?" he exclaimed in mock-surprise. He took the bundle that contained Belaya from Kaya carefully, and smiled again, giving the same smile. Kaya felt a sudden pang of irrational jealousy, which she immediately chastised herself about. There was nothing wrong with Marka smiling at their daughter, but at some level she had felt ownership of that smile. Now there were two with a claim to it.
Marka's padawans crowded around to get a better look, clearly intrigued by the infant who was only two days old, commenting excitedly on how tiny she was. Marka held Belaya up to get a better look at her, she reached out a tiny hand and tried to grab his nose, which was just out of her reach.
"She knows her daddy," said the blonde woman, giving Kaya a half wink. She really needed to find out her name, and the Miraluka's while she was at it.
"She'll be a fearsome Jedi when she grows up," Marka laughed. Rather than cheering her though, Marka's comment made ice grip Kaya's heart. She had to discipline her face to keep it from slipping, and blocked her bond with Marka. Fortunately he was too absorbed with their daughter to notice.
Kaya knew that their daughter's future was far from secure, as was their own. Once again she resolved to do whatever it took. But that would mean that she and Marka could only have until they evacuated the academy together, and then she would have to leave him, and convince him that she was gone for good. The thought wrenched her insides, she knew exactly what he would end up doing to dull the pain of loss. She looked at Marka's happy face, he would soon be at least as devastated as she was feeling. And he would need to be, he would need to be totally submerged in pain and anger if he was to survive. Even if she was able to reveal one day to him the reasons why she had done what she was going to do, he would probably not forgive and come back to her. Probably he would have another woman by then. Kaya was losing him, in order to save him.
She would just have to make the most of their last days together.
--
Telos Polar Regions, Jedi Academy
The first few days at the academy were both tiring and stressful for Orrin. It was much like starting over all over again his military career, only many times harder. Not only did he have to learn his way around the academy and learn a whole new set of names, they were expected to reach a level of fitness that rivalled that of professional athletes. Strength training was a bit easier in that they were only expected to push themselves as much as they could, but they were advised strongly to build it as much as they possibly could, as their lives would probably depend on it. Orrin took that advice especially to heart. He knew from the Jedi's reaction when they had recruited him that his Force-sensitivity level had been borderline – he had only just been strong enough to merit training. If he could not be strong in the Force he would have to compensate with physical strength. He seemed to go to bed every night with aching muscles, smothered in cream so that they would be right by the morning. His bed was starting to smell of muscle-cream.
Orrin and Gerald had become close during their time together. Not only were they roommates, but they shared a class. Gerald had become almost a substitute for his brother Eric, their relationship was very similar. They were always together, so much so that another student joked about them being 'joined at the hip'. They never spoke of their friendship, but they were always there for each other. And they would always involve themselves in whatever the other was doing.
Most of the ex-military academy students had been split up, but there were two more of them in their class. They were taken by a knight named Dustil Onasi, a young man who would have been good-looking if it were not for the perpetual scowl that adorned his face. He was well known for his moods, as dark as his hair and eyes, as well as an often-volatile temper; which Orrin and Gerald had felt from day one. He obviously considered them a nuisance, and was far more concerned about getting himself ready for the coming war. Dustil had trained himself to the peak of fitness and strength, and saw no reason why they shouldn't be there as well. Often he pushed them far harder than they could manage, and then got angry with those who couldn't cope. Once, when one of the students suggested politely that he was pushing them too hard he exploded into a fit of rage. He grabbed him by the front of his robes and lifted him high with one hand, no mean feat considering that the other was at least as heavy as him. He might have done him serious harm if some of the other trainers had not rushed over and forcibly restrained him before calming him down. The incident hadn't changed anything though, he was still their trainer, Orrin suspected it was because there was nobody else who was free to take them.
Word from the local grapevine was that Dustil had lost his wife during the now-famous Rescue of O'Dus. He had gained the respect and gratitude of all the ex-Sith as a result, and they watched out for him, getting him out of trouble that he invariably got himself into with his hot head. He nursed a great hatred for the true Sith, and seemed to live only out of a will to kill them. He even disliked the ex-Sith who watched out for him. Still, Orrin had to admit that he had learned a lot from the crazy Jedi, already he had begun to feel the Force and his fitness level was improving. The Shii-cho lightsaber form Orrin had mastered with ease, it was very similar to the swordplay that he had already mastered during his advanced military training. With lightsaber forms though there was far more to learn.
Today, as they stood in front of their master, there seemed to be an air of contentment about him. Orrin wasn't certain if he was feeling through the Force or natural intuition, but Dustil looked like one who was about to announce that he had been elected Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.
"Looks as though he's worked out a new schedule to work us even harder," Gerald muttered in his ear. Orrin groaned.
"Initiates, you will be pleased to know that as of tomorrow, I will no longer be serving as your trainer," Dustil said, and suddenly the class which had been staring dully at him – wondering what stunts he would be pulling on them today – perked up and started smiling and chatting excitedly between each other. Dustil scowled, and continued, "I understand that I have not been the easiest master to be under," ('the understatement of the millennia,' thought Orrin) "…but I can promise you that no proper master will work you any less. You are here to learn to kill Sith, and you'd better learn it well, otherwise they will kill you."
He took a deep breath and continued, "As for myself, I have been recognised for my skills as one of the most powerful Jedi in the Republic. I am being taken to a specialised training camp to train under Master Ramon in the greatest form. There I will learn to be stronger, faster, more deadly, more powerful, a KILLER." A mad glint had lit up his eyes and his voice had gained more and more power until he was all but shouting. Those nearest to him began backing away, their eyes fearful. Dustil must have realised that he was frightening them, for he moderated his tone and said, "Lets get to today's classes, shall we."
The days exercises were no less difficult than usual, but at least their master seemed either more relaxed or somewhere else for most of the day, so there were no incidents; which was a first. At the end of the day, Dustil called them all together.
"Tonight I leave, tomorrow you will meet your new trainer. She's only just arrived from off world, and she's only just been promoted to padawan. But don't think that means she will be taking it easy on you. Work hard in your studies, may the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you too, master," they chanted respectfully, mainly because they still feared his temper. He dismissed them and Orrin was elated. They were finally free of that madman. Hopefully their next trainer would be at least halfway sane.
--
Alderon, Jedi Academy
There was a saying on Alderon, 'you can never fully appreciate what you've got, until it's gone.' Kaya Cabanic though was fully aware of everything that she had, because she knew that she was just about to lose it. For the last few days she had been fully appreciating everything that she had, her daughter, her position in the Jedi, her friends. And; above everything else, Marka, her husband.
At around midnight Bastila would be arriving. She would have arrived in the afternoon but had had to take a detour due to her hyperspace route being blocked by a stubborn asteroid, or so she had said. The next morning they would begin the evacuation sequence, and Marka would be leaving with his padawans, Bastila and her padawans to supervise the setting up of the new academies; while conducting training the whole time. Kaya would be leaving on her personal mission, and would probably never see him again. Once again she was tempted to stray from the path she had set; she consoled herself in the knowledge that it was the only way she knew that would give him a chance of living.
Kaya walked out into the veranda of her quarters in a light shift, staring out into the sky. The sun was going down, splashing colour all over the sky. The vivid colours reminded her sharply of when Marka had proposed to her. She smiled as she had remembered the tension they had been under then, with the constant threat of discovery mingled with a fear for their lives. It seemed like nothing compared to the tension now, with the whole Republic riding on their shoulders. Chiefly Marka's, it was true. But although he was the most capable man she had ever met, she knew what they were up against. She had felt the awesome powers of Marka's old master, it had been like a beacon when he had been around, terrifying her. Even though Marka had strengthened noticeably since his conversion to the light side, not that he had ever been a true dark side follower to begin with, he still fell short of that level. And even if he could match the Sith Masters one on one, there were seven of them and one of him. Each one had an apprentice or two of similar power, and Force knew how powerful the Dark Lord and his apprentice were to keep them in check. Everything she knew about the true Sith and their empire seemed to stack the odds further against the Jedi and the Republic.
Marka was behind her, she could sense him through their bond – the bond that had been forged when he had first touched her with the Force, very much unintentionally. She heard his heavy steps as he came up behind and wrapped his arms around her, holding her middle tightly as he started kissing the nape of her neck. He was wet and still steaming hot from the refresher. She could feel his every contour; absently she moved a hand to his lower thighs to make sure that he was actually wearing something. He was, the skin-tight black pants that had given him a reputation on the Coruscant academy. Kaya smiled as she remembered the incident.
While Marka had been on Coruscant and reviewing the academy, he had drawn up such a substantial list of things to be improved and changed that many of the masters there had taken offence. One of them was an Echani grandmaster, considered by many to be the greatest unarmed fighter in the galaxy. He had, probably at Astin Lamar's urging, challenged Marka to a duel; Echani style. While the grandmaster had worn a pair of discreet shorts and a vest, Marka had taken the 'no clothes' rule to heart and appeared in nothing but the black skin-tight pants that he was wearing now. With his perfectly toned body, and the pants that revealed absolutely everything, he had caught the eye of every woman who had watched that day, and possibly some of the men. He had also infuriated Kaya, who still felt that the sight of him belonged primarily to her. The fight that followed had been an awesome display of Sith Martial combat versus Echani unarmed skills. Marka's huge advantage, though, had been his grafted Mandalorian iron feet, which had quickly done too much damage to the Echani for him to continue; even though Marka had reframed from using his claws. Aside from that the two men would have probably been evenly matched.
Marka now was running his hands over his wife's body. "I seem to remember another sunset," he whispered in her ear. Plainly he was also thinking about the day he had proposed to her, and that thought was making him more inclined towards romance.
Kaya blushed as a group of padawans walked past not too far away. She could feel their eyes on them. Marka did not stop, he seemed utterly oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. One of the women said something to her friend, Kaya could read her lips clearly even from the distance; "I need to get me one of those, one like that!"
"Lets go inside," Kaya suggested, not enjoying the fact that they were being ogled. She led him inside, uncomfortably aware that she was giving them an excellent view of her husbands backside. Even if it was their last night together, he was still hers. She shut the door and screen, pulling down the blinds to the windows. Marka had gone to the other side of the room to do the same thing.
As the light in the room became dim, Kaya looked at her husband, determined to brand his image into her mind. His firm, muscular body; his metallic feet and ankles, even his numerous scars. The largest of those were the Terantatek scratches that dominated the left side of his face, and continued down his chest. He had received those protecting her during the Sedan raid only seven months ago. Seeing them again reminded her sharply of how much he had sacrificed for her and her ideals. If he had not gone over to the Jedi he would likely now be preparing to invade the Republic with the other Sith, secure in his skills and position, matched against opponents that wouldn't stand any chance against him. He had sacrificed that security, his position and hope of advancement, and probably would lose his life in the foreseeable future. Guilt filled Kaya's heart, she didn't deserve this level of commitment from him. He didn't deserve what she was going to do to him.
"It'll only be for a month or so," said Marka. He must have felt her emotions through the bond, and interpreted it as pain at being away from him again, so soon after he had come back.
"I know," she lied, stepping into his inviting embrace. He could never know what she was planning, too many variables in the possible futures would occur then. He might even try to stop her. She just had to be content to have him now. His lips found hers, their breath mingling. She slipped her tongue into his mouth, relishing warmth and slickness of him. His lips curled in a smile as his tongue entwined with hers. They both knew from nearly a year of marriage that kissing like that was the unspoken request.
Marka grabbed the neckline of her shift with both hands, and pulled. The material tore with little resistance to his iron grip, ripping right down to the base and slipping off her shoulders to the floor. Kaya stepped calmly out of it, totally nude, aware and pleased that he was enjoying looking at her. Then his hands were all over her, his lips covering hers, before moving down to her neck. Kaya shivered with pleasure, his hands left her skin warm, his touch was bliss, his tongue was fire on her neck as he moved ever lower; agonisingly slowly. For her own part, her hands were all over him; melding to his shape, glorying in his firm muscles and smooth contours and skin. His cheek touched the side of her neck, she felt an explosion of warmth deep in her chest at the feeling of his slight roughness of stubble against her sensitive skin. She moaned aloud.
He moved lower, taking her breasts in his hands and fondling them before running his tongue over them. Milk dribbled out of them and he paused, obviously not impressed by this new development. Kaya was about to say something, she didn't quite know what to say, it was perfectly natural considering. Before she had a chance he took her torn shift and wiped her dry. Dropping it, he continued kissing and touching her, leaving out her breasts. Kaya breathed in to sigh with dissatisfaction; she had always enjoyed him fondling her there. That sigh became a groan of pleasure as one of his hands ran up the inside of her thigh and settled between her legs.
"When did you learn to do that?" she managed to moan as his fingers moved in her, reduced to puddle by the waves of pleasure that he was inflicting. Her hands were gripping onto fistfuls of his hair.
He looked up at her, "I've had two months to study…" he began to explain, but she was in no mood for such a discussion and pulled his face to where his hand had been. He responded just the way she'd hoped he would, apparently he had also learned new tricks there. Minutes later she was a groaning with pleasure, crying out his name. The world around her dissolved into a sea of black oblivion as she sank to the floor.
She came to moments later. She was in Marka's arms, he was on his knees, carrying her easily just above the floor. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Her whole body was tingling with pleasure; her skin' warmth was only bettered by the heat that seemed to engulf her heart. "I love you," she whispered.
"You came without me," he said, sounding put out. The effect was spoiled somewhat by the huge amount of personal pride she knew he was taking through their bond.
"And it was wonderful," she said, smiling suggestively. She had barely got the words out when he covered her mouth with his, kissing her intently and passionately as he lowered her to the floor. Her desire returned immediately, and she pulled him on top of her. His body melded perfectly to hers, she wrapped her thighs around him and pulled her legs up, catching her toes around the waistline of his pants and yanking them down.
Whatever the future, they would always have this night.