On her way to Onderon, Exile encountered a small speed-bump; in the form of a squadron of Onderonian starfighters. They let loose on the Ebon Hawk without warning. But after attacking other ships awaiting passage and creating a full scale battle zone, Exile and her crew were easily able to slip away unnoticed. Though that was only the start of their problems.
The small moon they had taken refuge on was Dxun, a place Exile wished to forget and leave in the past. By first glance, one saw a pleasant tree covered moon, though soon found out that was not the case. It was a wide-spread forest, covering the entire planet. And it never stopped raining, not once. But Exile saw opportunity, so secluded herself into the forest, loosing herself more quickly then imaginable. Here, she focused and trained in the most primitive of ways. The Force became more then just a tool, but a means of survival, with the elements and wildlife kept her at her best, while also pushing her to her limits. She remained out of contact with the Ebon Hawk, though kept the bond between she and Kreia open as she learned new techniques every day, both the Force and lightsaber.
But before leaving, Atton had told her of his past, a subject she had been pestering him about since leaving Nar Shadaa. Apparently he was an assassin in Revan's grand army, specially trained to eliminate Force-users. But after a woman opened his eyes to the Force, he left, fleeing from world to world for years until finally staying at Peragus. At first she was furious, though soon saw light. Exile re-opened him to the Force, teaching him how to convert pain into power and, using the late Zez-Kai Ell's weapon as a blueprint, crafted him a lightsaber. Then left, telling him to strive and learn on his own.
And three weeks later, a Mandalorian found her.
She killed him, of course, but as days soon turned to weeks, more came searching, and eventually she found herself out gunned and outnumbered.
A prisoner in chains, they took her to their base, where she was met by the leader of them all, Mandalore. Exile offered her services, hoping in exchange for transport nimble enough to slip past the blockade unnoticed, a feat the Ebon Hawk was unable to do. But in the months she stayed, doing chores like repairs, lifting supply crates with the Force, and the other dozens of duties everyone did, she watched how they operated, and how they fought. At night, instead of sleep, she would practice a hand-to-hand or melee technique she saw hours before, perfecting her form until the morning bell rung. Then they finally announced her worthy, and Mandalore himself took her to Onderon.
When she arrived, the city of Izis was under siege, wars raining in the streets. And after cutting through enough people with her blade, Exile was approached by general Valku. At first she resisted his offers, but after his proposal of giving her Kavar, she quickly, though reluctantly, joined him, storming the royal palace and getting inside within minutes.
She was at the front of every wave, running through as many guardsmen and soldiers with her saber as she could. But during the plundering of the east wing, they came across the royal museum, filled with relics from the Sith War and beyond. Exile found herself new clothes, as hers had grown worn, stained, and covered in tares and rips. It was a set of deep black battle-armor, sticking to her frame like a second skin. It was flexible, for the most part, except for the breastplate, made from the strangest metal she had seen. Energy was absorbed like a sponge, though if she grabbed it with her hand, it felt like fine crystal. In its center was a hole made for a specific item, a medallion, she thought, though none of the ones in the museum fit correctly. It even had a cloak attached to the shoulders.
Two doors parted and Exile strode into the throne room, taking a moment to admire it. The high ceilings were shrouded in shadows, with only four wide pillars holding it up. And besides a couple of thrones on the other end of the room, there was nothing but space. A good battle zone, she thought to herself. All around were soldiers from both sides, confronting one another. The room echoed with the ring of steel blades and stung with the odor of blaster fire.
She never broke stride, but when a red bolt of energy passed close to her head, she reached out to each soldier. The battle stopped instantly as soldiers on both sides discarded their weapons and clawed at the hands that grasped their throats. None succeeded. Their faces turned a bright shade of violet as they fell to their knees, and let out a final gasp of breath in unison. Exile released her hold on them, and they slumped to the floor at her feet.
Leaving her alone with the queen.
She stood in front of her throne, her robe-like dress flowing in an unseen breeze. Tallia's face was obscured by her hood; Though Exile would see flashes of her soft skin. The Ex-Jedi stopped and half turned her head back toward the door. "It's clear." she called out, just loud enough to hear.
Behind her, Valku walked through the open door and kept his eyes on Tallia. His usually clean uniform was stained with a series of scars from battle. When he got close enough, Exile could smell the stench of smoke on his clothes. Valku broke contact with Tallia for a moment and looked over at Exile, a small smile on his face. "Beautiful work, my dear." he complimented, touching her shoulder for a second before heading back toward Tallia. She wanted to tell him to not touch her, but held her tongue.
As he got closer, Tallia bent down and picked up a long, elegant double-bladed sword down at her feet, then marched down the short stairs to meet her treacherous cousin.
"Come to reason, Tallia." Valku said, stopping several feet in front of her and drawing his sword from its holster strapped to his back. "Your soldiers are defeated. Your civilians cower in the streets as buildings burn around them. And your fortress has fallen. Do not force me to kill you as well."
"Their blood is on your hands, Valku, not mine." Tallia shot back.
He began shaking his head. "Tallia, Tallia, change can be a painful process. But only when you refuse to allow it to happen, dose chaoses like this ensue." Valku looked her in the eye. "The galaxy needs changing, Tallia. Step aside and let it happen so lives of the innocent can be saved."
She hesitated before answering. "No, I won't. I will not serve in your twisted vision of the future, Valku."
Valku smiled, and then held his sword out in front of him in a two-handed grip. "Very well. You leave me no choice."
Tallia readied her own weapon and the two cousins began circling one another, slowly closing the gap between them. It was no surprise that Valku struck first, attempting to drive his blade into her head, but a simple side-step and she evaded it completely. Watching them battle, it was clear to Exile that Tallia was the senior of the two. Her fighting style mirrored her personality, elegant, dangerous, and so well employed that one would think she had rehearsed this fight her entire life.
With a sideswipe, she easily disarmed him of his sword. Then stepped forward and drove the elongated hilt into his forehead, knocking him to the floor and cracking the hilt down the middle. From what Exile could tell, it wasn't made of wood.
The queen stood atop Valku, and stopped him from getting his sword back, knocking the weapon several feet away with her own. Then raised the sword up above her head, pause, and struck it down toward her cousin. Only to have it stop mid-air.
Confused, Valku looked back and saw Exile leaning against a support, having two fingers extended toward them, not even looking at them. He smiled, and then reached for his sword well out of his grasp and with a little push from Exile, the weapon slid into his hand. Valku did not hesitate. He plunged the blade into Tallia's upper stomach, just under her breasts.
She did not scream, she did not cry, as trails of blood ran down her cousin's blade and to the hilt, staining his gloves in red. He savored the moment, but eventually pulled the sword out and rolled away, allowing Tallia to collapse in his spot. A puddle of red began forming under her.
As a smile crept into the corners of her mouth, a deafening scream came out of nowhere, the sound bouncing off the walls and lingering longer then should have. Exile turned, but only saw a blur blow past her, blowing her ponytail up into her face. Another scream was let loose, though far smaller and weaker then the first. She got her hair out of her eyes to find Valku slamming into the wall on the other end of the throne room and crashing onto the floor and out of her sight. A person sat next to Tallia, cradling her body in their arms. The tails of the cloak that hid them lied in the puddle.
Exile divided her attention between the two, seeing both Valku slowly got to his feet, obviously with a broken leg and even holding his side and the hooded stranger close Tallia's eyes and lay her back down. When he stood though, she knew exactly who it was.
Kavar looked the same as he did all those years ago, minus the few wrinkles on his forehead. His eyes looked down at the queen in grief, an emotion she hadn't seen since she came to him and confessed her love, only to have him shoot her down, saying it was against the code. His clothing had seen better days, covered from head-to-toe in small rips, holes with burnt cloth around their rims, and other rewards of combat. His tunic was relatively protected by a chest plate, though it was riddled with blaster shots. Two lightsabers hung on his belt.
A groan came from the other end of the throne room, bringing both her and Kavar's attention to it. Valku was limping his way from one stone beam to the one closest to the door. Exile didn't need the Force to feel the swelling hatred within Kavar, and didn't even think he would release it as he did. Kavar was charging at him before she could blink, lightsabers already in hand and being thumbed to life.
Hastily, Exile pulled her own saber off her belt and activated the scarlet blade as Kavar was almost to Valku. She reached out and grasped the Jedi Master with her mind and pulled him back, too much actually.
He spun himself around in time to cross his two blades into an X, attempting to decapitate his adversary. But she got her saber in the center on the X and stopped them.
"Remember me?" she asked over their crackling blades.
When his feet touched the floor, she drove her knee into his stomach, just below the chest plate, and used this stunned moment to push him away, watching as his lightsabers fell from his grasp. Exile turned and found Valku not half way from the pillar to the door. "Pick up your shebs and move it!" she shouted, eliciting not much of a reaction.
She turned in an instant at the sound of two lightsaber coming to life. Kavar was already coming at her, sabers raised upright. Exile tried to push him again, but he simply shrugged it off, like a bug on his shoulder.
When he reached her, she had no choice but to fight. Kavar's blades whipped around her in a blur, consuming her vision as she tried to fend him off. Unfortunately, she did not account for him using his body as a weapon. He batted her blade away and threw himself up and forward, driving his knee into her face and
landing behind her before she hit the floor, then proceeded toward Valku.
The former Jedi fought the headache forming in her head, converting her pain into power. She reached out and used the Force to trip up Kavar just before he reached Valku, then tossed him across the room and away from the dictator, slamming him into the farthest pillar.
Exile back flipped herself onto her feet, re-igniting her lightsaber and moving to the center of the room to put herself between Valku and her former love.
Again, Kavar was up fast, activating his own weapons. Feeling the sweat in her palms, Exile supported her saber with a two-handed grip, and then did watch she prayed not to do again. She reached out to Kreia.
What do you want to hear? Her teacher asked through their bond. What style he is employing and its weakness? I tell you this, Exile; there is no weakness, for there is no style. Kavar fights in grief, in anger, as such his mind is clouded from his own knowledge
"What dose that mean?" she murmured
It means you are on your own. And Kreia was gone.
Exile swallowed hard. Kavar's eyes were like daggers, plunging themselves into her soul. She shrugged off the feeling of despair creeping into her mind and focused. But the Jedi Master ran at her, scattering her thoughts before they could. She took an involuntary step back and saw Kavar for what he was at this point; an unstoppable force. But right now, she needed to at least slow him down.
When he was close enough, she dropped, whipping both her leg and lightsaber around. If she couldn't trip him, she would cut him. But Kavar leapt clear of Exile's attempt, continuing past her toward Valku, now getting into the doorway.
There was no chance of reaching Kavar before he killed him, so with little choice at hand, Exile opened herself to the Dark side and allowed it to consume her. She was a black blur as she leapt, stopping short of the ceiling and released her lightsaber. Using the Force, she guided not only her saber, but also queen Tallia's and Valku's swords in grinding through the tops of the pillars. One by one, they broke through stone, while Exile kept tabs on Kavar. He was almost to the door, closer then she liked. So doubled the speed of the blades. When they struck through the last, she called her lightsaber back and unleashed a wave of energy that shook the beams out of their place. Then sent herself soaring toward the door.
Cushioned by the Force, Exile crashed through the doorway just in front of Kavar and cut herself from the Dark side, fearing of its after-effects if used for a prolonged time. The Jedi Master was almost through the doorway, his face telling her that he would not hold back.
So with the last bit of energy she had, Exile pushed Kavar away. She saw two things happen as darkness formed around her vision; Kavar slumped over the throne on the other side of the room, and stone debris falling followed by a large diagonal piece of broken off stone sliding into the doorway. Then she was gone.
When Exile awoke, it was sunset. She found Valku in front of his men, preaching about 'how this day would forever be remembered' and all that garbage. Then, a man holding a mechanical leg ran up to Valku, saying he would need it in order to walk again. Without pause, the newly crowned king told the good doctor he could shove the prosthetic where the light dare not shined. The men laughed and the doctor walked away.
They now stood just beyond the entrance to the palace, Valku staring at his city from where a portion of the wall had been with Exile behind him, almost half asleep.
"At last, it's mine." She heard him whisper to himself.
Behind them, a man who couldn't have been more then twenty and holding a datapad approached, the device shaking in his unstable hands. "My king," Exile could hear the uneasiness in the lads' voice when saying the title. Perhaps he was rooting for Tallia. "We have encountered a dilemma."
Valku turned, eyebrow twitching in annoyance as he did. "Life is a series of dilemma's, boy."
He nodded, not looking Valku in the eye. "Understood sir. But this is one I believe you should hear."
"Very well." The king conceded. He held out his hand, and the young man placed the datapad in his grasp as gently as he could.
"We only found the queen's body in the throne room." The boy said before Valku could eve turn the device on. The statement alone made Exile fully awake.
"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to not let herself slip.
He shrugged. "There's just nobody else under that rumble. We found a little blood that didn't belong to the queen, but that was it."
"It apparently gets worse," Valku stated, looking down at the datapad.
The young man nodded. "A lone fighter was able to break through the blockade and jump to hyperspace before we could track it." He informed.
Exile's blood boiled in her vanes. She reached out, hoping to find no trace of Kavar. But still felt him faintly, a flickering light in the galaxy. Her teeth gritted against each other as anger found its way to the surface, with no way to release it.
So she unhooked her lightsaber and struck down the messenger.
The body wasn't on the ground before she was walking away, heading for the long walkway that leads down to the city itself. She heard Valku oppose to her actions, but she ignored him. Passing by the largest area on the walkway and side-stepping in-between two large craters and her mind began to roam. The first question was how did Kavar survive, but she forced it away. The true question was where was he going?
He was probably injured, possibly fatal. And in this day and age, few would help a Jedi. So where would, no, could go?
Simple. Where dose the wounded Kath Hound run to first? Kreia's voice asked, though not sure if it was through their bond or not.
Exile smiled, and answered the question aloud. "He would go home."