Return of the Sith

by SithMasterJosh

Book 2 of the New Empire Trilogy, the story continues as Darth Arisin and his sister, Emperor's Hand Leia Organa, expand their powers and realize that the war may be over, but conflict will never die.

5. Valley of the Jedi

Chapter 5: Valley of the Jedi

Jedi Master Qu Rahn sat cross-legged in his quarters, listening to the quiet hum of the hyperdrive engines aboard his ship, the Klendathu. He was deep in meditation, his thoughts focusing on the coming maelstrom. He knew he was heading into a battle the likes of which he had never known. Escaping his squad of clones on Sluis Van had been easy. What he was about to face was something else entirely.

For years he'd been searching for the fabled Valley of the Jedi at the insistence of Master Yoda, whom he'd discovered in exile on the far-flung swamp world of Dagobah. Several years ago, a vision had led him to a man, a simple farmer on Sulon. This farmer, Morgan Katarn, knew the coordinates of the planet; indeed, he knew the very location of the Valley. But he refused to disclose it to the Jedi. The two had become friends and had remained close until Morgan's death at the hand of a former Jedi Master, called Jerec, who had turned to the Dark Side. Despite their friendly relationship, Morgan had never revealed the location of the Valley. He had always said that it was too dangerous a secret to risk falling in the wrong hands. He vowed that the secret would die with him. And up until very recently, Master Rahn feared that it had. That is, of course, until he'd gotten a most curious message.

"I am in the Imperial Palace," it had read. He still wasn't sure how it had found him. "Kyle Katarn is Palpatine's prisoner. He knows the location of the Valley of the Jedi."

He'd reread the message over and over again, sure it was a hoax. His better judgment told him not to trust it, but he couldn't help feeling his hope begin to rise. Could it be? he'd wondered. After all these years, could it really be true? The Force revealed no deceit behind the message. Whoever this was, they were either incredibly skilled at manipulating the Force or they truly believed they were telling the truth. For a long while, it was all that he thought about. The Valley had eluded him for so long and now, he was one step closer to finding it, long after he had given up hope of ever divining its location. Days later, however, his whole world came crashing down as his worst fears we realized.

"Palpatine knows."

Those two words had burned themselves into his memory. He read the short message so many times he wondered if it might not wipe off the screen entirely. He felt despair unlike anything he'd ever experienced, greater even than the execution of the Jedi at the end of the Clone Wars. If Palpatine knew the location of the Jedi then all was lost. The Emperor was the most powerful Sith Master in thousands of years, perhaps ever. And with Anakin Skywalker's son at his side…they would be unstoppable.

But just when he thought the galaxy was about to topple into Darkness forever, his ship's comm screen flashed an urgent message. It read, "I am escaping with Kyle Katarn within the hour." A set of coordinates appeared on the screen with no need for explanation. It was the Valley. And it was on Ruusan.

Of course! It was the site of the Seventh Battle, a place where hundreds of Jedi and Sith alike were all killed in one massive burst of Force energy. That sort of event left the Force traumatized, scarring it. In the case of the Valley, it had, like a singularity, sucked in all the Force power of those who died and held it indefinitely in one spot: the Nexus. Anyone who could harness the power of the Nexus would be unstoppable. He had to get there first and find some way of releasing that energy before the Sith could use it to further corrupt the Force with the Dark Side.

Master Rahn had been hiding for years on Bestine IV, a little-known aquatic world, ironically the homeworld of the first settlers on Tatooine. Indeed, Tatooine's capital city was called Bestine in honor of this world, which was, in its own way, just as desolate and inhospitable. It was far removed from most of civilization, several days at least from Ruusan. However, with a little help from the Force, he might just get there in time. Timing was critical. He needed to get there with ample time to free the trapped energies. He had no idea how powerful this new Skywalker was, but if he was even half as powerful as his father was, Rahn knew he would be outmatched. Moreover, if the Emperor himself were there…He'd rather not think about that. He knew the Emperor would be sending his fastest ships to secure the planet. This was going to be close.

The Klendathu's intercom sprang to life, jarring Rahn out of his meditation.

"Exiting hyperspace around Ruusan in approximately forty seconds, sir." The voice was that of Qu Rahn's droid companion, and only friend, N8-G7, or "Nate" for short. Nate was a reworked ZED Police Droid who was worth his weight in aurordium ore.

Rahn lazily opened his brown eyes and looked at the chrono on the wall. Excellent timing. He only hoped it was fast enough.

"On my way, Nate," he said in a naturally powerful voice. He stood and brushed the wrinkles out of his Jedi robe. They smelled a bit musty, having been stored away for the better part of twenty years. Like the lightsaber at his hip, they had been kept hidden to conceal his identity. They hadn't seen duty since the Clone Wars. Nevertheless, he feared that by the end of this, they would have seen a fair share more.

---

"Your power is impressive, Lord Arisin." Kas'im stood, arms crossed, watching his first pupil in over a thousand years with awe in his eyes. "You say you've had no formal saber training?" The rate at which the young Sith was mastering each form was astonishing. It had been just two days since they left Lehon for Ruusan but already he was showing proficiency in the first four of the seven forms. Kas'im had to admit that Arisin's own personalized non-form was impressive in its own right. As a blademaster, he knew that sometimes a fighter's personal style could out-match a master of any of the seven traditional forms.

"Thank you, Master Kas'im," Arisin said. "I was without a master for several years," he explained. "My training has been somewhat unorthodox." As he spoke, he executed a flawless and beautiful Makashi combination.

"Your execution of the seven forms is unique," the Twi'lek Sith Lord commented. "I notice that maneuvers ordinarily awkward for most are beautifully carried through." Kas'im stopped him for a moment. "Which is your dominant hand? I'm having trouble determining it."

Arisin smile as he plowed through a Djem So flourish, changing forms mid-move to finish in Ataru.

"I am naturally left-handed but began my training right-handed," Arisin told him.

Kas'im raised an eyebrow. "I see."

"The Emperor says that ambidexterity is an enormous advantage."

"Indeed, it is," Kas'im confirmed. "Lightsaber defense will be different depending on which hand your opponent uses more dominantly. If they switch hands frequently throughout the battle, you will have a very difficult time deflecting their blows. Pairing that with this ability you have to change styles so quickly and fluidly and you undermine your opponent's strategy and potentially take the victory."

"Do you foresee many lightsaber battles in my future, Master Kas'im?" Arisin asked with a touch of eagerness.

The blademaster gave an amused grin but his tone rang a touch more serious. "You can never be certain of anything," he said wisely. "The Jedi may be gone, but their light will never be extinguished. There will always be those who take up the blade against the Sith. Would you rather have the knowledge and never have to use it or find yourself confronted by a master swordsman and wishing you had taken the time to learn?"

"Wise words, Master Kas'im," Arisin said. "I of course choose the path of knowledge. Knowledge is power, is it not?"

Kas'im gave a microscopic nod. "Indeed." He uncrossed his arms. "Believe me, those words come from experience. Bane did not best me with the saber."

Arisin deactivated his blade with a descending hissss and clipped it back to his belt. "How did you die?" he inquired. "I found you buried in rubble. I was able to glean from your lightsabers that there had been a great battle."

Kas'im nodded. "It was. Bane fought furiously. But despite his considerable skill, I was still superior. I had taught him everything he knew, but not everything I knew. However," he said with a sigh, "I concede that his knowledge and strength in the Force far surpassed my own. He knew the temple layout and directed us towards the entrance. I used the Force to shove him outside. It would have stunned anyone else. He retaliated with a powerful burst of his own. That in itself would have killed me had I not managed to shield myself. But the impact did to the stone what it could have done to me. The entire entrance collapsed on top of me. I died almost instantly.

"You see, even though I was greater with the blade," he instructed, "he still had the advantage."

Arisin nodded. "You once told him that a skilled blademaster could overcome someone stronger in the Force," the younger Sith pointed out.

Kas'im bared his sharp teeth in what could have been a grin or a sneer.

"I did, yes," Kas'im admitted, "But while my mastery of the blade surpassed his mastery of the Force, his greater knowledge of his surroundings gave him the advantage. In close quarters, I would have killed him. He couldn't risk offensive Force powers without bringing the temple down on himself, too. So he used his advantage to lead us to where he could use the Force safely."

Arisin had sat down and was listening intently. "So what would you say was your downfall? What would you do differently?"

The Twi'lek Sith Lord thought on it a moment before answering. "I suppose it was my overwhelming confidence that my abilities were enough to secure a win. There was no doubt in my mind that I would win. I hadn't even considered his considerable skills in the art of subtle manipulation. If I had to do it again, I believe I would be more wary of my surroundings. Ignorance is death. As is overconfidence."

"Overconfidence," Arisin said with a bemused laugh. "I once told Master Sidious that overconfidence would be his downfall."

Kas'im sighed. "Regrettably, it has been the downfall of a great many Sith over the centuries."

"So," Arisin began, "the lesson would be to never allow yourself to be too confident."

Kas'im shook his head. "No, the lesson is to never underestimate your opponent," he corrected. "No matter how you envision the battle turning out, it can always change. Never celebrate victory until your enemy lies dead at your feet."

Arisin nodded in understanding, soaking up the priceless advice he was receiving.

"You're very wise, Kas'im. The sort of wisdom that transcends generations."

Kas'im bowed in humble thanks, his lekku swinging free of their resting places. "You have much wisdom yourself, Lord Arisin. Wisdom far beyond your years." He added, "And you didn't have to die first in order to gain it."

"I attribute that to my master," Arisin told him. "He has allowed me free access to the greatest knowledge in the galaxy."

"He must trust you a great deal, then," Kas'im said carefully. "To trust you with such knowledge, I mean."

Darth Arisin nodded. "He has no reason not to. My ambitions don't involve usurping his throne. What I desire he gives freely. He's been more of a father to me these last few months than anyone has my whole life. He doesn't lie to me, he doesn't hold me back. He is allowing me to become everything I can be." He shrugged. "Besides, since he doesn't hold me back, what would be the advantage to killing him? I certainly don't know how to run a galaxy. If anything, killing him would burden me with responsibilities I don't want."

Kas'im nodded. "A valid point." A long pause followed; the rhythmic pulsing of the hyperdrive engines thrummed through the ship. Finally, Kas'im spoke again. "Let's continue your training, shall we?"

Lord Arisin nodded and ignited his blade.

---

Darth Sidious gnashed his teeth in anger, his eyes betraying the murder in his heart. He was through playing games with Katarn. This time he would die and he would stay dead. Sidious saw no point in keeping the Rebel alive any longer. He had already proven that he would never turn to the Dark Side and become a Hand.

Sidious' eyes softened some when they fell upon the object he held gingerly in his hands. He traced his old weathered fingers gently over its smooth lines, feeling the cool metal against his skin. Lifting it up, comforted by its familiar weight, he inspected it. One side of it was scratched and dinted from a long fall, a battle scar from long ago. Its graceful lines and polished finish were otherwise unmarred. He held a hand to his face, likewise scarred in that momentous battle. It was as if he and his weapon had been symbiotic partners, whatever happened to one happened to the other. He studied his reflection in the polished electrum and phrik alloy. The juxtaposition of the silver and gold metals, worked into a soft organic design, made it a weapon as beautiful as it was deadly, a true piece of art.

He viewed the lightsaber as he would an old friend. Though rarely used, it was as much a part of him as the Force. It was an extension of his will, of his very body. He had several identical spares in various locations around Coruscant, but the one he held had special meaning to him. It was the first built with that design. It had been constructed on Korriban following the death of his Master. It was present at the fall of the Jedi Order. This weapon had history. And it was about to make some more.

"You shall see service once more," he whispered to it, infusing it with his anticipation. Jedi blood would soon be spilled once again.

---

Kyle still couldn't believe that a lone astromech droid had managed to break him out of his cell in the Imperial Palace. Though, if the stories the little droid had told him were to be believed, this harrowing rescue was far from his greatest feat.

Luke Skywalker's droid was known throughout the Alliance for its unparalleled bravery and ingenuity, but even with its reputation preceding it, Katarn could scarcely believe the fantastic tales he'd been told: from dangerous Clone Wars missions with his former master, Darth Vader himself, to the infamous "rescue" mission above Coruscant to save the soon-to-be Emperor Palpatine from the CIS. If it was to be believed, this droid had seen more action than many GAR platoons had.

He shook his head. He'd never known a droid to exaggerate before. And he'd certainly never found one capable of lying. If it was all true, he couldn't imagine a better partner on this mission.

---

A little light flashed on the hyperdrive console, followed by a beeping alert. The ship dropped out of light-speed. They had arrived.

Mara swung the bow of the Jade Sabre around one hundred and eighty degrees to starboard and landed the ship with just the slightest of jolts. Rain lashed at the hull, generating a steady, dull roar.

The fiery haired Emperor's Hand flipped the comm switch. "We're here, Princess. You ready to kill us a Zeltron?"

"That's an affirmative," Leia answered back. "We're all ready back here."

Mara stood and made her way back to the main cabin. She saw the two Noghri inspecting their vicious curved blades. Leia emerged from the 'fresher and met Mara's gaze.

"It's raining like springtime on Kamino out there," Mara commented. "Fortunately, sensors show the storm'll pass in a few hours." She sighed. "Unfortunately, that's about all our sensors show. The terrain for hundreds of kilometers is laced with high concentrations of xeroite. A hundred creds say that's why Breyac chose this site in the first place." She shook her head, her red hair bouncing with the movement. "Looks like we're doing this the old-fashioned way."

"Wonderful," Leia breathed, giving a long sigh. "Is it just me or does it seem like we're almost not supposed to get this guy?"

"It's not just you, Princess," Mara admitted. "It officially feels like something is conspiring against us. Breyac is one lucky barve, I'll give him that."

Leia gave Mara a tired look. "I wonder what the Force has in store for us next."

Mara shrugged. "Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. We're not exactly amateurs here, you know."

Leia rubbed her head. "Does something feel odd to you?" she asked. "This whole area…it tingles."

"Now that you mention it…,"Mara started. "A lot of Jedi and Sith died here. That sort of thing leaves a psychic imprint for a long time."

Leia shook her head. "It doesn't feel like death. It feels like…," she thought about it a moment, choosing her words carefully, "…like power. Raw, pulsating, living power. Can't you feel it?"

Mara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, stretching out with the Force. Suddenly she let out a little gasp.

"Stars' End!" she exclaimed. "I see what you mean! That's incredible. The only time I've ever felt that much power concentrated in one place was in the presence of the Emperor."

"It couldn't be a person, could it?" Leia asked. "It doesn't feel coherent enough to be a person."

"I don't know," Mara said with a shrug. "All I know is it's big."

"I know it's not our mission, but I'd like to find out what it is if we can," Leia said. "At the very least make a note of it for the Emp—"

Mara's face suddenly adopted a curious expression that made Leia stop mid-word. "What are you doing?"

"Huh," Mara said, looking very confused. "I think the Emperor already knows," she said slowly.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because," Mara said, perplexed, "the Emperor is on his way."

Leia cocked her head to the side. "Oh. Huh."

"Yeah," Mara said. "Ditto."

"So I guess we just wait, then? Does he know we're here, too?" Leia asked.

Mara nodded. "He does now. Get this: he's coming here for the Valley of the Jedi."

Leia wrinkled her brow. "Okay, history buff, what's the Valley of the Jedi?"

Mara proceeded to explain the legend.

"Well," Leia said once Jade had finished, "it would certainly explain that power we felt."

"Yeah, it would." Mara shook her head. "Something just feels off, though."

"How do you mean?"

"Well think about it. The Emperor discovers the Valley on a planet almost no one remembers and even fewer can actually get to. What's the rush?"

Leia shrugged. "I don't know. You think someone else is after it, too?"

"But who?" Mara asked. "I mean, who else has use for it?"

"A Jedi might," Leia offered. "Or at the very least, someone who knows its potential who doesn't want Palpatine getting control of it."

As much as she hated to admit it, Leia's theory had merit.

"You think the vigo knows about it?" Leia asked.

"No," Mara shook her fiery mane. "I doubt it. I think he picked Ruusan for its remoteness, not its history. He's not a Force-sensitive. What use would he have for the Valley?"

Leia nodded in agreement. "All the same, maybe we should find him fast."

"Agreed," Mara said, nodding her head. "And I'm thinking we should hold him until the Emperor gets here."

"What? Why?"

Mara shrugged. "I just think after everything the vigo's done, the Emperor would want to deal with Breyac himself. I know I would."

Leia mulled it over a minute. "I guess," she said finally. "But if he's angry, I'm blaming you. But first, we have to find him."

"Right," Mara said. "And, uh," she hesitated, "I think we should use the Noghri."

Leia gave a little scoff. "Oh really? You?"

"Yeah. I figure they could, I don't know, sniff him out or something," Mara said sheepishly. "At this point, we ought to use every advantage we have. I'm tired of this guy getting the best of us."

"How will the Noghri sniff him out in the weather?"

"I don't know," Mara shrugged. "It couldn't hurt to ask, though." She reached over and opened the ship-wide. "Kay and Drey to the cockpit, please."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Leia said, crossing her arms as she sat down.

"Me, too," Mara said as the Noghri filed in. "Alright, guys," she began.

"You need us, Lady Vader?" Kay interrupted.

Leia suppressed a laugh and Mara scoffed.

"Hey, furball, I'm talking to you," Mara snapped, jabbing a thumb at herself.

"We need your help," Leia said.

"We are at your service," said Kay.

"What do you command of us?" Drey asked.

Leia nodded to Mara. "Tell them."

The Noghri shifted their attention to the red-haired woman. "Oh, is it my turn to speak now?" She asked bitterly.

"Mara, just tell them."

Mara sighed. "We need you guys to see if you can track our vigo. Sniff him out. Think you can do it?"

As one, the Noghri turned their heads to look out the viewport at the pouring rain then at each other. "We have tracked under worse conditions," one of them said. "Do you have something of his for us to glean a scent from?"

"Uh," Mara's mouth dropped open and she looked to Leia. "Well," she started, "we never actually touched him. Or were anywhere near him physically."

"And we didn't think to take anything of his with us," Leia added. "He's a Zeltron," she said weakly. "You know, if that helps."

Drey moved like lightning, grabbing a handful of Mara's flame-red hair and inhaling deeply.

"Hey!" Mara cried. "Get your kreffing hands off me!"

Kay approached and grabbed his own handful of Mara's hair, likewise giving it a big sniff.

Mara looked at Leia. "A little help here!"

Leia gave Mara a sympathetic look but said, "I think this is part of the process."

"You recently ingested Corellian fire whiskey," Kay said.

Drey shook his head. "Imitation."

"What?" Mara yelled. "I paid ten creds for that!" She growled. "Now I'm steamed!"

Leia rolled her eyes. "Mara, focus!"

Mara shot her a venomous look. "You try focusing when you've got two Noghri nesting in your hair." She turned her head to try to look at Drey. "So…are we finding anything, boys, or are you just trying to make an already bad day worse? Did the Princess put you up to this?"

"There may be something there," Drey said. "Very faint. We can make no promises in this rain."

"But if we are near," Kay said, "we may be able to track him."

"There is a faint chemical odor here," Drey said, sniffing the hair again. "I have smelled this before." He motioned for Kay to sniff again.

Kay nodded. "Yes, I agree. Do you remember the last time our noses were offended by this?"

"Hey!" Mara yelled, feeling insulted. "So I haven't had a chance to wash up in a few days! I have other priorities!"

"I don't think it's you, Mara," Leia told her.

"Indeed," Drey said. "This is very faint, but unmistakable. The last time we encountered this scent was in the presence of Vigo Breyac." The Noghri released Mara's hair. "I believe it is his hair product."

Mara was rubbing her head where the two Noghri had pulled her hair. "Oh yeah," Mara said as she brushed her hair down. "His hair looked frozen in carbonite. Definite product usage. Can you track it in the rain?"

Drey hesitated. "The chemical will not break down but it still will not be easy."

Leia stood. "Then let's get started."

After several wet, miserable hours, the troupe returned to the ship feeling defeated.

"We are deeply sorry, Lady Vader. We have failed you." Water dripped from Kay's lower jaw onto the Sabre's deck.

Leia put a hand on the Noghri's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, guys. It was a long shot to begin with. Besides, we're probably just in the wrong place. Chances are he didn't hike to his hideout. His scent trail won't cover much ground. We just need to move to a new location and try again."

Mara stood silent, dripping muck on the scuffed cockpit floor, looking absolutely miserable.

"Ready to go, Red?" Leia gave her a faint smile. "Come on, that mudhole wasn't that deep. At least your hair's still red."

Mara swore loudly as she sat at the helm and started the engines. "Just once I'd like you to be the one stepping in it."

"Maybe next time," Leia quipped as she stepped up behind her.

"So where are we supposed to go now?" Mara sighed.

Leia gave her a shrug. "Is there any way to narrow down the search area? He's been here for too long to follow an ion trail so we'll have to use logic."

Mara shook her head, spraying the console with large droplets of water. "There's xeroite veins running through the whole area. It messes with the sensors."

Leia cocked her head to the side. "What if we used that?"

"That's…not a bad idea, Princess."

"We look for what isn't there," Leia said.

"Right," Mara agreed, nodding her head. "He'll probably be near the highest concentration in the area. All we have to do is fly around and look for the areas with the strongest interference."

"At the very least," Leia added, "it'll give our boys somewhere to start sniffing."

"Yeah," Mara said, "sounds like a good plan."

Leia sat herself in the co-pilot's chair as Mara raised the ship and swung it out over the forest, taking it in a wide arc that covered at least four kilometers.

"I'm extending our sensor range," Leia said. "Should make it easier to see the pockets of interference." She adjusted the sensor controls. "I've set the upper limit at ten klicks. Should give us a decent map of the ore deposits in the area."

Mara nodded. "Look at that one," she said, pointing to a large section of static on the screen. "That has to be at least three klicks long. And look at that concentration. It completely blinds the sensors in some places."

Leia checked the rest of the screen. "It's the largest vein in the area," she confirmed. "If I were setting up a safehouse in this area, that's where I'd do it."

The engines of the Jade Sabre roared as Mara punched the throttle. Leia was shoved back in her seat as the inertial damper struggled to compensate for the sudden acceleration.

"You can run, Vigo, but you can't hide," Mara said as she steered the ship toward the huge ore deposit. "We're coming for you."

---

Kyle Katarn looked out the viewport at the mottled blue/green orb floating serenely in space before him: Ruusan. He could scarcely believe such a beautiful sight could harbor such a dark and bloodstained past. A thousand years before, he would have looked out at the same space and seen a very different view.

The planet's upper atmosphere would be full of warships blasting each other into oblivion. Jedi and Sith would be locked in mortal combat in the corridors of boarded ships. Starfighters would be exploding in expanding clouds of vapor and shrapnel.

If he looked at the planet itself, he would see smoke-choked skies as huge swaths of forest burned with the fires ignited by downed ships crashing through the atmosphere into the lush green surface. Smoke would have encircled the world, turning the skies a muddy brown, blotting out the sun for days at a time and choking anyone on the ground with ash and the pungent smell of burned wood. It would be a horrific sight to behold, an even worse one to experience first-hand.

But jump forward a millennium and the debris is gone, the forests have grown back, and the scars have faded. Except for the Valley. In the Valley was a cave, the same cave where Kaan and the Brotherhood of Darkness had lured Hoth and his Jedi to their deaths. Everyone who entered that cave had died, Jedi and Sith alike, so different in life but sharing the same fate in the end. The Force has no bias. It erased them all. And in doing so, it left a scar that even time was powerless to heal. In the cave, on that day, the Force itself was damaged, was torn. That fateful day left behind a nexus of power, a singularity into which all those who died when Kaan's thought-bomb went off were drawn. A single point where the Force power of hundreds of Jedi and Sith consolidated and merged, becoming one. If a person were to tap into that power, that nexus, they could become virtually unstoppable.

Kyle shook his head, trying not to imagine the Emperor getting his hands on such a powerful weapon. He had to get to it before the Sith did.

He turned away to look at his co-pilot. "Any other ships in the system?"

The little astrodroid gave a string of twittles, which scrolled across the screen in Basic: NONE. HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF XEROITE ORE MAKING SENSOR READINGS UNRELIABLE ON SECTIONS OF THE PLANET'S SURFACE. SOMEONE COULD ALREADY BE THERE AND WE WOULDN'T KNOW.

"Great," Kyle scoffed. "Can you pilot us to the Valley? I need to go make sure I'm armed to the teeth. And then arm those."

Artoo gave an affirmative beep and Kyle made his way into the passenger compartment. The passenger cabin in a Lambda was cramped, which made gearing up difficult. He strapped on heavy body armor over his chest, thighs, and back. He doubled up on the mesh combat suit meant to protect from projectiles and blades.

From an overhead compartment, he retrieved a large disruptor rifle and checked its charge before slinging it over his shoulder. He reached up, took out two blaster pistols, and secured them in their holsters on either hip. Finally, he slipped out a box from beneath one of the passenger seats. Flipping open the lid, he inspected the contents: three fist-sized concussion grenades and a white cylinder with several unmarked buttons running down its length. To a trained eye like his, it was a standard issue Imperial stormtrooper's thermal detonator, usually secured to the armor at the base of the trooper's back. He attached all four explosives to his person, immediately feeling the effect of their added weight on his belt. He looked down at himself; every spare centimeter of him had been dedicated to something lethal. He absently wondered just how that little droid had managed to pull together so much firepower. He must've raided the detention center's lockup.

He leaned his head into the cockpit, his gear preventing him from entering. "Are we almost there?" He glanced out the viewport and saw…exactly what was there before. Ruusan still hung motionless dead ahead right where it was before he left. They hadn't moved at all.

"Hey!" he yelled angrily. "What's going on? Why haven't you taken us down yet?" He leaned forward and squinted to read the scrolling text. "What do you mean we're waiting for someone?"

Artoo answered.

"A Jedi? We're meeting a Jedi? Who?" Artoo twittled again and Kyle watched as the answer typed itself. "A friend of my father's. And just when are we supposed to meet them?"

The shuttle shuddered as lights started flashing on the main console. Kyle heard magnetic clamps sealing over the shuttle's rear access hatch. He spun round and drew the blasters at his hips. Then he ducked behind a row of seats and waited for whoever it was to enter the cabin.

Moments later, a droid Kyle recognized as a ZED police droid came lumbering down the center aisle. As far as Kyle could tell, the droid was unarmed. He stood and drew a bead on the droid's head. "Hold it right there, tinman."

Before he could react, the pistols were ripped from his grip by some unseen force and thrown across the cabin into the rear of the shuttle. A moment later, a dark skinned Human male, perhaps in his mid-fifties, stepped into the cabin holding the blasters by the barrels. He was dressed in simple robes and a lightsaber hung from his modest leather belt. "I believe these are yours," he said, tossing the pistols back to Kyle one at a time. "I'm sorry about that, but I couldn't have you shooting Nate here." The Jedi nodded to the droid.

"You're the Jedi who knew my father?" Kyle asked bluntly.

The Jedi nodded. "Yes, Kyle. My name is Qu Rahn. I met your father many years ago. We were good friends. I miss him a great deal."

"He never mentioned having a Jedi friend," Kyle said, his training and recent experiences with the Emperor's psychic invasion made him suspicious of just about everything.

"You were a stormtrooper. Your kind killed mine. Why should he tell you?" Qu Rahn raised an eyebrow. "Besides, you two had grown apart. You didn't speak very often. Did you tell him of every friend you had?"

"Point taken," Kyle submitted. "Alright, so you knew my father. How did you know we'd be here?"

Artoo rolled into the cabin from the cockpit.

"You would be my mystery contact, I presume," Qu Rahn said, smiling at the little droid.

Kyle scoffed. "Don't bother talking to him. He doesn't speak Basic."

The Jedi Master stepped forward and patted his own droid's shoulder. "But Nate here does. He can interpret for us, can't you, Nate?"

The droid looked quizzically at his master. "Yes, sir. You know I can." It never ceased to amaze Kyle just how much attitude and personality a droid could develop over time. As far as he was concerned, a droid should have its memory wiped every six months to avoid just that. Who needed a vacuum that could talk back?

Qu Rahn just laughed. "You'll have to excuse Nate. We don't interact with other people very often."

"Right," said Kyle, still unsure about them. "So what now?"

"We take the Klendathu down to the surface and hope to get to the nexus before the Emperor."

"And what are we supposed to do once we get there? I mean, I've spent some quality time with the Emperor lately. He could kill us all without breaking a sweat. How are we supposed to defend the Valley against him?"

Qu Rahn shrugged. "I am placing my faith in the Force."

Kyle sighed. "Great."

"You'd do well to trust in the Force yourself, son," the Jedi said. "It's gotten me out of more scrapes than I can count or care to admit. It got your father out of some tough spots, too."

Kyle gritted his teeth. "Yeah," he said, his voice filling with anger, "you wanna know where else it got Dad? It got him killed. Thanks to your Force, a Jedi cut his head off. So you'll forgive me if I trust myself over the Force."

Qu Rahn sighed and shook his head. "Jerec was no longer a Jedi when he killed Morgan. And," he added, "like it or not, it's your Force, too."

Kyle shook his head. "No, I'm doing this for my father and because even I know how bad it would be if the Emperor got his wrinkled hands on this power. But after we're done, I'm done. If we make it through this, I don't want to have anything to do with the Force. I've seen what it can do, felt it, and I don't want it."

"You can't deny your own destiny," the Jedi said angrily. "There are too few of us left. We need everyone with the power if we're to rebuild the Order and destroy the Sith."

"What makes you think you even can?" Kyle argued. "He nearly wiped you out when there were thousands of you. He's more powerful than you can imagine. How many of you are there? A few dozen? A hundred? It's not enough. He'll just laugh as your charred corpses fall at his feet. You'll just make it that much easier to finish the job he started two decades ago."

Qu Rahn stood silently, patiently taking Kyle's outburst. Finally he said, "You must have hope, Kyle."

"Wrong," Kyle said. "Look where hope got us. We placed our hope in a man who conquered his own people. We placed our hope in an Order that was annihilated with the snap of a finger. We placed our hope in a boy who looked to deliver us from the oppression of the Empire only to turn on us in our most critical time. So tell me, Master Jedi, why, after all of that, must I have hope? What has hope gotten me?"

"To give up on hope is to go down without a fight."

Kyle's face reddened with anger. "Go down without a fight?" he roared. "I have been fighting for the last four kreffing years! I have been at war! And you know what? The war is over. We lost! I had hope, Jedi, but it was taken away from me the moment Endor was destroyed and Luke Skywalker sided with the Emperor."

Qu Rahn started to take a step towards Kyle, who just said, "Don't."

"I understand why you've become disheartened," Qu Rahn said. "I think you forget that I, too, was betrayed. Anakin Skywalker was a hero. Despite what many Jedi felt about him, he was. And when he betrayed us, I felt like giving up, too. I felt that if a Jedi as loyal and dedicated to the Order as Anakin could give in to the Dark Side, could murder those whom he considered friends, then all that was worth fighting for was lost. And many surviving Jedi feel that way to this very day. They have given up. But I came to realize that you can never stop fighting for what's right. You are obligated to do everything in your power to end oppression and suffering. If the Force flows through your veins, it is your duty to train as a Jedi."

"No," Kyle said shaking his head. "I'm not obligated to do anything. I've made my contribution. I've shed my blood and my sweat and I have taken lives, thousands of lives, and I lost. So I'm through. I'm cutting my losses and going home. After this, if I survive, I'm done."

"Fine," Qu Rahn said softly. "We need to go now. The Emperor could arrive any minute."

Without another word, they all made their way aboard the Klendathu and descended through the atmosphere toward what could be their end.

---

"We're coming up on Ruusan," Arisin said. The deceased Sith Lord Kas'im stood over his shoulder, watching as the stars reverted to stationary pinpricks. As the shuttle returned to realspace, the planet rushed toward them and stopped dead, filling the entire viewport with its verdant presence.

"Sensors show another ship in orbit," Kas'im said, pointing to the display. "Its configuration looks very similar to this one but with a few variations."

"It's a Lambda," Arisin confirmed. "Someone else is here."

"The vessel seems derelict," Kas'im said, reading off the sensor data. "It has power but appears to be free floating."

"I'm not detecting any lifesigns," Arisin reported. "Whoever came in that shuttle isn't there anymore."

"That would imply a third-party," Kas'im noted.

Arisin nodded. "Sensors pick up an ion trail leading to and from the shuttle and heading planetward. It's fresh, within the half hour judging by the dissipation level."

"Then might I suggest we make haste?"

"Yeah," Arisin agreed. "I think that's a good idea."

The shuttle's engines roared as the ship accelerated toward the planet at a stunning velocity.

"Uh," Kas'im opened his mouth. "Aren't you going in a little hot? You don't even have your shields raised!"

Arisin grinned but didn't answer. Instead, he pushed the throttle even further. Within seconds, the shuttle hit the atmosphere at a blinding speed that would have vaporized any other ship. There was a flash of fire as super compressed air heated up and ignited into a bubble of plasma wrapping the shuttle in a white-hot cocoon. The vessel's aerodynamic profile sliced through the atmosphere like a hot knife through blue butter. The flight cabin rattled with minimal turbulence but the sound of air rushing past the ship was deafening.

Kas'im couldn't believe it. "What is this ship made of?" he asked. "You slammed into the atmosphere hard enough to blast apart our atoms and you did it completely unshielded!"

The ship broke dramatically through the thick cloud cover and into a violent but quickly dispersing thunderstorm. Even over the engines, the sound of rain sizzling on the superheated skin of the shuttle could be heard.

"The hull is constructed from a molecularly strengthened quantum laminate armor," Arisin explained as he piloted toward the Valley. "This ship can withstand a direct shot from the Death Star."

"The what?" Kas'im asked. "What is a Death Star?"

Arisin had to laugh. He kept forgetting Kas'im hadn't been around for a thousand years. "Nevermind that. I'm told the only thing capable of destroying this armor is the extreme gravity of a black hole. And even that is just theoretical."

"So you've created an invincible material and decided the best application for it is the hull of a shuttle?" the Twi'lek asked incredulously.

"Well," Arisin said, "it's the Emperor's shuttle."

"Yes, that makes the application much more responsible than if it were for combat armor or something equally useful." Kas'im didn't bother masking his disdain.

The younger Sith Lord turned around in his seat. "Soldiers are expendable. The Emperor is not."

Kas'im raised an eyebrow. "Fair enough."

Arisin turned back to his screens. "We're about fifty kilometers out from the coordinates I was given. There's some strange interference though. It's messing with long-range scanners." The rain had stopped and the clouds seemed to be dispersing. Ahead of them, sunlight broke through in huge slanting rays.

"Someone is jamming us?" Kas'im said.

"No," Arisin shook his head. "It seems natural. I'm reading xeroite. Lots of it. It's laced throughout the whole area." He sighed. "I won't be able to rely on my instruments for much longer."

"How fortunate that you do not need them," Kas'im said in his teacher voice.

Arisin grinned. "Absolutely."

As Kas'im watched the forest and hills fly below them in a green blur, something suddenly caught his attention. He gasped. "Do you feel that?" he asked. "The power. It's incredible."

Arisin nodded. "It has to be the Valley. We're close now. I can sense it—"

"What is it?"

"Leia," Arisin whispered.

"Leia? Who is Leia?"

"My sister," Arisin answered. "She's here. And she's in trouble."

"What are you going to do, Lord Arisin?" Kas'im inquired cautiously.

Arisin didn't answer right away.

"Darth Arisin, what are your plans for the situation?" Kas'im asked again, this time putting a hard edge on his tone.

"She can handle herself," Arisin said finally. "My priority is the Valley."

Kas'im smiled behind Arisin's back. "Very good. If she is half as powerful as you are, she'll be fine."

"We're twins," Arisin said. "She's an agent of the Emperor. She wouldn't be off Coruscant unless he felt she was ready." Despite his confident words, he couldn't help worrying about her. He knew someone was already here, probably for the Valley. What if it was a Jedi? And what if Leia had run afoul of this Jedi? He shook his head, putting the thoughts out of his mind. He had to trust in her abilities and focus on the task at hand.

---

Mara and Leia were huddled behind a tree stump that was slowly being eaten away by the continuous blaster fire spewing from several defense turrets hidden in the dense forest.

"Well," Mara said, "I think it's safe to say we're close."

"Why? He could have defenses like this spread over the whole area." Leia winced as charred wood rained down on her.

Mara shook her head. "This is a secret facility." When it was clear she wasn't getting her point across, she hastily explained. "Heavy defenses would give away the position of the safehouse. You're wandering through the woods and someone starts firing at you, you know there's something someone doesn't want you to find. Might make you look harder for that something. But the vigo is smarter than that," she said, wincing as a large piece of the tree stump dislodged and fell to the ground. "I'm betting this is his end-game line of defense, meant to kill anything that makes it this far. If I had to guess," she smiled, "I'd say we're literally right on top of him."

Leia looked down at the leaf-strewn ground. "You mean…"

Mara nodded. "Oh, yeah." She reached out with the Force, directing her senses downward. To her satisfaction, less than a meter below them was a very prominent void. Whether natural or artificial she couldn't tell, but there was something down there. She reached onto her belt, unclipped her lightsaber, and activated it, plunging it up to the hilt into the damp soil.

"What the hell are you doing?" Leia yelled over the barrage, startled by Mara's sudden and unexpected action. Kay and Drey watched from behind a nearby rock, looking frustrated that they couldn't assist their clearly distressed mistress.

Mara didn't answer; she was cutting a two-meter wide circle in the forest floor, the wet leaves and dirt sizzling against the blade. The smell of burned rock mixed with the wood smoke pouring from the quickly disappearing tree stump that served as their only protection against the still unseen turret system.

"Whatever you're doing, do it fast! We're running out of cover!" Leia cried out as another section of the stump succumbed to the blaster fire.

"Almost through," Mara said through gritted teeth, struggling to push the magenta blade through the thick soil. With a triumphant yell, she sliced through the last centimeter and the whole thing fell into an open space, followed by a resounding crash. "Alright, Princess. Hop in."

Leia smiled. She couldn't help but to think back to her escape from the first Death Star detention level by blasting a hole in a garbage chute and giving her companions a similar order. Without hesitation, she unclipped her lightsaber and hopped feet first in the hole.

Once Leia had disappeared into the dark, Mara looked across at the Noghri. "Alright, guys. Your turn."

They looked at one another, sharing some silent moment. Then, like two gray blurs, they leapt one after the other across the several meter gap and landed gracefully beside Mara. Like furry gray serpents, they slithered down into the darkness after Leia. Flashing a smirk to no one in particular, Mara lowered herself in and dropped down into the unknown.

---

Palpatine stared back at his reflection in the mirror of the shuttle's small refresher unit. He had shed his usual heavy robes for looser, more practical attire, similar in design to those once favored by his first apprentice, Darth Maul. Made from a light, flowing material, they wouldn't weigh him down in battle or restrict his movement. Against an ordinary foe, the Force was all he needed. But against a potential Jedi Master, he would need to keep his options open. Lord Arisin had once told him that overconfidence was his weakness. Perhaps the boy's words had merit. He wasn't taking any chances, not this close to complete victory.

His hood was lowered, affording him a rare glance at his entire exposed head. His once auburn hair, full and healthy, now lay wispy and white like a thin helmet upon his head. His grotesque face stared back at him pallid and wrinkled, clammy to the touch like some long dead thing. The skin around his eyes was red and swollen and the deep crevices along either side of his mouth gave him a permanent scowl. Thick bulbous growths on his forehead made him look like something inhuman, bloated and ugly. Deep-set eyes stared out from this horribly disfigured face.

The man in the mirror looked old and weak. Except for those eyes. Over the years, they had faded to a sickly watery yellow but over the course of the last few hours, they had flared back to a vibrant gold and blood red, a result of his renewed hatred of the Jedi. He bared his crooked teeth at himself, glaring at his own ruined flesh as fresh anger swelled within him. Just as Obi-Wan Kenobi had cost Lord Vader his body, so had Mace Windu cost Darth Sidious his. There were times when his deformities came as an advantage, but there were others when the face of Palpatine from some old poster, public address, or documentary mocked him, igniting a spark of vanity deep inside of him that would haunt him for days.

He rubbed a hand over his face and for a moment, the skin smoothed; it turned a healthy pink. Even the roots of his hair regained some of their former color. But as soon as it began, it reversed back to its hideous, mutilated state. Sidious scoffed. Something the Jedi did to him that night (or maybe something he'd done to himself) had left him incapable of restoring his appearance for any length of time. He'd tried on many occasions to repair his features, not caring how he would explain his sudden rejuvenation, but to no avail. This was a blemish that just couldn't be covered up. Even surgery couldn't do much for him. So he kept it, sometimes proud to wear it, most times disgusted by it.

He went to raise his hood but stopped himself. If he found his own face that unsettling, it might just do to take that into battle, to use it to set his enemies in an uneasy state from the beginning.

The shuttle landed with a heavy jolt, nearly knocking him off his feet. Allowing himself one last look in the mirror, he checked that his lightsaber was secure in its sleeve holster and set off into the forest to ensure he didn't lose another apprentice to the bloody Jedi.

---

As Mara's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw the two Noghri already busy securing the area, which appeared to be some sort of access tunnel she guessed was used for maintenance. It smelled of mold and wet soil; the floor was damp and slick with algae. It looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"So which way do you think?" Leia asked, stepping into the circle of light shining down through the hole Mara had cut. Above, the turrets had gone still, their targets no longer registering on their sensors.

Mara nodded in a direction. "That way. Towards the turret system. They didn't want us going there so that's exactly where we're going."

"The tunnel is clear for at least one hundred meters in this direction," said one of the Noghri, emerging silently from the dark.

"I report the same for this direction," the other one said, approaching from the opposite end.

"Great," Mara said. "Shall we go?" She grabbed a glowstick from her belt and took the lead. "Princess, stay behind me. Noghri, if you could cover our tails, please."

"Lady Vader?" Kay asked.

Leia nodded. The two aliens took up points behind them, their wicked blades drawn and ready for anything.

"I really wish they'd stop doing that." Mara gave Leia a sour look.

Leia held up her hands in mock defense. "Hey," she said, "you're the one who counted on their undying loyalty to my lineage."

"Doesn't make it any less annoying," Mara muttered under her breath as she continued to lead the way.

Leia smirked. "So how far do you think we are from him? Close?"

"Breyac?" Mara asked. "Yeah, real close. We were never supposed to get this far, hence the desperate overkill turret system up there," she said with a nod upwards. They were passing just under the turrets now, judging by the heavy power cables running along the walls which took abrupt ninety degree turns upwards into the ceiling every several meters.

"He has to know we're here by now."

"Probably," Mara said. "But I'm betting he thinks his little defense grid will be enough to take care of us."

"All the same," Leia said, "we should have a backup plan. He outsmarted us once. Let's not underestimate him again. I really don't want to keep chasing him from one side of the galaxy to the other."

"Already do."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "We already do? May I be let in on it, please?" she asked pointedly.

"I programmed the Sabre to fire on any ship not broadcasting an Imperial transponder," Mara told her. "And the computer knows all Imperial aliases, too, so even a ship traveling incognito should be fine so long as it's on the Imperial register."

"Huh," Leia said. "That's actually kind of clever."

Mara scoffed. "You don't have to sound so surprised. You know, before you came along, I was known to perform the random complex task all by myself. You know, in my service as an Emperor's Hand." Mara added extra inflection on the last two words. "I was doing wetwork when you were still giggling about boys."

Leia sighed. "You're right," she conceded. "I apologize. No offense intended, O Mighty Jade. I was just impressed, that's all."

"Yeah, okay," Mara said with a grumble. "I'm sorry, too. I guess I'm not really used to spontaneous compliments. I'm usually alone and I don't go around patting myself on the back."

Leia laughed. "Well don't get used to it. You probably won't get them very often."

The two women shared an amused glance and continued to trek through the dark, dank tunnel.

---

Qu Rahn stood with his hands on his hips at the base of the Klendathu's boarding ramp, just breathing in the fragrant woody air and the faint scent of ancient history. He could feel an immense power nearby unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Just about everything had a particular "taste" to it, a presence in the Force aligned either Light or Dark, positive or negative, black or white. But this—he could only describe it as gray, the absolute grayest sense he'd ever felt. His only explanation was that so many Jedi and Sith had died together that their Force signatures merged and became amalgamated, cancelling one another out and forming something truly neutral from such polarized components. So much death and so much power concentrated in one place had imbued the entire area with the Force; neither the Light Side nor the Dark Side prevailed, just the Force in its absolute purest form.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled his robes tight against the rain, which luckily seemed to be clearing up by the minute.

"Kyle," he called up into the ship. "We're close. You can feel it. Which means they can, too. We've got to hurry."

Kyle Katarn appeared at the top of the ramp, triple checking his gear before descending with heavy footfalls to the ground.

"So just what is the plan exactly?" he inquired. "You sort of dodged the question before, but now that we're here, what now?" He slid a fully charged powercell into his disruptor rifle. "I mean, we got here first, but if the Sith really want the Valley, what's to stop them from taking it? We can't exactly move it or hide it and we certainly can't defend it against the might of the Empire."

"Palpatine won't bring his soldiers," Qu Rahn said. "This is a matter between Force users."

"Fine," Kyle conceded, "But what about Palpatine himself?"

The old Jedi Master shook his head. "I don't know. All we can do is defend the Valley against him and hope the Force is with us."

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? Please, tell me you're joking. We've got probably the most powerful Sith ever coming for something we have and you're counting on luck to get us through?"

"I don't believe in luck," Qu Rahn said sharply. "In my experience there's no such thing. We must have faith in the Force to guide us. We are all a part of its plan. Our destinies are already written."

Kyle shook his head. "No, Jedi. I've seen a lot in my life, done a lot. And I've seen too much not to believe in the Force. But I refuse to believe that my fate is set. The Force may flow through me, but it doesn't control me."

"Look around you," the Jedi said, extending his arms outwards. "Look at where you are; look at where you were. You have been captured by the Empire, by the Sith. You have been killed and resurrected countless times." Kyle winced. Qu Rahn continued. "You have managed to escape the inescapable. And now you find yourself on a lost planet that no one even remembers, let alone should be able to get to. How do you explain all of this? Luck?" He shook his head. "We are all guided by the Force, you more than most. This is your destiny, Kyle, whether you choose to accept it or not. The Force doesn't need for you to believe in its plan. It just needs you to have faith in its purpose."

"I think we should hurry," Kyle said, quickly changing the subject. Clearly he was getting nowhere with the Jedi and they didn't have time to argue. "No telling when they'll get here." He pulled out a datapad and marched past the Jedi towards the coordinates indicated on his screen. Qu Rahn just sighed and followed close behind, feeling the heavy weight of defeat before the battle had even begun.

---

Darth Arisin trudged through the heavy forest, his deceased companion trailing close behind. So far, they hadn't encountered any indigenous life aside from a few birds here and there. None of the mysterious floating green creatures that were rumored to roam the planet. The cool air was scented with the sweetness of decaying plant matter, made all the more pungent by the recent rain. Of all the places he'd been recently, Ruusan was definitely the nicest. He tried to imagine what it would have been like a thousand years before, with the smoke from dozens of fires thick and stinging in the air.

"We're very near," Kas'im spoke up. "I remember this area. Lord Kaan had scouted it as a potential fallback point." He pointed. "You see that large rocky outcropping through the trees there? That was to be Kaan's base of operations should our camp be overrun."

"I had forgotten that you've been here before," Arisin said, hacking his way through a tangle of thick shrubbery. Then he stopped and turned around. "It suddenly occurs to be that I never asked if you were corporeal or not. How extensive is your ability to interact with solid matter? I only now realized I haven't actually seen you touch anything."

Kas'im bent down and plucked a dead leaf from the forest floor. "It would appear that I can," he said rather triumphantly.

"How about the Force? The Dark Lords on Korriban can still access it," Arisin offered. "I know you can sense it, but can you manipulate it as you could in life?"

"Let us see." The Sith Lord looked down at a large rotting log, half buried in the leaf litter. He squinted his eyes in concentration and the log began to shift, to rock back and forth and wiggle itself free from centuries of soil. After a moment, it stood upright for the first time in hundreds of years, sending insects scrambling for cover now that their home had been uprooted. Kas'im gave a delighted smile. "There!"

"What are you?" Arisin asked.

"I couldn't tell you," Kas'im answered. "But I'd love to know what this means."

"It means you can help." Arisin turned back to the trail he was carving. "Presumably you can't be killed, which is an obvious advantage."

Kas'im started after him. "You mean to use me as blaster fodder?" he exclaimed indignantly.

"A Sith utilizes everything he has at his advantage, does he not?" Arisin counterd.

"Well, yes," the blademaster conceded. "It just isn't very nice." He sighed. "Alright. But if I'm killed again, I'm coming back to haunt you."

"What do you call this?" Arisin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose you make a valid point," Kas'im admitted. "Come, let's not delay this any more. I believe we're very close now."

"Nervous?" Arisin inquired.

"My boy, I am already dead," Kas'im chided. "What in Chaos have I to be nervous about?"

"Well this is where all of your friends died," Arisin pointed out, slashing through a particularly thick low-hanging branch. "And something strange happened to you. You have no way of knowing that whatever's here won't affect you."

"I suppose we shall just have to see," the Sith Lord said. "But in the mean time, I think it's best we hurry. We don't want our rivals getting there first."

Arisin nodded and quickened his pace. He felt the massive pull of the Force. He could find the nexus with his eyes closed now. It reached out to him; it called to him like a beacon. And if the other party included a Jedi, it would be calling to them too.

Before long they arrived at a cave, a gaping maw in the heart of the forest, out of which spilled the purest, most intoxicating power Arisin had ever felt. The power was so great that it very nearly drowned out the presences of two beings somewhere inside. He couldn't determine if they had reached the source of the power yet, but he had to assume they had a significant enough lead that they were a serious threat. He also had to assume that if he could detect them, they could also detect him.

"C'mon," Arisin said, urging Kas'im forward. "You first. They're already inside and we have to assume they'll be prepared for us."

"This must be how Hoth and his Jedi felt," Kas'im muttered bitterly as he took his place ahead of Arisin. "Descending into the unknown, confident in only one thing, that the enemy awaited them and no one would be leaving."

"I appreciate ruminations, Lord Kas'im, but they aren't very helpful." Arisin extinguished his lightsaber but kept it held firmly in his hand, ready to spring into action at any second.

"Apologies, Lord Arisin," said the blademaster. "I didn't mean to unnerve you."

Arisin shot a look at the Sith Lord's back. "That was for making you take point, wasn't it?" He scoffed. "You didn't unnerve me. But I've never faced a Jedi before. I can't afford to be distracted. We can discuss the parallels of our journey to that of those who came before, but after I've survived the mission."

"Lord Arisin, life is a distraction," Kas'im told him in his teacher voice. "But your point is seen and understood. Again, I offer my apologies." After several dozen meters of silence, he spoke up again. "Out of curiosity, how will you handle the Jedi?"

"I managed to defeat my father," Arisin answered quietly. "I'll figure something out."

Kas'im cleared his throat, an odd sort of action for a spirit. "You mean your father, the quadruple amputee with breathing problems and a love for you that prevented him time and time again from destroying you as his master and his duty dictated?" Arisin had explained to the ancient Sith the rise and fall of Darth Vader during the trip from Lehon.

"No," Arisin said defensively, "my father, the Jedi's 'Chosen One' and most powerful Jedi the Order ever saw."

Kas'im scoffed. "Who just happened to be a cripple with a breathing problem and feelings for you which clouded his judgment by the time you got to him. Whatever he may have been, the man you fought was no threat to you no matter how powerful he may have been."

Arisin stopped in his tracks. "What are you doing? Are you deliberately trying to make me angry?"

Kas'im stopped and turned around. "Yes," he said simply.

"Why?" Arisin demanded, blood pumping in his ears. He could feel his face growing hot.

"Because you need to realize something," Kas'im explained. "As powerful as your father may have once been, as many Jedi as he may have killed, he chose not to kill you. You were his son. These Jedi before us have no warm feelings for you. They hate you. They want to kill you. You need to prepare yourself for a battle against foes who will not hold back at the last second."

"I realize that," Arisin snapped.

"Good," the blademaster said. And then, without missing a beat, he said, "Because they're right over there and the one with the blaster leveled at your head looks very angry."

---

There were only a few times in his long life when Darth Sidious could remember feeling anxious; his first day at University, his first public speech, when he sensed the Jedi assassination squad approaching his office, and the moments leading up to the declaration of his New Order. Sidious had always prided himself on keeping a level head when the droppings hit the turbine. Events change, things happen in ways you didn't plan for, and you adapt. And he had always been a master of adaptation. Nothing seemed to discourage him or worry him. But at now, as he raced through the dense jungle at a speed ridiculous for a man of thirty, let alone eighty-six years of age, he was genuinely nervous, an emotion he saved for those rarest of situations that lay outside his control. Right now, his apprentice was alone, facing a foe completely foreign to him. And while Sidious had the utmost confidence in Lord Arisin's abilities, even the fierce Lord Maul had been bested by a Padawan. And even at this distance, Sidious could sense that it was no Padawan who sought the Nexus.

As he sped through the trees, he did a double take as he came across a log standing vertically out of the leaf-strewn floor. Standing alone, it looked quite out of place, as if it had been picked up and placed in that position purposely. However, he filed the curiosity away for another time and sprinted onward. He was very close now and he could sense that Lord Arisin had already confronted the Jedi. Though curiously, he sensed a second Dark figure with him, definitely not a Jedi. Very odd. He quickened his pace.

He followed the scent of the Force to the mouth of a large open gash in the forest floor; it was a large cave opening. From inside, the clash of lightsaber blades and blaster fire echoed down the black tunnels. The acoustics made it impossible to tell how deep the sounds were coming from, but the Force told him they were about a hundred meters straight ahead. Darth Sidious glared into the darkness and sneered. With a flick of his wrist, his electrum-plated lightsaber dropped squarely into his palm and its fiery blade hissed to life. With an angry growl, he dashed into the cave to join the fray.

---

Ragnor Breyac swore as he ran, glancing down every few seconds to keep track of the two Imperial agents following him. How they'd found him he didn't know. How they'd made it past his network of turrets, he knew even less. What he did know was that they were here and he had to leave. Now.

The safehouse had been built atop a series of subterranean caves that spread beneath the foothills of the entire area for kilometers around. His escape route led through these caves and exited in the middle of the forest about a kilometer away. He'd never used it; he'd never even had a walkthrough. He was depending on the datapad currently held with a deathgrip in his left hand. Apparently, the caves were somewhat labyrinthine, but once he reached a large chamber with some sort of strange glowing orb thing, the exit was a relatively straight, hundred-meter stretch of tunnel. When he'd asked about the orb, his contractors didn't have any answers except that it gave off no heat, no sound, no radiation of any kind, and didn't even appear to exist on any of their scanners. In other words, while they didn't know what it was, they were relatively certain it wasn't dangerous. Probably.

His boots pounded on the floor almost as loudly as his heart pounded in his ears. He jabbed at his datapad screen, changing the view from a map to security holocam visual feed. He scrolled through the different cameras until he found the intruders, the very same Human females who had come after him on Coruscant. But this time they were accompanied by two Noghri, the very same Noghri Ric Andar used to employ, if memory served. The two women were in his private office, three levels above him. With a simple command, he sealed and locked every door between him and them. It wouldn't stop them, but it would slow them down. He glanced down just in time to see his droid cloven in two.

"Poor TeeCee," he said. "But better you than me." He quickly approached a heavy door with a built in security panel. He flipped down the keypad and entered an elaborate code. The door slid upwards, revealing a rough stone tunnel, a stark contrast to the smooth clean lines of the rest of the facility. With only a moment's hesitation, he set off into the caves, sealing the door behind himself and locking out the access panel. Now if he could get to the orb chamber, he was home free.

---

Darth Arisin raised his blade to deflect three blaster bolts in quick succession at the advancing Jedi Master. This two-on-one set up was getting old fast and Kas'im seemed either unable or unwilling to assist.

"Is that all you've got, boy?" Qu Rahn taunted as he easily swatted the energy bolts harmlessly into the bare rock. "I think Sidious is getting weak in his old age. And your father would be embarrassed."

Arisin smiled and flashed the Jedi a yellow-eyed look. "And is that what passes for Dün Möch these days?" he shot back. "You'll have to do better than that, Master Jedi."

"Do not waste your time with taunts, boy!" Kas'im called out. He seemed to be struggling to lift a large rock with the Force. Finally, he managed to launch it at Kyle Katarn, who easily dodged the slow projectile but was forced to lose the bead he had on Arisin's head.

Qu Rahn's amber blade met Darth Arisin's with a squeal and both men grunted with effort as they held the protesting blades together. Arisin disengaged and swung hard at the Jedi's torso but was stopped when Qu Rahn's boot connected squarely with his gut, knocking the wind out of him. As he stood doubled over, the Jedi brought his other boot around to smash into Arisin's temple, knocking him to the ground and making him see stars.

Though disoriented, Arisin managed to roll away as a golden energy blade plunged down nearly its full length into the rock atop which he'd just lain. He was able to land a kick of his own from the ground before finding his footing and retrieving his lightsaber, which had flown from his grip when he'd been kicked in the head.

"Arisin!" Kas'im called out just as the young Dark Lord's danger sense kicked in. He spun around to see Qu Rahn's glowing blade frozen just centimeters from impaling him below the ribs. The older Jedi was straining against some invisible obstacle keeping him from running the Sith through.

"Run!" Kas'im yelled, looking strained and dangerously weak. "Get to the Nexus! I can hold them here but I don't know for how long." He had a hand outstretched in Qu Rahn's direction and another towards Katarn, who likewise seemed frozen in place. "Go! I can only keep them here a few more seconds!"

Arisin nodded in thanks and took off in the direction of the Nexus.

"Apprentice!" a voice called out. Arisin snapped his head around at the new voice, a motion duplicated by the other three beings present.

"Master!" Arisin had to stop himself from recoiling, something the others didn't bother with. Sidious appeared in combat robes, not the heavy, draping robes he was usually seen shrouded in. But that wasn't what shocked them. The Emperor was, for the first time in nearly three decades, appearing without his deep hood, which normally kept most of his head and face covered in shadow. But now he allowed himself to be exposed, the whole of his face and the extent of his deformities now fully visible. Palpatine was like a living corpse, something reanimated after months of death. Even Lord Kas'im, who had never seen the Emperor before, seemed taken aback. The stunning effect was universal.

"Go, Apprentice," Sidious said, his humming red blade grasped firmly in his hand. "We will conquer the Nexus together."

Katarn and Qu Rahn, still frozen, exchanged panicked glances.

"What of them, Master?" Arisin nodded at the pair.

"He can hold them back," he said, motioning at Lord Kas'im. The Sith Master gave the Jedi a toothy grin; his yellow eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. "Use the Nexus," he instructed Kas'im. "Draw from its power to fuel your own. I can sense that you are already nearly one with the Force itself. It should come naturally. I want the Jedi to see this before they die."

Kas'im nodded, turning to Arisin. "This is your Darth Sidious?"

"It is," Arisin confirmed.

"Then I trust the Sith are in good hands. Go. I'll hold them as long as possible, but the dark skinned one is powerful. He's fighting my grip. Hurry!"

Arisin nodded in thanks. "Come, Master. It's this way." He ran off deeper into the cave, Sidious following close behind.

"You've done exceptionally well, Lord Arisin," Sidious called out as they ran.

"Thank you, Master. I've had wise teachers."

"Indeed," Sidious said. "Who is our friend back there? He's powerful, but the sense I get from him is…odd. He is a Sith spirit, is he not?"

Arisin gave a short chuckle. "I can tell you who he is, but not what. He's Lord Kas'im, the—"

"The Blademaster, yes," Sidious finished. "I've heard of him. He disappeared, if memory serves. Never heard from again just before the Seventh Battle was waged right here."

"Lord Bane killed him on Lehon," Arisin confirmed, quickly explaining his time on the ancient and forgotten world, about the debris of the Star Forge, and how he had found Kas'im. And finally, he held up his new lightsaber for his master to see.

"Fascinating," Sidious said. "I believe we're very near—yes! There it is!"

The pair emerged into a large chamber, a dozen meters high and easily the same across, heavily studded with stalactites and stalagmites. Besides the tunnel from which they came, there appeared only one other way out of the chamber, a tunnel opening nearly opposite where they stood. The chamber itself was dominated by a large three-meter wide orb hanging motionless a meter off the ground. Its surface shimmered like liquid gold and it seemed to shine with its own internal glow, casting a soft light about the entire cavern.

"This is it, Master? The Nexus?" Arisin hadn't known what to expect. It was such a strange manifestation of the Force.

Sidious shook his head. "No," he said. "The Nexus is not a physical object. It is a concentration of the Force. This," he said, taking a cautious step forward, "is something else entirely." He reached a hand towards it. "It is acting as a focal point. The Nexus is here but it is emanating through that."

"It's so powerful," Arisin commented. "I've never sensed anything like it."

"Nor I," Sidious, said. "Unless I am very much mistaken," he began, "this is what happens when such a powerful Thought Bomb is detonated in such close proximity to so many Force-users."

"How do you mean?"

Sidious explained, never taking his eyes off the glowing orb. "The Thought Bomb acted like a singularity, a powerful magnet drawing the Force out of everything in its blast radius. This is the result. There were several hundred Jedi and Sith on this very spot where we are standing when it was detonated. All of that Force power getting drawn in at one time must have concentrated it into this. This is them."

"Is it conscious?" Arisin wondered. "I mean, does it contain all of their…knowledge, their thoughts and personalities?"

Sidious shook his head. "I haven't a clue, Apprentice." For the first time, he broke eye contact with the sphere. "Let us find out together. Are you ready?"

Arisin nodded. They approached the sphere and probed it cautiously with the Force. The power it contained…it was like an instant high. The two Sith Lords drank it in.

"Follow my lead, Master," Arisin directed as he began the technique he had used on the Star Forge fragments. The two took positions squarely in front of the orb and raised their hands toward it.

Instantly, power began funneling into the duo of Sith Lords. The golden orb seemed to shimmer, almost vibrate, its surface rippling like waves on a smooth lake.

"Can you feel it, Master?" Arisin said with a strained voice. "The power."

"Yes, Apprentice." Sidious inhaled the power deeply, feeling it infuse his core and strengthen him. He felt his tired muscles renew, his aching bones fall quiet. "It's so pure, undiluted. It's unlike anything I've ever felt. It's—"

The Sith Master was interrupted by a blaster bolt splattering against the rock at his feet.

"Get away from there!" Another volley flew into the chamber from the dark tunnel they had just come through.

Suddenly Kas'im appeared beside the Sith out of thin air. "I'm sorry, my Lords. I held them as long as I could."

Sidious gave a wild grin. "That's quite alright, Blademaster." He brought his lightsaber up and lit it, red fire casting an eerie glow on his pale skin. "It has been far too long since my blade has tasted Jedi flesh."

Darth Arisin followed suit and lit his blade, bringing it up in a defensive posture, preparing for battle.

"Do not kill them right away, Apprentice," Sidious ordered. "I want them to witness the destruction of their precious Valley of the Jedi."

Taking up battle stances, the Sith prepared to engage the enemy who were mere meters away from entering the chamber. Their blood boiled with anticipation. Sidious found himself almost giddy with excitement. It had been a great many years since he had been able to taste action and now, he hungered for it like an addict. He looked over at his apprentice. "Fight well, Lord Arisin. Fight well and this day will be ours."

---

Mara extinguished her blade and replaced the lightsaber on her belt.

"Feel better now?" Leia asked, nudging the freshly bifurcated silver protocol droid out of the way, its edges still glowing red and sizzling. They had broken into the Vigo's safehouse only to find that, once again, he seemed two steps ahead.

"A little, yeah," Mara said. "Never was one for protocol."

"I've noticed."

"He has been here recently," Kay said as he and Drey slithered back into the office after securing the area.

"Well we know that already," Mara said impatiently. "Probably within the last hour. But he's not here now."

Dray spoke up. "No, the scent is strong. He was here minutes ago. Perhaps five or ten."

Kay pointed to the sealed door. "He went through that corridor."

The women shared a look. "What do you think the chances are that he left it unlocked?" Mara asked cynically.

Leia shrugged. "About as good as the chances are that your wampa friend was just looking for a dance partner."

"Funny," Mara said with a sour look. "Really, you should have your own act."

Suddenly, the door before them gave a loud clank as the locking mechanism slid into place. Likewise, the door that the Noghri has just come through slammed shut and sealed tight.

"Well, that answers that question," Leia said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's get to work." She unclipped her lightsaber and lit the amethyst blade. "This door looks tough."

Mara brought up her own lightsaber and lit its magenta blade. She and Leia took up positions on either side of the door, just as they had the last time, and plunged the glowing blades into the dense metal. They followed the outline of the door along the frame, cutting a rough rectangle. The two women strained to slide their blades around the perimeter of the door, which was made of some sort of incredibly dense alloy that, much to their annoyance, seemed very efficient at resisting lightsaber blades. With some grunts and groans, and with a little help from the Force, they finished the last cut and pushed the slab of metal to the ground with a resounding thud.

"Fierfek!" Mara swore. "What's this place made of?"

"It is an alloy of durasteel and Mandalorian iron," Kay answered.

Mara turned to him. "What? How could you possibly know that?"

Kay brought a claw up to his face and tapped his blunt nose. "Even a cub can smell all of that beskar."

"Oh, well that's a handy talent you have, there," Mara said.

"It can be of use," Drey said. "I suggest haste. The Vigo's lead on us grows with every minute."

"He's right," Leia said. "And if every door is going to be as bad as this one was, we need to find a new way of getting through them."

"May I make a suggestion, Mistress Vader?" Kay asked.

"By all means," she told him eagerly.

The Noghri glanced down. "The floor smells of durasteel. You should be able to cut through it with little trouble."

"Yeah," Mara said enthusiastically. "That's not a bad idea! He probably went down anyway. This whole area is studded with caves. He probably has some sort of access to them from inside here." She dropped to one knee and plunged her lightsaber straight down, carving a large circle in the floor. The durasteel plug fell through to the next level below with a loud crash. "Let's go, kids. The Vigo's waiting and I'd hate to be late."

---

"Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad." Breyac found himself crouched behind a large rock just inside the chamber with the glowing orb. The only problem was, it seemed to be…occupied. Risking a peek, he saw five beings, four Humans and a blue-skinned Twi'lek—who seemed to be partially translucent, which struck Breyac as an odd thing even when presented with three lightsaber-wielding men and one man so heavily laden with weapons that he looked like he was taking on an army—and they were all trying to kill one another.

He instantly recognized one of the Humans as Luke Skywalker. What had he called himself when he had addressed the Empire? Lord something or another. He looked different, paler and with striking yellow eyes, but it was definitely him. But the old man whom he fought beside threw him for a moment. He stifled a gasp when he finally recognized him: it was the Emperor! That ancient, shriveled Human was Palpatine himself! Skywalker (or Lord What's-His-Name) was engaged in furious combat with a dark skinned man whom he didn't recognize. The man, a Jedi he assumed, was frantically defending himself with a golden lightsaber, batting away the amazingly swift attacks coming from the boy. The Emperor was doing his best to avoid getting shot by the fourth Human, who seemed to be using a very powerful, very illegal disruptor rifle.

The Black Sun Vigo watched as the Emperor did things he couldn't believe, flipping through the air, twirling his lightsaber so fast it was just a crimson blur. And all the while, he was smiling, cackling, as though he was having fun. The scene was so fascinating and terrifying to watch that he momentarily forgot that he was being pursued. He must have been sitting there for five minutes or more by the time he glanced down at his datapad and saw the two females approach the heavy door that led down into the tunnels. With those Noghri, they'd be able to track him in no time.

Frak me! he swore to himself. How was he going to escape when the only way out meant going right through that? Then it hit him.

---

The Emperor dove through the air as blaster fire tracked a bead on his position. The relative confines of the cave due to the many stalactites made this style of combat very difficult and dangerous. But he was Darth Sidious, master of the Force and all fighting styles. He had no equal in the galaxy.

He landed and brought his blood-red blade up to deflect the onslaught back at Katarn, who was forced to dive for cover to avoid being hit with his own disruptor fire. Palpatine laughed and risked a glance at Lord Arisin, who was expertly dueling with the Jedi Master.

The Jedi was clearly the superior swordsman, but he couldn't hold a glowstick to Arisin's power and ingenuity. The young Sith was fighting with his full arsenal, at times tugging on the Jedi's legs to unbalance him or grabbing his blade with the Force, causing it to miss its mark. He had attempted a lightning attack, which Sidious noted was more refined now, but the Jedi was able to block the attack with his lightsaber and Arisin moved on to alternate methods.

Kyle Katarn was getting back to his feet and reaching for his rifle when Sidious turned back to him.

"You won't be needing that," he said and with a flick of his wrist, he sent the disruptor flying across the cavern. "You should have cooperated, Katarn. I could have given you so much. Now all you get from me is death. Permanent, this time." He raised his blade and leapt at the man.

"Kyle!" Qu Rahn cried out. With an immense Force shove, he launched Darth Arisin across the chamber and he leapt to Katarn's defense, intercepting the Emperor's blade as he landed.

"You must know you cannot win," Darth Sidious taunted.

"Just as you must know I cannot stop fighting you," Qu Rahn countered as he shoved the Emperor's blade away and jerked Katarn to his feet with the Force. Kyle stood behind the Jedi, protected from the Emperor's advances.

"Yes, your ridiculous Jedi stubbornness," Sidious scoffed. "Little wonder your kind were so easy to destroy. In all your narrow-minded, inflexible philosophy, you refused to change, to recognize your weaknesses and learn from them."

"Oh, I think I've learned a thing or two," Qu Rahn said as he dove to the side, revealing Kyle with a blaster leveled at the old man's chest.

Palpatine's eyes widened. "You cannot—!" he cried before the blaster bolt tore through him, burning through cloth, flesh, and bone, before slamming into the stone behind him. He was knocked clear off his feet by the impact, his lightsaber deactivating and tumbling from his limp fingers.

"MASTER!" Arisin shrieked as he saw Darth Sidious collapse to the ground across the chamber. His master's death felt like an explosion in the Force, hitting him hard in the gut. "NO!" He lit his blade and, fueled with rage and grief, he prepared to launch himself at his master's killers when two disruptor bolts caught him in the back and dropped him to the ground.

The Jedi gasped, as though they themselves had been shot. Searching in the direction of the shots, they saw a red-skinned humanoid, a Zeltron with a large bruise on his face, standing at the entrance to the second tunnel. He held the rifle Palpatine had torn from Kyle's hands and tossed aside.

"I was trying to work out just how my escape would work when suddenly, it hit me," Breyac said, dropping the rifle and gingerly touching his swelling cheek. "Literally."

"Who are you?" Katarn choked out, aghast.

Breyac shook his head. "In about five minutes, it won't matter. Two Imps are on their way here now and they have some very unpleasant friends with them. We gotta get out of here and seal this place off so they can't follow."

Kyle nodded in agreement. "I've got concussion charges. Should do the trick." He turned to Qu Rahn. "What about that thing?" He nodded to the sphere.

"The Sith are dead," he told him. "It's no longer a threat. Once you seal the chamber, it should be safe."

"You sure they're dead?" Kyle asked.

Qu Rahn nodded. "Oh yes. I felt their deaths very strongly. As you should have, as well."

Breyac sighed impatiently. "Can we please get out of here now?"

Qu Rahn nodded and extinguished his blade. Kyle tossed him a charge, which he secured to the side of the entrance tunnel. Kyle placed one directly opposite of it and armed them both with a remote.

"Alright," Katarn said. "Come on. I'll detonate once we're out. It should seal up the tunnel pretty solid."

The three unlikely companions ran through the tunnel and burst out into the forest, which was so quiet and peaceful, completely unaware of what had taken place so far underground. Kyle triggered the charges and the ground shook with muffled explosions. A sudden rush of dusty air was exhaled by the cave mouth moments later. Satisfied, the trio set off back to the ship.

"It's done," Kyle said when they got back. "It's finally done." He started to climb the boarding ramp.

"No," Qu Rahn said, looking at Kyle, his eyes wide with horror. He pressed a hand against a landing strut for support. "No," he repeated. "It's worse now than ever!"