Chapter Sixteen
"Pina did what!?" Tiberius demanded before coughing more blood. "He ordered that the Jedi Army disguise itself as fleeing civilians to get past any sentries that might be posted above Lettow. Additionally, he said he would comm you in on his success the moment he confirmed landing and would begin preparing military formations thereafter," a soldier told him. "For someone willing to obey the order to kill his own daughter, Pina has gall to be defying me now," Tiberius hissed.
"You mustn't speak sir, you must save your strength and fight off the poisonous pathogen," a nurse soothingly begged him. "Silence you haggard fool, I'll be dead before much longer than a month anyway!" he snapped. "Uh, there's another piece of matter sir: the Chancellor has chosen to come to Ossus from Coruscant. He says he has certain files that only you and Pina have access to which a couple notes said were supposed to damn you to being charged as criminal to the highest degree.
"Shall I let him in?" the soldier asked. "Don't keep the Chancellor waiting, let him in! Whatever it is, it had better be good if he's saying that it's supposed to condemn me," Tiberius ordered. "I think you know exactly what I am talking about if anything in these files is true," the Chancellor snapped.
"Give them to me," Tiberius requested. "I'll just read a few of the charges Pina has so blatantly accused of and has laid plenty of evidence for. Thievery of Republic credits which were then used to buy out the Bunduki government and turn them away from the Legions of Lettow. Merciless conditions for prisoners of war from the expedition to destroy the Kashi Mer Dynasty, shall I continue?
"Here's my favorite one is just right here: taking no offer of negotiation in any event where your enemy has vowed to surrender and instead, blasted them to hell. Is this all true?" the Chancellor asked. That bastard Pina took the files from right under my nose, I told him to destroy those damned things the moment they were stamped and signed! Tiberius mentally exclaimed. "And if I say yes to all these incriminating pieces of evidence?" he asked aloud.
He knew it was probably a stupid question but with his death on the horizon, there wasn't really much that he could do. "Then I will be forced to act upon one of the few military powers that I maintain possession of in the immediate aftermath of a resolved conflict. I shall have to convict you without a trial and normally, the death sentence would be an option but I see that wouldn't make a difference for you. Instead, when I find you guilty of these treasonous crimes and your abuse of power, I shall order full censure of anything with so much as your name or the name of your supporters.
"Your birth records will be destroyed upon confirmation of your death alongside your allies, your actions both for both good and bad in the Order will be erased from all records. More importantly though, by the time I'm through, you and your supporters will be nameless 'leaders' of the Order. Nameless leaders who simply didn't approve of Xendor and Arden Lyn's curiosity for the mechanisms of Bogan. Since Pina was reluctant to join you in many of your actions, I shall only maintain memory of the identity he had in his youth as well as what he did to end the Schism.
"No worries, Arden and Xendor will still appear to be the bad guys for their actions even if their motives were good. Nothing I could do to support them would encourage that there was any good intent within their actions at all. However, you will be denied the immortality of history alongside all who obeyed you and supported your bid for leadership of the Council. Die knowing that in a few centuries, it'll be damnably amazing if anyone still knows so much as your name," the Chancellor replied.
"You wouldn't dare after all I've done for you and all the Order has done for you!" Tiberius exclaimed. "Would you like to back up that bet with some of the ill-earned money you have? I'm sure my citizens could use that money to get by until they found work again now 'The Devouring' has ended. Oh wait, you can't even if you would like to: Pina sent me a deposit with the full amount of those stolen credits back into the First Republic Bank for the people to use to survive," the Chancellor snapped.
"But surely you realize that I have done much good for not just the Order but also the Republic itself!" Tiberius begged. "It was that good that allowed me temporary ability to overlook the bad and even defend you when Cuthallox came to negotiate with me on Coruscant. However, even if I had not overlooked the sins you have done I would never have realized the full extent of your evil without these. It's over Tiberius, your quest for immortality is at an end and it has ended as failure because of your actions," the Chancellor told him.
"No, do not do this! You know not what you do to the records if you censure me and those who supported my agenda!" Tiberius begged. "Really? I don't see evil in it so long as a wise and gentle man like Awdrysta Pina sees merit in it and even gave me the stamp of approval," the Chancellor said.
Then he marched off to first burn the files in the torch nearby then demand to have possession of all Tiberius' records by approval of Master Pina. So, this is how you destroy me even though you may fulfill your end of our bargain? This is how you choose to rebel without lifting your spear against me? Well played, Master Jedi, well played Tiberius thought to himself, half-smiling.
"What's so enjoyable, Master? He has just sentenced you to full censure, your name will never be remembered in the history!" the nurse begged. "That right there is the funny thing little lady: Pina has reduced me to no better than a normal citizen of the Republic despite my actions. He vowed to serve me as a subordinate member of the Council but found a way to destroy me even so.
"For the first time in the history of the Order, the love of a father for his child has triumphed over the fear and hate of the greedy little monkey playing the role of commander. In granting me the normalcy of a Republic citizen, Pina has inflicted greater damage to me than if he had risen up to kill me. He has shown me the error of most of my deeds and enlightened me to what a Jedi should always be. By his actions today, Pina has protected the Jedi Code more than my warmongering ever did," Tiberius said.
"By giving into his vengeance, Pina has protected the Code better than you?" the soldier asked. "No, not revenge: the day vengeance ever existed in Pina's heart is the day the gods decided to come down and rip my heart out themselves, in other words impossible. He did this because the Jedi Code has decreed that any and all men remotely like me be brought to justice for their crimes. And that, my friend, is what he has done in his love for his daughter and in his need to protect her from me.
"Perhaps, there is some merit in forming attachments even if there is a good reason the law forbidding it is still intact. Maybe Pina knew more about the strength of such things than those who decreed the law be made in the first place. Who knows? What I do know is that my life is over and my evil work has all been for nothing, take me to my balcony at once," Tiberius answered.
"Whatever would you want to go there for?" the nurse demanded. "No questions, just take me there!" Tiberius sneered. "If you're meaning to commit suicide, I will not allow it!" the nurse snapped. "The poison will kill me in a month and the Chancellor will complete his sentence before no more than half that time has passed, whether I die now or not makes no difference anymore," Tiberius countered.
Then he reiterated his command to be taken to the balcony and this time, crutches were given to him for compliance to be possible. "I'll only need one to get to where I'm going but thanks for offering an extra anyway," he said when offered the second. The nurse was dismissed as were her aides and the soldier who stayed at his door whilst he walked to his nearby balcony. Along the way, he passed by the statues of Ashla and Bogan who were known as Arkanus and Stygia to normal people.
"Looks like you came in disguise as Ashla to persuade me to do your will, Bogan. Sorry to disappoint you, Ashla, by straying away from your true plan," he said, thinking aloud. Limping the last bit of the way on his crutch and occasionally coughing blood, Tiberius arrived to the balcony. Pushing himself the last bit of the way, he arrived to the sight of the waves of the Ossus crashing against rock.
So peaceful and serene did the sight of the waves hitting against the sheer rock wall appear to Master Tiberius which made him realize he never really took the time to appreciate its beauty. Shaking his head, he realized this was another foolishness from his idiotic lust for wealth and power in the Order. The original Je'daii had preached about an appreciation for all natural and man-made creations as well as an acceptance and respect of the power that lied within any one of those creations. Chuckling, he mocked himself for how it had taken him his entire life to understand why that rule was there.
Throwing his crutch, he counted the seconds before the sea swallowed the wooden creation of Man and was able to judge the height of the fall as being at least half a he unsheathed his sword and cast the scabbard into the waters as well, using the time it bought him to prepare himself. "Master Tiberius, stop!" he heard a voice say. It was the young soldier who had originally been at his door when the Chancellor and the one who now made to stop him from going through with his plan.
"Leave me and go for even in my weakened condition, I can sever your head with a clean stroke of this sword. More than you realize, I have dishonored the Jedi Code and the only way to permanently remove the stain beyond the Chancellor's efforts of censure is to take my life. You will understand why I do this, one day; I promise you that much," Tiberius ordered. "Sir, you don't know what you're saying because the poison has clouded your judgment!" the soldier begged.
Tiberius kept his sword pointed at the boy and continued to walk a few steps back until he felt the very edge of the balcony right behind him. "Sir, please come with me. We'll find a way to make Pina pay for what he's done and remedy this situation, you'll see," the soldier demanded. "Foolish boy, Master Pina has already remedied my actions more than I could remedy his," Tiberius replied.
The soldier, who rose his hands in a futile defense against Tiberius' sword suddenly realized that there would be no persuading Tiberius to go back on what he meant to do. "If you are so set on what you plan to do, fall before my very eyes now," the soldier ordered. Smiling, Tiberius raised both arms in a Y-shape to reach the heavens and thanked Ashla for giving the poor man some insight. Then he made the last step and plunged from the top of the balcony down into the waves of the ocean awaiting him.
Seconds passed as Tiberius gained speed in his fall, something he was relieved more than frightened to see happening to him. Finally, after more than about three minutes by which time the soldier had witnessed of his fall to see what happened, Tiberius broke his skull on one of the rocks. Had he been capable of surviving the injury, he would have been paralyzed from the chin down for life. However, his sight began to blacken and he knew it wouldn't be long before the ice-cold waters of Ossus' ocean seemed hot in comparison to the fingers of death which rapidly coiled around his body.
By the time he was floating out at sea, the angel of death had already taken his soul to the netherworld of Chaos and all that was left was for his body to serve as carrion for scavenging fish. It was a matter of seconds before all that was recovered by sailors were bloodied plates of armor. His sword floated to the black depths of the ocean where it would remain for all time, where it belonged. And by the time the Chancellor had completed his censure, not even Tiberius' birth records (as he had promised) survived the purge nor did any details about his life and thus ended the Jedi Master Tiberius.
Arriving on Lettow, Pina's heart was burdened by the fact that not only would he be fighting his own daughter but he would also be staining the beautiful Lettow plains with blood. The Je'daii appreciation for nature had sat well with Pina for all his life as a Jedi Knight and made his gut curl. "Master Pina, I can give the signal for formations to immediately begin being made if you wish," said the soldier who had chimed in on his comm at the beginning of the trip. "Go ahead and do it, also order the pilots to take their ships offworld and return to their duties in case this is a one-way trip," Pina ordered.
This planet is the home of many thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people. It will be a true burden to bring so much bloodshed and death for them to witness Pina thought silently. Fortunately, the pilots obeyed him and the nearest village from the Legionnaire homes was not for at least another ten miles which made any witnesses just unfortunate guests to this last battle. And as the ranks of the Jedi Grand Army slowly took form and substance, he turned to speak with them.
"Warriors, Sentinels, Guardians, and Archers of the Jedi Order! You have all been selected to act as soldiers in the Republic army for the purpose of destroying the Legions of Lettow! When you charge into the ranks of the enemy, I want you to remember only one thing as you fight them! There are no second chances, whatever the storybooks say: make a mistake and you die or get your friends killed.
"The moment you strike down a Legionnaire, there is no hope of ever bringing that Legionnaire back. You live in the here and now of our time thus, you must not let your regret for having taken lives that meant nothing to you until after the battle. But it's all right to feel that guilt so long as it is not on the battlefield and as most of you were only children in the war before this, I felt it necessary to say this! Am I understood?" Pina shouted.
A wave of replies came but all in the ranks of the Jedi Army stated that they did understand what he meant. "I hope you do for I wish to see as many of you alive after this battle as possible. If you're alive when it's over, you will understand why," Pina warned. Then he ordered for the march on the Legionnaire Academy to begin at once, fearing the loss of some of the element of surprise.
"Lady Arden, I have urgent news from across the Lettow plains!" a Legionnaire scout shouted. "Catch your breath then tell me what it is you have for me," Arden replied. "Sorry to have burst in but that surge of civilian transports that came not too long ago wasn't dropping off civilians. They were carrying the Army of the Jedi Order in its entirety, including Master Pina in a one-man starship!
"If we begin amassing formations, we may be able to give them a house greeting but I don't think we'll be capable of defeating them!" the scout exclaimed. Arden paused, uncertain of what to do though she could see that Athena was only somewhat shocked. But Arden wasn't surprised by that considering that it was Athena who had said that Pina never used the same trick twice if unneeded to. "Arden, your scout still needs your answer!" Athena demanded after nearly a minute.
"Send the word out to the troops and tell them to assemble in attack formations for the battle that is to come. The Jedi will still be amassing their own formations and the march across the plains to this Academy will take a couple additional hours yet. By the time they arrive, we'll be ready to greet them even if indeed we can't defeat them," Arden ordered. The scout smiled and bowed before running with renewed energy to send the word out to the ranks of the Legions of Lettow.
"Excellent, you have managed to at least control your grief for Xendor long enough to command the Legions as he would," Athena said, sincerely complimenting her. "I don't have the strategic cunning that Xendor does but I can make up for that by inspiring the troops to the greatest feats they can do. Perhaps it won't be enough in the grand scheme of things but for now, it should suffice that even as individuals in our ranks we can still unite to defend a common goal," Arden replied. "I don't know what you mean, milady," Athena admitted.
"Admirable as the setup for each and every member of the Legions to be an individual that wasn't incapacitated by the absence of a group, there is one major flaw. The glue of collaboration is not as strong in such groups as ours compared to how it is in the Jedi who believe in harmony and unity. Only now do I realize that this mistake may cost us the battle more than any strategic error on my part or Xendor's," Arden explained. "Even so, we can give them a show worth remembering for the ages to come," Athena vowed.
"Yes we can and we will, my dear friend. By the end of this battle, they will understand why it would have been easier for them to leave us alone and not force us to attack Ossus and Coruscant. Prepare your swords and armor then prepare to join me at the front of the temple walls, our forces are going to need both their remaining leaders nearby to be motivated," Arden requested. Athena nodded and ran as fast as her aged legs could carry her to where her headquarters were and began preparing.
So this is the battle that decides the fate of the Legions or the fate of the Jedi Order in the event that the Force decides to bless us with the nice side of its will. If this is to be the end of the war, so be it Arden thought to herself silently. Do not count on the Force blessing you with a victory: Master Pina has made a cunning strategic maneuver by disguising his forces. Had he not done that, you'd have undoubtedly spotted him and annihilated his forces the Talisman warned.
All the more reason that any damage we do the ranks of the Jedi Order will be far more glorious than any space battle where they decided to attack us directly Arden replied. You mortals and your self-indulgent need for honor and glory... Someday, Arden Lyn, you will realize that honor and glory do not make up the essence of life by even a long shot the Talisman stated. I am already fairly aware of that but those things go good for boosting your credentials Arden said.
Oh the indignity that is sure to come with that way of thinking the Talisman stated. It's good it comes with some degree of indignity because at this time, dignity is somewhat dangerous. Could cause our downfall more than anything else Arden replied. The Talisman silenced itself at that point and Arden joined Athena in watching the Legions gather for their possible final stand.
"How many in our force altogether, Captain?" she asked a nearby Legionnaire she recognized. "Seventy-two thousand milady especially now that we have no pirate allies to rely on and the Followers of Palawa have turned their backs on us. From the scout report, the Jedi outnumber us by twelve-thousand troops," the Captain answered. They've brought the full might of the Order with them except pocketfuls of Masters and Knights as well as many Initiates Arden observed.
From that point, she was able to determine that the Jedi were willing to make this the last stand of the Legions or else the destruction of the Order for they had never thrown so much at once, before. In fact, they had thrown so comparatively little that Arden was almost intimidated to be going up against this new number. However, she had to put her doubts aside, thank the Captain and ask Athena what she suggested the Legions do when the Jedi arrive. "Have as many of all our military classes as you can afford to have out there except for the Archers: they'll do better behind stone walls.
"For the home defense beside them, have the majority of that force be Sentinels and Guardians wherever possible. If they send in their Jedi Warriors after breaching our gates, we'll want to have as much ability to counter and stall them before Pina arrives as possible," Athena answered immediately. "Way ahead of you on that end, Athena. I had such forces prepared when I ordered the scout to issue the attack formation signal, what else you got?" Arden inquired.
"Just hold the line for as long as possible, the longer we can prevent Pina from reach the Temple walls the better your chances of escape should the Academy be on the verge of falling. I have already ordered scouts to look for a tunnel that could act as a shortcut to your ship in such an event. But let's just hope that the will of the Force actually smiles on us and grants us victory," Athena explained. "Yes, let us hope that it does but prepared to see it not doing that," Arden agreed.
But both knew the reality of their desperate situation: the moment Pina reached the gates, it was over for the Legions of Lettow. Bearing the Sword of Ashla, much less wielding it, would grant Pina extraordinary power of command and battle skill. In addition, the Jedi were used to fighting as a group rather than individually. If the Legions were victorious, it would be damned lucky break for them all.