Author's note: Well; here it is, the finale for this season. I hope you all enjoy it.
The Lord of Hunger
The balance of the Force is at risk like never before! After discovering that the source of the darkness was the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Darth Nihilus and retrieving from Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, K'Kruhk, and the mysterious Uchji Nuluco are brought back to Ithor by Nihilus's mask and have been shot down by the mysterious army that has terrorizing the planet!
Little do they know that the mysterious army is the Zann Consortium, a crime syndicate created by crimelord Tyber Zann; a former Imperial cadet who lusts to rule the underworld at all costs! After General Madine finally got his men onto the planet's surface, Zann destroyed half their forces and sent the run with the help of Havdori Airotsih; the Dark Jedi who posed and Mon Mothma's aide and attempted to control the Rebellion! After convincing Zann's men to turn on him and sending both him and his bodyguard Urai Fen on the run, Havdori discovered the crash, took Luke, Ahsoka, K'Kruhk, and Fett as prisoners, and found the mask of Nihilus! Now Uchji, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are the only ones who escaped capture; but will they be able to stop the dark forces that loom over the galaxy or will everything be thrown into complete chaos…
Ithor
Uchji stood on a tree log with C-3PO standing next to her.
"I can't believe it…" said Uchji "I just…I failed…we all failed because of me; if I hadn't taken a look at that mask, none of this would've happen"
"Um, Ms. Uchji; I'm not really the comforting type, but I have made countless mistakes throughout my lifetime that have cost us dearly" said C-3PO "To make one isn't something to be ashamed of"
"Did they ever cost the entire galaxy and all its life?" asked Uchji.
"Well…no, actually" replied C-3PO "Why did you look at that mask anyway if you knew how dangerous it was?"
"I guess…I guess I just wanted to know more about the monster that had been haunting me my whole life" replied Uchji "I knew it was dangerous, but I just had to know more; and it cost us everyone. I've destroyed everything"
"I can't just stand here and watch you fall into despair like this" said C-3PO "R2" There was no reply. "R2?" He looked around and saw no sign of R2. "Oh; he's gone off again! Never mind. Anyways; as I said before, I'm not really the comforting type, but I will say this: something only becomes fact if you let it"
"You're right" said Uchji "Nihilus hasn't come back yet; and if I stand by and let that happen, then the galaxy is doomed. We have to find where they took that mask. DO you know where they went?"
"Really?" said C-3PO "Well; the thing is, I don't know where they went" At that moment, a vornskr leapt forward and barked causing C-3PO to step back in fright. "Oh my; what on Corellia?"
"Hello little girl" said a voice.
"Who's that?!" exclaimed C-3PO. Tyber and Urai stepped forward out of the shadows.
"Have you lost something?" smirked Tyber.
Meanwhile
K'Kruhk slowly awakened and found himself being pulled through the hallway by two mercenaries. He looked around and saw that Luke and Ahsoka were being dragged beside him. Using as much strength as he had left, he struggled in an attempt to free himself.
"Look, he's coming to!" said one of the mercenaries. The other mercenary pulled out his blaster and shot a stun blast at K'Kruhk's face.
"Best if he stays out" said the second mercenary "Do you know what he is? He's a Whiphid, these things can snap your arm off; I even heard that the Empire employs some as bodyguards" They brought them into a large room where Havdori awaited them.
"Place them in the containment field and leave us" said Havdori "I'll handle it from here" The mercenaries placed Luke, Ahsoka, and K'Kruhk in the containment fields and left.
"Sar…Havdori!" said Ahsoka "I knew I felt your presence"
"An impressive feat, for a failed padawan" said Havdori.
"Why don't you let us out of here and we'll show you who's failed" said Luke as he regained consciousness "I'm sure we'd be more than a match against you with only one hand"
"Charming" said Havdori "I lost this only recently, it's fortunate however that I'm ambidextrous. But I doubt you'll last long without your lightsaber" He lifted the three lightsabers up and placed them on his belt.
"I once said that we should have placed you under investigation the moment you became Chief-of-State…" said K'Kruhk as he regained consciousness "I was wrong; we should have placed you under investigation the moment you appeared as Mon Mothma's aide"
"I wouldn't dwell on false realities" said Havdori "Besides; if every Jedi was as paranoid as you, nothing would get done"
"I see you made some new friends" said Luke.
"If I knew the full extent of the criminal empire Cadfurew was supplying, I would have taken it over instead of the Alliance" said Havdori.
"Why take control of the Rebel Alliance in the first place?" asked K'Kruhk.
"As you may know, I am a collector" replied Havdori "Particularly of dark side artefacts of great properties"
"I could see that, especially from your holocron collection" said K'Kruhk.
"As much as I admire holocrons, they are merely the tip of a very big iceberg" said Havdori "I've searched for individual artefacts of great dark side power; and with the Empire in control of the galaxy, that task became very, very treacherous. Instead I chose to take control of a major faction in this conflict, using it as a font for my own personal agendas; covering my tracks and using every available opportunity to lower suspicion. Did you think it was a mere coincidence that the Empire attacked Captain Ghethib's ship the very moment he was carrying something of great significance?"
"You set that up?" said Luke.
"You catch on real fast" said Havdori "I set it up so Krenin would steal the Separatist item and then I would devise the plan to reclaim, using the weak-minded Mon Calamari to make it look like I was heroically preparing it from the start. It was a full proof plan; unfortunately, you had to ruin everything with the execution. And that was just one of many events that I was planning for; using the Force to foresee the future and manipulating events behind the scenes, I made sure that I was a much, much more competent Chief-of-State than Mon Mothma ever was; but to take away any possible suspicion, I needed to find a scapegoat"
"Fey'lya" said Ahsoka.
"I had heard word among the other councilors that Fey'lya wasn't the most trusted politician; and after hearing what Princess Leia said about him on Muunilinst, I was more than certain that he would fit the bill" said Havdori "All I needed was the right confirmation of such actions that would put him under suspicion, and you provided it better than anyone could. Thank you, Ahsoka; you helped my rise to power"
"You won't get away with this!" said Ahsoka.
"I already have" said Havdori "Because you have now given me the one artefact I've wanted the most" He lifted up Nihilus's mask with his remaining hand.
"How did you get that?" asked K'Kruhk.
"I found it within the remains of the shuttle crash" replied Havdori "I've been searching for this my whole; I even ventured to Korriban once in an attempt to find it, but found nothing. Then you turn up out of nowhere with and now I have it. Do you know what they say about the mask? They say that if a non-Force-sensitive were to wear it, they would be able to wield the Force; but if a Force-user were to wear, their power would increase tenfold" He looked down at the mask and heard Nihilus's Sith speech. "I feel quite tempted to put it on now"
"Havdori, don't do it!" said K'Kruhk "You have no idea on what you're dealing with here!"
"You're fearful about it, not surprising" said Havdori. R2 pulled up and hid behind the doorway quietly.
"Nihilus's spirit lives on in the mask" said K'Kruhk "Although he has no physical form, he can still manipulate the world around him; we've seen it firsthand. He was able to control the spirits of dead Sith back on Korriban and he brought us here when we were on a course for Corellia"
"The dead are the dead, Jedi" said Havdori "Surely you of all should know that individuals do not keep their identity within the Force after they pass. Perhaps it's merely a power trick or an effect from Korriban. I guess we'll find out soon enough" He lifted the mask up higher.
"Heed my warning, Havdori; if you put that mask on, you'll doom both yourself and the galaxy" said K'Kruhk "Please; for the sake of everything that ever was and ever will be, don't put that mask—" Suddenly, Havdori put the mask on his face. "What have you done!?"
"I have become more powerful then you will ever know" said Havdori. He laughed evilly as his arm regrew to its full self, looking even more powerful than before. "I can feel it! The raw power is flowing through me! I have the power to destroy all those who stand in my—" Suddenly, he held onto his chest tightly. "My…My heart! No!" The skin around his face began to turn black and he began thrashing around uncontrollably with a terrible bone crunching sound.
"What's happening?" asked Luke.
"It looks like Nihilus's spirit is taking over his body" replied K'Kruhk "He's even more powerful I originally thought" At that moment, R2 entered the room beeping.
"R2, get us down from here" said Luke. R2 beeped and deactivated the containment fields. As Havdori thrashed around, he accidently dropped their lightsabers. Luke stepped forward to grab them.
"No" said K'Kruhk whilst stopping Luke "Use the Force" The three of them summoned their lightsabers to their hands and ignited them. Havdori raised his hand in front of him and watched in horror as his vein turned black.
"S-So cold!" wheezed Havdori. A strange black cloth-like material started wrapping itself around him and covering him until all that was visible left was the mask. As he bent down onto his knees, his movement stopped briefly.
"Steady" said K'Kruhk. A chilling spine-cracking sound was heard as Havdori slowly straightened himself up. But when he turned around to face them, what stood before them was not them was not Havdori Airotsih but was none other than Darth Nihilus; fully formed complete with his Sith speech.
Meanwhile
Uchji, C-3PO, Tyber, and Urai stepped out of the jungle and stood in front of the Consortium palace.
"There she is" said Tyber "Time for some reclamation" At that moment, Uchji held her head in pain. "What's she doing now?"
"She's feeling something the Force" said Urai.
"Oh dear!" said C-3PO "Ms. Uchji, are you alright?"
"He's back!" exclaimed Uchji "Darth Nihilus is back"
"Well, I suppose that makes things a little more difficult" said Tyber.
Meanwhile
"Darth Nihilus has returned!" said K'Kruhk.
"Not for long!" said Ahsoka. She and Luke rushed towards Nihilus with their lightsabers raised.
"No, stay away from him!" exclaimed K'Kruhk. Nihilus raised his hand and force-choked both of them before throwing them to the side and walked over towards K'Kruhk. "Don't come any further, Nihilus. You may have endured through what many would disappear into; but as long as I live, I'll make certain that you don't get any further" Nihilus said something in Sith before force-choking K'Kruhk and slamming him into the wall. He then let out a powerful orange wave of Force drain. Luke got himself up and struck at Nihilus, who merely swept aside like a leaf to evade the strike before igniting Havdori's lightsaber and begin clashing with Luke. Ahsoka got herself up to see the almost unconscious K'Kruhk lying on the floor. She rushed over to him and helped him up.
"Luke, we have to get out of here now!" said Ahsoka. Luke kicked himself past Nihilus but the Sith Lord quickly force-gripped him by the foot and pulled him towards him. Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and leapt forward only to get force-choked.
"No…" wheezed K'Kruhk as he looked up in pain. At that moment, the defiler entered.
"What's going on in—" said the defiler before noticing Nihilus. He pulled out his blaster and began shooting at Nihilus, distracting him enough to drop Luke and Ahsoka but drawing his attention in the process. Nihilus then force-pulled him towards him without hesitation. "What the! AHHH!" Luke and Ahsoka got themselves up, ran over to K'Kruhk, and pulled him out of the room with R2 following them. When Nihilus drew the defiler up to him, he placed his hands on his mask and force-drained him. "AHHHH!" When Nihilus was done, the defiler dropped to the ground dead. His mask was knocked off, revealing a shriveled up grey and wrinkly face with only strands of white hair left. Nihilus then raised his head and walked slowly out of the room.
Meanwhile
"Man, he weighs heavier than he looks" said one of two mercenaries who dragged Boba Fett down the hallway.
"It's probably the Mandalorian armor" said the other mercenary "It's much, much more durable then what the Empire makes stormtroopers wear. Believe me, I know" They brought Fett over to the cells.
"Here we go, big fella'" said the first mercenary "A fresh cell for—"
"No thank you" said Fett. He grabbed both their heads and knocked them together, rendering them unconscious. He looked down at the two mercenaries and walked off.
Meanwhile
Luke and Ahsoka brought K'Kruhk outside the palace and laid him on the ground.
"Master K'Kruhk, are you alright?" asked Ahsoka. K'Kruhk lifted his head up wearily.
"It feels…like I've been siphoned of my strength" replied K'Kruhk "We have to stop Nihilus before he—" He was about to pull himself back up when he collapsed down again.
"Take it easy" said Luke.
"It's like I've been weakened" said K'Kruhk "His Force drain was more powerful than any other; I'm sure I was going to die if you hadn't intervened"
"With something that bad, I'm surprised you haven't gone into your Whiphid healing trance yet" said Luke.
"It feels like I should, but it's just not happening" said K'Kruhk "Perhaps the aftereffects of the drain are blocking it off somehow"
"You're in no condition to keep fighting" said Ahsoka "Let's just get to a secured location and figured out what to do from there" The two of them lifted K'Kruhk up by the arms and dragged him off into the jungle.
"So how are we going to beat him now that he's regained physical form?" asked Luke.
"When…When we saw Nihilus last, he was relying on Havdori's life force to keep him alive, which made him sluggish then he would be at full strength" replied K'Kruhk "His first act will be to devour as much life force as he can to survive longer and then he'll move onto the next location. His sole mission is to feed and keep his life going so he can feed again; he's attracted to all life as a form of sustenance, especially Force-users"
"The Ithorian villages; with us out of sight, he'll probably turn to them" said Ahsoka.
"Precisely" said K'Kruhk.
"Can we fight him?" asked Ahsoka.
"You can, but just being around him will make you weaker" replied Uchji as she walked up to them with C-3PO. R2 rolled up to C-3PO and beeped.
"It's good to see you in one piece, R2" said C-3PO "Though you really stop going off like that; you almost send me into a panic attack"
"Uchji, what are you doing here?" asked Ahsoka "Why weren't you captured with the rest of us?"
"The moment we crashed, I feared that they would find the mask; so I grabbed the box in hopes of keeping it far away from them" said Uchji "But only once they started investigating the shuttle did I find out that the box was empty. They found it and they took it"
"I know" said Ahsoka "We found out the hard way; Nihilus has come back"
"I felt it" said Uchji "It's like my nightmares, only much, much worse"
"Then let's get rid of it, once and for all" said Ahsoka "We have to destroy Nihilus before he gets too powerful"
"How can we do that if we can't get close to him?" asked Luke "If we get too close, he'll suck us dry"
"Let me down" said K'Kruhk. Luke and Ahsoka carefully let him down onto a log. "If the mysterious army is still present, then General Madine and his men should still be in the system. We have to inform him of what happened so he can hold Nihilus off. With Nihilus distracted from Civilian targets, we can focus on making a plan to stop him once and for all"
"A diversion, interesting strategy" said a voice. Tyber and Urai stepped out of the shadows.
"Urai Fen!" said K'Kruhk he grabbed his lightsaber and was about to stand up but ended up collapsing.
"It's a dishonor to meet you again too, Jedi" said Urai. Luke and Ahsoka ignited their lightsabers.
"Who are you?" asked Luke as he pointed his lightsaber at Tyber.
"Allow me to introduce myself" said Tyber "I am Tyber Zann; and I believe we both have stories to exchange"
Meanwhile
As constant screams of pain came from the Consortium palace, Fett ran out of the building and over to a StarViper that sat outside.
"Finally" said Fett. He climbed into the StarViper and started it up just as the dead body of a mercenary flew out of a window. As Fett turned his head around to see what was happening, Nihilus stepped up to the window and slowly looked over at him with an emotionless yet hungry stare; the two of them almost staring at each other. He then turned himself in the direction of the Ithorian village nearby, stepped out of the window, and floated down towards the ground gracefully. As he set foot on the ground, the grass around him wilted and died. He started walking slowly and menacingly towards the village. "So that's what it does" He lifted the StarViper up and flew away.
Meanwhile
Madine looked off into the sunset on the horizon and sighed.
"We've lost over half our forces" said Madine.
"But at least we're still alive" said Tani.
"There's no doubt about that; but with our forces, we'll have to call for reinforcements" said Madine "And with the battle shaping up to be prolonged, I'm worried that the Ithorian Elders might become upset with us. But first I'll have to inform the Alliance High Command of Havdori" He was about to move over to the hologram projector when his comlink crackled into life.
"General Madine, this is K'Kruhk" said K'Kruhk out of his comlink "Do you copy?"
"I'm here" replied Madine into his comlink "What is it?"
"Are you still on Ithor?" asked K'Kruhk.
"Yes, we are" replied Madine "The Ithorian Elders allowed our ground forces to land and we engaged the enemy; but they took us by surprise and depleted a large amount of our forces, and you won't believe what we found out about them"
"Whatever it is, it will have to wait" said K'Kruhk "We have bigger things to deal with right now. How far are you from the Enemy's base, they should be close to the largest Ithorian village"
"Not far" replied Madine "We're on a mountain overlooking them both"
"There's something very dangerous heading towards the village right now" said K'Kruhk "If you look hard enough, you might actually see it" Madine gestured to a group of rebel troopers who ran to the ledge and got out a pair of electrobinoculars to examine.
"What exactly are we looking for?" asked Madine.
"What you're looking for is covered in black robes and wears a white mask with red markings" replied K'Kruhk "But there's more—"
"General, we've found something" said a rebel trooper.
"Let me see" said Madine whilst walking over to him. The rebel trooper handed him his electrobinoculars and he looked through them, seeing Nihilus slowly walk over to the village. "Damn it! K'Kruhk, I think I see it; what is that thing?"
"That's Darth Nihilus, an ancient Sith Lord who feeds upon life force" replied K'Kruhk "I need you to keep him distracted to keep him from killing the villages"
"I'll call for reinforcements and get down there immediately" said Madine "We're not letting him kill civilians"
"Remember to keep your distance" said K'Kruhk "If you get too close to him, he'll drain the life out of you; and if he gets too strong, we might never be able to beat him"
"Understood" said Madine "But even with reinforcements, I'm not sure how long we'll be able to hold him off for"
"Make it long enough" said K'Kruhk "We'll do what we can to stop him"
"Got it" said Madine "And we'll try to evacuate the village as well"
Meanwhile
A young Ithorian boy and girl chased each other innocently around the village around the older Ithorians who were minding their own business. As they reached the outskirts of the village, the Ithorian boy pushed the Ithorian girl onto the grass and the two began rolling around. Suddenly, a cold and almost dead breeze hit the air and their attention was immediately drawn to a figure off in the distance. Nihilus walked towards the village, leaving behind a trail of dead grass as he went. The two Ithorian children got up and ran off back into the village, rushing past an Ithorian woman and accidently knocking the basket of herbs that she carried. The Ithorian woman grunted and was about to pick the herbs again when she noticed Nihilus walking towards the city. A feeling of dread passing through her, she turned to the village and let out a large warning bellow that echoed across the landscape. The Ithorians in the village all stopped what they were doing and looked up in shock. As Nihilus walked towards the village, he lifted his head up when he heard the incoming sound of X-Wings that flew down towards them and started shooting at him. Madine looked at the dust from the bushes with a pair of electrobinoculars.
"X-Wings?" said Orrimaarko "Wouldn't Y-Wings be more effective"
"The Ithorians don't like bombers" replied Madine "They cause great damage to the surface. Fortunately, they're less hostile about X-Wings"
"Is he dead?" asked Tani.
"With these darksiders, it's never that easy" replied Madine. Suddenly, the smoke and dust of the attack was shot away in a powerful blast by Nihilus who stood undamaged.
"He's still there" said Orrimaarko.
"I knew it was unlikely that the shots would do the job completely, but I had no idea they would be that ineffective" said Madine "Pilots, try to get out of there" The X-Wings were about to fly off when Nihilus force-gripped onto them and held them still. He then shot out a powerful force-drain on them before force-crushing them all at once and throwing them away. "Rats! Rianna, how's the evacuation going"
Meanwhile
Rianna overlooked the village from an LAAT gunship.
"We're about to land" replied Rianna into her comlink "We'll try to get all the Ithorians onboard and get them to safety" The LAAT gunships landed, accompanied by the remaining GR-75 medium transports. A small group of rebel troopers rushed out of the vehicles.
"We'll split into three teams and rally all the Ithorians to this location" said Napiat "We begin it now"
"We're about to gather the Ithorians and evacuate them" said Rianna into her comlink.
Meanwhile
"Good" said Madine into his comlink "Do your job and we'll do ours. Let's go!" The remaining rebel ground vehicles with some rebel troopers emerged from the jungle and began shooting at Nihilus all at once. "Steady, steady!" The shooting slowly stopped. Nihilus turned his head around and started walking towards them. "He's coming! Shoot more!" The vehicles and the rebel troopers began shooting again to little effect. As Nihilus walked towards them, he ignited his lightsaber and unleashed a mixture of force lightning and force drain.
Meanwhile
"Oh my, it looks quite terrible down there" said C-3PO. R2 beeped. "Don't belittle me, R2; you know more than anyone that I've been in plenty of battles in my time" R2 beeped again. "Granted, I will admit I wasn't involved in them all that much—"
"Do me a favor and shut those droids up" said Tyber as he climbed into a plasma tank "The weapon can become unstable and destroy everything around it; but it's sheer power should be enough to keep that thing down there distracted"
"Why do you have to pilot it?" asked Luke "Surely we can"
"Be-cause I'm the only one here who knows how" said Tyber "Unless of course you wish to learn how to; but given the current situation, I don't think we have the time"
"I still don't know why we should trust you" said K'Kruhk "We've only just met and you seem pretty keen to assist us despite supposedly being our enemy. From what I got from your story, you seem to be quite responsible for all of this; not to mention you're syndicate was responsible for terrorizing the Ithorians"
"Only the ones who got too close to breaking our secrecy" said Tyber "And I'll correct you; we're not enemies. My quarrel is with the Empire and the Hutts, surely you would know that since I told you it quite clearly; not the Alliance, you just got in the way"
"Why are you even helping us?" asked Ahsoka.
"Firstly; from what I gathered from our stories, it seems that we both have a row with Havdori" replied Tyber "He infiltrated your Alliance and attempted to use it for his dark agendas. And he turned my mercenaries against me; he's as good as dead, even if he's not him anymore. And secondly; once he's gone and out of the picture. You grant me amnesty and allow me to leave the planet without consequences and in return I will never come back here"
"Amnesty, after what you've done?" said K'Kruhk.
"Believe me; what I've done is nothing compared to what I can do" said Tyber "Besides; if this Darth Nihilus is as dangerous as you say, are you really going to turn down help? It's a reasonable offer; and if you hold any conscious, you'll accept while you still can. Once this is over, we'll both walk away having accomplished something" K'Kruhk sighed.
"Unless something changes, we'll go along with it for now" said K'Kruhk "But I warn you; if do anything to harm either the Ithorians or the Alliance, there will no amnesty"
"A fair deal" said Tyber "Urai, let's get started" As he got into the plasma tank, Urai leapt on top of it and they drove off. "Don't you love it when you can come to a peaceful resolution, Urai?"
"You should have let me kill him in the first place" said Urai.
"No time to dwell on that now" said Tyber "Here we go" They drove down towards the battle where Nihilus was finishing off the remaining rebel forces.
"Fight harder!" said Madine "Harder!" Nihilus briefly turned towards him and he readied his blaster only for the Sith to turn and walk back towards the village.
"What's he doing now?" asked Tani.
"No, no, no!" said Madine "He's turning back to the village. Rianna, what's the status with the evacuation"
"We have a problem" said Rianna out of his comlink
Meanwhile
"I'm afraid we don't have enough transports" said Rianna into her comlink. She looked out at the masses of Ithorians surrounding her. "How long will those reinforcements take?"
"They should be here in about half an hour" replied Madine out of her comlink "But we have trouble; Nihilus has destroyed most of our forces and has turned his sights back to the village. I'm not sure if we can hold him any longer" Rianna briefly looked off in the distance as Carlp carried several Ithorian babies towards the transports.
"Now that's not good" said Rianna. She looked off at the jungle at the back of the village. "I'll send who I can off to the herd cities and get the others into the forest so they're further away. In the meantime, try to keep him at bay as long as you can"
"We'll do what we can, but I'm not sure if we can promise anything" said Madine.
Meanwhile
"Alright, let's go again" said Madine.
"General, we've lost most of our forces now" said Orrimaarko "If we go again, we're probably all going to get killed" Madine looked off at Nihilus in the distance and then looked up at the transports flying up into the sky.
"You're right, I can't guarantee we're all going to come back from this one" said Madine "But I am going. Anyone who's with me, stay here and follow my lead. Anyone who just can't handle it, leave now and go to the village to help with the evacuations" No one left. "Are you all with me?"
"We'll follow you to the last breath, general" said Tani "I'm with you"
"BX, what about you?" asked Madine.
"Roger, roger" replied BX.
"I'll take that as a yes" said Madine "Orrimaarko?" Orrimaarko sighed.
"I suppose I always knew that I wasn't going to step out of this war when it was over" said Orrimaarko.
"Anyone else?" asked Madine. The rebel troopers gathered up into an orderly fashion with their blasters at the ready. "Okay then, let's do this" They charged out of the bushes, firing wildly at Nihilus. "Over hear you big ugly thing!" Tani grabbed several thermal detonators and threw them at Nihilus, who turned around to face them after the explosions had. "It's working; now remember, keep your distance" Nihilus said something in Sith before letting out a powerful blast of Force lightning and blasting them back. Madine got himself up and started firing on Nihilus, who deflected the shots with his lightsaber and began force-choking him and pulling him towards him.
"I guess this is where we come in" said Tyber. He shot a powerful plasma blast at Nihilus, causing him to accidently drop Madine and turn around towards them. He then started walking over to the tank.
"He's coming" said Urai.
"I know" replied Tyber.
"Well, don't let him get too close" said Urai.
"Working on that" said Tyber "If you're still in there, Havdori; this is for turning my men against me" He shot out another plasma blast directly at Nihilus. However, Nihilus pulled up his lightsaber and split the plasma blast in two and sent them off to his sides, impacting into the hills. "By Anaxes!"
Meanwhile
"Even with that plasma tank, I don't think it will be enough" said Luke "If the vehicles haven't destroyed Nihilus by now, I don't think they're going to anytime soon. We have to go down there to help"
"We have to form a strategy first; otherwise we're only just giving him more strength" said K'Kruhk.
"Nihilus sought out the Jedi due to their connection with the Force making the life-force he absorbed greater" said Uchji "If he kills you, you'll just be feeding him"
"But we can't leave them down there like this" said Luke.
"And we're not doing that" said K'Kruhk "But sometimes rushing into things blindly does not solve problems but instead makes them worse" As Luke and K'Kruhk talked more. Ahsoka zoned out when she heard a voice.
"Ahsoka…" said a voice. Ahsoka turned to see the Daughter standing before her. "You know what must be done" She extended her hand out. "Come"
"But…But what about the side effects" asked Ahsoka "I could lose myself forever"
"If there was a way around this, I would use it; but there isn't" replied the Daughter "When entrapped within his mask, Nihilus could have been stopped without a conflict; but with his body restored, Nihilus has the potential to have unlimited strength and power. It's either we both risk our own identities with this or the whole galaxy will die. I understand that this isn't easy, but you of all need to understand that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Please" Ahsoka looked back at Luke and sighed.
"I understand everything" said Ahsoka. She slowly (and somewhat reluctantly) started moving over to the Daughter.
"Ms. Ahsoka, what are you doing?" asked C-3PO. This caught the attention of Luke.
"Ahsoka?" said Luke. It wasn't long until he realized what was happening. "Oh no!" He rushed over to her. "Ahsoka, wait!"
"I don't have any other choice, Luke" said Ahsoka "Even if we do manage to beat Nihilus, it'll be at great cost. Daughter has the power to beat him; because as powerful as he is, I doubt he's a match for a Force wielder"
"Force wielder, huh?" said K'Kruhk "I assume that's what you two have been hiding"
"No cost?" said Luke "What about yourself? You told me that the longer you two stayed bonded; the more you'd lose yourself. Are you really going to give everything up?"
"I don't like it either, but I'm the only one who can do this" said Ahsoka. She tilted his forehead into hers. "Please, let me do this" She walked back over to the Daughter and placed her palm on top of hers.
"It's alright, Skywalker" said K'Kruhk "Just stay calm" Light shone from both Ahsoka and the Daughter's eyes and the Daughter passed into Ahsoka again. This time however, Ahsoka began shining a bright white light and lifted off into the air. When she came back down, her appearance had changed; her skin was now a bright shining white similar to the Daughter's, the blue bands of her head-tails was no teal like the Daughter's hair, and her outfit now resembled the Daughter's outfit.
"It is done" said Ahsoka, her voice now a meld of her own and the Daughter "Leave Nihilus to me" She turned and shot off into the air.
"Explain to me, what just happened?" asked C-3PO.
Meanwhile
Nihilus began force-pulling the plasma tank over towards him.
"He's pulling us in!" said Urai.
"Oh yeah?" said Tyber "Then it's time to give him hell. Let's see if he can split point blank range" He charged up another plasma blast, only for Nihilus to crush the barrel. "Oh no! Urai, get me out of here before this blows!"
"On it" said Urai. He pulled Tyber out of the tank and ran a great distance away before Nihilus force-lifted the tank and crushed it, causing it to explode.
"Good thing you got us out of its range" said Tyber. Nihilus turned back towards them and started walking over.
"He's coming again!" said Urai as he prepared his blades. Tyber pulled out his blaster and prepared to shoot when suddenly a powerful light flew down and struck Nihilus to the ground. As the light cleared, Ahsoka stood herself up and force-pushed Nihilus away.
"What the heck is that?" asked Tyber.
"Forces beyond our power" replied Urai "C'mon, we have to get out of the way" They backed off up a hill.
"Darth Nihilus, your arrival is both unwelcome and precocious" said Ahsoka "Your time in this world has ended; end this now!"
"What is that?" asked Tani.
"Something strange" said Madine "Wait; is that Commander Tano?" Nihilus stretched up and an unsettling, whispery yet intense voice crept into Ahsoka's head amidst Nihilus's Sith speech.
"You have no idea on what you face!"
Nihilus shot powerful force-lightning at Ahsoka which Ahsoka deflected with her hand before shooting back at him with force-lightning of her own. Nihilus reignited his lightsaber and swept towards her. Ahsoka dodged his strike at her and grabbed ahold of a pair of lightsabers that materialized beside her, igniting the blue katana-like blades and clashing with him. She force-pushed him back and he used his lightsaber to slow down. Ahsoka sprinted over to Nihilus and was about to strike with both lightsabers when Nihilus blocked her strike.
"You think you can defeat me?
I am the Lord of Hunger
Worlds have been reduced to ash before me
Entire civilizations have fallen before me
It is because of me that the Jedi Order almost fell
Even my slayer, the Jedi Exile, could not truly destroy me"
Nihilus grabbed onto her wrist and steam began to form from it
"Every action you take gives me strength!"
Nihilus pulled her up into the air and threw her across the landscape. She got herself up and charged at him again.
Meanwhile
Uchji force-healed K'Kruhk who lay on his back at the roots of a tree.
"I think we're almost done" said Uchji "So you Jedi know of the Force wielders; how?"
"I first heard of them when the Jedi received Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's report on his visit to Mortis" replied K'Kruhk "We had heard of them before through Nightsister lore and other legends but we thought they were merely a myth. Master Kenobi kept a lot of the things basic; but since Padawan Tano accompanied him there, I have a feeling this may have something to do with it"
"Force wielders are identified as being basically gods" said Uchji "Surely it's enough to beat Nihilus?"
"You would think so" replied K'Kruhk "But nothing is truly impervious; and I cannot shake the feeling that having a powerful Force-user fight Nihilus might be merely handing him more power" At that moment, there were powerful flashes of red and blue lights.
"That doesn't look good" said C-3PO.
"You have no idea" said K'Kruhk "Skywalker, I think the time has come to form a plan of attack" There was no reply. "Skywalker?" They all looked around to see no sign of Luke.
"Where is Master Luke?" asked C-3PO.
"Oh no!" said K'Kruhk "He's gone after her, he's going to get himself killed" R2 beeped.
"Well, of course we have to back for him; he's our master after all" said C-3PO "But if we keep rushing into things we'll get nowhere, especially if this "Darth Nihilus" character is as dangerous as he's supposed to be" K'Kruhk scratched his chin.
"I think I may have an idea" said K'Kruhk "I recall reading the tale of Darth Nihilus within the Jedi Archive once and I remember that the Exile was able to defeat Nihilus thanks to Visas Marr's bond with him. She was able to disrupt their link and weaken him"
"What are you implying?" asked Uchji.
"If the bond has passed on to you, then perhaps you could do the same thing" replied K'Kruhk.
"Maybe, if I could get close enough" said Uchji "But it's better than nothing and I have to find some way to make up for what I did. Yes, I'm willing to try…no, I'm willing to do it"
Meanwhile
Ahsoka and Nihilus dueled furiously across the plains, constantly shooting force-lightning and force-throwing rocks and debris at each other but deflected them back at each other.
"Give up, Nihilus" said Ahsoka "You may have gotten this far, but not any longer"
"You have no idea on what has really been happening, do you?
Do you think it was a coincidence that I came to power at this particular time or that I brought you to Ithor of all places?
I had been gaining power for a long time; but even though I could interact with the physical world, my range was limited and I could not get off of Korriban to find a body for myself.
So I made my presence known, using my power to attract attention of any Force-users who may sense it.
When you came to Korriban, I put a fight merely to convince you otherwise; but once I was contained, I only needed to find a Force-user that would be foolish and power hungry enough and that I could reach to put my mask on and give me power once more.
Using my power to prey on the Miraluka, I was able to turn the ship to Ithor and lure Havdori into my trap.
Now I am back and nothing can stop me this time; the beings of this universe have grown too weak in my absence"
As Ahsoka raised her lightsabers to strike at him again, her image began to blur and she held onto her heart in pain before almost collapsing onto the ground.
"You are growing unstable.
You cannot remain two separate entities whilst bonded together for long.
The transition is coming and when it does, you will be mine"
"For millennia my family and I battled evil greater than you" said Ahsoka as she started clashing with him again.
"Nothing is greater than me!
I am the most powerful being in the galaxy!
I am the darkness in which all life dies!
All life exists to feed my power!
And now you have brought the ultimate power right into my hands!"
He began force-choking her and lifted her up into the air in front of him.
"I have long since dreamt of feeding on the power of a Force wielder ever since I heard the legend.
Now that I have been handed it entrapped within a mortal body, I cannot refuse it
With your power, I will be unstoppable and I will take my place as the center of the universe!"
Suddenly, a blue blade burst through his chest.
"You're not getting that power any time soon, Nihilus!" said Luke. Nihilus turned his head around and force-pushed Luke and his lightsaber away. Nihilus then force-gripped Luke, lifted him up the air, and slammed him back down. As Luke attempted to get himself back up, Nihilus force-gripped his wrists and pulled him back down.
"Luke!" exclaimed Ahsoka. As she rushed towards him, Nihilus turned and shot her with force-lightning.
"I am not finished with you yet; however, this Human seems compelled to help you
And for that, I will take him first"
He slowly extended his hand out towards Luke.
"No!" exclaimed Ahsoka. Suddenly, she lit up bright white, shot the force-lightning straight off herself, and lunged towards Nihilus and began clashing with him again.
"The more strength you have, the more strength I will have.
The more you prolong this, the greater the loss.
I've waited thousands of years for this and it is coming, slowly but surely"
Suddenly, Nihilus held his head in pain and backed off clumsily. Uchji walked up to them, holding her head in a trance.
"No; this is not to be!" said Uchji "You have haunted me my whole life, I will not let you do this! I will conquer you! I will…conquer you…" Uchji fell unconscious and Nihilus fell to his hands. Luke and Ahsoka walked over to Nihilus only to be shot back with force-lightning.
"Stay back!
I'm not finished yet!
I should have killed that Miraluka the moment I found her on Katarr
But even with my strength weakened, I still have enough to take yours!"
He was about to lunge for Ahsoka again when a large slab of debris hit him and knocked him over.
"You're not getting away that easily" said K'Kruhk. Nihilus got himself back up and lunged towards the Whiphid Jedi when Ahsoka suddenly flashed in his way.
"Stop!" said Ahsoka. Within a split second, she pressed her finger on his forehead and he fell to his knees. "This ends now" She placed her hands onto Nihilus mask and slowly peeled it off. Waves of red mist mixed with red energy erupted from the Sith Lord and sent shockwaves across the landscape. After the smoke had cleared, Ahsoka walked out holding Nihilus's mask in her hands. Lying behind her was the unconscious body of Havdori. "It is done" Suddenly, she collapsed onto the ground, Nihilus mask rolled out of her hands. Luke ran up to her and lifted her up.
"Ahsoka?" asked Luke.
"Make sure that doesn't get away again" said K'Kruhk. Uchji ran up to the mask and picked it up.
"Ahsoka, are you there?" asked Luke. Suddenly, a powerful light burst out through Ahsoka's eyes, returning her to her normal self. Luke could hear the voice of the Daughter coming from the light.
"This battle is won"
"Is she alright?" asked Luke.
"I severed our bond before we could permanently become attached.
However, it seems we cannot become one again.
I have left behind enough life-force for her to live.
While it may be small at first, it will soon grow and replenish her; staying with her for the rest of her life.
But for now, enjoy this victory while it lasts"
"What will happen to you now?" asked Luke.
"I now leave you, to find what place the universe has for me now that I no longer bare a physical form.
And one last thing, young Skywalker; I trust Ahsoka has told you of Mortis and my brother and father?"
"In quite a lot of detail" replied Luke.
"I will give you this one last warning; we were not the last of our kind.
Beware the Mother…"
The light shot up into the atmosphere and disappeared into the night skies. K'Kruhk walked up to Uchji and looked down at the mask in her hands. Ahsoka coughed and regained consciousness.
"It's…It's over…finally it's over" said Ahsoka.
"Good to have you back" said Luke.
"So what happened to the Daughter?" asked Ahsoka.
"She left" replied Luke "She went off to find a new meaning and left you some of her life-force. But without her, I don't you can go into that more "powerful" form"
"Good, because there's no way I'm going through that again" smirked Ahsoka.
"Is it—" asked K'Kruhk.
"The presence has weakened, but it is still there" replied Uchji "It's the same as before; his returned to his mask before his physical body was destroyed"
"Then we'll just have to make sure he never regains a physical body again" said K'Kruhk. Away from their view, Havdori regained consciousness; his hair now messed up, his skin now pale and bony, his bright red blood-shot, and missing his hand again. He looked over at his lightsaber on the ground, extended his hand out, and attempted to summon it back to him. K'Kruhk noticed this and placed his foot onto it. "Don't even think about it" Havdori gasped and rushed off into the jungle, breathing heavily. "Stop him; we're not letting him get away this time" He, Madine, and the others rushed off to the jungle. As Havdori desperately ran through the jungle, he felt a hand grab onto his shoulder.
"Not so fast" said a voice. Havdori looked up to see Carth'la looking at him. "Did you really think you were going to get off that easily?" With a flash of green mist, they both vanished.
Later
The Merciless lifted off and flew through a field of rebel ships.
"Look at that, Urai; they're following through with their end but are still prepared in case we don't" said Tyber.
"You're admiring them?" asked Urai.
"In a way" replied Tyber "I rather like the Alliance, they're far more reasonable than the Empire; and that makes things easier"
"That aside, we need security to consider" said Urai "If another Dark Jedi like Havdori tries to take, I cannot guarantee that we'll be that fortunate. There are many, many more Dark Jedi, and some of them are involved with the Empire" Tyber stroked his chin.
"I suppose you do have a point" said Tyber "Then I'll just have to have you slit the throat of any that wish to undermine me"
"This is no joke, Tyber" said Urai "If you think Havdori was torment, then you have no idea"
"At least with Havdori out of the way, we can at least focus the rest of our operations again" said Tyber, ignoring Urai "The Rebels can have the galaxy as far as I care, but the underworld is all mine; not only will I rule it, I will corrupt it like no other crimelord before me"
Meanwhile
"Beautiful view" said Ahsoka as she and Luke sat on the hill watching the sunrise.
"Yeah, look down there" said Luke whilst pointing at Madine and Bendon who were talking with the holograms of the Ithorian Elders. "I sure hope Ithor stays with the Alliance"
"The alternative is risk being invaded by the Empire, and we all know that's not a wise choice" said Ahsoka
"So what was it like?" asked Luke "Being…part of her"
"It was strange…and scary" replied Ahsoka "I felt all this power surging through me and yet I had no control over it. I felt all the movements, yet I couldn't do anything about it; and the longer I stayed bonded with her, the more I felt myself fading away"
"Then it's good we got you back" said Luke. Ahsoka briefly looked off onto the horizon before turning back to Luke.
"Luke, there's something I want you to know" said Ahsoka "When I was falling apart, dissolving into the Daughter's essence; there was something that anchored me down, keep me together and made me sort of stronger. Luke, I think it was—"
"I hope you're recovering, both of you" said K'Kruhk as he walked up to them.
"Yeah; being the first Jedi to encounter Darth Nihilus in thousands of years, I guess I feel a little tired out from it" said Luke "So how's the mask? Is it destroyed?"
"No I'm afraid" replied K'Kruhk "We tested it out, but it's indestructible; nothing can destroy it, not even a lightsaber. Besides, perhaps it's better if Nihilus's spirit remains contained"
"Then what are we going to do with it?" asked Ahsoka.
"We have to place it somewhere no one will ever find it" replied K'Kruhk.
"Back on Korriban?" asked Luke.
"No, the dark side energy there will only empower it again" replied K'Kruhk "And if a bounty hunter could get his hands on it, then it is far from secure. Instead Uchji requested to take the mask back to Tython with her; the Lurmen monks will keep secret and safe and make sure it is away from anything else dark side related. It may not be the most secure option, but it will have to do for the time being. And one more thing; I have spoken with Master Kota and Master Sitra, and we have come to the conclusion on a matter we had discussing for a long time"
"And what's that?" asked Luke.
"As you know, young Skywalker; we declined your offer on training you on the grounds that it would be to invite disaster without an official Order, but we cannot see you continue on without continuing your training" replied K'Kruhk "Despite all the hardships the Jedi have endured, we cannot just sit by and see a padawan not complete his training; but we have also noticed that you are not alone. There is another who has lost their master and not finished their training" Ahsoka and Luke stared at each other. "Skywalker, the experience you have gained since joining the Alliance is not exactly conventional Jedi training; but it is impressive. And Tano, most of your training was under the old Order so you have knowledge of how it works. Perhaps right now the best master for you is each other"
"You're going somewhere but I can't exactly put my finger on what exactly" said Ahsoka.
"We are going to organize you two into a reciprocal apprenticeship" replied K'Kruhk "It is a rare form of training in which both participants involved are the master and the apprentice. It has become clear that within your partnership together, a powerful connection has arisen; perhaps it could be used to help improve each other"
"I guess you'll have to get used to calling me "Master Tano"" smirked Ahsoka.
"Not before you get used to calling me "Master Skywalker"" smirked Luke.
"I've known for some time that that sometimes teaching is the best method of learning" said K'Kruhk "May the Force be with you both"
Meanwhile on Tython
Uchji slowly lowered Nihilus's mask into a crate which a pair of Aye-Aye Lurmen monks closed and brought down into a cellar below.
"It's okay, Uchji" said Samfor as he walked up to her "We'll make sure it never sees the light of day again"
"Is it really?" said Uchji "Nihilus is still not gone and I doubt he'll ever be truly gone. It will take time, but he will regain power once more"
"And we'll be ready for him" said Samfor "But right now, it is best to enjoy peace while it lasts. Go on, have some rests"
"Thank you" said Uchji. She walked back upstairs, laid down on her bed, and slowly drifted off to sleep, hoping that the nightmares had stopped.
Meanwhile in an unknown location
Havdori kneeled in a large dark chamber with Carth'la pacing up and down behind him.
"Please!" begged Havdori "I know what this must look like, but I assure you that it was all for you!" Standing before him was a large throne where a black robed figure sat, his only distinguishing features being his black gloves and his black mask with silver Sith tattoos.
"You expect me to believe this, Havdori?" said the masked figure "When I originally brought you in an trained you, you took a great interest in lore and artefacts so I sent you out to retrieve Sith holocrons for me; it appears however that you developed other plans"
"I only did what I did for you, master" begged Havdori "Uncovering the Sith artefacts was to help progress our collection, you can't just have holocrons"
"You know all too well that you were planning to overthrow him" said Carth'la "The Master doesn't look kindly on betrayal"
"Carth'la, I am handling this" said the Master (the masked figure) "I should have kept you on a much shorter leash, Havdori; then perhaps this would never have happened. The holocrons are one thing, but you would have to be mad to mess with the mask of Darth Nihilus; not even an advanced Sith Lord can control its power"
"I urge you to reconsider, master!" begged Havdori "Surely I'm better use to you alive"
"Perhaps once" said the Master "But now that you have become too ambitious for your own good, you are nothing more than a potential threat; and I cannot allow anything to get in the way of my plans" Carth'la force-lifted a large circular trapdoor that lay behind him.
"Master; if you intend to kill me, then do it yourself" begged Havdori "Leaving me between death and a fate worse is no way to execute someone, even a traitor"
"As far as I'm concerned, it's too merciful" said Carth'la. She force-pushed him into the trapdoor where he fell in and disappeared into the darkness below. As he regained consciousness, he briefly looked up at the light coming from the trapdoor before his attention was drawn to a growling coming from the darkness around him. Suddenly, a large rakghoul leapt out from the shadows, grabbed onto his leg, and pulled him back into it screaming. From the darkness, the sounds of his screaming faded as the sounds of growling and chewing increased. Carth'la closed the trapdoor over again. "Hopefully his actions won't be too intrusive, master"
"This setback is only temporary" said the Master "Proceed as planned"
Author's note: Well; I did it, I got through season two. I admit that this season didn't exactly turn out as originally planned, what with the reconstructing of previous stories and the like; but for what it's worth, I hope that long term my series will turn out good. Please, let me know what you thought of this season as I'll really appreciate it. In the meantime, stay tuned for Star Wars: Galactic Civil War season 3…
Hellman76: I'm afraid it might not fit into the story Ive panned out so far, I'm really sorry.
CT7567Rules: It's funny you should mention that because I was already planning on having both Barriss and Lux appear in next season.