Chapter 18

The air was warm on Meetra's face. Dantooine always seemed to give her comfort. There was just something about the planet, the warm sun on her face, the wind in her hair. The Jedi Enclave was in ruins but it still was her home. She knew she could always return here.

The Three Jedi Masters stood in front of her. Three not four. Where was Atris? Meetra thought that she would have been here as well. Not that Meetra was necessarily looking forward to seeing the woman again but she had been the one who told Meetra to gather the Jedi on Dantooine. So then why wasn't she here?

Zez Kai Ell was on the right of the three. He looked different now that he was in his Jedi Robes and not the street clothing of a refugee.

"Have you noticed that when you act, others follow?" His voice was slow and drawn out. Almost soothing in its own way. "They follow you without question, without hesitation."

This wasn't the first time this had been brought to her attention. Kreia had told her something similar before.

"They follow you because you are a leader." Kreia had told her. "But there is more to it than that. Have you noticed what has been happening to them? How they act one way but when they are around you they will act another?"

Vrook stepped forward continuing what Zez-Kai Ell was saying, "Against their instincts and sometimes against their sense."

Meetra thought back to when she was talking to Mira. She had asked her why she didn't kill her bounties.

"But you kill people fine when you're with me." Meetra had pointed out to her.

"I know." Mira's eye twitched as she said the words. "Something just comes over me. I don't know what it is but I don't like it." There was almost a look of fear in her eyes. Fear of what? Her own hypocrisy? Fear of what she was becoming?

Again, Meetra did not think she had been the direct cause of their change. They just followed her because she was their leader. That was the way it had always been, had it not? Soldiers did what they were told. They worked to be the will and body of the one they followed. Even if that will was not always their own.

"It is because you are a leader." Kavar, the last of the Three Master said, seeming to have read her mind. "But that still fails to grab the meaning of what we are trying to tell you."

This made no sense. "Are you saying that I am controlling them somehow?" Meetra asked. The very idea still seeming ridiculous to her but at the same time she knew there was no lie in their words.

Vrook shook his head. "It is not an easy thing to explain. Surly you are aware of force bonds. It is the bond that develops between apprentice and master, when one truly understands another-"

Meetra thought back to her first talk on the Ebon Hawk with Kreia after they had escaped Perogous. Kreia had lost her hand while fighting Darth Sion. And somehow Meetra had shared the sensation. They had somehow become linked by a force bond.

"But how did this bond form between us?" she had asked.

"I must admit that its nature eludes me as well" was all Kreia had said.

"-It is developed over time, through understanding of each other," Vrook continued. "Yet you do it so easily and we do not know why."

Kavar. "You make connections through the force and it resonates with those who you travel with. The resonance is even greater when they too are force sensitive."

Zez-Kai Ell. "Your actions affect others more then you know. You draw others to you, especially those strong in the Force."

Kreia had said something similar to her. "How many more do you intend to bring to us? This ship is not the Galaxy."

"As many as are willing to help." Meetra had shrugged thinking it not a big deal.

"Then prepare for an army I think."

Could that have been what she had been talking about? Had she really known about this the entire time?

Kavar. "When you suffer their spirit echoes it. And when they were in pain, their pain became yours."

Meetra was looking at Kreia's missing hand. "When you lost your hand it felt like my hand had been dipped in molten Carbonite."

"Then I imagine the sensation on my death would not be as painful but much quicker."

Meetra shook her head. This was impossible. This was insane. "How did this happen?"

The three looked at each other for a moment none of them seeming to want to answer.

Kavar finally spoke up. "We do not know," he admitted with a sigh. "But it is not the first time you have felt the weight of so many lives."

Zez-Kai Ell "That is why the Mandalorian War echo within you still."

But if that was the case then what happened to her… "So all those Deaths at Malachor…"

Vrook nodded. "It was not us who cut you off from the Force. You were merely deafened to it because of that last battle of the Mandalorian Wars."

Zez-Kai Ell. "The screams of countless thousands, Jedi and Mandalorians, crushed by the planets gravity, annihilated."

Kavar. "Their lives scream across the surface of that dead planet and within you. To hear the Force over such pain… it is not possible. It was too much for any Jedi to endure and it is a wonder that you did not die there when thousands perished. You cut yourself off because you had to if you were to survive. You had hints of it at the Battle of Dxun. Malachor was simply the final blow."

Vrook. "You were deafened."

At last you could hear.

Kavar. "You were broken."

You were whole.

Zez-Kai Ell. "You were blinded."

And at last you saw.

Disciple was standing in front of the Galaxy map showing Meetra all the systems that were hit during the Jedi Civil War. "At first I thought it was just conquest but it is more terrible than that. It is an echo spreading outward and killing everything."

Vrook. "When you returned to us we saw what had happened. You carry all those deaths at Malachor within you. It has left a whole a hunger that cannot be filled."

Zez-Kai Ell. "In you we saw the end of the Force."

The end of the Force? How could that be? How could she bring an end to the Force? But was it really so hard for her to believe?

Meetra's blade powered through Sion's defenses cutting him down yet again. Meetra took a step back hoping that was the end but in less than a moment he was getting back to his feet.

"You cannot win," Sion stated, straitening his posture. His voice seeming to reverberate as he spoke. "The Dark Side of the Force sustains me and it is strong in this place."

Meetra deactivated her lightsaber and dropped it to her side. "You don't get it Sion, I have already won."

"You cannot win. Strike me down a hundred times and a hundred times I will rise."

"Open your eyes, Sion. The Force is what is keeping you alive. And I am the death of the Force. I create Force Bonds and I feed off it. You already said that I was a whisper in your mind. What do you think that is? That's the connection that was made between us."

"What?" His eyes shot wide as fear began to take hold of him. Suddenly the thing that had been his strength had become his greatest weakness.

She understood now. Why Kreia had picked her. Chosen her to fight the first Nihilus and now Sion. Only she had the power to kill them.

Meetra closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, grabbed hold of the bond that was shared between them. Then she reached deep inside herself, into the void deep within her. The unfillable, ever growing void and she touched it. Her touch acted like a pebble in a still lake sending out ripples all around her. The ripples turned into echoes that rang out, traveling through the Force Bond. Meetra reached out grabbing the Force energy inside of him and yanked it, ripping the Force out and absorbing it into herself, feeding the void.

The void inside her responded to the energy, instantly rejuvenating her body. Her wounds healed and her energy, both physical and mental, were restored.

Sion's eyes widened as he reached out for Meetra. The Force now gone from him there was nothing to sustain him. His broken and scared body started to crumble, no longer having the Force to hold it together.

"You thought that your pain made you invincible but in the end it was your undoing." Sion fell to the ground his body braking apart.

Meetra stood over the Sith that had hounded her for so long in a quiet triumph. She knew she was more powerful now then she had ever been before. Ten years ago she would have never dreamed of fighting someone as powerful as Sion alone and being triumphant. And not only had she beaten him, she had utterly crushed him.

She stepped over the broken corpse whose death had finally caught up to the body, and walked into the central chamber of the academy.

Only one Sith Lord remained.

Meetra's eyes opened. She was lying in bed covered in sweat, Atton asleep in the corner chair. It was still night, not that she could tell if the sun had come up since it was still storming outside. While the rain might have let up it had yet to stop completely even once since they had arrived on this planet.

Meetra sat up wrapping a blanket around her, trying to keep warm. She let her feet hang off the edge of the bed as she debated getting up or trying to go back to sleep.

"More dreams?" Atton's voice was soft and full of worry.

"If it's not guilt over what I did to Atris then it is the Jedi council telling my why I will kill us all."

Atton did not move from his chair but Meetra could feel him gazing at her. "What was it that the council said to you? Why are you so dangerous?"

Meetra sighed. She had feared telling Atton what the Council had said might somehow make him fearful of her. If Atton of all people became scared of her, that somehow made what was said all the more unbearable.

"They told me that I create Force Bonds with others." Meetra rested against the wall at the head of the bed. There was no point in hiding it from him. He deserved to know. "Not the natural kind of bonds that are made after years of proximity and understanding. Instead, I make them quickly and I feed off the connections that I make. After Malachor V when thousands died and all those connections that I had made were cut. I severed myself from the Force and by doing so I created a wound. A void. And this void was never ending, and could never be healed."

"But you were in exile for nearly ten years and they never saw you as any kind of threat," Atton pointed out.

Meetra pursed her lips together. How did she explain something that she did not fully understand herself? "I didn't have a connection to the Force then, so I was not creating any more Force Bonds. But when Kreia reconnected me to the Force-"

"You started creating these bonds again."

Meetra nodded. "Only I was still a void. A wound in the force. The connection I had was not my own, so the Force was being consumed by me through the bonds that I made. And I can feel that it's growing."

"Growing?"

"The more powerful I become in the Force the larger the void inside me becomes. The more it feeds off the Force, the more bonds I make with others, and the more powerful I become and the larger the void becomes as well." She had first truly felt it when she fought Darth Nihilus.

Since her fight with Sion it continued to feed on those around her. The more it fed the larger it became. In truth it was only a matter of time before she became like Nihilus. Slowly killing those around her, feeding on stronger and stronger beings in the Force until one day she consumed everything in her wake.

How long until she became the mindless being that Nihilus had become? His only thought or motivation the never ending hunger. Would she end up consuming the entire galaxy like he threatened to do? Was there anyone alive who could stop her?

"And you and I have this Force Bond?" Atton asked.

Meetra nodded again. "Ever since the two of us escaped Peragus. And this bond does more than just feed off of you, it influences you. It bends you to my will." Meetra paused, did she really want to explain all of this to him? But she knew she had to. It was unfair for him not to know the dangers of being around her. Even if that meant he would leave. "As long as you are with me I will slowly feed off of you. The more you grow in the Force, the stronger our connection will become."

"And the more you will feed off of me," Atton finished. "And this bond, is it dangerous?"

"The council thought so. That is why they tried to cut me off from the Force." Meetra chewed the inside of her mouth. "At the time I thought them all mad. The thought of losing my connection to the Force a second time terrified me. But now…"

"Hey." Atton stood up, moving over to Meetra. "You defeated Darth Nihilus and saved Telos from being consumed by him. You gathered the lost Jedi together. You fought your way through hundreds of Sith to save our friends on Malachor. It was you who fought and killed Sion, who they said could not die. And it was you who killed Kreia and stopped her from destroying the Force and killing everything in the Galaxy."

Atton placed his hand on Meetra's shoulder. His touch was warm and welcoming. Meetra could not help but smile as she felt it.

"I do not care what a bunch of Cryptic old Sages had to say about you," Atton stated. "You did the impossible and saved not only the Republic but the entire Galaxy. What did they ever do, whether in the Mandalorian wars the Jedi Civil War or when the Sith attacked again? They sat around and hid while the real Jedi did all the work. So if you ask me, they don't know anything. They were blind to everything around them and that goes double for you."

Meetra gave a half smile. His words did help. He reminded her that for all the harm she may be doing or possibly do, she had done a lot to help the Galaxy and the Republic. That had always been what she tried to do. Whether it be the stranger on the street or entire planets.

"So you don't fear that I may be killing you?" Meetra asked.

Atton leaned forward so they were face to face with each other. "I could never fear you. Nor could I ever hate you." Atton leaned in close. "Because Meetra, I love you." He parted his lips, leaning in for the kiss and Meetra found that she was not moving away.

Both of them stopped. There was a ping in the back of their minds, like a quite hum from something just out of reach.

There was a disturbance in the Force.

Something was coming, and it was powerful. They both stood up from the bed. Meetra reached out with the Force, calling her lightsaber to her hand. Suddenly she wished that she had been sleeping in more than a two peace. If they had to run from here she was going to be very exposed. And given the weather outside wet and cold as well.

Atton stood next to the door, his hand over his lightsaber, signaling to her that he was ready. Meetra looked down at her double blade hilt when she got a better idea. A lightsaber might draw unwanted attention. She placed her lightsaber behind her back as she reached out with the force and called her two Heavy Mandalorian blasters from their shoulder holsters in her robes to her hands.

Both blasters at the ready, she leveled them at the door, giving Atton a ready signal. She could feel that whatever was approaching was getting close. If only she could since what was going on outside, but all the dark side energy of the planet was throwing off her senses.

But wait. She could.

She took a breath recalling the teachings Visas had given her. How to see as she saw. Not with her eyes but with the Force. She drew the Force to her eyes. No longer seeing with her eyes but with the Force. She could make out a dozen figures taking up position just outside their room. By how much Dark Side energy there were emanating, it was probably a good guess that they were all Force Wielders.

Meetra sent a quick sensation through the Force Bond that she and Atton shared, showing him what she was seeing. He gave a nod of understanding and knew what she was thinking.

Just as the Sith were about to breach the door Atton used the Force to open it instead. As soon as the door started moving Meetra started blasting in a rapid fire. Her aim was perfect and she struck two of the Sith before they even knew they were under fire. She took out two more as they were activating their lightsabers to defend themselves. The rest easily deflected her shots away.

Once the initial surprise was over Atton activated his Lightsaber with a snap hiss and charged out into the hallway. He cut down the closest Sith, Atton's orange blade humming as he sliced through him. Still under fire from Meetra the rest of the Sith couldn't engage Atton and deflect her shots at the same time. Atton cut down another Sith and started to move to the next one.

The surprise gone the Sith started to counter. Four of the Sith closest to the door moved to the doorway deflecting Meetra's blasts while the remaining two attacked Atton together. Meetra dropped the blasters and used the Force to call her lightsaber to her hands from her back. As she activated the twin green blades, she simultaneously leapt through the air, covering the thirty or so feet distance in a single bound.

She cut down the middle Sith and with a single swipe of her blade cut down the other two. Atton was blocking the attacks of the last two Sith but was unable to go on the offensive, backing further and further back with each block. Meetra reached out with the Force and pushed both Sith, throwing them against the wall head first. Their lightsabers shut off as they slumped to the ground dead or unconscious.

"You alright?" Meetra ran up to Atton making a spot check that he had not been hurt.

"I'm fine." he assured her, deactivating his lightsaber and placing it on his belt. "But I doubt that is the last of them. We should get out of here before-"

His words were cut off as canisters were shot through the windows spraying green gas into the room. Atton reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a breath mask that he always had on him while Meetra took in a deep breath. Using the Force she could sustain herself on a full breath for several hours. Another thing Kreia had taught her.

The gas cut off all visibility but Meetra was still using her Force Sight so all she saw were the grey outlines of their surroundings and the red figures rushing down the hall way.

Meetra leapt forward again, taking out the closest Sith before he knew she was coming. The rest backed off, readying themselves for her attack. Meetra reached deep within herself and touched the void inside her, causing a small echo in the Force. They were not caught flat footed as the others had been and positioned themselves in the most ideal formation.

Their lightsaber stances were unfamiliar to her but it reminded her of the Makashi form used to duel other Jedi or Sith. They would be hard to overpower with lightsaber combat alone, but any Force ability she tried to use would be most likely deflected by their Force Barriers.

Meetra centered herself, drawing the Force into her. She reached deep inside herself and touched the void deep within. The ping rang out turning into an echo. When the echo touched the Force Barriers around the Sith it latched on like a goo. All Meetra had to do was yank the goo back and the Force Barriers were ripped along with it.

With their Force barriers down it was a simple matter to reach out and paralyze their bodies. Meetra then flung her lightsaber down the hallway guiding it with the Force as it cut through the stunned Sith. They all dropped to the ground dead as Meetra's lightsaber came back to her hand.

Atton was just now reaching her, his lightsaber in his hand but no longer activated.

Meetra deactivated her blade, looking back at Atton. "Come on lets go."

"What about your stuff?" Atton's voice was muffled by the breath mask. He seemed to be having trouble focusing on Meetra, constantly adverting his gaze away from her.

"No time." Meetra ran down the hall down the two flights of stairs. Once on the stairwell the gas cleared and they could go back to breathing as normal. Atton chose to keep the mask on though just in case. A decision that Meetra could understand.

They met no more resistance on their way down the stairs which might have given them hope that they had finished the last of them, except that the feeling of something powerful being nearby had not gone away. There was someone waiting for them outside and he was just as powerful if not more then Sion had been.

With a sigh of relief they reached the bottom of the stairs unchallenged. The Cantina area had been cleared out. Nobody wanting to be around when the fighting started most likely. Meetra and Atton crept low to the ground using the tables and bar as cover as they moved.

Meetra looked around trying to find where the next team of Sith would come from but there was none to be seen. Could they have really killed all of them? Then what was the cause of this disturbance? They reached the exit and both took up positions on opposite sides of the door way.

Meetra tried to reach out with the Force to sense if there was anyone out there but the overwhelming power was blocking her from sensing anything else. She took a deep breath as she used her Force Sight to see past the walls to the street beyond. She couldn't see anyone outside waiting for them. At least no one strong enough in the Force that would show up with her vision.

Meetra gave Atton an unsure shrug. Atton replied with a determined nod and hit the open button, the exit door sliding to the side. They had both taken less than five steps outside when they were blinded by bright lights from the rooftops of the building across the street. The lights were so bright that Meetra had to raise her arm in front of her eyes just to keep from going blind.

She had been so focused on what was in front of them she had gotten careless. She had only scanned the street level. She hadn't bothered to look up to see if there were people waiting for them on the roof tops.

"I am impressed." A figure drooped from the top of the five story building, landing with ease. Whoever this person was he was the power that they had been feeling.

The figure was wearing a hood that shielded most of his face except for the red tendrils that hung from his chin, revealing him as a True Sith. The rest of his features were washed out by the bright lights behind him casting him in a silhouette.

"When I had gotten word that two potential agents were staying here I naturally figured that you were just simple insurgents, here to blow something up and cause problems." The dark figure took several steps forward as he talked. Not making any kind of aggressive move but filling the distance. Atton and Meetra in kind both spread out from each other.

"The last thing I expected to find was two Jedi." A smile crossed the figures face. A smile that Meetra had not seen in a long while. It was a smile of pure pleasure from destruction. Caring nothing for anyone or anything except the thrill of the battle.

"I'm not a Jedi." The words came more as an instinctive reaction then actually trying to explain herself. Not that she expected him to believe her. If nobody believed her in the Republic they sure weren't going to believe her here.

The Sith cocked a smile letting out a humph. "Sure, you're the other group of people that can use the Force, wield lightsabers, and don't use the dark side of the force."

Meetra smiled despite herself. "Actually yeah."

The figure shrugged obviously board from their exchange. "It really doesn't matter. We will fight. I will kill the male as he obviously is a fool who doesn't know anything.-"

"Hey," Atton interjected.

"-Beat you within an inch of your life and torture you until you tell me what you are doing here."

"Would you believe a diplomatic mission of peace?" Atton suggested.

The figure only smiled. In a swift motion he lunged forward covering the remaining distance, striking at Meetra with his red lightsaber. Meetra could barely see it in time to block, the lights from the roofs blinding her. She started to reach out with the Force to take the lights out but the Sith's attack were too fast for her to even try.

Atton activated his lightsaber and charged the Sith. In a blur the Sith moved out of the way, Atton swinging at nothing but air. The Sith seemed to reappear behind Atton, striking at his back. Atton was able to bring his lightsaber behind him in time to block but the force knocked him forward a bit. Causing him to stagger slightly.

The light form the roofs were proving too much of a distraction for both of them. The Sith was able to keep his back to the light illuminating his sight but blinding anyone facing him. Meetra knew she had to turn the tables.

Using a Force Jump, she landed to the other side of the Sith striking out with a quick flurry of attacks, forcing him to take a few steps back as he deflected her blows. Now her back was to the lights and he would be blinded. Meetra struck out again with a power attack hoping to break down his defenses and finish him off. The Sith easily dodged her attacks and countered. It was as if the light in his eyes did not affect him at all.

Bare foot and standing on the wet ground Meetra lost her footing and stumbled. The Sith raised his blade to finish her off, bringing it down towards her head.

"Stay away from her!" Atton swung at the Sith wildly, trying to keep him away from Meetra. The Sith raised his off hand and used the force to send Atton hurling backwards, landing on his back and sliding on the wet pavement.

Meetra used the distraction to push the Sith's attack aside and get to her feet. The two stood for a moment staring at each other. The rain ran down Meetra's almost naked body. Every time a droop would hit their blades it would hiss, leaving a trail of steam.

Meetra could barely see anything. Not only was the light blinding her but the rain was running into her eyes. Yet somehow neither of these things seemed to bother the Sith. There was something familiar about how he fought. It was as if he was only seeing her threw the Force.

Meetra almost laughed as the realization hit her. This Sith was blind. Just like Visas was. Meaning he had learned to use Force Vision just like Meetra. Only it was how he always saw, unlike Meetra who had to make a conscious effort.

Meetra smiled smugly having figured out his secret.

Activating her Force Sight she changed to the Juyo Lightsaber Style. It sacrificed defense but was the most aggressive form Meetra knew. The lights now did nothing to affect her vision. She saw nothing but the grey outlines of everything and the red beacon of light that stood before her.

Meetra lunged forward, striking with her green blades. The Sith easily blocked her first few strikes but was surprised when the attacks kept coming. Able to see clearly now Meetra could press her attacks, spotting every opening and take advantage of it. The only thing that was holding her back now was her lack of footing. The wet smooth surface she was fighting on meant she had to keep constant focus on every step and foot placement.

The Sith eventually lunged back trying to reorganize himself but Meetra used a Force Jump to attack him once more. Landing a power blow down at his head. The Sith moved to the side avoiding the strike but Meetra was already moving, using the other end of the Lightsaber to strike at him in mid lung,

The Sith held out his lightsaber in front of him, deflecting the blade. The force of the attack pushed him back even farther. The Sith slid back a few inches on the wet ground, lowering his blade to his side.

"What are you?" The Sith asked. Meetra thought she could hear true astonishment in his voice. "You could very well be just as powerful as I am. But more than that, you seem to be able to move like I can, despite the fact that you are not blind."

Meetra could see that behind her Atton was starting to get to his feet, rubbing his head with his free hand. He seemed to be fine. That was good for they would probably have to run after this.

"Tell me your name," the Sith demanded.

Meetra thought about not giving it to him but maybe she could use this. "Meetra Surik."

"Meetra Surik. There are very few names I have ever bothered to learn." The Sith deactivated his lightsaber and placed it on his belt. "I am Vosif, The Emperor's Wrath. You will do well to remember my name as well. The next time that we fight I promise you that I will be ready. I must say, it has been a long time since someone ever posed a challenge to me."

The Sith lunged backwards, turned and ran off. As soon as he was out of sight the light on the roofs shut off.

"Uh, what just happened?" Atton asked, coming up beside Meetra. He was rubbing his sore head and looking off in the direction the Sith had darted off in.

"I think he was impressed." Meetra looked at him. He was obviously confused. Meetra wasn't though. She understood what had happened. The Sith lived his life for the challenge, finding one in her he wanted to make sure that he was able to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible.

"Think he will be back?"

Meetra smiled. "I know he will be."