Myrkr

Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith, halted her impressive display of lightwhip acrobatics and glared at Mark. "I've come for my apprentice."

He gave her an inscrutable smile. "You're going to have a hell of a time getting him. If you haven't noticed," he motioned to the surrounded forest. "This planet is a void in the Force."

Although he couldn't see her mouth he could tell she was smiling under the fabric. She spun her crackling whip around once again. "I don't need the Force to wield a whip. Give him to me or you will…" She hesitated and stared at him intently. "Your eyes." Her head cocked to the side. "You're…you're Sith?"

Mark chuckled at her obvious confusion. "Sure, why don't you turn off the whip and we'll go inside and discuss a plan for galactic domination."

She stood in stunned silence. Finally she gained her voice. "What? Seriously?"

Mark let out a booming laugh. "No, sarcastically. Gods you Sith are stupid."

Her face flush red in anger. "Hand over Jacen Solo or you will die."

Mark grabbed his lightsaber off his belt and ignited it. "Since I am a Jedi I will give you the opportunity to surrender. It's a formality, but Luke likes me to at least ask before I decapitate someone."

Now it was time for Lumiya to laugh. "I really doubt you have any chance of that." She took a step closer to Mark. "You are just as Force blind as I am and without the Force, pure skill will determine the outcome of this fight…and I am more than confident my skills outweigh yours." He could see one cheek rise up as in a smirk. "I was told you were not the best student when it came to the lightsaber. That will be your undoing."

She dragged the whip back and forth across the duracrete landing pad menacingly, leaving a black scorched pattern in its wake. Mark looked at his lightsaber and then to her deadly whip before he smirked. "You're right about one thing. I was never good with a lightsaber. My son could best me by the time he was twelve." He deactivated his saber and calmly attached it to his belt. "You know, there's an old Corellian saying, 'Never bring a whip to a blaster fight'. With that he quickly pulled his blaster carbine off his shoulder and began firing in rapid succession.

Lumiya's eyes went wide as she attempted to deflect the blaster bolts with the lightwhip. Unfortunately, it was not the best defensive weapon. She soon dropped the whip and brought up her lightsaber in defense, but this was of little help. Without the use of the Force nobody was quick enough to deflect a barrage of blaster bolts. One-by-one shots penetrated her defenses. One bolt hit her square in the chest and Mark could see blood, smoke and sparks from her cybernetic parts pouring out of her torso. Lumiya dropped heavily to her knees, her saber falling from her hand and deactivating as it hit the ground. She looked up at him blankly, as if not understanding what had just happened.

"Like I said, stupid...being a Sith must rot your brain." Mark muttered under his breath as he cautiously moved toward the woman. She tried to stagger to her feet but then fell forward face first onto the ground. He kept his blaster aimed at her as he moved forward to secure her weapons and then tossed them out of reach. He used his foot to roll Lumiya onto her back so he could see her face.

Her headpiece had become unsecured and he could see graying red hair protruding from under the fabric. Her eyes were a deep green, without a hint of yellow as he expected… but without the Force perhaps her eyes wouldn't take on the jaundice color he had once seen with Emperor Palpatine. Lumiya pulled the veil away from her face and gasped for air. She slowly lifted her head and regarded at the gaping wound in her chest. "Just kill me," she gasped.

Mark knelt down next to her and did a quick search for more weapons, but found none. "You know Jedi don't kill in cold blood."

She gave a rasping laugh. "Your eyes tell me you have wandered from the path of the Jedi."

"True, but not too far," Mark conceded.

She gave him a sardonic smirk. "It's too bad I didn't approach you to be my apprentice. We have so much in common."

His posture stiffened at the suggestion. "We have nothing in common," Mark protested sharply.

"That's where you're wrong. We both hold Palpatine's memories. After he left your body he entered mine."

Mark grimaced. "That always sounds so wrong."

She laughed, coughing up blood while doing so. "You're right, that does sound awful." She closed her eyes and struggled for breath. "His spirit left me when he realized the extent of my cybernetic replacements. But his memories remained."

He gave her a curious look. "If you are in possession of Palpatine's knowledge, why not heal yourself?"

She looked at him incredulously. "First of all I would need access to the Force!"

"Oh yeah," Mark mumbled. "I keep forgetting about that."

She scowled at him as the color slowly drained from her face. "And second, that technique doesn't work on cybernetics you di'kut."

"Ah, yeah," Mark conceded. "That too."

Lumiya made a gurgling sound before she coughed up more blood. She looked up at Mark with an unsteady gaze. "You have to let Jacen go. He's needed to fight the great evil that awaits the galaxy in the near future."

Mark scoffed as he stood up and slung his weapon over his shoulder. "I don't think so. If he turns Sith, he'll become the great evil."

"No," she shook her head. "A Master of the Unifying Force is needed to defeat the future danger. Jacen can become that person."

Mark cocked an eyebrow her way. "Why do you believe that?"

She propped herself on one elbow while struggling to talk. "The dark prophets said the ancient evil that awaits us might be killed by a warrior that is neither seeped in the dark or light side of the Force."

Mark's brow furrowed. "And you interpreted that as being a Master of the Unifying Force? Why not a warrior that is not a Sith or Jedi? Or a person void of the Force?"

"The Force lives within all living things." Lumiya pointed out.

"That's debatable."

"Don't kill him," Lumiya begged. "Jacen's done nothing wrong."

Mark shook his head and scoffed. "Other than killing Mara, you mean?"

Lumiya closed her eyes as a despondent expression crossed her face. "He didn't…I did. I deserve your wrath, not him."

Mark snorted in disbelief. "Why are you taking the blame for him?"

"Because he would never intentionally hurt his aunt. He's innocent. I'm the killer. You need to let him go."

"That will be up to Luke," he said absently. He gazed down at her intently, wondering what he should do with her. Finally he came to a decision. He reached down, grabbed her up in his arms and started walking toward the compound.

"Where are you bringing me?" she asked, grimacing in pain with every step.

"If I leave you out here the Vornskrs will eat you alive and I don't want to have to clean up the mess." He looked down at the dying woman in his arms. "What is this great approaching evil?"

She shook her head softly. "I don't know, but it must be stopped."

Mark brought the Dark Lady into the building and went down the corridor in the opposite direction of Jacen's room. He pushed open the door of a crew cabin and laid her gently on the bed. He didn't see a need for restraints; she wasn't long for this world.

He turned to leave but Lumiya reached out and tugged at the hem of his tunic. "Wait," she gasped. "Tell Luke I'm sorry. I tried to change. I tried to redeem myself, but everything I did turned out wrong. Either it's in my nature to be evil or the dark side refused to give up its hold on me. I really am sorry."

Mark looked down into regret filled eyes brimming with unshed tears. "I believe you," he whispered "I'll let him know."

"Thank you," she whispered as hot tears finally escaped and ran down her face. "I'm in pain. If you won't kill me…then stun me. Please."

"Okay," Mark sighed. He pulled his blaster out of his holster and set it to stun. He then pointed at Lumiya and fired.