Episode 22 – The Heir
Another Kenobi! After witnessing a strange and bizarre vision in the Dark Side Cave on Dagobah, Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker has succeeded in his search to find the lost child of his former Master: Obi Wan Kenobi, and has identified Kenobi's Heir as none other than Sith Lady Talzin Ventress! Now it is a race against time as Sith Assassin Darth Maul seeks to find her first and kill her to end the Kenobi line once and for all!
Somewhere in the galaxy…
All she could see were rolling sand dunes, brown cliff sides in the distance, the odd moisture vaporator sticking up out of the ground. It was a sight that eight-year-old Talzin Ventress knew quite well. Her grey skin, a result of her half-breed nature, being largely covered by the sand colored clothing common to those of the Tatooine Moisture Farmer. Even then she kept her long black hair in a set of microbraids.
"Zin! Zin, where are you girl!" she heard a man's voice call from inside the homestead. Talzin turned and ran to the edge of the ring that lined the upper level of her family moisture farm. She looked down into the ring to see her father, a human man with a clean shaven face and jagged scar across his forehead looking up at her.
"I'm here, dad!" she called down into the home, the man smiling upon seeing her.
"Your mother says it's time to wash up for dinner! It's your favorite! Ronto beef stew!" her father called, causing Talzin to grin.
"Coming!" she called back, quickly turning and running back away from the ring before pausing with a mischievous grin.
"I'm gonna ju~ump!" she called.
"Don't you dare!" she heard her father yell.
"Here I co~ome!" Talzin called back with a snicker. She didn't expect her mother to respond.
"Talzin Ventress if you jump, Force help me I will put you over my knee!" Asajj threatened, causing Talzin to squeak in alarm.
"Alright fine, I'm heading for the stairs!" Talzin replied, walking towards the domed entrance to the homestead. In less than a minute, Talzin was inside the homestead, walking into the dining area where her mother, Asajj "Narec," was setting out a large steaming pot of stew. Asajj wore a red cloth on her head to cover her bald scalp, draping the cloth down her back. The rest of her attire was the common wrappings of the Tatooine moisture farmer. Asajj smiled at her daughter as she sat down across from where Asajj sat, her father taking the head of the table. The small family were now quietly eating their dinner when Talzin's father cleared his throat.
"So have you seen the latest from the holonet? It seems Princess Leia Organa's finally given birth. A pair of twins. A boy and a girl. I don't recall their names." He said as Asajj looked at him curiously.
"Didn't she marry that smuggler? Solo, was it?" she asked.
"That's the one." He replied. Asajj couldn't help but chuckle in amusement.
"I'm surprised her father even let her marry the man." Asajj said as he smiled at her.
"Just from what you've said of the man, I'm not surprised." he said as Asajj shrugged.
"That was another life, my dear." Asajj said as he nodded, taking a bite of the stew.
"You've added something to this." he said but Asajj didn't react. Her brow furrowing suspiciously as she looked away. Her husband looked at her worriedly.
"Asajj?" he asked. Asajj then heard Talzin make a shivering sound.
"Mama, I feel cold." She said. This caused Asajj to look at her, a look of growing panic on her face. She then closed her eyes, listening closely to the sounds around them. She then heard it, the faint sound of a speeder engine in the distance, getting louder and louder with every passing second. Asajj's eyes shot open and she quickly leapt from her seat, rushing towards the living quarters.
"Asajj?!" Her husband called as Talzin leapt up and ran after her mother, following her into the living quarters. She peaked inside to see her mother approach her bunk, raising her hand towards the wall behind it. This caused a pair of bricks to slide out from inside the wall as if by magic. Talzin's eyes widened in awe at this. Asajj picked up one of the bricks, both of them proving to be hollow, dumping its contents onto the bed. Two curved metal objects fell onto the bed. Asajj looked inside the other brick and gave a relieved nod before placing both bricks back into the wall and picking up the objects. By now the sound of the speeder could be heard by all three of them.
"Asajj what's going on?!" Her husband asked as Asajj emerged from the dwelling.
"Get your blaster and take Talzin to a man named Skywalker! Hurry! Tell him who she is! He'll take her in!" Asajj ordered but he grabbed her wrist.
"Oh no, I'm not abandoning you! We're in this together!" he said but Asajj shook her head.
"Not this time." Asajj replied softly before pulling her wrist free and hurrying to the steps, the cloth on her head falling off as the speeder engines cut out above them.
"Like hell." he muttered, stepping into the living quarters and lifting up the mattress of his bunk, retrieving an old blaster rifle, cocking it before turning towards where Talzin had been mere seconds ago.
"Talzin? Talzin!" he exclaimed. Up on the surface, Talzin had followed her mother up and was now ducking down in the shadows of the domed entrance, peeking out to see her mother approaching a military speeder piloted by a pair of figures in black cloaks and hoods. Asajj stood defiant with her weapons in hand.
"Hello, Ventress." One of the figures greeted with a woman's voice in a low tone.
"I didn't think it could be you. Last we met was in Mos Espa and that was twenty years ago. I thought the Empire got you, but then I suppose they did after all." Ventress said as the woman smiled beneath her hood, chuckling slightly.
"We needn't be adversaries, Ventress. Times have changed. A new age is coming, one that will bring a swift end to this New Republic. You are welcome to be part of it. I can teach you things Dooku never could…or at least, things he never would."" The woman said but Asajj snarled.
"I want no part of this! Leave us alone!" Asajj warned, the hooded woman looking at her curiously.
"Us? Ah, your thoughts betray you Asajj. I sense your fear. Your thoughts dwell on your…daughter. So, you have a daughter. If you will not join us, then perhaps she will." The woman said as Asajj snarled, igniting her lightsabers.
"NEVER!" she yelled, swinging at the woman but her attack was blocked by the other figure who quickly activated a double-bladed lightsaber with a pair of red blades, the two beginning to clash ferociously. Talzin watched with fear as her mother fought valiantly but was quickly overpowered.
"No! Get back! You won't take her!" Asajj yelled between blows. Suddenly she had her legs cut from her body, causing Asajj to fall to the ground with a cry of pain, crawling away on her stomach as the second figure stood over her triumphantly.
"MAMA!" Talzin cried out in fear. She hadn't noticed the first figure's approach and suddenly felt herself grabbed by the arms by the first figure.
"Come now child. It is time your training began." The woman said, picking her up and carrying her towards the speeder in spite of Talzin's struggling. The second figure picked up Asajj's lightsabers from off the ground, following the first towards the speeder.
"NO! STOP!" Asajj cried out, begging them to stop.
"MAMA! MAMA!" Talzin cried, trying to reach for her mother. Suddenly Talzin's father burst out from inside the hovel, his blaster rifle aimed at the two dark figures.
"Drop her, or I drop you!" he yelled. A look of fear flashed across Asajj's face.
"No! Don't! Get out of here!" she yelled as the two figures came to a stop.
"Kill him." The first ordered. The second turned without a word and raised her lightsaber, suddenly pulling him towards it when suddenly he stopped, suspended in midair. Talzin looked confused. That's when she heard a mechanized breathing sound nearby and a lightsaber ignition. She looked and saw a terrifying visage of a man in a black mask armor with a brown Jedi cloak and holding a blue lightsaber. Talzin suddenly tumbled to the ground, looking at herself in confusion as she saw she had gone from eight years old to thirty in an instant.
"Talzin…it is your Destiny." Anakin Skywalker's visage said as Talzin, now fully grown, stood between him and a dark figure in black with a red double-bladed lightsaber. The sky suddenly became dark, the homestead becoming rundown and partly buried beneath the sands. She heard what sounded like a powerful weapon being started up and looked into the sky in time to see something she had only seen in historical holograms. A massive grey sphere the size of a small moon, with an equatorial trench and a massive round dish above it. She saw the dish firing eight large green laser beams that converged at a single point, creating a single large superlaser that shot straight down towards her, the entire world being annihilated beneath her feet.
"NO!" Talzin screamed as she sat up in her bunk, breathing heavily, her body covered in a cold sweat. It had been another nightmare only worse than it had been before. She was in her quarters on the Ventress, her flagship. She quietly got up from her bunk, walking into the refresher. She was just splashing some cold water onto her face when she heard a strange sound. It sounded like lightsabers clashing but no alarms had been raised and she didn't sense any feeling of anxiety, fear, or panic amongst the crew.
"Talzin." she heard a voice whisper, causing her to freeze in place. The voice was familiar, like the one she had heard on Dathomir before hearing Mother Talzin's voice. She shook her head before splashing more water in her face. She started to look up into the mirror but when she did she saw a hooded figure in brown robes standing behind her in the reflection. She quickly spun around, igniting her lightsaber but only ended up leaving a line of molten metal in the wall behind her. There was nothing there. She was breathing heavily, a look of confusion and panic on her face. She then started to hear what sounded like voices echoing from some place distant along with the sound of clashing sabers. She deactivated her lightsaber and started towards the door to her quarters, but when she reached the door, she noticed the sounds were coming from someplace behind her. She turned inward towards her quarters, looking it over, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from. Her eyes then settled on her footlocker.
"Talzin." The voice whispered again as Talzin started to approach the footlocker, the voice causing her to pause, her heart pounding as she felt a strange sense of panic.
"Who are you? Leave me alone." She said, but got no reply. The sounds continued though as she knelt before her footlocker, reaching towards it, her hand almost shaking while her other was kept on her lightsaber. She quickly opened the footlocker, expecting something to leap out at her, but nothing did. All she saw were her spare clothes. The sounds had stopped though. She breathed a sigh of relief, starting to close the locker but paused, remembering there was indeed something missing from the locker, at least to a cursory glance. She reached in and moved aside a stack of her clothes, finding the broken hilt of Galen Marek's lightsaber from Mustafar. She could still sense its former master's presence imprinted upon it from its long period of time in his possession.
She quietly picked up the broken weapon, examining it curiously for a moment, before dropping it callously back into the footlocker. When it hit the bottom though it landed with a loud and unnatural thud that echoed loudly, causing her to leap back in alarm, suddenly hearing Anakin Skywalker's mechanical breathing in her ears. Suddenly the entire cabin was blown away from around her, disintegrating before her eyes, leaving her back on the sand dunes outside her family homestead on Tatooine in the midst of a sandstorm, the sand and wind blowing towards her.
"Talzin!" a man's voice yelled over the howling of the winds. She turned to see the figure in brown robes standing before her, the wind to his back as he stood looking towards her. Suddenly she saw the shadowy outline of Anakin Skywalker emerge from within the sandstorm, his blue lightsaber active but facing towards the figure as the sand around him turned a soft white. A second figure, a hoodless Darth Akul with one of her two red lightsabers active, also emerged from within the storm, the sand around her turning black as she stared at Anakin. She and Anakin both turned towards Talzin, both extending a hand towards her.
"You must choose before it is too late!" the man in the center yelled. Talzin, looking at him confused as she shielded herself from the sand.
"Too late for what?!" she asked. The man, Anakin, and Akul all suddenly blew away, revealing another figure in black, holding a double-bladed lightsaber but standing over a body. Talzin looked and her eyes widened as she saw whose body it was…
Hers.
She stepped backwards in fear before hearing a distant explosion behind her. She turned around to look and saw what looked like Coruscant in flames, the massive city burning before her eyes before the sky suddenly turned green and became blinding. She shielded herself from the light but nothing happened. When she opened her eyes, she found herself back in her quarters on the Ventress. She swallowed nervously as she realized that this hadn't been a dream, but a vision. She knelt back down at her footlocker and picked up the broken lightsaber. She was shaking as she did and this alone unnerved her. She quietly clipped the lightsaber to her belt and headed for the door, walking out into the corridors and heading for the turbolift. When she reached the hangar, she headed straight for her starfighter, the Ginivex-class Starfighter, climbing into the cockpit and starting its engines. She quietly deactivated its transmitter, the fighter taking off and flying from the hangar. On the Ventress's bridge, one of the bridge officers noticed her flight on the ship's ATC Console.
"Captain, we have an unauthorized launch. It's Lady Talzin's starfighter, sir." The officer reported, the Captain approaching and looking at the screen before looking out the viewports to see Talzin's fighter speeding away from the ship. The Captain looked at it suspiciously.
"Have we tried contacting her?" the Captain asked. The officer checked his controls and shook his head.
"No use, sir. She's shut off her transmitter and she just exited tractor beam range." The officer reported.
"Sir, she's charging her hyperdrive. She's about to make a jump." Another officer reported.
"Track her trajectory." The Captain ordered just before Talzin's starfighter jumped to lightspeed.
"Where is she headed?" the Captain asked.
"Trajectory indicates…a planet in the outer rim. I'd say Tatooine would be her most likely destination. It's the only inhabited planet within her starfighter's range." The officer reported as the Captain put his hands behind his back in thought.
"Orders, sir?" one of the officers asked.
"Get me the Empress. I think she might need to know about this." He said, turning towards the side rooms where a holotable was set up.
"Sir, we're receiving a transmission from Lord Stalker. He says the Empress has called a meeting of the Hands and that her attendance is mandatory." One of the officers reported. The Captain swallowed nervously at the mention of the Empire's Crown Prince.
"I shall answer his transmission." The Captain said, walking into the side room, straightening his uniform. A hologram of a helmeted Darth Stalker then appeared with his arms crossed.
"Where is Talzin?" Stalker asked.
"My lord, she has…disappeared, sir." The Captain replied hesitatingly.
"Disappeared? Explain yourself, Captain." Stalker ordered, his impatience ringing clear through his mask.
"She boarded her starfighter without prior notice and left. We traced her trajectory to Tatooine, but why she's going there is unknown to us." The Captain said, Stalker lowering his arms and tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
"Tatooine? I see…most…unusual. You need not worry, Captain. I am certain she is only taking her fighter out for a little fun. She does have that privilege." Stalker said, putting his hands behind his back, earning a curious look from the Captain.
"Then you will inform the Empress of this unusual activity?" the Captain asked as Stalker gave a nod.
"You can rest assured, Captain, the Empress will be made aware of the situation." Stalker said before closing the transmission.
…
On the Sith Capital World, Stalker stepped away from the holotable in his private quarters, walking back into his bedchambers and removing his helmet, a dark and sinister smile on his face. Sitting on the edge of his bed was Darth Anjo who was just finishing getting dressed, reaffixing her mask into place. Her mask was still damaged from her encounter with Starkiller on Mustafar.
"I sense satisfaction within you, Master." Anjo commented, turning towards him.
"It seems Lady Talzin has gone off on her own. No prior warning, no prior indications. Normally such behavior from one of the Hands warrants an immediate call to the Empress to report said behavior." Stalker said as Anjo cocked her head slightly.
"Has the Empress been informed?" Anjo asked but Stalker merely smiled coyly at her.
"Not yet. I sense a disturbance in the Force. She is being hunted. A predator, a hunter…an assassin…and she is its prey. I suspect that this strange behavior may lead to the removal of yet another obstacle in our path, my apprentice." Stalker said as he placed his helmet on a table by his bed.
"And another step closer to your destiny, my Master." Anjo said as she crawled towards him on the bed, her robe slipping off one of her shoulders. Stalker smiled towards her as he reached towards her mask, pulling it off with ease.
"Everything is proceeding better than I could have foreseen." Stalker said as he guided his hand to brush her robe off her other shoulder, her robe slipping down, revealing her front-side to him.
"What of the Empress and the meeting of the Hands?" Anjo asked but Stalker merely smiled.
"What meeting?" he asked coyly with a dark chuckle.
Meanwhile…
Sitting in an unknown region of space, docked with a Consortium Space Station was the Scimitar. Maul sat in the cockpit, watching an intercepted transmission from Sith Space with his full and undivided attention. It was a transmission between the Captain of the Ventress and Darth Stalker.
"We traced her trajectory to Tatooine, but why she's going there is unknown to us." The Captain said, repeating his phrase over and over again as Maul's eyes narrowed, his hands tented in front of his face.
"She's going home." Maul muttered quietly to himself. On the station, Lumiya and Silri were walking back towards the airlock where the Scimitar was docked.
"The Master's been a bit distracted as of late." Lumiya said as Silri gave a nod.
"Ever since he found out that Obi Wan Kenobi has an heir, he's been obsessed with finding out who it is." Silri replied.
"I sensed satisfaction and anger within him before we left Taris. Do you think he may have found out who it was?" Lumiya asked.
"Possibly. Perhaps we should-…what?!" Silri exclaimed as they saw the Scimitar fly past the viewports they were walking past.
"Where's he going?!" Lumiya asked before watching the ship jump to lightspeed, leaving the two former Dark Ladies standing there confused.
"What just happened?" Silri asked.
"I intend to find out. Come, I saw a shuttle in one of the hangars we can use." Lumiya said as they headed for the hangar bay.
Meanwhile on Vjun…
In the Command Center of Bast Castle, K-2SO was examining a hologram of the same intercepted transmission. R4-K5 was plugged into the data terminal K-2SO was examining, downloading the information.
"We traced her trajectory to Tatooine, but why she's going there is unknown to us." The Ventress's Captain reported.
"Hmm…fascinating. Didn't Lord Skywalker just recently give us direct orders to report any intelligence regarding this 'Darth Talzin's' movements directly to him?" K-2SO asked, earning a low series of beeps from R4.
"I know those orders were for the whole of the Legion, but were they not his orders?" K-2SO asked with a roll of his photoreceptors. R4 beeped another low but curt reply as Director Veers approached.
"Is there a problem or am I going to have to order the both of you to maintenance?" Veers asked.
"No-no-no, no problems at all, sir. But we do have something that Lord Skywalker might be interested in. A transmission intercepted from Sith Space regarding Darth Talzin. She appears to be headed for Tatooine. It would also seem she left without any prior warning. Most unusual. I thought the Sith were much more stringent than that. I bet she gets melted down for this…or at least gets a memory wipe." K-2SO said, Director Veers checking a readout on the holotable.
"Encryption algorithms check out. They're Sith alright. I'll report this to Lord Skywalker immediately. Excellent work." Director Veers replied, turning quickly, his cape unintentionally flaring in the process, as he headed for the turbolifts. R4-K5 beeped something in low tones towards K-2SO, the towering droid looking down at him.
"No, I'm quite sure he was talking to me. Silly little trash compactor." K-2SO replied haughtily with a shake of his head.
Later…
Talzin's fighter dropped out of hyperspace in the Tatoo system, flying towards the desert planet. From orbit, Talzin could see the blackened spot that had once been Mos Espa, the city having been destroyed from orbit by the Sith on the first day of the war as a message to Anakin Skywalker. Fortunately, her old family homestead was far from Mos Espa and was well clear of the city. She flew over the area where the homestead had been and was quietly saddened to see the old moisture farm sitting abandoned, the desert sands slowly consuming it. She was surprised it hadn't been buried completely but still relieved to see it hadn't. She set her fighter down just outside the farm, climbing out of the fighter, looking to the west. The suns had set and it was cool by Tatooine standards.
She turned her attention back to the homestead, a place she hadn't seen in over two decades except in her dreams. The old domed entryway still stood, a couple moisture vaporators still stood but had been long stripped of anything useful, likely by Jawas or Tusken Raiders. She approached the edge of the ring that surrounded the lower level of the homestead, looking down into the home. A good part of it was full of sand, the old bafflers meant to repel the sand from pouring into the homestead appeared to have held up for an unusually long amount of time before giving out, leaving the dining area, kitchen, and much of the western side of the homestead flooded with sand. Her parents quarters had a small buildup of sand outside the door which had been jammed shut due to years of neglect.
Talzin dropped down into the sand filled common area, looking around sadly at what used to be her home. She could still remember the smell of that Ronto Beef Stew, their last meal as a family. She walked towards her old room, the door jammed open, looking inside but found it had been long since pillaged and ransacked. She stood up and rested her back against the wall outside her door, resting her head against the post, quietly grieving the loss of all that she had held dear.
"Why am I even here?" she asked.
"If you don't know the answer to that question, I don't see why anyone else would." A man's voice said from nearby. Talzin snapped her head forward in alarm, looking around for the source before spotting a man standing at the top of the ring overlooking the homestead. The man wore what appeared to be the traditional sand colored garments of a Tatooine native. He had well-groomed brown hair and pointed beard and goatee.
"Hello there." The man greeted with a friendly smile as Talzin scowled at him.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked as the man carefully stepped down a collapsed wall onto the tallest part of the dune leading into the homestead.
"Oh I'm just some no-name traveler on his way to Mos Eisley. I don't recommend it. It is a wretched hive of scum and villainy so they say." The man said as he approached but Talzin ignited one of her lightsabers, pointing it to his chin, the man raising his hands and backing away cautiously but not visibly afraid.
"I was never here. You never saw me." Talzin said warningly, the man shrugging slightly.
"I have no delusions of mentioning this to anyone, madam. Besides, I doubt anyone aside from me will be out this far anyway." The man said, speaking eloquently. Talzin felt a strange sense of peace about the man and cautiously deactivated her lightsaber, clipping it to her belt.
"Make sure it stays that way." She said warningly, looking around.
"You seem to have lost something." The man said as Talzin sighed heavily.
"More than you could possibly imagine." She muttered.
"Perhaps I can help you look. What is it that you have lost?" the man asked but Talzin sighed again.
"I'm not really sure to be quite honest. I don't even know what I'm doing here, I'm wasting my time. Probably made the others suspicious too. Probably be lucky if they don't sixty-six me." She said to herself as she leaned against her left side, crossing her arms over her chest.
"So it is not something you have lost, but yourself." The man said, Talzin looking over at him, the man sitting down on a particularly steeply sloped portion of the dune within the homestead.
"Something like that." She mumbled.
"Why do you feel lost?" the man asked with a compassionate look. Talzin huffed in frustration.
"Because…I've had this overwhelming desire to avenge the death of someone I loved, to kill her murderer. But no matter how close I get, I always seem to hold myself back. Worse still I…I feel like everything I've known was a lie. Like the universe doesn't make any sense to me anymore. Like I'm being asked to do things that, a year ago, I wouldn't hesitate in doing, but now…now I have to force myself to do them…and some of these things…I don't think I can bring myself to do." Talzin said, the man listening intently to her explanation.
"Even the man who murdered the person you loved? Your mother, I'm guessing?" the man asked as Talzin gave a reluctant nod.
"I don't know anymore. He claims to not be her killer, and forty years ago they were bitter enemies…and yet, I cannot help but feel that maybe…maybe it's true. Maybe she did just die on her own…alone, grieving, and broken." Talzin said, shivering slightly.
"Love can be a powerful lifeline for some. Maybe she longed for the day you would come home." The man said as Talzin shrugged.
"I guess. Last time I saw her…" she said, replaying those last few moments with her mother in her mind. Suddenly she remembered seeing her mother in the bedroom, removing the bricks in the wall.
"Wait a minute." She whispered, her eyes widening. She turned towards the door to the bedroom, the door still jammed in place. She unclipped her lightsabers and activated them, starting to cut the door off the wall, the door falling to the floor inside with a loud thud. She peeked inside and saw the room had been left virtually untouched by the years.
"Have you found something?" the man asked, Talzin looking inside but she didn't answer. She made her way inside, looking around at the age-old trappings of her parents. She then looked at the wall, studying it intently, looking for the two bricks from her vision. Finally, she saw them, raising her hand towards the wall and pulling on the bricks slowly, the bricks sliding out slowly before she gently lowered them onto the bed. She picked up the brick her mother had retrieved her lightsabers from first, turning it so that anything inside would fall onto the bed. Nothing but dust fell out. A look inside revealed nothing. She set the brick down and picked up the other one. She could tell this one had something in it by its weight. She turned it, dumping its contents onto the bed. What fell out made her blink in surprise.
There were four items altogether. A rectangular metal tin, an old Clone War era imagecaster, and two lightsabers. She cautiously picked up the lightsabers, activating them. One was blue, the other green. She quickly deactivated them, setting them down with surprise.
"Where did she get these? Trophies?" Talzin muttered to herself. She then looked towards the imagecaster, picking it up and dusting it off. She checked the power indicator: a little less than a full charge but still with more than enough power. She took a deep breath of apprehension, activating the imagecaster and setting it down on the bed. A hologram of Asajj Ventress then appeared, the image dating back to before Talzin's birth indicated by a small timestamp projected on the image. The timestamp was still using the Old Republic Calendar but a quick recalculation to New Republic Calendar indicated the recording was made almost two years before the Battle of Yavin. Asajj looked almost apprehensive, worried, or panicking.
"Okay, how to phrase this…Malen, my love, I…I know that we'd all but given up on…what with the report from the medical droid and all but…well I ran into an old…" Asajj struggled to say before burying her head into her hands, shaking her head and reeling from what she was trying to say. Talzin sat down on her father's bunk, looking at the recording, confused, as the hologram flickered, skipping ahead to a slightly later recording. This time Asajj's husband, Malen, was comforting her.
"Asajj I don't care who it is. We've wanted this for so long. I know it is something you've wanted too. We've talked about doing something like this before, love." Malen said as Asajj looked at him with surprise.
"But I said it was a bad idea. I didn't want anyone else's but yours. I…I've betrayed you, just like I've always done to the people I care about!" Asajj said, dropping to her knees in open weeping. Malen knelt down to her level.
"No, no you haven't Asajj. You haven't betrayed me. You knew it was impossible through me. You think I'm upset? I'm overjoyed! I'm only sorry you're not as well." Malen said as Asajj looked up at him, a smile of relief and joy. Talzin was looking at the hologram with growing realization, something she was praying wasn't true.
"No…no it's not true…it's impossible." She whispered as the hologram flickered again, jumping to a recording made one year before Yavin, the year Talzin was born. Now it was Asajj, wearing Tatooine's answer to maternity clothes, which was just a simple brown dress made of cheap fabrics. She looked to be nine-months pregnant in this hologram.
"This message is intended for my daughter, Talzin Ventress. Talzin, at the time I make this recording, you are yet to be born. But already I can feel how strong you are with the Force. You may or may not know me as nothing more than your mother, a simple moisture farmer. But I don't have a past that I'm proud of." Asajj said, a sad look on her face as she continued.
"You will be born into a dark time for the Galaxy. Before these dark times, there was an order known as the Jedi. For a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic…for a brief time I was one of them, but I was quickly seduced by the power of the Dark Side of the Force. I hope to have told you about this by now. But the Dark Side of the Force is addictive, powerful, but corruptive, deadly. I became an Acolyte for what was known as the Sith. They were everything the Jedi stood against. I turned against them as well in time, and that saved my life in the end. But now the Dark Times are upon the galaxy, but there is hope. A new hope. I hope that one day, you will learn to use the power of the Force as a tool of good. But to do that, you will need a teacher, one who you can trust to guide you down the path of the Jedi and the Light Side of the Force. I cannot teach you, my own darkness prevents me from doing so. With this recording, you will find three items. The first is a metal tin. Inside this tin, you will find a map that will lead you to this teacher. The other two items are the weapons of the Jedi Knights. A lightsaber. The blue one belonged to my late Jedi Master, Ky Narec. The other was mine when I was a Jedi. I kept them both initially to remind me of what I perceived was weakness…now I know why I kept them…so I could hand them both down to you." Asajj said as a tear ran down Talzin's cheek, Talzin looking at the lightsabers on her mother's bunk.
"I leave you with only one piece of advice for you in your training. There is but one thing a Jedi cannot live without, and something a Sith cannot live with. Love. And that is what you, and your father have both shown me. Know that no matter what may happen, Talzin, I will always love you, no matter what, and that even if I am to die someday, I will always be with you through the Force, and that the Force will always be with you…always." Asajj said before the imagecaster switched off, the messages completed. Talzin took a moment to process the message, the revelations and message leaving her confused. Finally she took a breath and looked at the lightsabers on the bunk with a determined stare.
A few minutes later, she emerged from the old bedchamber, both sets of lightsabers clipped to her belt and a worn old travel bag slung over her shoulder. She looked around for the man she'd spoken to but he was nowhere to be seen. She made her way to her fighter, climbing into the cockpit and setting the bag down behind her seat. She then pulled out the metal tin, opening it to reveal a folded piece of brown paper, pulling it out and unfolding it to find a hand drawn map of the region. She saw a fairly simple path drawn from the old moisture farm towards a mesa near the Western Dune Sea. She quickly called up her fighter's navicomputer, using its sensors to call up an image of the area made from orbit. She easily found the place on the map on the navicomputer and folded the paper back up, putting the map away into the bag before starting her fighter's engines.
…
It was only a short trip by starfighter to the location marked on the map, the fighter setting down on a mesa adjacent to another. Nestled in a corner of the adjacent mesa was an old hut that looked like the roof had long since caved in. Talzin suspected that she wouldn't find anyone living there but she felt strangely drawn to the hut. With the bag slung over her shoulder, Talzin knelt down and easily made a powerful Force Jump across to the other side, dropping the bag near where she landed as she approached the hut. She could sense a faint presence in the Force still occupying the structure, one she had felt before but she couldn't place where. She put a hand to the wall for a moment, trying to sense where the presence was coming from. Suddenly her eyes widened and she leapt away from the hut just as the wall exploded towards her. Talzin had her lightsabers in hand as a figure in a black cloak stepped out from inside the hut. She could see a pair of red and yellow eyes staring at her, hatred clear in their gaze. She activated her lightsabers, sensing a strong presence in the Dark Side from the figure.
"I've been waiting for you, child. We meet again, at last." The figure said as the moonlight revealed the horned head tattooed face of Darth Maul beneath it. Talzin tightened her grip on her lightsabers with a scowl.
"Maul. You were waiting for me?" Talzin asked, confused.
"For decades, I have craved for vengeance against one person, to see to it that that legacy is wiped off the face of this Galaxy, to see it crumble. And now…here you are." Maul said as Talzin looked at him confused.
"What are you talking about? Who's legacy, my mother's? Asajj Ventress is that the legacy you seek to destroy?!" Talzin asked but Maul looked at her with dark amusement.
"You mean…you don't even know your own ancestry? Your own flesh and blood?" Maul asked before beginning to chuckle, his chuckle turning into a vile laugh before grinning towards her.
"What fun. What fun! Now I can get my revenge and his legacy will die in complete ignorance!" Maul declared joyously as he ignited his double-bladed lightsaber. This made Talzin flash back to her vision, of Darth Maul standing over her body. This caused her eyes to widen in alarm as she dropped into a fighting stance.
"I sense fear within you, child. Good. Better for you to die in fear! It makes my revenge all the more satisfying!" Maul yelled before he started to charge towards her, his hood falling back. Talzin charged towards him as well, their lightsabers clashing over the desert sands outside the old hut. Talzin managed to dodge one of his strikes and leapt up and back, landing on the edge of the roof of the hut, knelt down with her sabers out to her sides.
"What do you want from me?!" she yelled but Maul snarled and raised his hand towards her, causing the wall of the hut to start cracking and crumbling beneath her feet.
"Your head!" he yelled in response. Talzin leapt up and over Maul, dropping to one knee with her lightsabers crossed behind her head just in time to block a downward attack from Maul. She managed to shove his blade away, sweeping around, her blade kicking up some sand, forcing Maul to shield himself but he whirled completely around, intending to attack from the side and Talzin narrowly bringing her blades up to block in time. Maul was moving with ferocious speed, Talzin barely able to keep up and block, the ex-Sith Assassin proving far faster and more agile than her. Suddenly Maul managed to spin both her lightsabers from her hands and attempted to slash her through but she quickly backflipped clear, looking at the lightsabers on the ground off to the side between her and the ex-Assassin. She quickly tried to pull them to her hands with the force but was stunned when Maul cut through them.
"NO!" she exclaimed in alarm as Maul chuckled darkly.
"Now it ends, child! At last I shall have my revenge!" Maul yelled, leaping towards her with his lightsaber raised when Talzin remembered something and quickly pulled her mother's lightsabers, activating and raising them up in time to block Maul's attack. This caused Maul to widen his eyes in surprise.
"Jedi sabers!" he hissed, leaping back and looking at the blades in her hands before snarling.
"Neither are his." He muttered, Talzin flourishing the two blades, the blue in her right and her mother's in her left.
"I am no Jedi!" Talzin yelled but Maul started laughing.
"Clearly you are not! But nor are you a Sith! I sense the conflict within you! Your mind is filled with doubts and fears! Everything you've ever known is suspect to you!" Maul said as Talzin snarled at him.
"Stay out of my head! You know nothing about me!" Talzin yelled but Maul merely smirked darkly.
"You were born here on Tatooine, taken from your parents at a young age, your father murdered and your mother crippled. You were twisted into an agent of the Dark Side by Darth Akul, trained to become a Sith Lord! Tortured, beaten, abused, maybe even assaulted?" Maul asked as Talzin snarled at him. Her reaction was all he needed for confirmation though.
"You were trained to feel fear, to feel anger, to feel hatred! And even with all of this, you still lack the power to defeat me!" Maul yelled before lunging forward, the two exchanging fast blows. He suddenly kicked her in the stomach, spinning around and managing to slice the top of her blue saber off, destroying the weapon, reducing her to her mother's green blade. Talzin quickly adopted a defensive stance, Maul's assault becoming more vicious as he forced her back towards the hut. Suddenly Maul managed to nick her right arm, causing her to yelp in pain, giving him an opening to nick her right leg in the thigh, causing her to collapse onto the ground, her lightsaber falling from her grip and bouncing into an old and abandoned womp rat burrow beneath the hut. Talzin looked up to see Maul holding the tip of his lightsaber to her chin, grinning darkly at her.
"Finally! It has all come down to this! At last! My REVENGE!" Maul yelled, rearing back his lightsaber. Time seemed to slow down for Talzin as she realized it was over for her at last. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for Maul to strike her down. And yet she felt strangely at peace.
Then…
…she heard it…
…a familiar breathing sound.
Maul brought his saber around but suddenly stopped, the blade hovering mere inches from Talzin's face. Maul was snarling as he struggled to bring the blade around.
"No! Not you!" Maul hissed angrily as they both heard the breathing sound. Talzin looked and saw Anakin Skywalker standing nearby, his left hand raised towards them, his lightsaber active in his right, the moons reflecting off his helmet, bathing him in moonlight. Maul finally stepped back, spinning around and into the air to attack but Anakin caught him in midair with the Force by the throat, throwing him away, sending him toward the edge of the mesa, slamming him into the ground. Talzin looked up at Anakin with a look of fear mixed with joy as he turned towards Maul, his lightsaber raised.
"I won't let you touch her, Maul. Your quest for vengeance ends here." Anakin said as Maul rose to his feet, snarling at Skywalker.
"I suspected you would come here, Skywalker! I've waited sixty years for my revenge! I was denied it because of you! I was denied it once and now the opportunity to achieve true victory over him is upon me and you stand in my way again! I won't let you this time!" Maul yelled at Anakin but he remained steadfast, his lightsaber raised defensively.
"Ripped from a mother's loving arms, those you once cared for: killed, turned into a weapon, and cast aside…does that not describe the both of you?" Anakin asked as Maul paused. Talzin was looking at Anakin curiously in stunned surprise.
"We need not be adversaries, Maul. The Dark Side has continuously failed you. You've only known the ways of the Dark Side. Let go of your anger, let go of your hate. If only you knew the peace of the Light Side of the Force. We were trained by the same Dark Lord and we both have been cast out by the Sith. Let us make Palpatine's failure complete." Anakin said, raising a hand towards Maul, practically begging the ex-Assassin to take his hand.
"Join me, and together we can put an end to this destructive conflict, to forever destroy Darth Sideous's Legacy, and to finally, at long last, know peace." Anakin pleaded as Maul looked at him in surprise. Talzin was equally amazed that Anakin was willing to extend the offer of peace to a hardened Sith Lord, let alone defend one from another. Maul seemed amazed before his brow furrowed in anger as he placed a hand on his midsection, remembering who it was that had bested him on Naboo…and whose daughter lie wounded on the ground nearby.
"Never!" he roared, igniting his lightsaber again, spinning it around before charging towards Anakin, the two ex-Dark Lords engaging in a vicious duel. Maul's stunted aging due to the oubliette granted him speed and agility but Anakin's advanced cybernetics and innate skill as a swordsman allowed him to keep up with ease, proving physically stronger but evenly matched against Maul as they dueled. Talzin watched from the ground as the two ex-Sith Lords battled one another. Maul suddenly faked a move, leaping back and shoving Anakin with the Force, knocking him back slightly but this gave Maul the opening he needed and struck Anakin in the right shoulder, Anakin grunting in pain and giving Maul another opening to move in and cut off Anakin's right hand, causing him to collapse onto the ground, letting out a cry of pain, his right hand still clutching his lightsaber and falling to the ground between the two and Talzin. Maul grinned at the defenseless Anakin, his breathing labored as he raised his left hand defensively.
"So today I not only get revenge against his spawn, but also his favored pupil!" Maul declared as he reared back his lightsaber.
"NO!" Talzin screamed, catching Maul off guard and slicing off his arm just above the elbow with Anakin's lightsaber. Maul staggered back, screaming in pain and clutching the cauterized stump before Talzin sliced his cybernetic legs out above the knees, sending Maul to the ground, screaming even more. Talzin then raised him up with a Force Choke before throwing him towards the edge of the mesa, sending him tumbling down the sloped rocky edge. Talzin looked at where Maul had been standing, catching her breath before staggering back, deactivating Anakin's lightsaber. She could hear Anakin's labored breathing behind her and quickly turned towards him, a look of worry on her face.
"You saved me. Why?" She asked, Anakin looking at her through his mask.
"The same could be asked of you, Talzin." He said as softly and gently as his mask allowed him to. This caused Talzin to look confused, looking at Anakin's lightsaber in her hand, looking at it in surprise. It had all been a blur. She'd grabbed his saber and attacked Maul without thinking.
"I…I don't know." She said softly, lost in thought. She then heard a voice starting to speak nearby but it was muffled and faint. She looked around and saw her bag lying on the ground near where she had landed. She limped over to it, opening the bag and pulling out her comlink.
"Lady Talzin, do you copy. We have your ship on sensors from orbit. Lady Talzin, come in." a Sith Officer reported, Talzin looking at Anakin as he lay in place, looking at her.
"You must choose, Talzin." He said softly. She looked at the comlink then at Anakin. Her gaze then returned to the comlink before lowering her hands, dropping it into the sand, slinging her bag over her shoulder, looking at Anakin before walking towards him.
"Can you move?" she asked. Anakin rolled onto his left side, pushing himself up off the ground. Talzin moved to help him, putting his right arm over her shoulder.
"Do you have a ship? My fighter can't carry the both of us." She said as Anakin looked at her quietly for a moment, sensing a soft surprise. She could practically see him smiling at her beneath his mask. He quietly pressed a couple of buttons on his belt buckle, before picking up his lightsaber and clipping it to his belt. They soon heard the sound of starship engines in the distance. Talzin looked and saw the Twilight II decloaking overhead as it approached, flying low with its boarding ramp extending into place, the Twilight II moving in to idle in the air just ahead of them. A pair of 501st Commandos quickly disembarked, approaching them.
"He needs help! His suit is malfunctioning! I'll be right there!" Talzin said as the 501sts moved to help Anakin onto the ship. Talzin then turned towards the hut, looking for the womp rat burrow before spotting it, seeing her mother's lightsaber resting just inside the entrance. She pulled the lightsaber to her hand with the Force. She took one last look at the hut and her starfighter before turning towards the ship, starting to approach the ramp. As she did though…
"Talzin…" a voice whispered, only now it was loud enough to recognize. This caused Talzin to pause, her eyes widened in shock. She turned and saw a familiar bald headed woman, standing in Jedi Robes near the hut, a phantasmal blue glow about her, smiling proudly at her. Talzin's mouth fell open in awe, tears forming in her eyes as she saw Asajj for the first time in decades. Asajj gave her a silent nod of approval before fading away. Talzin smiled, tears in her eyes before turning back to see Anakin standing at the head of the ramp, watching as well. He then looked at her, extending his remaining hand to her. Talzin smiled at him and took his hand, walking onto the ship with him.
The Twilight II then took to the skies, disappearing into the stars. On the ground, an injured Maul could do nothing but watch, seething with rage and misery at having failed yet again. He then heard the sound of the Scimitar's engines approaching, looking to see the Scimitar, along with one of Zann's shuttles approaching. Similarly, from a rocky crag some distance away but with a clear view of the area, a pair of Sith Commandos with 66th Legion markings watched through the scope of a sniper rifle and a pair of electrobinoculars.
On the Twilight II…
Talzin helped the wounded Anakin to a room on the lower deck. The room had originally been the yacht's bedroom for its owner but Anakin had modified it to include a special isolation chamber in case he needed to perform repairs to his suit or cybernetics in a sterile environment. There was a bunk built into the wall along with a few cargo containers. Anakin got into the bunk, resting his head on the pillow while Talzin sat down next to him on a crate full of spare parts.
"I guess there's no going back for me now, is there?" she asked as Anakin pressed a couple buttons on his chest panel, his labored breathing becoming less labored but still comparatively weak.
"It is unlikely that the Sith will accept your return." Anakin said as Talzin breathed a cleansing breath.
"And yet, I don't have any regrets about this. None. It's…like a burden has been lifted." Talzin said.
"It is the Dark Side's grip upon you slipping away. It will never fully lose its touch and the scars…the scars will never heal completely." Anakin said, looking at the stump of severed cybernetic hand.
"How do you live with it? The pain, the guilt, the shame?" Talzin asked as Anakin looked at her.
"You don't allow a day, an hour, a minute go by without remembering your past sins, the lives ruined, the lives taken…you acknowledge that no action or series of actions will ever atone for these sins, but you vow never to commit them again…and to prevent them from happening again. Your burden feels lighter now, but it will never disappear. It will always remain to haunt you." Anakin said as Talzin gave a sober nod. She then looked at him curiously.
"Ever since Dathomir, you've been trying to convince me to join you. I get it now. You're not seeking power, revenge, or to finally get one over on an old enemy like Maul was. You remember the pain and suffering you felt during your time in the Dark Side. You want to save others from the same fate." Talzin said, Anakin looking up at the ceiling, saying nothing.
"Then why do I feel like there was more to your pursuit of me? There was something else, something significant, that led you to pursue me and try and convince me to turn from the Dark Side. What was it?" Talzin asked, hearing Anakin take a breath.
"The Force is strong in your family, Talzin. You have it, your mother had it, and…your father, had it." Anakin said, looking at her, Talzin looking at him with confusion and curiosity.
"My father? My father was a bounty hunter. I never felt any connection to the Force within hi-…" she said, Anakin's gaze cutting her off as he raised his head to look at her.
"Search your feelings, Talzin…you know the truth." He said softly as Talzin closed her eyes, bracing herself for her next question.
"Who was my father?" Talzin asked as Anakin looked towards the ceiling again.
"I first met your father when I was a boy on Tatooine. He was only a Padawan then. Over the years, we became friends, brothers. Even into the Clone Wars, your father was a brilliant strategist and leader. Where I could fly circles around even the best pilots, he could negotiate circles around even the best of negotiators. He was one of the greatest Jedi of his age, and a good friend." Anakin said as Talzin looked away slightly, curious to know who her father was.
"I wish I could've known him. What happened to him?" Talzin asked, feeling a wave of guilt coming from Anakin through the Force.
"I betrayed and eventually murdered him. It was your father who is responsible for my being forced to live in this armor…but it was self-defense on his part. I do not blame him for my condition. Only myself." Anakin said as Talzin sighed slightly.
"But who was he?" she asked but Anakin didn't answer. Instead he sat up, moving across the room to a workbench where a simple wooden chest sat. Anakin opened the chest and removed a familiar lightsaber.
"This was his lightsaber. I have kept it, initially as a reminder of my victory over him. But now, I know I was meant to keep it, so that I could one day pass it on to his heir." Anakin said, holding the lightsaber out to her. Talzin looked at it, studying it for a moment before quietly reaching out and touching it. The minute she did, she felt a warmth and comfort washing over her.
"Talzin, these are your first steps." A familiar voice whispered in her ear.
"Father?" she asked but got no reply.
Meanwhile on the Sith Capital World…
Darth Stalker stood on a balcony overlooking the Sith City outside the Imperial Palace as General Hux approached.
"Lord Stalker, we have a situation. Commander 24 has just delivered a report to the Empress. It seems that not only have we confirmed Lord Fenrir's betrayal, but we have also discovered that Lady Talzin has betrayed us as well." Hux reported but Stalker merely smiled to himself.
"I can imagine what Fenrir's motives were, but what of Talzin's?" Stalker asked.
"Unknown at the present time. However, she was seen boarding the Twilight II, the starship owned by Anakin Skywalker." Hux said as Stalker's smile widened, chuckling lightly to himself.
"And…what has the Empress decreed?" Stalker asked.
"She has ordered the ex-communication of Lord Fenrir. She has not made up her mind on Lady Talzin however. What does concern her is a report from Grand Admiral Thrawn. He believes it is possible that Lady Talzin knows about the Project. She could endanger it and at such an early stage, the very news of its existence could give the Republic something to unite against should its existence become public." Hux replied as Stalker turned towards him.
"A question for you, General. If you were to be placed in command of a flagship, which would you choose. The Will of Palpatine or the Finalizer?" Stalker asked as Hux took a breath through his nose.
"The Finalizer, milord." He replied with an implying smile. Stalker quietly started to walk past him.
"Then assume your post, General Hux. Say nothing more of the subject." Stalker said as Hux cleared his throat.
"There is one more thing, milord. It's regarding Lady Lumiya's Replacement. Have you met him?" Hux asked, causing Stalker to pause.
"I have. He will be a most powerful weapon, especially against Skywalker and his family." Stalker said as Hux gave a nod of agreement.
"I was surprised to say the least when I first met him. I never caught his name though." Hux said as Stalker continued on.
"It's Cadeus. Darth Cadeus." Stalker replied as he walked away.
On Coruscant…
The Jedi Council had gathered for their first Council Meeting since moving back into the restored Jedi Grand Temple on Coruscant. The Council Chamber Tower was still under construction and so the council was meeting in a temporary meeting chamber, sitting around in a crude circle in a triangular corner room of the temple. Everyone on the council was present save for Anakin. Galen was physically absent but his image was being projected via PROXY. Leia's image was being projected into the room via R2-D2.
"The destruction of Taris has caused a panic. Despite our reports to the contrary, there are still several systems who believe it was the Sith who destroyed the planet. This has only fueled the fears of those already afraid that their continued association with the Republic will only endanger them." Galen reported grimly.
"And seventeen more systems have made declarations of neutrality, some openly seeking non-aggression pacts with the Sith. That brings the total up to seventy-two. Luckily, some eighty-six systems have passed emergency measures to institute drafts on their worlds. And while Taris's destruction has fueled the fear of some, it has enraged others. It's almost like Alderaan in the scale of its influence on the people." Leia added.
"Recruitment offices across the Republic are reporting there are lines stretching around the corner. Some have requested additional transports for bringing the new recruits to our training centers. I don't think we're going to have any manpower shortages in the near future." Galen said.
"Sounds like your son might get his 'Boma Battalion' after all." K'Kruhk mused with a small smile.
"Yes, well, we'll see where that leads." Galen commented.
"Do we know what it was Tyber Zann was after? I know Doctor Roa said she was forced to developing a means of transferring Zann's life force from one body to another, but that was just his immediate goal and destroying Taris was used as a callous and cruel means of motivating Dr. Roa and punishing Hisari Bow for alerting us as to his position. He has his new body now, so what's his endgame?" Kyle Katarn asked.
"That we don't know. We can confirm however that Darth Fenrir, or rather Urai Fen, had been Zann's agent within the Sith Empire for years. The alleged falling out they had was merely a blind to hide Urai's true allegiances. We still aren't sure as to what Urai's mission was but Director Shan theorizes that it was to provide Zann with the necessary information to create the device Jerine was needed for. My instincts say that she is correct but that there's more to it. Something far more sinister, something that plays into Zann's endgame…whatever that is." Galen explained.
"Either way, we now have the Zann Consortium to contend with. Talon Karrde informed me that the chatter he's picked up indicates that Zann's been stockpiling those old battle droids for almost a decade. The factory destroyed by Ailyn Vel's Werda Tsad was just a single factory. There are others hidden across the galaxy. He's working on getting us more info. I'm just waiting to hear back from him at this point." Mara Jade explained.
"And the information that Sanzia Bow provided us indicates that Zann was responsible for several mercenary and pirate actions across the galaxy, including the attack on the farmers at Saleucami. Sanzia believes it was meant as some kind of a contingency plan to reduce our numbers on Ossus in the event he needed to attack and abduct Dr. Roa. Given the evidence and the fact the number of mercenary activities have appeared to have dropped fits the theory." Maris added.
"Which brings us to the attack on the Yularen. Captain Gault's testimony and the accompanying evidence would confirm that Zann had been tracking Dr. Roa for some time. The fact she had been working on the detector was mere coincidence." Leia explained.
"Speaking of which, is the detector working?" X2 asked.
"We've been discreetly testing it in Valorum Memorial. Taun We has been overseeing the fine tuning. We've rooted out around fifteen to seventeen positives for the first ten thousand scans, eight for the next. And that's just Coruscant. We've had more than four thousand false-positives though. With the exception of eight, in all of those cases the patients had cloned organs and prior medical records were able to clear them. The other eight are still pending." Galen reported.
"And what of Dr. Roa? Have you gotten her squared away?" Leia asked.
"We have. Her choice of hiding places is…most unusual but I believe she will be happy there." Luke said as Maris cleared her throat.
"And now to acknowledge the Bantha in the room. Galen, what happened? How'd we get caught with our pants down? We never got blindsided so easily during the Rebellion." Maris sighed as Galen sighed and sat back in his seat.
"We've been reviewing the tactical data. It appears that the information that R2 and 3PO retrieved from General Madine before his capture was a forgery. We believe it was an elaborate plot to deceive us into making certain strategical moves. I began suspecting it was a trick when I noticed we were winning certain battles too easily. I didn't figure it out until after the first waves hit. And for your information, Maris, we did get blindsided on more than one occasion. Remember how we had to evacuate Atollon about a year prior to Yavin? How we were caught off guard? And again at the various battles leading up to Bilbringi? I reviewed the tactical data. It's the work of the same strategist." Galen said as a sense of apprehension washed over most of the Jedi present.
"You mean…but it's impossible, he died at Bilbringi, didn't he?" Maris asked but Galen glared at her.
"Look who you're talking to. Cheating death is not impossible, nor is faking it. For Grand Admiral Thrawn to be alive is not out of the question. I just wish I knew the answer as to how." Galen commented, no one noticing the door to the temporary chambers opening.
"Perhaps that is your problem, Galen." A familiar voice boomed into the temporary chambers. They all turned to see Anakin Skywalker, his armor fully repaired, cleaned, and polished, and his right arm having been replaced.
"You lack imagination, General, when it comes to learning to exploit the weaknesses of your enemies. I dare to say it, but perhaps you are too much of a Jedi when it comes to producing the needed results." Anakin said as he stepped into the room, moving to stand in the center.
"Father, you're back." Luke said with a relieved smile, rising to his feet along with most of the other Council members.
"How was your sabbatical, old man? Ready to stop lazing about over in your castle?" Mara asked with a coy smirk. Anakin merely glared at her.
"I have no time for your flippancy, Jade. The information I have acquired is of vital importance to the Jedi and the Republic." Anakin said, Mara quietly taken aback.
"You only respond that harshly to my jokes when you're serious." She said softly.
"What is it, father?" Luke asked.
"I have received information that the Sith Empire is constructing a new superweapon. It is already at fifty percent completion but its location is unknown. Admiral Natasi Daala is in charge of the weapon's construction." Anakin stated.
"If it's the Eclipse Star Destroyer that destroyed Kathos, then it's way beyond the fifty percent mark and hardly new." X2 commented.
"No, this is a weapon that the whole galaxy would remember. A weapon that one of us destroyed twenty-nine years ago." Anakin said, looking squarely at Luke who's eyes widened in realization. The entire Council was stunned by the suggestion.
"You cannot be serious. Are the Sith that insane to build a third one of those things?!" Kyp Durron asked.
"It's not a question of their sanity, it is a question of just how evil they are." Leia said, almost breathless at the suggestion.
"A third Death Star? The…the size and the scope of such an operation would be huge. It would be almost impossible to conceal." Kyle said but Galen motioned for him to wait.
"Hold on, where did you get this information?" Galen asked, suspicious. They suddenly felt Anakin's grim mood in the Force change to one of joy and pride.
"From my new apprentice." Anakin said, turning towards the door where a figure in a brown Jedi cloak stood just outside the doorway. The figure started to walk into the chambers, her cloak open to reveal a set of sky blue and dark blue Jedi Robes and a pair of brown Jedi boots. Luke noticed the lightsabers hanging from the figure's belt, recognizing one of them right off, which caused him to blink in surprise at first before smiling widely and rising to his feet. The figure came to a stop next to Anakin and bowed to them.
"Allow me to introduce you to my new apprentice…" Anakin said as the figure pulled back her hood with her grey skinned hands, revealing a head of long micro braided black hair. She had some black Sith tattoos on her face that had been artificially faded but were still visible to the naked eye even from a distance. Her brown eyes sparkling as she smiled, almost tearfully with joy at being amongst the welcoming arms of the Jedi.
"Ventress?" Galen asked with a surprised smile, the entire council rising to their feet again. Talzin merely smiled and shook her head.
"With respect, Master Marek, it's not Ventress. And it's not Darth Talzin either. My name…" Talzin said as she looked at Luke with a smile, Luke smiling back at her.
"…is Talzin Kenobi."
End Episode 22
End Season 2.
The Shadow Wars Continue…
…in Season 3!
So that is it for this season. Season 3 should provide quite the ride. Hopefully we'll get it going fairly soon. So until then…
May the Force be with You!
& Keep R&Ring…
STT