PART 3: RUINS

CHAPTER 1: CONVERGENCE

Ganner Slarwalker

Speeding through space in the ship the trio had come in, rebuilt through the Force, Massikus activated a tracking beacon. The beacon wasn't on his shuttle, but rather on the shuttle belonging to Varad. Massikus had figured he would be followed. He was right. The shuttle was heading towards Dantooine, and Varad had no other reason to leave Umbara. Massikus followed.

Arek Saris

I must admit, I was intrigued as to why Massikus would stop at such a place. He certainly wasn't following anyone, why would he be here? Cloaked just under the clouds, I saw the shuttle land by what looked like the remains of a Jedi Temple. An interesting location to kill an ancient Sith Lord. I landed my, technically Varad's, ship a few kilometers out and went into full Force stealth mode, swiftly moving in for the kill.

My first sign that something was wrong was that I felt nothing in the Dark Side. Nothing at all. Given the overwhelmingly Light nature of this place, it was hard to tell without breaking stealth if anyone aligned with the Light Side was here. I started following the tracks from the vessel, and it was immediately clear that these were a female's steps. Unless Massikus had decided to transfer his consciousness into the woman for some reason, I had a feeling this wasn't him.

I followed her tracks into the ruins. Sitting in a wide chamber, with a small pond and a hint of sunlight from above, was the Zabrak from before.

"I don't know who you are, but you'll have to try a little harder to hide from a Jedi Master."

A master, eh? I accepted the challenge.

"I didn't come here for you, so maybe before your life ends you can make yourself useful. Where's Massikus?"

She rose. "Stranded on Mustafar, where he'll stay until I make it home and warn the Jedi Council about him."

"On the contrary. You won't warn anyone about anything again."

"I'll warn you right now this isn't a fight you want to start."

I activated my lightsaber. "But it is."

"Very well then." She remained motionless, leaving me to initiate the combat. And so I did.

Ganner Slarwalker

Massikus found his shuttle parked not far from the rubble of a Jedi Temple on Dantooine even he had never seen it undestroyed. Through our connection, he could sense Yula, and we could sense Saris too. He quickly landed and ran inside to see the two of them locked in combat. Neither of them were wounded, and they seemed to be fairly even. When we entered the room, they both stopped. Saris spoke up.

"Lord Massikus! I-"

"Silence! You will be dealt with later. Leave."

Saris look at Yula, then back at us for a moment, then deactivated this lightsaber and ran out. In the Force, he briefly touched me and I could feel the shock in him.

"Now, where was I?"

Massikus' crimson blade snapped to life.
"I can feel Ganner in there. How long do you really think you have before he wins?"

"Much longer than it's going to take me to kill you."

In objection, she deactivated her weapon and spread her arms wide, beckoning me to slay her.

"Or will it?"

I knew I had to save her.

Massikus, mostly still in control, walked towards her. With every step he took, the strain increased, and he shook... Hold on. Not he, I. He struggled to raise my lightsaber while I deactivated it with ease. Yula's face visibly grew calmer.

"Y-Yula..." I began to form words.

"Ganner?"

"Get..him...out..."

She closed her eyes and raised her arms, her hands reaching for my forehead.

Before they could arrive at their destination, I heard a lightsaber activate behind me. Without thinking, I pushed Yula away- hard. She flew across the room, hitting the other wall and falling unconscious immediately. As soon as I had processed this, I was impaled. I looked down to see another red blade bursting out of my chest. It retraced, and I turned, falling to the ground. It was Saris.

"Tell me, Ganner, Massikus, whoever's in there, have any last words?"

Against the light, the silhouette of a fourth figure in hooded robes approached. "Not for you, he doesn't." He activated a deep blue lightsaber, like the blade of the ocean itself. Scowling, Saris turned.

"And you would be?"

"Call me Galen."

And with that, I passed out from my injuries.

Galen

Could it be him? It had to be. Still, I had to focus on the enemy at hand.

"I don't know who you are, but there's always an easy way and a hard way to these things, and you can measure someone's intelligence by which way they choose. Choose wisely."

He raised his saber and charged at me. Bad choice. Swiftly, I charged towards him in a sudden counter-attack, catching him in the face with the hilt of my lightsaber. He fell, inertia keeping him moving for a brief moment before he stopped. With the Force, I picked him up and shot him out through the hole in the ceiling. He probably would survive. I ran to the Jedi- It had to be Ganner, I could sense it, and began to carry him. Looking across the lake, I saw that his female companion had left. In my haste, I decided it was of little consequence. With Ganner, I left what was left of the Temple, and headed home.