PART 5: INFERNO

CHAPTER 1: ECLIPSE

Ganner

After making sure all systems were working properly, I took a moment to look down at the red and black surface of the planet where it all began. Where Ganner Slarwalker died and Darth Massikus took his place. Why there?

I supposed an answer would reach me shortly. The drop pod counted down the seconds until I reached the surface, and I thought I could faintly see the drop pod with my equipment in the distance, but it was hard to distinguish it with such a dark background.

My first objective was to secure the Umbaran airfield. If anything could shoot the HQ down, it would be there. With any luck, however, it'll be just like I left it. Following that, I was to keep the area on lockdown and wait for the Brotherhood forces to rendezvous. The temple wasn't far and I could use the help in the assault. Hopefully, Eclipse protocol would be ready by then, but the Sith had proven to be quite troublesome thus far and we couldn't take the risk.

The surface was coming up. I braced for impact.

Maricus

Umbaran Sith Temple

"This is Ganner. The airfield is clear. There's some artillery here but it's offline and we can probably use it ourselves."

Behind me, Varad asked, "Tell me, my student, what should we do next?"

"Send some acolytes over to the airfield, to watch from the shadows. We'll evaluate their forces and strike accordingly once they think they've settled in."

Varad chuckles, and said, "You heard him. Get the acolytes out there."

Siri

"THROUGH POWER, I GAIN VICTORY."

Yet another training droid. I'd gone through the Sith Code dozens of times, and the machines kept coming. They weren't getting any stronger, either. It jumped in the air, staff raised to stab me, and I took the advantage to simply Force push the staff of the last robot through its chest. I sensed danger behind me, and as the robot fell I used the Force to grab the staff, turn, and barely stop myself in time from decapitating Maricus.

"Well, well. You might make a Jedi slayer after all."

"To what might I owe the honors?"

"Ganner Slarwalker is alive and he is coming. We will kill him, or he will kill us all."

"As you wish, Master."

"And when this is all done, we will point our guns to Varad."

Ganner

The airfield was all clear. A few anti-air guns and tanks that someone had tried to repair was all that was left of the Umbaran airfield. I activated my comlink. "It's clear. Come on down." Like a meteor shower, drop pods began to rain in, quickly deploying a local Brotherhood field base. Out came Ranulph, Hans, and many Brotherhood mercenaries. As they set up, I decided to meditate. All around me I sensed a strong Dark Side presence. In fact, it felt literally all around me...

The Shadow Assassins were upon us.

Varad

I activated the voice modifier.

"Dylan, this is Atom. We're moving eastbound towards the Temple. The airfield has been overrun by Sith assassins. Go ahead and light up the airfield, over."

"Atom, from my screen, you guys haven't moved a bit."

"The enemy must be running interference of some kind. Trust me, we're outta there."

"Copy that, initiating Eclipse protocol..."

The moon was blotted out by the space station as it began to glow purple.

Ganner

As the world went black, I felt a lot of danger. Then, the grey fog became red. Dozens of crimson lightsabers surrounded us on all sides. I reached out in the Force to find Siri, but quickly pulled back when I realize the Sith weren't the danger here.

It was the station.

The sky turned purple as a prototype superlaser prepared to fire. Jedi, mercenaries, patriots, and Sith alike took just a second to look to the sky and see the oncoming storm. Then each ran their separate ways. As I headed into the thickness, I turn in time to see the purple laser hit the surf-