Chapter 22

Location: The Kesh System

The moment Vestara exited hyperspace was the moment she had entered a dream (or that's how she felt).

She had never known such relief. The best feeling in her life was also the shortest lived. Because with the realization of coming home, came the realization the she had no home here anymore. Her master was dead. Her best friend was dead. Her Father and Mother were dead. It wasn't the Kesh she had left years ago.

But... It was still A Kesh. The planet looked the same as she remembered it. She could already smell the sweet air on the breeze. Feel the sand between her toes. Keshiri rivers ran through her blood and it's native thunderstorms powered every one of her heartbeats. She could feel...

Just then a small group of ships appeared on sensors. "Is this is joke?" She thought to her self. Was this all that was left of their battle fleet?

She was going to ask "Ship" to hail the fleet/squad to try and convince them not to fire upon her before she had a chance to explain her "gift" (VoxHayly's offer) she had brought to the Circle of Lords.

It turns out she didn't have to. She sensed something very unexpected.

So did Ship. "Lady Khai! They are expecting us!"

Not only that, Vestara could sense jubilation at her arrival.

"I feel it ship! Take me right to the new capital!"

In a few minutes she had flown past the small orbital fleet, and had entered that atmosphere. This stirred even More powerful feeling deep within her. After all, like all her people, she had only experienced the sight of Kesh from space relatively recently. It was within Kesh's atmosphere where her heart lay. The closer she got to the surface the closer she's drew to her beloved childhood.

Beloved childhood? A bit of healthy self denial, essential to all who were raised as Sith by Sith. Most children were raised in a world of coldness and brutality by parents who were equally cold and brutal. If there was any hint of concern it would have been towards the legacy that those children represented. Love for the individual had no place. Same with a Marriage. She had deceived herself into thinking that her Father loved her mother but what she used to think was love was actually envious lustfulness. It was possessive. It was suffocating. At best, if someone's selfish longing coincided with yours then there would be mutual satisfaction. Romantically, that's what Vestara had to "look forward" to.

Damn the Skywalker men for showing her something better; something warm, and affectionate. Seeing the way Luke loved his son; feeling the unconditional love that Ben gave her. It was so... cruel of them to open her eyes to such heresy. She would not let memories of them, ruin this moment.

She was not to be pitied. "I did it" she thought.

At that same moment, Ship touched down on the largest landing pad on Kesh, which happened to be on the outskirts of the City of Berav.

Looking out the front view point was a sight that startled her. She was so caught up in her thoughts that's she had not seen the group that had gathered in the courtyard, apparently awaiting her arrival. Judging by their appearance and strength in the dark side, these were members of the Dark Circle of Lords.

Again she could sense that they had been expecting her with eagerness. "Eager to exact punishment?" She wondered out loud.

Ship responded to her rhetorical question. "You are not to be punished! They seek to... to honour you."

She had never known Ship to be surprised. He had known her machinations from the start, infact, he had encouraged them. But it seems even he, had expected a need for her to convince the Sith to take her back, a prize notwithstanding. Yet here they were: Waiting with arms wide open. She would soon find out what was going on.

On exiting her vessel she approached the group of Lords. She didn't recognize a single face and no wonder: Many of the lords had been wiped out on Coruscant.

No! Wait she did recognize... "Lord Yur" Vestara said with a bow of the head. One of the new unknown lords beside her corrected her:

" It's Grand Lord Yur!" To which she responded by bowing again "Of course...forgive me for...

"Vestara Khai!" Grand Lord Yur said with a smile. "An understandable error to be sure; a lot has changed, as you your self know ... Lady Khai!"

He had just taken in breath with an almost undetectable shudder. She saw it. The familiar tell tale sign that someone (ship) was conversing covertly through the force.

"Most Impressive" he said. "Ship has just informed me of your appointment to Lord."

He gave a slight bow of the head and said: "Walk with me."

They walked together for a bit before she couldn't hold back anymore: "You knew I was coming Grand Lord."

He nodded "I had a Vision about your Return."

She stopped midstep. He continued on for two more steps until he realized she was frozen in place.

He turned back to her and that's when she asked him with a mixture of horror and fascination: "Just me?"

He tilted his head with a half formed smile and asked her: "You've seen him too?"

She could hardly believe it. "So it's True! Grand Master Skywalker is coming to Kesh?"

Grand Lord Yur said with that previously sensed Jubilation: "After receiving the Vision we used a the Dark Meld to stretch out our senses far beyond Kesh. As you drew closer, we could sense you coming here Vestara... (he paused and then continued) Just as we can sense that Skywalker is already headed here and... Dare I say it: He no longer walks with the Jedi... His power is Pure... Raw. It's as if he is the force incarnate. Can't you sense it?"

She reached out in the force and, through unknown instinct alone, she locked on to this "Dark Meld".

There he was and... Yes... the Grand Lord was right she could actually feel him as if he was there. He was a Jedi no longer. In fact... he was looking for Kesh to (she couldn't believe this part) to SAVE THE SITH?

"The Sith'ari"

the word just bubbled out of her.

"The Sith'ari indeed" The Grand Lord echoed her pronouncement and added with a self satisfied smile and eyes lit by the dark side: "Everything is proceeding just as I've forseen it."

Ship and Vestara had landed just before Dusk. While the night was still young, Vestara and Grand Lord Yur rendezvoused with the rest of the Dark Circle. They discussed her peace offering from the Senator. Between that opportunity and Luke Skywalker's imminent arrival, the Sith were poised for resurgence.

After the meeting concluded Vestara spent the rest of the night wandering through the streets of the new capital and, with no small effort, she ground down her initial doubts below her artificial feet as she walked. With each step she galvanized her resolve to dominate her identity her destiny. And then: Morning's first light appeared along with...

her destiny...

Location: Aboard the Jade Shadow in Hyperspace

One Moment Luke was talking to Raynar, the next he was gripping the copilot's console for dear life. Raynar quickly pulled them out of hyperspace and went to grab and steady him, but Luke replied:

"It's Ok Raynar... I'm Fine."

Luke had just been touched by the Dark Meld from Kesh.

"I just felt a... disturbance in the force... I know where we are going... and... and I sense a great danger; we got to hurry!"

With that Luke punched in the coordinates for what seemed to be a dead zone in space. He knew that's where Kesh had been hiding all along. He didn't know what they we're supposed to do when they got their but now he had every faith that the force would tell him what he needed to do when he needed to do it.

When the course had been plotted by the navicomp, Raynar engaged the hyperdrive. Their course:

Destiny!

Location: Aboard the Hapan Battle Dragon "Queen's Fury" in Hyperspace

It was a surreal sight; like something from the annals of history.

Looking out the Bridge's viewport Grand Master Saba Sebatyne saw a grand army of ships all around her, blazing through the swirls of hyperspace. They now knew the location of Kesh. They had watched as Vestara's tracker suddenly disappeared off the map. Further analysis of the data showed that a strong magnetic Bubble was to blame. One that was large enough to Hide and entire system: The Kesh System.

Ever since that confirmation, all the Jedi in the Armada had begun to hide their presence in the force. The technique had been taught to the Masters, who in turn taught the Knights and Padawans. They had spent the last two years training for this moment. This time, all the Masters had come, and all the Knight as well as a large portion of Padawans. The 40 or so that stayed behind were in the most trusted care of Leia, Han, and Jag . They would do whatever it took to keep the younglings safe.

Saba didn't know how this battle would turn out but she knew it was the will of the force. The Force's will was not a means to an end, it was the end. Masters fought and Masters died, but in the end: The Force would win. So off they went... headed for Kesh. Headed...

for their Destiny!

Location: Tendrando Arms SSOF (Secret Special Operations Facility) on Socorro.

It was quickly discovered that Kesh was in a zone shielded from sensors by an unusual magnetic field. Lando was able to work around that. It wasnt possible to control the Drone in real-time right to the target, because of the magnetic bubble. So he had his tech's program the stealth drone's AI to enter the blackout zone, locate Vestara's tracker, and confirm that the world was indeed Kesh.

The wait was no more than 30 minutes but it felt like an eternity. Waiting was bad. He wanted to close this Chapter. This was the only hope he had of draining his anger and healing his shattered heart. He couldn't bring back his dead loved ones, but he could do the next best thing:

Wipe out the evil that had ripped them out of life.

While Lando barely held it together, his drone silently slipped into the Kesh System. It noted the pathetic little orbital fleet. It noted the 3 moons around the planet, one of which was livable, yet uninhabited. It noted the Large Sith Temple as well as the countless black robed Sith. It also noted Vestara walking around the streets of some City as the dawn approached. With Confirmation of the great evil that had free reign of the planet, the drone headed back outside the magnetic bubble of the system to send it's conformation report to Lando, and in turn, receive it predetermined orders:

"Leave Kesh, a life ball in space."

Unfortunately the moment the drone crossed into the magnetic bubble's inner perimeter was the same moment that the Jedi battle group exited hyperspace (both parties, unaware of the other's existence).

Destiny... had arrived!

!