Chapter 23

The following is the true story of the Great battle of Kesh, taken from first hand accounts, Naval transmission recordings, and sensor readings. These events really happened

Location: Aboard the "Queen's Fury" in Hyperspace

Swallowed whole! That's how Cilghal felt at that very moment. Deep Inside the Hapan Battle ship, she sat on board a Troop Carrier. A crowded troop carrier! It was overfilled with some Jedi Knights and about 2 dozen troopers (a mix of GA BlackOps, Klatooinian Planetary Guard, and Hapan warriors).

She was no warrior. No, it's true that all Jedi were not warriors, but some were well suited to fill that role if called upon. A Jedi never relished taking a life, but Cilghal (the Order's chief healer) particularly despised this hated task. But the troops she was leading could not know that. She would make herself implacable; a trusted general with a spirit of durasteel with which her people could draw courage from.

Over shipboard comms, came the voice of the Armada's supreme Commander:

"This is Admiral Bwua'tu! We will be exiting Hyperspace in twenty seconds. You all know your objectives. We will have the advantage in firepower and mobility. They will hold the higher ground in numbers and in less then honourable tactics. Take heart! We will succeed because of the simple fact that we must succeed! The threat of the Sith can no longer be allowed to threaten Civilization as we know it. Prepare for engagement and... May the force be with us!"

At that moment, all the Jedi in the battle group, dropped their force presence concealment, and now joined a Jedi Battle meld. All of them would be connected and aware of each other while simultaneously equalizing their power, from the weakest padawan to the strongest Master. The force's power flowed through her and gave her a knowledge that set her mind at peace: She would be glorious, she would be powerful, and soon... she would become one with the force.

The small band of Sith Cruisers and Corvettes had no warning. Well, to be more accurate the warning was so short and powerful that it was of no benefit to them. The Moment that all the Jedi dropped there force concealment, the Sith detected a sharp burst of power and danger in the force.

The flag ship Defiance was able to send out one last Transmission: "... ALL SHIPS! POWER UP WEAPONS AND PREPARE..."

the warning was cut short as the Defiance was torn asunder by an overkill of Turbo laser fire. Indeed, it was as if the incoming Capital ship had begun firing even before fully leaving Hyperspace. 2 Seconds later the other ships in the Sith force were just so much flaming debris. At that time, the more maneuverable cruisers of the Jedi Armada, quickly entered the atmosphere while disgorging shuttles and fighters. A risky maneuver to be sure, but then again, this mix matched armada represented the very best of their respective Navies. The turbo lasers began to fire again; this time at ground targets. The residents of Kesh woke up to the embryonic stage of what was sure to be a great massacre... But for whom?

Walking on the shores of Berav Bay, The Grand Lord of the Sith, Takaris Yur, was contemplating all that had happened in the last 12 hours. It was merely a week ago, that his hopes for the Lost Tribe were teetering on the brink. Now they were set to rise in earnest . They would take the Galaxy as their birthright. Any moment now Luke Skywalker would arrive and... His thoughts where interrupted by a great disturbance in the force. It was akin to someone turning on a bright light in a room that had been bathed in Darkness. At first he thought it was Skywalker, but after a handful of heartbeats he knew what it was. He looked up to the sky and went to hail the fleet with his comlink when the explosions high up in orbit rendered his intentions futile.

Betrayed! "VESTARA!"

He screamed out at the top of his voice. Of Course! Both Ship and Vestara had proven to be traitors in the past. This whole ruse was so elaborate and convincing that it made him fully let down his guard. Of course that was the nature of an effective trap. It was something he wanted so his heart played accomplice to their plot. The gravity of the situation came down upon him like a giant tree.

There would be oceans of blood spilled today...but the first drops would come from Vestara. Comlink still raised to his mouth he went to hail the "Dark Circle Guards" but all he could get was static. The Jedi (and yes, he was absolutely sure of the attackers Identity) were jamming his signals. He threw the comlink to the sand and used the force to send out the alert. The force could only be used to send out the most basic of messages but fortunately his message was simple. He formed in his mind an image of Vestara and Ship. Then he projected an image of a light Tuash bird that transformed into a dark Tuash. For anyone raised on Kesh the message would be clear. Vestara and Ship where false Heralds! Traitors! They would be killed on sight. The message went out to no one in particular, which in this case worked in his favour. Anyone with a lightsaber in the City would kill her on sight.

12 hours. That's how long Vestara's fantasy lasted. She was completely in shock so she couldn't connect any dots at the moment, but she knew it couldn't have been coincidence. She knew she hadn't betrayed her people but some where along the line someone had betrayed her. VoxHayly? Mirta? The Pirates? It didn't matter. The Jedi were here and all of Kesh (or at least the city of Berav) would be blaming her. She had to get back to ship and... her inner schemings were interrupted but the sound of a thunderous boom followed by explosive roars and bright balls of flame. Bombardment!

She could see the battle cruisers descending upon the city along with flocks of starfighters and shuttles. All of a sudden a lightsaber blade came swinging toward her neck. A RED lightsaber. She had seen The Psychic warning Grand Lord Yur had sent out. "Great! Now I got to fight off Jedi and Sith, just like the good old days." She thought to her self. Unfortunately for the young Sith woman who had obeyed Yur's Command, Vestara was a survivor, and this poor fool would not be.

After cutting down several inexperienced Sith Sabres she had made it halfway to the landing pad. It was there where her first real obstacle presented himself. A Sith Lord! He looked at her with a disgusting hatred she had never witnessed. Before she could fully raise her blade to defend herself, he was on her. She was forced into a purely defensive possession as he rained down powerful blows with his blade as if he was some kind of blacksmith. As he raised his blade again for another series of strikes she was able to flip herself backwards while sending a fan of force lightning toward the man. He caught most of it with his blade but barely. She exerted herself more, pumping out more bolts of lightning toward his blade. She then, in a blink of an eye, ceased the lightning attack and lunged forward with her sabre.

The onslaught was enough to knock him down. Before she could preform the death blow, he knocked her back with a blast of his own lightning. It struck her body full on and sent her flying backward into the outside wall of a building that lined the street they were on.

As she lay on her back, smoking and reeking of burnt hair and skin, she could see the undersides of 3 stealthXs pass above her at high speed. With a morbid curiosity, she wondered who would end her life first: This Sith Lord? Or the Jedi? If the Jedi wanted the kill her, then they better hurry up. The Man walked toward her, slowly at first, but he made a couple fast leaps forward and then made the strike jump. With his Lightsaber poised for a downward lunge, all she could do was witness her doom. But then just as he was about to come down on her, the man literally exploded. The cause? Ship!

He had used his Magnetic accelerator to save her life and end the Lord's.

"Lady Khai! Quickly!"

With ships exhortation, she managed to coax movement out of her still stunned body. In a few seconds she was able to make it to the materialized ramp that hung only a few feet off the ground. It was only when she got aboard that she realized that the Meditation sphere had taken damage.

"The Jedi destroyed the landing pad along with all the parked vessels. I was able to escape to get you. We need to leave the System! Now!"

The Jedi Fleet's heavy Capital ships hung above in orbit to rain down destruction if needed and to ensure no Sith ship left the planet. Lighter battle cruisers descended upon the planet, to serve as mobile starfighter landing carriers and as ground based siege weapons. Xwings and Miy'til fighters descended upon the two inhabited continents, taking out any roads, ports and command centres.

Because Kesh was a planet that lacked any concentrated metal ores, it relied on recently pillaged resources to advance their technology, which up until a few years ago mostly involved beast of burden and vehicles that had wooden frames. This meant that starships, speeders, modern weapons would be a rarity on Kesh. Once their limited supply of the above resources were destroyed. They could take Kesh city by city, starting with the Largest one.

This battle wouldn't be won in a day, or days. It could be weeks, but it looked like the odds were heavily stacked in the Jedi's favour. Within 10 minutes the Shuttles and troop carriers began to land. If the inhabitants would have all been dark force users, then it would have been just a simple matter of destroying all the cities from orbit, if no one surrendered. However, because there were non force sensitives and undoubtedly innocent child involved, the Jedi had explicitly forbade such a plan.They would not turn to the dark side in order to stop it. So they had to use a ground assault.

The plan was to encircle the city with troops and, along with limited air support, they would gradually bring the city under their control.Those who surrendered would be saved. Those who didn't would die.

Over the city of Berav, loud speakers blared out a simple message in Keshiri (a rough translation created by C3P0 since he had helped Luke translate the language in the past) and in basic:

"Surrender or be destroyed!"

Most of the masters (except for Jaina and Corran) were leading troops into battle. Grand Master Saba Sebatyne went into predator mode pouncing on her victims in a frenzy. The Jedi generals would take the brunt of any offensive head on and leave the role of support and clean up to the regular troopers.

At first the Sith were disorganized and panicked, but all too quickly they had developed an effective yet disgusting strategy. They would group together in large pockets while rounding up children and non sensitive Humans and Keshiri. Under threat of death they would send the weak and vulnerable running toward the troops, while the sith followed closely behind. With the innocent fools between them and the Jedi, the Sith clearly gained an advantage.

The Jedi would have to use restraint so as not to harm the civilians, while the Sith had no such weakness.

That's when it happened!

After getting soldiers to clear out a group of civi's, Master Cilghal engaged a group of seven Sabre wielding Sith. They took turns clashing with her. The they would mob her all it once. It didn't matter what they did, Cilghal was a force unto herself. It wasn't long before sabre separated limbs began to fly through the air.

While fighting enemies of their own, the troopers and knights she was leading couldn't help but be a bit awestruck at her prowess on the field of battle. All the while, tears where streaming down the fishlike features of her face.

She hated what she was doing!

She hated that she was so good at it!

She hated the Sith for not surrendering!

While easily parrying the blows of the only Sith remaining of the group she had engaged, she felt the curious sensation of a sharp pain at the top of her head. Strangely, she had let go of the sabre in hand.

"Why did I just do that? I don't want to do that" she thought to herself.

The Mon Cal Jedi healer, belatedly realized that her brain had suffered a catastrophic injury and she was no longer able to defend herself. In that moment her life flashed before her eyes.

She saw her childhood under the oceans of Mon Cala, She saw the first time she met Luke Skywalker.

She saw the countless patients she saved and the countless ones she couldn't.

She had always defended the light and had done her best to keep the darkness at bay. In her final moment, her only regret was not being able to thank her Great Master, who had a changed her life.

She had always been a firm believer in the old Jedi way of non attachment, but she had always fought down feelings of attraction to Luke. He was the kindest wisest man she had ever met, and was her best friend. She just wished she could have told him goodbye. So while the Sith whom she had been fighting earlier, now took advantage of her disable state and impaled her with his sabre, she silently released one last thought into the force:

"Goodbye Luke. I love you."

And Cilghal, was no more.

Thus fell the first Jedi Master in the great Battle of Kesh. The troops and knights she had been leading were now not only fighting the enemy but also their own shock and grief at loosing their mighty one.

High above was the cause of Cilghals fall. A sinister, up till now, unknown variable: The Uvak. An Uvak was a large flying reptile that resembled a beaked dragon with an armed Sith mount. In this case the weapon used was a glass dagger know as a Shikkar. The Uvak rider had drop the Glass killer above the Jedi and used the force to guide the Shikkar right through the top of her head. This was just the first. In the next few moments the skies began to fill with thousand of the mythical looking creatures.

The Kishiri Air Force had arrived!

The Jade Shadow reached the Kesh System seconds earlier. Luke's eyes grew big and he couldn't help but to cry out:

"CILGHAL! NO! NO!"

Around him his crew tried to comfort him and inquire of him what had happened. He was about to give himself over completely to grief and hopelessness, when something brought him back to the present.

Wiping away tears from his eyes, he said: "Something is not right... something is very wrong!"

Tahiri put a hand on his back and said we know, we felt... Master Cilghal..." she trailed off.

Luke started to shake his head slowly and then said with a thousand light year stare: "No... not that. I can't.. I don't... Look all I know is that Death has just entered the system. And it headed this way."