The Confrontation
It was already a standard week as Nomi and Dash traveled the galaxy aboard the Outrider in search of their kidnapped children. But still no trace of them was to be found. It was as if they had vanished into thin air. All their parents knew was that they were still alive. If they had been killed Nomi would have felt it even from great distances.
They were in the Orus Sector when Nomi made another attempt and called the children in the Force.
"Dash? Corran? Biggs? Tasherit? Where are you?"
Rendar watched his wife intently as the YT-2400 hovered in the darkness of space. From the look on her face, he knew what she was doing.
"Still nothing?"
His wife shook her head. Her desperation was palpable.
Dash reached out and took her hand.
"Maybe in the next sector. Giving up isn't an option."
"No, that's not an option," Nomi replied. "I want our children back. And wherever Bel-Baal hides them, we will find them."
She stared out the viewport into the darkness, wondering where to go next.
Dash waited patiently, resting his hand over the nav computer.
"Have you finally found your way to your father?"
Nomi suddenly heard an unfamiliar male voice in her head.
"You made me wait a long time, daughter. But now we will finally be together."
The Jedi had no doubt that it really was Ulic Bel-Baal who spoke to her in the Force.
"Give me my children back. You have no right to hold them."
She tried to stay calm and not lose her temper.
Bel-Baal laughed, a laugh that sent chills down her spine.
"That's what you think. You want them taught the heresy of Luke Skywalker and Yoda. I must and will prevent that, daughter. I know that you too are a believer in this heresy that is hindering your development to your true greatness. Come to me and I will show you the true nature of the Force. It's the only way for you. Give in to the dark side of the Force. Become my apprentice and you will see your children again."
Nomi took a deep breath. She knew the time for the confrontation had come. So why delay it any longer?
"Where are you, Bel-Baal?"
The young woman would rather bite her tongue off than to call this man father. The only one who, in her eyes, deserved to be called father was Jula Darklighter, who raised her and gave her all his love.
"Oh, I'm not far, daughter," the Dark Jedi replied. "You will find me in my fortress on the planet Algarian. I'll wait for you there."
Dash had been watching his wife the whole time. He had noticed that something was going on.
"What's the matter, Nomi?"
The Jedi turned her attention to her husband and felt like she was waking up from a deep trance.
"Bel-Baal spoke to me. He wants to convert me to the dark side of the Force. We have to go to Algarian."
Dash Rendar raised an eyebrow.
"Algarian? This is still Imperial territory."
His wife nodded.
"It's where our children are, Dash."
He looked at her doubtfully.
"Are you sure, darling? Who says Bel-Baal is telling the truth? It could be a trap."
"I'll know that for sure when we get to the Dufilvan sector. If they're not there and it's a trap, we still have plenty of time to get out. For the sake of our children, we have to take the risk, Dash."
Rendar nodded his head.
"All right, I'll set a course for the Dufilvan sector."
Shortly thereafter, they made the jump into hyperspace.
It didn't take long and they had reached their destination without incident.
Nomi reached out with the Force and vaguely felt the presence of their children. It was overlaid by a stronger dark presence. Her husband looked at her expectantly.
"Are they here?"
"Yes, our children are here and so is Bel-Baal, Dash. They are on the planet directly ahead of us."
Dash activated a star chart and looked it up.
"Ah yes, here we have it. It's indeed Algarian. This is truly a planet fit for a Dark Jedi."
With these words he began the landing approach.
After the Outrider entered the planet's atmosphere, Nomi refocused on their children's Force presence.
"We must go to the northern continent of the planet. They're there."
Below them they saw the rugged planetary surface. The individual land masses were separated by jet black seas and the plains had only sparse vegetation.
When they finally reached the northern continent, they saw a fortress on the shore right in front of them.
It was not unlike that of Darth Vader on Vjun. Halfway up the fortress was a landing platform. Dash steered the Outrider there and landed her.
As soon as they landed, the freighter was surrounded by stormtroopers with blaster rifles at the ready.
Rendar looked at his wife after turning off the engines.
"A nice welcome party," he remarked sarcastically before continuing. "And what do we do now, Nomi?"
The young Jedi shrugged.
"First thing we do is get off the ship."
She unbuckled, stood up and left the cockpit. With a sigh, Dash followed his wife after lowering the ramp and opening the hatch.
As they walked down the ramp, they saw a tall, slender man in a hooded black cloak standing at the foot of the ramp. There was no face visible deep in the hood due to the Mandalorian helmet the man was wearing.
Nomi's heart skipped a beat when she saw the green blade of the man's activated lightsaber. Suddenly she realized that she had not seen Luke in her visions, but Bel-Baal.
After deactivating his lightsaber, Ulic Bel-Baal approached his daughter ignoring Dash who was standing next to Nomi. Standing in front of her, he removed the hood and took off his helmet.
Nomi had expected to see a disfigured face. Instead, she found herself staring into the most attractive face she had ever seen on a man. Ulic Bel-Baal's features were regular, with high cheekbones, while his lips spoke of a certain hardness and cruelty. His eyes were a brilliant green, very similar to the color of her eyes. She couldn't deny that Bel-Baal was her biological father, even though his hair was black and streaked with gray. Now she began to understand why her mother fell in love with this man back then. By her calculations, Ulic Bel-Baal must have been almost 65 standard years old, but he looked like he was only 50.
The Dark Jedi motioned to the stormtroopers and they retreated into the fortress.
Now Nomi and her husband were alone with the man who was holding their children hostage.
Ulic looked his daughter over from head to toe before finally speaking to her.
"Welcome, daughter. Finally, what belongs together is coming together," he began, still ignoring Dash. "I'm going to show you things you can't even begin to imagine. You will become a powerful Dark Jedi, my child. Together we will rebuild the Empire and rule it as father and daughter, and your children will follow us on the throne. I will lead the galaxy to glory times with you."
Nomi shook her head.
"No, I'll never join the dark side and I'll never join you."
She then used Jedi mind control as she had learned from Luke.
"You will give my children back and let me and my husband go."
But Bel-Baal was completely unperturbed and laughed.
"Nice try, daughter, but you're no match for me with your ill-trained skills."
Suddenly, Nomi saw her children standing at one of the fortress' windows. Longingly they stretched out their arms and called her in the Force.
"Mama!"
The sight gave Nomi even more willpower.
"Give me back my children," she said with ice in her voice.
"Join me and you will get your children back," countered Ulic Bel-Baal in a calm voice.
Dash had been holding back all along, but now his patience was running out. He drew his blaster and fired at the Dark Jedi. But Ulic deflected the blaster shot with his hands and snatched the weapon from Rendar with the Force.
The former mercenary was now defenseless, but that wasn't enough for Nomi's father. He reached out for Dash and out of his fingertips came pure destructive energy of the dark side. The Force lightning struck Nomi's husband squarely in the middle of the chest and lashed out from there all over his body. Dash fell to his knees, screaming. Bel-Baal continued his attack. Rendar doubled over in pain and reached out to his wife for help.
"Nomi, please help me or I'll die," he said almost inaudibly.
"Stop it!" The young woman yelled at her father.
But the Dark Jedi didn't listen and continued his attack without mercy.
"Nomi!" One last agonized yelp, and then Dash lost consciousness.
Nomi looked from her unconscious husband to the man who was her father.
"Why?"
Her lips were trembling and she was struggling not to lose her composure completely. Luke had warned her, but now it was too late and there was no turning back.
Instead of answering, he held out his hand.
"Come to me, daughter. Your place is by my side. As you have seen, there is no point in resisting."
He pointed to Dash, who was lying motionless on the floor.
"This weakling who is your husband, can't help you. He's not a Jedi and will die just like you, if you don't join me. I gave you your life and I can take it from you, my child."
Nomi felt that Dash was still alive. But she knew that he wouldn't survive without help. His breathing was labored. She ignored Bel-Baal and tried to use the Force to enter her husband's mind to bring him relief.
"Dash, can you hear me? Keep calm and try to breathe as deeply as possible. The pain will subside. Everything will be fine, darling."
A little later she noticed that Dash's breathing had normalized a bit.
"Very impressive, but in vain. You can't save him from death. You only delayed the inevitable."
Her father looked at her with cold eyes and the Jedi realized that there was nothing left of the man her mother loved then.
Nomi tried to fight the growing anger inside her with a Jedi relaxation technique.
"Yes this is good. I feel your anger and your hatred, daughter. Take your Jedi weapon and attack me."
Finally Nomi had herself under control again. She looked at Bel-Baal and decided not to attack him. If he wanted to fight her, he had to make the first move. She sent calming thoughts to her children and to her husband through the Force.
Then she turned to the man who was the opposite of a loving father.
"I tell you again, Bel-Baal. I'll never join the dark side, I would rather die."
Hearing this, the Dark Jedi glared at her hatefully.
"As you wish."
At the same moment he activated his lightsaber and with a hiss the green blade appeared. Seconds later he attacked his daughter.
Nomi activated her own lightsaber and blocked the slash aimed at her neck. As their blades clashed, sparks flew and the air crackled with electrical discharges. Strike after thrust, feint after feint followed in rapid succession.
They fought fiercely against each other, but neither managed to gain the upper hand.
Bel-Baal was physically stronger than Nomi, but she still managed to defend herself against him.
Suddenly she wasn't just exposed to his lightsaber attacks as he rained down countless small stones on her.
She tried to fend them off. But her focus on lightsaber combat faltered as a result. Her opponent managed to knock the weapon out of her hand. It immediately shut down and fell to the ground.
Nomi held out her right hand and reclaimed her lightsaber with the Force and activated it seconds later. It was just in time, otherwise Bel-Baal's blow would have beheaded her.
The Dark Jedi cursed and intensified his lightsaber and stone attacks.
Nomi had already suffered countless small injuries from the stones, which hurt terribly when she suddenly heard Corran's voice in her head.
"Help, Mama."
Suddenly, the stones were deflected by invisible hands and the young woman was able to concentrate fully on the fight again.
Ulic snarled, driving his daughter back with rapid blows. They inexorably approached the edge of the landing platform and the yawning abyss.
The Jedi tried desperately to escape the mortal danger.
With a mighty leap she jumped over her attacker and stopped behind him. Bel-Baal turned. Nomi stabbed forward with her lightsaber and the Dark Jedi tried to deflect the thrust, but it was in vain. The red blade pierced his chest.
Breathing heavily, Nomi deactivated her lightsaber and took a quick look at the body on the ground. She was sure that she had fulfilled her destiny and killed her father.
But there was no time for regret or remorse. She had to act quickly now.
After making sure Dash was still alive, she invaded the fortress after influencing the minds of the stormtroopers stationed there.
The hallway was dimly lit, but she followed the force presence of her children and found the room where they were locked. Nomi made short work of the door lock and the door hissed open. The triplets came running towards her.
"Mama, home?" Dash Jr. asked, looking up to his mother.
"Yes, we're going home now," Nomi replied before heading to the crib where she picked up Tasherit.
Together they went to the landing platform and into the Outrider.
After securing her children for departure, Nomi walked back onto the landing platform and over to Dash, ignoring Bel-Baal, who lay motionless on the ground.
Using the Force, she levitated her husband into the freighter and slowly lowered him onto his cot. Then she went into the cockpit, did the pre-flight check and started the engines. The Outrider slowly ascended into Algarian's orbit. As the YT-2400 exited the planet's gravitational shadow, it made the leap into hyperspace.
The Jedi engaged the autopilot and went aft to tend to her husband. She used the Force to treat his injuries sustained from the negative energies of the dark side. Nomi touched every single vessel, every single fiber with the Force. The injured organs began to heal under her touch and she smiled. She was certain that, contrary to Bel-Baal's prediction, her husband would survive.