TATOOINE
The first crack of dawn had reached the horizon of Tatooine. Two ships raced through the sky with severe urgency; one Sith Infiltrator and one Corellian smuggling freighter turned Republic command ship.
Han and Leia were silent and pale as they steered the ship towards the Jundland Wastes, flying overhead towards the single hut beyond it.
As the twin suns continued to rise, Talon quickly docked her ship just outside the wrecked Anchorhead and hurried out of it.
Hego Damask's eyes had gone from their red and yellow glow to their natural sunken black.
He activated his yellow blade as he stepped gracefully towards the exhausted, wounded Ultor.
"Traitor," Ultor hissed, bearing the pain of his serious injuries, "You went soft in the end, just like last time."
"We were both planning to betray the other anyway," Damask replied, "Betrayal is the first principle of the Sith, and that is why they are always doomed to fail."
Ultor helplessly grabbed for his still-ignited lightsaber, desperately trying to lift it to defend himself.
"This is for the crimes of your forefathers as well as your own," Damask said coldly, preparing to execute the Dark Master.
"Master!" shouted a terrified female voice. Talon came rushing through the alleyway with her twin sabers ignited, determined to save her beloved master from the fate about to befall him.
Talon sprang into action, twirling both lightsabers in a series of blurs as she lunged at Damask.
Damask was quick, pivoting to slice his yellow blade through Talon's stomach.
The young Twi'lek gasped in horror as Damask's blade cut through her chest, and she switched off both of her red bladed weapons, resigned to her fate.
Ultor's mouth widened with shock as he watched Damask mortally wound his favorite Lieutenant.
Damask carelessly turned back to Ultor as Talon crumpled onto the sand.
A sudden wave of strength overcame the young Sith.
With a roar, Ultor leapt to his feet and attacked, swinging his blade through both of Damask's bony wrists.
Damask cried out in his hoarse voice as Ultor dismembered his arms.
With a second stroke, Ultor's red blade cut into the Muun's chin, slicing off the top half of his long head.
Damask's body collapsed next to Talon, unmoving.
Finally, Ultor fell forward into the sand, gasping for air.
He switched off his lightsaber as the blood continued to trickle into the sand.
He crawled slowly to the dying Talon, whispering, "No, no."
"I'm sorry, Master..." Talon breathed, trying to touch his pale face. Her hand fell beside her as her eyes closed for the last time.
Thoroughly exhausted and losing his will to continue, Ultor collapsed in the sand and allowed himself to lay still, with the night sky beginning to turn yellow and pink with the sunrise.
Kira was breathing heavily as she pulled the landspeeder in front of the former residence of old Ben Kenobi.
She scrambled out of the driver's seat and hurried to help her uncle up. Luke was feebly stirring, his organs beyond repair from the damage.
Luke blinked as Kira pulled him up with all of her strength, her short and lithe body guiding his heavier one.
The Falcon appeared overhead alongside the red sun as the sun and its twin rose and changed color
Han touched the ship down on the rocky surface as Kira and Luke staggered arm over neck into the old dwelling, which contained only a small stove and sink, a chest with unknown collectibles inside, and a single cot with blankets.
"Luke, my parents are here," Kira panted, growing more fearful by the second as his condition deteriorated, "They'll help you."
"No," Luke coughed, shaking his head as he laid down on the cot, "But I'm glad you're here. All of you."
A loud Wookiee cry rang outside the old hut as the Falcon's ramp slammed down with a hiss of exhaust onto the cliffside.
"Luke!" Han shouted.
"Kira," she heard her mother say.
Artoo Deetoo whistled frantically as the entire company entered the hut, gathering around.
Han and Leia were the first to reach Luke's bedside, both of them crouching around their best friend and covering the view with their backs.
"Oh, my, Master Luke," Threepio fretted mournfully as he brought up the rear.
"I'm sorry," Kira whispered, "I tried."
Leia silently reached from Luke's cot to her daughter and squeezed her hand.
Luke feebly turned his head to his niece and rasped, "Kira...the Jedi legacy...is yours. You...and the young ones...are the future."
"Don't say that, kid, you're going to make it," Han pleaded, his voice wavering in a way that did not match its natural cockiness.
Leia was still silent, knowing better. She allowed the tears to flow down her cheeks, but otherwise accepted what was necessary. She knew that her brother would pass on into the living Force, having lived a triumphant, heroic life.
"This is where it all began," Luke said, coughing slightly, "The twin suns are rising, and a new day is upon us."
Kira watched through her own tears as her parents took her uncle by his arms and gently guided him back onto his feet. Chewbacca and the droids quickly made way as Han and Leia half-carried Luke out of Old Ben Kenobi's hut, onto the ledge that overlooked the rising suns.
Han and Leia held tightly to Luke's feeble arms as they seated him down on a nearly round boulder, neither of them daring to cease touching him, as if his existence depended on it.
Luke smiled as he looked between his two best friends. Chewbacca let out a howl and rushed to join them, along with Threepio and Artoo Deetoo, who let out a sad beep.
Luke sighed as he touched the dome of Artoo's head, stroking it with affection as he watched the binary sunrise.
He remembered an evening thirty-four years earlier, when he had watched these same suns descending beyond the horizon. He had wondered at the age of nineteen whether he would ever be able to escape his mundane life on Tatooine.
Luke certainly had escaped it, he reflected, and had realized his destiny. He hoped he had done proud to those who had come before, but he knew for certain that he had done himself proud.
Han, Leia and the others were silent as they stood by Grand Master Luke Skywalker as his breathing became softer.
The sky was becoming brighter and bluer as the twin suns finally reached the clouds.
A minute later, a brown cloak and a sheathed lightsaber were all that remained on the round boulder.
As daybreak turned into mid-morning over the vast, scorching desert, Republic Interceptors and gunships began appearing in the sky and preparing to dock.
Inside his personal shuttle, Cal Omas peered into the holographic scanners that the small projector displayed.
He listened as a voice in the intercom said, "Our intelligence reports that the Jedi are hiding inside an old moisture farm deep within the Great Chott flat. There are a number of civilians hiding out among them."
"No doubt our occupation of their cities will draw out the Jedi," Omas replied, "This invasion will achieve two goals at once."
Massive dropships the size of medium sized city buildings were descending from the clouds along with the trooper carriers and fighters, each one carrying a wheeled AT-GT tank.
As the tanks were set onto the sand, the dropships lifted off again to return to the Dreadnoughts from which they delivered the transports.
Units of twenty Brigadiers stood attentively and armed inside the AT-GTs, with two in each cockpit.
The thirty-odd Anchorhead refugees were gathered in the secret hangar underneath the Lars homestead.
Sam was saying to them, "It will take a lot of fighting, but the armed population can keep out the Coalition invasion. Do you have means of contacting others who have escaped?"
A trader named Krit Sans replied, "Our sandrails allowed us to connect with Mos Espa before the Coalition cut it off. All transmission channels have been compromised though."
"Fortunately, my Jedi friends can help you get across the desert to the nearby cities," Sam replied, "The more people we arm, the more firepower we'll have against the invading forces."
Tahiri exited the hangar to find her former Master, Tionne, overlooking the horizon with her head hung.
"What's wrong, Master?" Tahiri asked with a light note of concern.
"The Jedi Order has suffered a great loss," Tionne replied, "Master Skywalker has passed on into the Force."
Tahiri was not entirely surprised, having herself sensed a cosmic shift, but bowed her head in sorrow nonetheless.
"The Jedi would be nowhere without him," Tahiri said, feeling the loss all at once, "He found all of us and trained us to use our abilities...abilities that we didn't at first understand...for the good of the galaxy."
The other surviving Masters were now emerging from the homestead, exchanging looks of grief with Tionne.
"The Jedi have lost a mighty and heroic leader," Saba Sebatyne stated.
"Over there!" a young Padawan named Aitek Sucal exclaimed, pointing as the Millennium Falcon appeared in the sky above the ocean of sand, preparing to land in the underground hangar.
Tahiri quickly ran towards the tunnel leading into the secret docking bay, mentally preparing to deal with Kira's grief and certainly raging emotions. She must have had to deal with the threat that had killed Luke, and Tahiri was certain that Darth Ultor was involved.
Sam had arrived at the ramp of the Falcon before Tahiri did, and stood back respectfully as it slid downwards.
Not surprisingly, every organic being on the Falcon had been crying during the journey from the Jundland Wastes to the Lars Homestead.
Sam gave a silent, solemn military salute and the puffy-eyed Han returned it without a word.
Tionne approached the Falcon and bowed to Han and Leia.
"General Solo, Master Solo, you two must be in grave pain. I felt what happened immediately."
"Luke would be proud to give his life in service to the Force," Leia replied, "In fact, I know he is. Right now, we have a mission to complete, a mission that began long ago."
"We saw hundreds of Republic craft landing in the desert," Han added, "We think that Omas is planning a full scale invasion."
Tahiri stopped listening as she saw the small figure lurking behind Chewbacca and the droids. As they climbed down the ramp of the Falcon, Tahiri walked up the ramp and gently approached Kira in the round corridor.
"You must be hurting a lot," Tahiri said gently, touching Kira's arm, "I know that he wasn't angry with you. He was happy that you came back."
"My powers were useless when it mattered ," Kira choked, her voice wavering intensely, "I had the power and I couldn't save him like I saved Praxium. I couldn't save him and I couldn't kill Skyler."
"Luke didn't want to be saved, he wanted to keep you safe," Tahiri replied, patting Kira on the shoulder, "and he wouldn't want you to kill Ultor out of revenge either."
The mention of Skyler's adopted Sith name brought Kira's icy blood to a boil.
"I have to finish the job," Kira said, trembling in her boots, "As long as he's alive, he's going to come for everyone I else I care about."
"Kira, listen!" Tahiri snapped, shaking her by the arms, "You can't keep worrying about him and what he's doing! We do care about you and we're here. I know Ultor's evil- he's hurt all of us. But you can't keep thinking about the people you hate."
Kira closed her eyes and cringed, humbled by Tahiri's wisdom.
Strangely, the tears did not come this time.
Kira merely reflected on her own frame of mind and the intense feelings consuming her; grief for her brother, and now her uncle, and many others who had also died, her love for her parents and friends who were still here, and her hatred for Ultor and the Coalition.
If she could just deal with the root cause of her hate, Kira realized, she could love without worrying about losing the people close to her.
Sam slowly climbed up the ramp of the Falcon into the round corridor.
"The battle isn't over yet," he informed them, "The Coalition has called for backup from all the crime syndicates, and Vizier Omas has landed and is going to invade the planet."
"What about the Sith army?" Kira asked, "Damask and Ultor had an army of Sith that they brought back from the dead."
"What?" Tahiri asked, her mouth opening in shock and confusion.
Sam, the non-Force sensitive, was not fazed by Kira's revelation.
"He must have done what you did to bring back my father, Damask is the one you went to learn from, right?"
"He was the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis," Kira replied with a nod, "Damask helped me and Luke get away from Ultor, but he must have taught Ultor his secrets first- or told him how to learn them."
"If the Sith are gone for now, then we'll have to wait to deal with them," Sam said, "The Coalition and the Republic are both ready to wage war with the people of Tatooine."
"Luke wouldn't want you to keep thinking about Ultor," Tahiri added.
Kira bowed her head, silent for a long minute. She allowed her conflicting feelings to stew, and decided that her feelings of love and companionship were strong enough to drown out the rest.
"I know," Kira said sullenly, "But he can't just be allowed to walk free. None of them should."
"Listen," Sam said, urgently taking Kira's arm, "We just got you back after two years after you ran away. I know that what he did hurt you, but you can't let him take over your mind. We're your friends and we don't want you to get into any more trouble."
With a slighter lighter note, Sam added, "You've saved us both now, and we want to return the favor."
On the hangar floor, Artoo Deetoo was projecting a holographic map of Mos Espa, displaying the New Republic set tanks rolling across the sand.
"They look like they're headed for Mos Espa," Jedi Knight Kors Werloc commented.
"The Coalition presence is sure to take the population hostage," Tionne replied gravely.
"That won't stop Omas," Sam commented, "He won't care about the lives lost in the process."
"We'll be fighting a war on two fronts," Master Kahn said, "We won't have support from the Republic even against the increased Coalition firepower."
"Will the strength of the Jedi be enough?" Tahiri asked. She looked knowingly at Kira with deep worry in her eyes. Like her closest friend, she was also thinking about the army of Sith that was still out there.
"What else can we rely on?" Tionne replied, "We cannot count on any allies at this time."
"What about us?" asked a young farmer named Soran Hiflyer, "We're ready to rise up in arms against any who threaten us."
"We don't want any more civilian casualties than we can help," Kahn replied.
"This is our planet, and we aren't giving up without a fight," replied a Rodian named Teebus.
"With proper strategy and strong will, I think any small army can take on the big superpowers," Han Solo chimed in.
"We're going to have to move fast before they overtake the rest of the cities," Saba Sebatyne said, "Some of us will have to stay to protect the youngest of our brood."
"Us most experienced Masters should remain, in case any enemy manages to find our secret hideout," Kahn replied, "Leia can lead the Jedi front."
Leia bowed her head, experiencing a fresh wave of sadness at the loss of her brother.
"Sam, Chewie I can help the locals enter the city while the Jedi work their magic," Han said, "That way we can free the hostages and get more people to fight."
"We're honored to have your support, General," Krit Sans saluted.
On the opposite side of the planet, dozens of Pyke, Black Sun, and Hutt Cartel craft were pouring into Mos Espa, Mos Eisley, and many other isolated settlements.
Jabba the Hutt's palace had fallen into decay over the years, but still stood tall as a landmark amidst the Dune Sea.
Accompanied by a host of Gammoreans, IG assassin droids, and bounty hunters including Durge, Rotta the Hutt slithered through the sandy hallway towards his father's abandoned throne room.
"The Outer Rim belongs to the Hutts as it was always meant to," Rotta crowed, addressing the projected holographic images of his bretheren.
"What about the Black Sun and Pykes?" asked the bespectacled Gorga, "What will we do with them?"
"For now, their presence is necessary here," Rotta replied, "The Jedi and Republic forces must be dealt with."
The holograms of Black Sun Vigos Yerrin Serri and Kraken and the muscular, armored Pyke leader Jezzick Broon appeared from the projector.
"We have seized all trading ports and banks," Broon reported.
"Our forces have taken control of the irrigation and most of the main moisture plants," Serri added, "The people will have to answer to us."
As the Jedi and Tatooine rebels scrambled to prepare their aircraft,weapons, and ranks for the guerrilla war to come, Kira stepped onto the ground level, climbing up the steps that led from the Lars Homestead.
She was silent as she let her raging emotions stew within her. She couldn't let her friends bear the brunt of her feelings, not again.
But she could not get her heart to do what her brain was telling the rest of her to do. Kira's anger, grief and bloodlust were as fresh as ever.
Her mind flashed back to Chandrilia and Slave I, where she had used General Praxium's midichlorians to kill him, and then bring him back. Praxium had had a low count, so he had been an easy task. Ultor was far more difficult to control with these powers, and conversely, she would have been unable to save her Uncle Luke due to his higher concentration.
But Kira knew that the secret was out there. Damask had discovered it, and he had been able to revive an entire army of powerful Sith. Kira would have that power one day, and then-
No- Kira told herself. She could not be having those thoughts. Not when it counted the most, and not when her friends and family needed her to stay strong.
A familiar presence appeared out of thin air, along with the glowing blue apparition attached to it.
"You're still tempted by the powers of darkness," Anakin observed, "The secrets that Plagueis had."
Kira nodded and turned to her grandfather. "I'm sorry, Anakin, I'm sorry I couldn't help him. I'm sorry that I still feel the midichlorians' power affecting me."
"Luke will always be here to watch over you, as am I," Anakin replied,
"What must I do?" Kira gasped, feeling desperate and hopeless, "What do I have to do to get rid of my feelings? I don't want to harm my family or friends, and I don't want to let anything else hurt them."
"The midichorians allow us to live in the physical realm, but they can also be a source of great corruption," Anakin replied, "Plagueis's mind has long been affected by manipulating them, and you might find yourself straying down the same path."
"I don't want to let them take over me," Kira replied, "I don't want him to take over, but I can't let go. I want to kill him, to make him suffer even more for everything he's done."
"Once Skyler has discovered the secrets of Darth Plagueis, he could become a far greater threat," Anakin replied, "The time will inevitably come when you have to face him again. But when you do, you must be prepared to ward off the darkest of temptations."
"I don't know when I'll be ready," Kira replied, "I can't stay here, while I put my loved ones at risk. I'm putting them all in danger as long as I stay with them. They'll feel the wrath of my anger much worse than Tahiri already did if I don't get these thoughts and feelings out of my head!"
Anakin was calm as he regarded his granddaughter's outburst.
Finally, he said, "As a Jedi, you cannot give into fear or hate, but that does not mean that you can avoid them forever. You're never alone, Kira, even when nobody else is with you."
"Where must I go?" Kira asked, "What must I do to get rid of the darkness inside me?"
TATOOINE
A lone figure, clad in black, staggered weakly up the slope of the Jundland Wastes. Sheer will had carried Ultor through the desert plains to the rocky cliffside, and up the steep hills that led back to his ship.
Ultor did his best to ignore the trail of blood, or the screaming wounds in his arm and leg. He would have to tend to his injuries. He could not process a single thought except the will to carry himself to his Herald. From there, he would figure out everything else.
The dark side continued to fuel Ultor as he climbed, and he felt it searing through his every vein and artery. He had felt mediocre as a Jedi Padawan, compared to Ben and the rest of his classmates despite his high potential.
Now, he was supreme. Ultor had no competitors in the ways of the Force. He would find Plagueis's secrets, and then he would be akin to a god.
Ultor kept these thoughts in the forefront of his mind as he reached the flat ledge where he had docked his transport.
Gazing over the horizon, Ultor could see a series of Coalition fighters and vessels flying from the Coalition command ships above. He had no more use for the Coalition. Once he had the final secret, he would crush every dissident like a bug.
With his toes against the ledge, Ultor finally took the time to reflect on a fact that he had been ignoring: Luke Skywalker was dead. Luke was dead, and Ultor had done most of the deed.
Damask had gone soft in the end, and Ultor had delivered the fatal lightning that caused Luke to weaken to the point of death. Ultor reflected on this fact, his hateful resolve turning into somber contemplation.
He remembered Luke's words during their duel on the cliff. After everything Ultor had done, his former father figure had tried to bring him back from the dark side. Just like Ben once had, but Luke had been able to penetrate Ultor's armor in a way that nobody else was.
And Ultor had felt the jab, for a brief moment. He had seen the appeal of Luke's plea, almost tempted to reject the future that he saw for himself. He had seen an abyss of despair instead of a wave of glory.
But no, Ultor knew better. The Jedi had held him back, and now he was at the top of the ladder he had begun to climb all those years ago. Next, he would knock the ladder down and destroy it.
Before turning to climb aboard his ship, Skyler allowed a single tear to fall from his eyes, disappearing down the slope of the gorge.
Within the wreckage of Anchorhead, two corpses laid near one another. Talon continued to bleed totally lifeless in the desert heat, but an incomprehensible process was taking place within the dismembered body of Hego Damask
He had long ago trained his midichlorians for the event of his death, he had survived the onslaught of Sidious with this process.
Inside his organs and veins, Plagueis's many thousand midichlorians reawakened, eagerly shouting commands at one another.
Light after light shone throughout the vastly infinite crevices inside Plagueis that were invisible to the naked eye, resembling the crystal caves of Ilum.
Plagueis's midichlorians soon began to glow over his entire body, including his severed head and hands, until all of him vanished into the morning light.
WELLSPRING OF LIFE
The Stream of Life, which flowed between the Netherworld and the physical realm, led directly into the Wellspring
The glowing midichlorians that had departed the demolished street of Anchorhead appeared in the rapid river, which appeared out of nothing in the vacuum of space.
The invisible Stream connected directly to a large orb on the surface of the Force Planet, which its inhabitants referred to as the Wellspring of Life.
The midichlorians blended in with their brethren as they travelled into the giant shining orb, glowing the same hint of blue as they began to spread along the dull, rocky surface with a beige color.
Among the geysers of energy and pure golden fluids, the glowing midichlorians began to reassemble, bringing with them the soul that had been banished to the darkest depths of the Netherworld.
Finally, the body of Hego Damask began to appear in the golden, enchanted forest, with the cylinder head reattaching to the neck and the hands connecting to the wrists.
Plagueis also began to change his physical shape, his frail, bony body began to grow muscles visible throughout his arms, legs and chest, until he had grown considerably in size.
The black robes he was wearing began to tear, too thin to hold his muscular body.
As soon as the awakened Plagueis rose to his feet, five thin, willowy figures began to float from the valley above towards the resurrected Sith Lords.
Plagueis crossed his arms as he faced the arriving Force Priestesses, who began to surround him in a circular formation.
"We never thought we'd see you again, Darth Plagueis," Serenity, the head Priestess, remarked.
"This is twice I have survived death," the Muun replied, "Two of the same bloodline tried to put an end to me, and both failed. The midichlorians here answer to me. I can bend any of them to my will."
"Because of you, they refuse to teach their most forbidden secrets to any other," the Priestess Anger replied, "You have abused your knowledge for evil, and continue to do so with your unethical pursuits."
"I have more power under my control than any other being has dreamed of," Plaguies bellowed, "I will decide what is ethical!"
"You came here once with noble intentions," Sadness said, "You wanted to help the helpless, save the unfortunate. You sought a solution beyond what the Jedi had to offer. That is why the midichlorians believed in you, and why we did. You let us down in the end."
Plagueis hesitated as he considered the Priestess's words. Then, he glowered at the five of them and replied, "It matters not what I believed in the past. Now, the entire living Force bends to my will, and I intend to use my powers to their fullest."
He extended a large, chunky hand towards the lead Priestess, closing his fist to telekinetically strangle her. A split second later, Serenity and the rest of the Priestesses vanished into thin air.