Jaina and Luke took the Rude Awakening to Abeloth's planet. They exited Hyperspace, and emerged outside The Maw. They detected Ship through the Force. "Try not to jostle the ship too much. I'd like to come back to my body with my organs not all over the place."
Luke got up. "You ready for this?" Jaina asked.
Luke sighed. "I have to be." The weight of this mission hung on his shoulders. He felt sick, but ignored it.
He went to the medbay, and hooked up the necessary materials to his body. He then laid on the hovergurney, closed his eyes, and recited the phrase taught to him by the wretched beings at Sinkhole Station.
Abeloth shoved her prisoners out of Ship. Prevent any intruders from coming here. She ordered. Ship took flight. Abeloth turned back to them. "Let's get started, shall we."
Vestara huddled close to Ben for comfort. In this harsh environment, he was the only source of safety and comfort. "Fret not, my children. Soon, you will never need to worry ever again." Vestara shuddered at Abeloth's coaxes. She leaned closer to Ben, who wrapped his arm around her.
Abeloth brought them to the Font of Power. She turned to Vestara. "Partake of this sweet drink." She insisted.
There had been no food or drink on the journey. The murky, brackish water seemed almost appetizing. Vestara shook her head. I must resist. She thought. Abeloth chuckled. "Your efforts to resist will be in vain. You will have to partake eventually." Her tentacles caressing Vestara's chin.
Abeloth turned to Ben. "You must swim into the Pool of Knowledge." Ben's eyes widened. He looked at Vestara, who shared his fright. "Come, child." Abeloth coaxed. Her tentacled arms grabbed Ben, and wrenched him over to the grotto holding the Pool of Knowledge. Vestara was left alone.
Saba, Tahiri, and the other barabels braved the ever increasing tremors raking Coruscant. "Where's the core?" Tahiri asked.
"Just a-" Saba was cut off as a more powerful tremor knocked them all off of their feet! Pieces of the ceiling and wall crumbled and fell. Everyone took cover. After a few more seconds, the shaking stopped. Zal helped Tahiri to her feet. "You were saying, mother?" Tesar asked.
Saba took a few breaths. "Yes. Just a little further down the corridor." Saba finished.
"How will we draw Abeloth out?" Zal asked.
"She can't be eazily frightened. She'z so powerful, it's ridiculous." Dordi added.
"We just have to be dangerous enough." Tahiri suggested.
"You're talking to barabelz." Wilyem remarked.
Luke woke up in the Realm Beyond Shadows. He was at the Lake of Apparitions. Seems like only yesterday, I was here for the first time. He thought. He found Mara and Jacen. Mara seemed a little less than pleased. "Why're you back here Luke? After I specifically told you not to!"
"This is the last time, I swear! I'm here to stop Abeloth, and rescue our son."
Mara sighed. "You are becoming stubborn. I don't like it."
"Were you any different?"
Mara realized that he was right. "Nonetheless, we can't help you." Jacen warned.
"But I can't stop Abeloth on my own!" Luke exclaimed.
"Perhaps I can assist." A voice said.
Luke turned around, and saw a dark figure. He looked like a warrior, and had tattoos criss-crossing his body. Luke could tell that this was a Sith. Interestingly though, he wasn't a part of the Lost Tribe. "Who are you?" Luke asked.
"That doesn't matter. All you need to know is that I'm here to help stop Abeloth."
Luke sighed. "I'll take what help I can get. Now how do we get Abeloth over here?"
"How about I come to you?" Abeloth chided.
Jaina juked the Rude Awakening to the side, careful to avoid any blackholes. Ship's cannons opened fire. Jaina managed to get her own laser cannons running, and returned fire. Hang in there, Ben and Vestara. We're coming. She thought.
A torpedo was loaded into the launch bay. Jaina gritted her teeth, and twisted the Awakening into a barrel roll, then launched the payload. Ship narrowly dodged it, and fought its way away from a blackhole's event horizon. Seeing him struggle against the gravitational pull briefly, Jaina got an idea.
She brought the Awakening into a loop, and hit Ship with more laserfire. Ship returned fire, but only scored a few hits. The Awakening barrel rolled out of the way, and dove straight down to Ship. Jaina fired another torpedo.
Ship juked out of the way, and the torpedo exploded behind him. Jaina jerked up on the yoke, and went over the semi-sentient vessel. Ship's cannons were the ones to open fire, but the shields managed to hold. Jaina loaded another torpedo. This one's for Ben. She thought.
She launched it, and loaded another. This one's for Vestara. She thought.
The torpedo was launched, and another replaced it. This one's for Uncle Luke.
The first torpedo missed Ship. The second scored a direct hit. The third missed, but it still exploded just close enough, and gave Ship some turbulence. Jaina could feel his pained cries through the Force. Shouldn't have chosen Abeloth as your master. She thought.
Ben was shoved to the ground. "Bathe in the water's sweet waves. You and Vestara will have power beyond all understanding." Abeloth coaxed.
"No," Ben yelled, "I refuse to become like you! I'm no monster!"
Abeloth snarled. "You'll soon learn to appreciate me as your mother."
The thought of Abeloth replacing Mara was sickening. Ben fought the urge to throw up, as he tasted bile in his mouth. "You're nothing but a worthless wench!" Ben yelled. He began realizing that his anger was boiling within him. Being forcefully separated like that from Vestara had affected him more than he expected. Abeloth growled. "Or I could speed up the process, and just toss you in. Perhaps maybe I could even drown you in its waters, and bring you back as one of my proxies." She warned.
Ben did his best to hold back slugging Abeloth in the gut, and settled for clenching his fists. "Bathe in the pool, and you'll be able to reform the galaxy to your liking. You and Vestara both." He did his best to ignore his coaxes. Remain strong, Ves. He thought.
Vestara stayed as far as she could from the Font of Power, while making sure to be nowhere near the wildlife. Though she began to wonder if being killed by the forest and plants would be better than whatever fate awaited her if she partook of the font.
No! I must remain strong! If not for me, for Ben! She thought.
She took deep breaths. She could feel herself hunger for water. The disgusting water of the font seemed more and more appetizing. Vestara began attempting to clear her mind. "I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me." She was surprised as she heard herself recite the phrase, but continued. She drew on the Force to nullify her thirst. She remembered Ben's loving embrace. His soft lips against her skin and lips. Comfort began filling her. I won't forsake you Ben. Never!
Tahiri used her lightsaber to cut down the door to the computer core. The strike team rushed in. There, they saw the core itself. It seemed to be drawing on power from nearby machines. They felt as though they could hear Abeloth cackling from within. "It's time to end this nightmare." Wilyem snarled.
Dordi drew her lightsaber. "This will be the fight of our livez." She said.
"Then we'll go down with glory." Tahiri added.
The rest drew and ignited their lightsabers. They attacked the machinery they could feel Abeloth feeding off of. They heard pained moans from the core itself. "Enough of this!" A voice roared from within.
Saba stomped a computer with her foot, and tore out its circuitry with her jaws. Tahiri and Tesar jammed their lightsabers into the core itself. More pained cries emanated from the core. Saba trained her lightsaber on it. "We know you're in there, Abeloth. Come out at once!" She demanded.
"You will obey your Queen of Stars!"
"This monster iz more dedicated than we thought." Zal remarked.
"Queen of Stars?" Tahiri asked.
"This one doezn't like this." Saba hissed.
Once more technology was destroyed, and the core was torn apart further, Abeloth revealed herself. "You will all pay for what you've done!" She yelled.
Zal dove for her, and bit her arms. Tahiri threw her lightsaber, and used the Force to carefully aim away from the barabel. Saba used the Force to slam Abeloth to the ground. Zal used the Force to soften the abrupt descent. Abeloth kicked the barabel off of her, and leapt to her feet.
Tahiri stabbed Abeloth in the gut with her lightsaber. Abeloth cried out, and kicked her to the ground. Tesar bit down hard on Abeloth's shoulder. Abeloth's tentacles began oozing black slime, and began searching for openings in Tesar's face! Tahiri quickly lobbed off Abeloth's tentacles! Abeloth cried out. Zal used her lightsaber and sliced off Abeloth's legs.
Wilyem used the Force, and crushed Abeloth with the remnants of the core. Just then, another, more powerful tremor occurred! Tahiri jumped out of the way of a large crack, from which lava began to spew. "Oh my gosh!" She remarked. Saba fished Abeloth out of the rubble. "Your reign iz over." She hissed.
"You can't do this!" Abeloth moaned.
Saba bit down hard on her victim's head, and severed it. Abeloth's body went limp. "Hurry! This place is falling apart rapidly!" Wilyem warned.
Luke slugged Abeloth in the gut. The Sith used the Force to lift up a boulder, and tossed it towards Abeloth. Luke dove out of the way, but Abeloth was too slow. She fell down upon collision. The Sith then stomped on her back. Luke kicked her in the neck.
Abeloth rolled onto her back, and unleashed a flurry of Force lightning upon them! Luke groaned in anguish, while the Sith bit back the pain. He snarled in fury, and unleashed his own storm of lightning, getting into a lightning locked battle. As the lightning moved ever closer, he looked at Luke. "Help me!" He demanded. Luke quickly used the Force, and sent a tree flying towards Abeloth, diverting her attention, allowing the Sith to gain the upperhand, and grilled her.
Luke panted as he recovered from the amount of weight he had to pull. He looked on in horror as Abeloth regained her strength, then Force pushed the Sith into the wall. Luke got an idea. As soon as Abeloth got up, he used the Force to send the Sith flying into Abeloth! She let out a pained groan as the dark figure was thrown into her. The Sith looked up at Luke. "You'll regret that, Jedi." He snarled.
"Be my guest."
The Sith then returned the favor, and sent Luke flying towards Abeloth, crashing into her. They began to feel Abeloth weakening. Someone did something. Luke thought.
Jaina checked the shields. They were beginning to weaken. This thing might not be able to handle much more. She thought. She took a deep breath. She saw Ship on the locator. Instead of using it to track him, she began trusting in the Force.
She closed her eyes, and took deep breaths in and out. She loaded the last torpedo into the launch bay. She kept her eyes closed, and relied fully on the Force to guide her. She was about to set a detonation time for the torpedo, but the Force guided her to not do so.
She ignored the instruments telling her that Ship was closing in fast. Then, she launched the torpedo.
She heard cries of anguish and agony through the Force. She knew she did some damage. What intrigued her was that the cries seemed to drag on, as though the torpedo did more damage than Jaina expected.
Jaina opened her eyes, and saw Ship being dragged into a blackhole! He was grotesquely stretched far, as he spiraled into the singularity. Go back to the black pit from whence you came. Jaina thought.
Eventually, Ship disappeared. His presence in the Force faded with him. Good riddance. Jaina thought. The Rude Awakening then continued its course for Abeloth's planet.