Act 2: Duality | Chapter 20 – The Stranger
Author's Note: Soooo... after a LONG break, I'm back! I'm hoping to update every other week, but I can't make any promises. As always, I'm curious to hear any thoughts, comments, or suggestions you may have! :D
PS. In case anyone forgot, this fic will include eventual Anidala AND eventual Aaylakin. :)
~ Amina Gila
Plot: Darth Vader has ended the reign of Jabba the Hutt. But this brings consequences. Former Jedi Quinlan Vos comes to Tatooine as an emissary of his master, Darth Maul. While tracking down the renegade Sith Lord, Vader meets a mysterious Jedi, only known as the Predator, who apparently has placed him as the one who destroyed the Jedi Order.
"Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will."
**w**
The Jedi Order might have been destroyed, but Jedi Master Jocasta Nu refuses to let it die. She means to reestablish it, no matter how long it takes. It is something to which she is willing to devote the rest of her life if need be. The information she has and the knowledge she possesses is invaluable. Many would kill to get it – especially the Sith – and for that reason, she must be cautious.
But when she sees someone in the Archives, carelessly going through the information and tossing it aside as though it's rubbish, she cannot stand by idly. She cannot leave when such a desecration is happening. The Temple was her home. It is her home despite all the things that have transpired over the last two months, and Jocasta will not walk away while it is being treated this way.
She draws her lightsaber and reveals herself. She does not recognize the Pau'an male in front of her, but when he admits to having been a former Jedi, she has the vague memory of someone like him. A Jedi who always sought access to things better kept secret. There were many such individuals, and there is a reason that the Council entrusted her to protect the secrets of the Archive. Not everyone is ready to learn some of the mysteries of the Force without abusing that knowledge.
"I am Darth Inquiere," he sneers, drawing a red lightsaber and attacking her. Their duel is fast and furious, and Jocasta is quickly overwhelmed. She has never been the best duelist of the Order. Her strength always lay in her knowledge. She is not afraid to die at the hands of this Sith, this Jedi turned traitor. She is only afraid of the Sith using her knowledge to gain more power for themselves.
"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me," Jocasta whispers, and the Force flares.
Her eyes fly open in time to see Inquiere – or whoever he used to be – being hurled into the shelves. He crumples to the floor, and she turns her head to see a dark-robed figure standing there. He feels… strange in the Force, oddly muted, and she cannot see his face because of an all-too-familiar helmet concealing his features.
It is not a helmet Jocasta has seen more than a handful of times.
The Mask of Venamis, constructed of cortosis ore, belonged to a Fallen Jedi from a century ago. After his death, the helmet – designed to resemble a grinning skull – was stored in the Temple and kept with other dangerous Sith relics. For this man to have gotten it, he must have broken into that part of the Temple, and her alarm flares. What else has the Empire gotten their hands on?
Something is crackling around him, a strange, dangerous power that makes the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Wind currents whip up around him, electricity crackling on the tips of his fingers. "Master Nu," he says, and his voice is unrecognizable. It could be anyone. "It is not safe for you here."
"Who are you?" she asks, but even as she does, she knows he will be unable to hear her. The helmet was built for sensory deprivation. It cuts the wearer off from all physical sensations, allowing them to be one with the Force.
He lifts a hand, and the Force rips. Well, perhaps rip is not the correct term for it, but it certainly bends, and in front of her startled eyes a tear appears. It starts as a small spot edged with purple and rapidly grows bigger until it almost resembles… a portal? The wind picks up, growing stronger though it should be physically impossible to exist indoors, and purple lightning arcs from his hands, hitting the spot and making it bigger as it crackles around the edges.
"Go," orders the mysterious stranger. "I will be right behind you."
"What sort of sorcery is this?!" demands Inquiere, and Jocasta wastes no more time. The helmet masks the man's presence, but there is a part of her that is certain he is familiar… and that he can be trusted.
She lurches to her feet and steps through the portal. It feels as though something odd buzzes over her skin, and abruptly, she is standing elsewhere in a dim, run-down room. It is as though she has teleported, and unease slithers down her spine. Whatever power her rescuer has obtained is dangerous. Possibly even dark, though she did not sense the Dark in him as she did in Inquiere. Whoever he is, he is no Sith.
Jocasta turns sharply as the Force ripples, and instead of the man following her, the portal closes, disappearing as though it was never there in the first place.
**w**
Inquiere is furious at this… Jedi – for it must be a Jedi; no one else would be so bold – for helping the Archivist escape. He has spent so long dreaming about the day he would be able to kill Nu for denying him and to have it ripped from his grasp angers him like nothing else could.
"Identity yourself, Jedi," he snarls, reactivating his lightsaber and pointing the red blade toward him.
There is no answer as the helmet turns toward him. It looks… odd somehow, and it feels strange to Inquiere in the Force. It almost seems to be muffling or distorting the Jedi's Force presence. Despite his anger, he is cautious. He has never seen a Force user do what this one has. Making a portal is not a Force ability of which Inquiere has ever heard – although what does he know? Nu kept all the secrets to herself. This man might be an ally of hers, perhaps.
Inquiere steps forward, prowling toward him. It's only a Jedi, and he's alone. Killing him shouldn't be hard. He swings, but the man ducks under it, drawing and igniting a blue lightsaber. He brings it up to meet Inquiere's follow-up strikes, and he seems to be deliberately allowing Inquiere to push him backward.
"Your anger does you a disservice," the stranger says abruptly, sidestepping when Inquiere tries to kick him. "It distracts you."
Inquiere snarls. "It gives me power."
The stranger's words enrage him further, and he lunges at him, trying to land a blow, trying to push him off balance and disarm him. But somehow, the stranger manages to stay one step ahead of him, constantly anticipating and countering Inquiere's blows in a way that few others could. The Force around him is a whirlwind, and Inquiere narrowly manages to throw up a shield to block a Force push that would have hurled him across the room.
As the former head of the Temple Guard, Inquiere is well-versed with the various lightsaber forms, even if he isn't proficient in combat with all of them, and he recognizes the style that the stranger is using as Form VII. Juyo. It startles him because that form is not one that many – if any – Jedi use. He personally knows of no one who uses it.
"You are weak," the stranger tells him, and he almost sounds taunting. "You are no Sith."
Then, he attacks Inquiere in a flurry of blows, fast and furious, and he backpedals, struggling to parry the strikes that would kill him. Not for the first time, Inquiere feels fear rising. This – this Jedi is far stronger than he anticipated, and though he doesn't want to admit to being overwhelmed, he is.
He is, and he knows it. They both know it.
They continue dueling, lightsabers slicing through the desks, floors, and shelves in the Archives, undoubtedly destroying much useful information, but it's not something Inquiere can dwell on. And then it happens. The blue blade slices through the hilt of Inquiere's lightsaber, cutting it in two.
It's instinct for Inquiere to lift a hand, Force shoving the stranger away from as he turns and runs for the halls, heading for the exit of the Temple where the clones are standing guard. He'll lead this Jedi to them and watch them finish him off.
The stranger follows him, and Inquiere slows his pace, so he doesn't give the impression that he's fleeing to the clones. "A Jedi is coming," he says to them. "Kill him."
The dark-robed figure steps into the doorway, at the top of the stairs, and the clones turn their weapons on him, opening fire. He deflects them away with ease, and the Force surges again, rippling and rolling as lightning crackles on his fingertips. It's happening again.
The stranger turns, walking along the ledge outside the Temple instead of trying to cut through the clones like Inquiere had expected he might. He seems unconcerned by the blaster fire, batting it aside as though it's nothing as he pauses, head turned as though looking at something. And then, he jumps.
Off the Temple.
Inquiere lunges forward, and he catches a glimpse of the stranger falling through a portal like the one he created earlier before he's gone – and the portal with him. He barely made out the blur of buildings on the other side, but he knows with certainty that this stranger is still on Coruscant. He activates his comm.
"Inquisitors, assemble," he orders. "There is a dangerous and powerful Jedi Master hiding in the Underworld of Coruscant. I want the planet ripped apart until we find him."
**w**
Inquiere takes the opportunity to repair his lightsaber while the strike team assembles. He's not holding anything back, not after seeing how strong the man was. And while he waits for the team – and a possible lead of the stranger's location – he considers the encounter, and he begins to wonder… if it is Anakin Skywalker himself. The robes were dark, and the lightsaber blue, much like Skywalker's were. The helmet is new, but of course, he would want to hide his face. He had a darkness to him, and that, too, would match with the Skywalker that Inquiere last saw, the one who was Fallen.
And… he could swear there was a hint of Skywalker's presence inside of the Temple. Skywalker is unmistakable. It has to be him.
If it is Skywalker, they must attack with all their force to destroy him. The Emperor wanted Skywalker captured, but Inquiere thinks that to be foolish. Skywalker is powerful. That kind of power will never bend or break, not when he's already chosen a side.
This stranger, whether Skywalker or not, must die.
It's not until after nightfall that Inquiere receives word that the stranger has been sighted, and he and the team set out immediately, descending into the Underworld. The Dark Side goes with them, wrapping them in a blanket of shadows, but for some reason, it does not bring comfort to him the way it usually does. This time, it feels as though it is whispering a warning. It is murmuring a song of… death.
Hopefully the death of the stranger.
Inquiere brings six Inquisitors with him along with a full platoon of clones who have been assigned to the Inquisitorius as Purge Troopers. The stranger will never escape them.
"Spread out and start searching," Inquiere barks, repaired lightsaber in hand as he stalks down the street.
The troops – and Inquisitors – obey his orders.
He can feel the stranger down here, somewhere nearby, but he can't see him. The streets are dim, dark, like they always are in the Underworld. It's a good place to hide – unless you're a Jedi with one Sith Lord, six Inquisitors, and forty-one clones bearing down at you.
Civilians are quick to scramble out of their way, ducking into alleyways or pressing up against the entrances of buildings as the Imperials spread out.
It takes ten minutes before Inquiere feels the rush of fear and death in the Force mingling with blaster fire, and he activates his comm. "Report," he snaps, hand tightening on the hilt of his lightsaber.
"My Lord, we have a sighting on–"
The clone's report is cut off by a scream, and with a curse, Inquiere spins in the direction from where he senses the chaos. He sees the flashes of light next, a telltale sign that his Inquisitors have engaged the stranger. There are two of them there, so far, and he's still thirty meters from them when the blue lightsaber cuts them down with ease. A quick stab and a kick to push the black Twi'lek aside, followed by a vicious jab that nearly bisects his female companion.
Their bodies crumple to the ground, and Inquiere lunges forward, but the stranger is faster, flipping backward into the shadows.
"Converge on my position," Inquiere yells, running after. He will not let the Jedi get away again.
But the moment he steps into the alleyway, he can see that it's empty. The stranger has vanished as though he was never there, and if not for the bodies, he could have thought it to be merely his imagination.
They keep searching, and Inquiere only sees a flash of the stranger one more time in the next half hour. All they're finding are the bodies.
Purge troopers are lying around, dead from stab wounds or bodies broken from being smashed into the walls. One of them is scorched, as though he was burned. Inquiere does not care about the clones, but it is still disturbing how this keeps happening without any of them seeing him. The stranger is less of a stranger and more of a… specter.
If this is Skywalker, he is far more powerful than Inquiere dreamed.
And he hates – hates the tendrils of fear that are crawling up his throat. He is a Sith. Sith do not fear the Jedi.
And yet.
**w**
He always knew, from the start, that the Jedi Order would fall. The moment they agreed to the Senate's demands to get involved in the war, Prosset knew it was over for them. He tried to tell Windu, but the Jedi Master refused to listen. They all refused to listen.
And here they are now, scouring the Underworld for yet another Jedi survivor.
It is… odd to work with his former padawan, especially in a setting such as this. They serve the Empire now, but Prosset knows that the bond they share is as deep as it always has been. Bruck had a difficult time when he was younger, but despite his brushes with the Dark Side, he remained a Jedi and was Knighted. He even trained his own padawan, though tragically, she died during the Clone Wars.
They're several blocks away from Lord Inquiere when Prosset feels the eyes on him.
"I feel it, too," Bruck tells him, his voice oddly distorted by the bird head-shaped mask he wears. Though Prosset cannot see it – he is blind – he has heard the other Inquisitors poke fun at the design.
"We must be cautious," Prosset warns, and no sooner than he speaks the words does he feel the Force swell with danger. He spins in time to block the first strike, and he and Bruck fall in sync together as they fight off their attacker. The blows are quick, brutal, and he's forced to back away, knowing even as he does that this Jedi is only playing with them.
He can feel the fear of a nearby civilian, and he uses the Force to throw the individual in front of the Jedi to slow him down so they can pull back and regroup. The Jedi does not hesitate, and Prosset feels the life flicker and die as he pushes toward them anyway. A Jedi who does not care about innocents harmed? That is… unusual.
Bruck cries out as he's thrown against the wall, and Prosset lunges at the Jedi. He does not need eyes to see him, but even as their blades cross, he can hear the snap-hiss of Bruck's lightsaber, as their opponent uses the Force to kill him with his own blade.
Their bond withers, weakens, breaks, and something inside of him dies, too.
That was his padawan.
A blow connects with his exposed chest, and he feels something crunch on impact. He's sent stumbling backward, and he trips on something and crashes hard into the ground.
"I should never have let you live," says a mechanicalized voice. "Lights out, Dibs." It's almost mocking, and it dawns on Prosset, in that moment, who it is.
No, it's not possible. He would never –
White-hot pain explodes in his chest as a lightsaber blade stabs downward, once and then again further down, and the world spirals into darkness.
… And death.
**w**
Inquiere nearly trips over the electrostaff of a dead purge trooper as he stares incredulously down at his comm. "Dead?" he echoes and then swears. That's four of their Inquisitors dead at the hands of this – this Jedi.
They've even tried using civilians as shields to no avail. The Jedi is not stopping, and Inquiere feels less like a Jedi hunter and more like… well, like Jedi prey. It's not a feeling he cares for.
He sees a flash of blue up ahead and judging by the startled intake of breath from the Inquisitor – the Eighth Brother – next to him, he sees it, too.
They arrive at the scene in time to see Marrok and his head both falling in opposite directions.
All the Inquisitors he was assigned to work with are clearly weak imbeciles.
Inquiere and the Eighth Brother run at the stranger, but a Force-wave catches them, and Inquiere is thrown at a wall hard enough to temporarily stun him. As he struggles back to his feet, he watches, horrified, as the Eighth Brother is yanked forward into the stranger's right hand. He hears the crunch as bones break, and he feels the life disappear into the Force.
He doesn't know what this man, this creature is, but he is no Jedi. He is a predator.
Something that could be amusement flickers, though it feels too… off to truly be considered such. "You are right about one thing," he intones. "I'm the Predator."
And then he lunges.
Inquiere panics, knowing he's next. Six Inquisitors have fallen to this – to the Predator, whoever and whatever he is, and he does not want to be one of them. He gathers all of his desperation, all of his fear and hurls the Force at the coming monster. The stranger doesn't expect it, and he's thrown back. By the time he recovers, Inquiere is spinning his lightsaber as he takes off, using it to fly away to safety.
It might be cowardly to run, but he knows of no other option, and the Emperor must be informed.
He doesn't know why the Predator lets him get away.
**w**
They don't go back to the Underworld to retrieve the bodies. Inquiere calculates the risk as being far too great with such an opponent still out there on the loose, and he orders all Imperial troopers to stay away from the lower levels of Coruscant.
It's just one Jedi. What can one Jedi do down there all alone, living in the shadows and the garbage heaps?
"What happened down there?" the Emperor demands. He sounds displeased. Though Inquiere had expected no less, he still winces. "I am told you took six Inquisitors and a platoon of Purge troopers with you, but none of them returned."
"The foe we encountered was far greater than I anticipated," Inquiere admits. "His powers are unmatched."
He can feel the withering glare being directed at him. "You are a Sith," he hisses, "or was I too hasty when I picked you to be my apprentice?"
"No, Master," he replies immediately.
"This… Jedi, you encountered, who is he?" Sidious questions.
Inquiere falters. "I– I do not know. He wore a helmet made of a strange material I have never before seen."
"Was it Skywalker?" the Emperor presses, and he sounds… almost intrigued.
"I– no," he answers. "I don't believe it was."
"Do not make assumptions!" The sentence is punctuated by a blast of lightning that brings him to his knees, and suddenly, he realizes why the Predator let him get away. He was to be the messenger to bring the news to Sidious.
"I saw a hologram of the Jedi," the Emperor continues, voice suddenly calmer. "The clones guarding the Temple recorded him." Something in his voice tells Inquiere that Sidious knows more than he's saying. "He is dangerous. Very dangerous. We must track him down at all costs – though I cannot trust you to complete the task. Every time there has been a Jedi sighting, they always get away from you." His voice sharpens, turning warning. "It seems I must show you how to kill a Jedi, apprentice."
It goes without saying that if Inquiere continues to fall short, he will be replaced.
And that is not something he can allow to happen. He needs to start training harder. Perhaps he should look into learning Form VII. That way he will be able to take down this… Predator and please his master.
**w**
Jocasta is… alarmed.
A look around the apartment to which she was sent has revealed another ancient artifact from the Jedi Temple, this one arguably much more dangerous than the Mask of Venamis.
It's too ancient to be a holocron, and it's unknown when it was created, but it was retrieved at the same time as the Mask was. Known as the Mystery of Abeloth, the artifact contains information the Jedi Council labeled as dangerous and not to be studied under any circumstances. The Jedi Master who wrote the report – Vernestra Rwoh – actually requested that it be destroyed, but its destruction never came to pass for reasons unknown to Jocasta.
She doesn't know why this artifact is here, but it… concerns her.
The door to the apartment opens, and her rescuer enters, still wearing the Mask. He reaches up, pulling the helmet off.
The face of Mace Windu stares back at her.
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