Ganner Slarwalker

(SUMMARY NOT UP TO DATE)

Ganner Cade Slarwalker was a Jedi Master who fell to the Dark Side. Eventually he was able to save himself, and returned to the Clone Wars. Exiled from the Jedi Order, Ganner joined forces with Hans Novastar, elite soldier and leader of Antimatter Squadron, Siri Tokolighter, another member of Antimatter Squadron, and Ranulph Darkhitch, an Ex-Jedi thought to be dead, to defeat a malevolent Sith named Darth Maricus on Felucia. They escaped, and returned to Courscant, where after two battles they discovered Maricus was on Mandalore, and traveled there to stop him once and for all. Instead, Siri was revealed to be a traitor, and she mortally wounded Ganner, leaving him with one clue as to her and Maricus' next location: Umbara. As Ganner recovered, Ranulph struck a deal with a powerful criminal syndicate known as the Brotherhood to gain support for an all-out assault of the planet. On Umbara, Maricus and the rest of the Sith initiated the final stage of the master plan as the assault began. After an orbital superlaser accidentally fired, Ganner had a vision where he learned the truth of how he fell to the Dark Side, and using this knowledge, he returned to the Sith Temple to finally end the war. During the fight, Ranulph was kidnapped, and when Ganner returned to Coruscant to recover, the Jedi Temple was overrun by the forces of Emperor Palpatine, leaving the future of Ganner and the galaxy a mystery once more.

Introduction
My name is Ganner Slarwalker. Even now, at the end of this long jorney, I still dwell on the past more than I probably should. Sitting here, looking death in its eyes in this cold world I've come to call home, I find myself asking the same question once more- How did I get here? Where along the line did my life diverge from what it should have been?

And, of course, since I know all the answers, I remind myself of them.

Well, here they come.

The Man in Red
Ganner Slarwalker

42 BBY As an infant, I was given to the Jedi from my birth world of Dantooine. I had a pretty 'average' experience, as much as a Jedi can really have, until I was finally given a Master. His name was Jason Battleboots.

Jason was one of the most kindhearted people I ever knew. He was a living proof that there was always a good side to everything, that maybe, just maybe, peace really was possible. He never killed unless it was absolutely necessary, and more than once he managed to redeem our opponents.



But it didn't always work.

It was, what, twenty-two years before the Empire? Twenty-three? We'd been assigned to bring in a small-time (or so we though) underworld criminal named Garm Antiburst, had been selling spices illegally. We already knew where he was, we just had to capture him and bring him to the proper authorities.

It's all coming back to me now. I remember it so vividly.

Jason and I were about a block away, checking out the building from afar. I put the microbinoculars down and offered them to him, but he declined. It was just as well; there wasn't anything noteworthy on the outside from what I saw. I remember watching him take off his hood and looking into the world with his dark brown eyes, his sand blonde hair blowing in the wind before saying "Let's go."

He cut a hole into the ceiling with his dark blue saber, and we both dropped in. We landed back to back in defensive stances, surrounded on all sides by armed thugs and I activated my own lightsaber. Its emerald blade shot to life, lighting the room blue and green. "No one has to get hurt," Jason said. A tan man with a mohawk in red Mandalorian armor walked out to greet us.

"Garm," I muttered.

"Indeed," Jason replied.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. We finally got big-time enough for them to call in their so-call peacekeepers. Tell you what. I'll give you guys thirty seconds to vanish, and then we'll see just how much peace you can keep."

"We're not leaving without you under arrest and your shipment seized by the Republic."

He laughed. "All yours, boys!"

The henchmen opened fire. Jason and I synchronized in the Force, deflecting the shots harmlessly across the compound, and then we broke off, non-lethally neutralizing the thugs. Garm began to run, but Jason deflected a shot into his leg, making him fall to the ground. Finally, when the dust settled, Jason and I deactivated our lightsabers, and he handcuffed Garm. "Blue Force, this is White Rook. We've got him." he said. "Copy that. We'll be there in a minute to extract." After a minute (they were surprisingly punctual), the CSF arrived. They took Garm, and Jason and I stayed to wrap everything up. As the CSF began to open crates, I felt something looming in the Force. Judging frm his reaction, Jason did too. "Stay back," he warned, and he began to walk forward. In the corner of my eye, I saw a red flash - a bomb. Then, the entire building went up in flames as the boxes exploded.

I went flying from the impact, but I was barely hurt. Jason had to have done something to protect me in his last moments. I remember how I sat there, utterly in shock, for what felt like centuries. Eventually, another CSF officer was the first on the scene. His hair was covered but he had a worn face, with dark brown eyes and a long moustache that went from end to end on his face. He saw the destruction, cursed, and then began getting me up and trying to help me regain my senses.

"You're all right son, you're all right."

I wasn't, though. Things were never the same after that.

Recovery
The Order was very generous with helping me with the PTSD. This was back before the Clone Wars, when death wasn't the norm. I went through a lot of meditation along with the therapy. I don't know what the Order saw in me to believe I was still worth keeping around even after something that could've potentially ruined me forever. In the meantime, I got a new Master. He was an Arcona named Sen Qorbin. Master Qorbin's teaching style was quite different from Jason's. Though all Jedi were, at heart, meant to maintain the peace, Qorbin was more on the aggressive peacekeeping side. He taught me hand-to-hand combat: martial arts - Teräs Käsi - and more regular street fighting. Then I learned the art of the blade.

Under Qorbin I learned each of the seven forms of lightsaber dueling. The training was far from easy, and I was certainly better at some forms than others, but he taught me to blend them all in a fight - something I'm grateful for.

Eventually, however, every Padawan had their trials. Jacen and Qorbin had taught me two different ways to view the Force, different ways to utilize it, and different ways to let it utilize me. A few more missions went by with nothing especially of note. Justice was witheld, casualties kept to a minimum, peace restored. Jacen's death was behind me now, but I projected his legacy. Eventually the Council deemed me ready, and my trials began.

The Storm Brews
The Trials had five tests: Skill, Courage, Flesh, Spirit, and Insight. Thanks to Garm I got a pass on the Trial of Spirit, but that still meant four grueling tests of my mastery over the Force and myself. Qorbin and the High Council worked together to decide how the Trials would be given, and I was soon given my first mission.

Ganner Slarwalker
At dawn, I entered the Trials Chamber. I had seen inside it once or twice before, but as I entered, the lights were off. Flanked by Qorbin and Master Windu, I entered the dark room, with one lightsaber in hand, another clipped to my belt. "May the Force be with you," Qorbin said. Then he and Windu walked out, and the door closed behind them, leaving me in the blinding darkness.

Slowly, torches began to light the room. It was certainly not as I remembered it. The floor was made of a purplish-gray stone, which also composed most of the walls. Along the walls were also intricately carved creases of red, running throughout. I quickly noticed a humanoid form on the other side of the room, seemingly male. He wore a dark black robe with a sash of some kind running across his shoulder. Aware of a massive Dark Side presence, I cautiously began walking towards him, and he started to speak in a raspy voice.

"There is no passion...there is solely obsession."

I continued walking.

"There is no knowledge. There is solely conviction."

I marched forward. If the Trial was simply to not be creeped out by an old man, I thought I did pretty well.

"There is no purpose. There is solely will."

I was almost upon him now. I could now see his hands were blue - Umbaran?

"There is nothing."

He turned, revealing that he was indeed Umbaran, wearing an armored chestplate. With a menacing glare in his eyes he activated a ruby blade, and I lit mine, its green shimmering as we faced each other.

"Only me."

Spontaneously, he dove towards me, his lightsaber extended straight in an attempt to catch me guard. It just barely didn't work, and as he flew past me I took the liberty of severing the upper and lower halves of his body. He landed behind me and, from the torso up, turned over, dumbfounded, to look at me. For a brief second I felt the rush of victory - and so easily! Then, he let out a menacing cackle.

"Did you think it was that easy?"

In a single motion, his torso leapt onto his now standing lower body, and they seamlessly rejoined. Seeing what I'm sure was a face of pure shock, he developed a gleeful, menacing grin. He raised his saber and charged me again, to which I responded by impaling him. Again, he seemed to be shocked by death, and then regained his composure before pulling my saber out of his chest. He deactivated it and tossed it to one side, before throwing me across the room with the Force.

I hit the wall and fell to the floor, and when I looked up, the light had been extinguished, leaving me in utter blackness. I activated my second lightsaber, and began walking cautiously back. Aside from the minute sound of my footsteps, and the droning hum of my lightsaber, the room was totally silent. I scanned the room with both my eyes and the Force, but darkness clouded them both. As I shuffled backward, I felt somethink wet drip onto my hair. I quickly turned around, to discover a glowing red, convoluted monstrosity of a Rancor. It was even bigger than any Rancor I'd ever seen, and had two tusks growing from either side of its mouth. As our eyes found each other, it let out a booming roar that echoed in the seemingly infinite room, getting much slobber on me.

It swung one arm at me, and I dove over it. I quickly rebounded and made a few slashes in its leg, but it seemed to be too thick to penetrate. It raised its leg to stomp me, and I took advantage of this to topple it with the Force. I leap onto its face and stabbed into its head, as deep as I could. This only seemed to anger it, and it stood up and threw me off, with my saber still sticking from its brain.

Another roar. Blast, this thing really didn't want to die.

I tumbled around on the ground, and it approached me, each step causing another tremor in the earth. It didn't really seem like trying to get my second saber would end well, so I started looking around for the first.

That's how my first Jedi Trial went. I stumbled around being chased by a rancor in total darkness looking for a lightsaber. I actually managed to find it without tripping over it.

I activated it, and turned to face the rancor. Seeming to understand what the stakes now were, it stopped for a moment, and we stood. Simultaneously, we charged at each other. It took a huge swipe at me with it's right arm, which I jumped onto and then used to propel myself into the head once more. I grabbed my other saber, and with a great deal of force managed to pull it out, albeit messily. The rancor roared once more, in pain. Mercy crossed my mind, but the rancor almost grabbed me in my hesitation.

With both sabers I ran across its body, slicing wherever I could to hurt and weaken it. It tried and tried again, but I could not be touched. Enough damage to the arms and it was defenseless. Enough to the legs and it fell, unable to get up. I quickly set to work on the brain, and finally I heard the organ sizzle, and the final disgusting breath leave its mouth.

Sweaty and tired, I turned off my lightsabers and sat down for a moment. The fight was over. Then, from the back of the room, came the sound of clapping.

I turned to see the room lit once more, revealing me to still be in the strange room I had been in before the lights went out. Walking towards me was an elderly Nightsister.

"Very well done!" she said, in a congratulatory tone. Her next words, however, shifted grimly. "But know that your true trials are still to come." She laughed, and her laughter rang through my ears as I woke up standing in the Chamber, alone.

Qorbin and Windu entered. "Well done," Windu said. His voice was also congratulatory, but he looked worried. "You've passed your first three trials."

"Three?" I replied, incredulously.

"The Trial of Spirit, already completed, and now the Trials of Courage and Skill." Qorbin responded. It was harder to tell with him, but it seemed he was concerned too.

"Your final two trials shall be determined in the field. They have yet to be determined, but we're working on it. In the meantime, take a break. You've earned it."

I did.

Jedi Master Qorbin Kodree
I walked alongside my old friend Master Windu, through the long halls of the Temple. I could sense that he, as well as I, had been disturbed by the end of Ganner's trial. The fight with Ruin and the rancor had been orchestrated by us, but whatever he had seen had been shown to him by something outside the Jedi Temple. In fact, it seemed incredibly likely it had been a vision from the Dark Side itself. Mace spoke first.

"We need to know what he saw. Something dark is targeting him."

"Agreed. With all that has happened to him, I think he may have even been chosen by the Force for something."

"Perhaps. But to what end?"

"I know not, but I doubt its intentions."

Ganner Slarwalker
The rest of the Trials proceeded smoothly. I, along with three other Padawans, was taken to an ancient temple on Haruun Kal where we faced other dangers, challenges, and visions. A story for another time, perhaps. The three Padawans also passed their Trials and the four of us became close friends as we progressed into and through Knighthood.

The first of them was a female Zabrak named Yula Ardinn. She was always light-hearted and empathetic, and was the most intact with the "life" of the Force. She could tame beasts, read emotions and sense presences with much greater range and power than the rest of us, and could even manipulate plant life to a degree.

Next was Tyrral Sonter, a slender, male Miraluka. Bail was the tinkerer of the group and the most reclusive of the group, and much wiser than he appeared. He always had some assortment of gadgets and gizmos on him and used them in conjunction with the Force to acomplish many difficult feats.

Thirdly was Bail Thraxton, a stocky human a few years older than me. Where Tyrral and Yula were more adept in the spirital areas of the Force, Bail was an expert in it's phyiscal areas. Fast and furious, Bail was often my dueling partner, and we were about equals. While he was the eldest, Bail was kind of the most childish of us, always making jokes and generally having a fun time whenever he could.

The four of us became quite the team over the years. A week before the Clone Wars began, Tyrral and I became Jedi Masters. Two weeks later, Yula followed, then Bail.

A year later, the four of us set out to a new destination: Umbara.

Into Darkness
Our mission was a relatively simple one. The Republic was preparing to mount an assault on an airfield of tactical importance on Umbara. We were to infiltrate this base and take out its anti-air weaponry so the attack could begin. Frankly, we could've taken the whole base ourselves, but we were under strict orders not to do so. After we were done, we were to find somewhere to hide until the airfield was secured and then meet up with friendly forces.

Of course, no plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

Contact With the Enemy
Bail cut a hole in the ventilation shaft, and it plummeted to the ground. Somewhere down the corridor below, a battle droid's voice rang out. "What was that?"

The four of us exchanged glances. Something was off, but none of us could figure out what. We leapt in, trampling the droid under us. Almost immediately, more droids and Umbarans began to rush in and attack us from all sides. Bail and I joined together briefly to go on a rampage, destroying droids and Umbarans like there was no tomorrow. Finally, he cut down the last droid, and we stood for a second before moving onward. So far, so good.

We proceeded through most of the base in a similar fashion, nearly unstoppable. The only time we were ever halted was when a squad of Droidekas attacked, but Tyrral made short work of their shields with some sort of mini-ion blaster he had crafted. Then we reached the hangar, and the real fun began.

We each got into Umbaran heavy tanks. The hangar doors opened, revealing the base scrambling on full alert. There were four anti-air turrets, and we split up to take each one down. Amid the chaos, only a few Umbarans were even smart enough to realize we weren't on their side, but their blasters were useless against the armor.

We ditched our tanks on the outskirts of the airfield and sabotaged them as we ran off into the Umbaran underbrush. After making sure we weren't followed, we stopped in a clearing to rest and wait. Yula was the first one to notice.

"Guys, what is this?"

She pulled some small metal scrap out of the ground, and almost immediately I could feel darkness emanating from it. At her touch, it began to hover on its own, pulling other metal scraps out of the ground all around it, the darkness building the entire time. Finally, it formed a small pyramid. A Sith Holocron. We were all speechless as it began to fly off into the distance.

After another exchange of glances, we followed it.

The Dark Side was definitely calling it; I could feel it all around us. We sprinted after it, and as it turned a corner I felt yet another massive surge of dark energy. This was something that was never meant to be found. As we also turned the corner we stopped in awe.

The Holocron went ahead of us, and flew perfectly into a crevice on a door with the logo of the ancient order of the Sith. The door was part of a bigger structure, with two statues on either side of it, and stairs leading to the entrance. Suddenly, I heard a voice call out to me.

"Ganner, it's me."

It was Jason. He was on the other side of the door. Without thinking, I sprinted to it at full speed, before the others could react. I pressed my body against the door.

"Listen, we'll get you out, okay?"

"Ganner, don't! It's a trap!" Yula's voice rang out. But it was already too late.

Before my eyes, the door of the Sith Temple opened to reveal a group of silhouettes.

In the center of them all stood a group of four where the Dark Side was strongest. The smallest hint of moonlight allowed me to discern their faces. From left to right, the first was a young adult human male, who looked to be in his early to mid-twenties. He was a brunette, about my height and weight. I could sense (and see) uncontrolled anger in him.

The next to my surprise, was the Nightsister from my vision. She didn't seen to recognize me, instead sharing the same surprised expression as the others.

Even in the moonlight, I couldn't make out the face of the third. However I could see his raging yellow eyes, and the outline of his tall, bulky body.

The fourth was another human, about twice as old, with long black hair and a goatee to match. He seemed much more controlled than the other.

Behind me I heard the sound of lightsabers activating, and saw the same in front of me. Before I could react, however, the fourth leapt towards me, and suddenly my world was black.

The Binding
When I came to (an action that surprised me; I was expecting to be dead), I found myself bound to what seemed like some ancient stone tablet, by my hands and feet. I think I was drugged in some way, because though I tried to use the Force, I couldn't.

In front of me were the Nightsister and the man I couldn't make out earlier. He was a red Zabrak (a Nightbrother perhaps?), and I won't go into detail, but his body seemed to be literally decaying. At this point I noticed the stench- definitely decaying.

He was talking to the Nightsister as my senses came back.

"Massikus, are you sure?" she asked. "We can hold on to him for a while longer, your current host isn't in the worst shape."

A very raspy voice (I don't think his throat was in the best condition at this point) replied. "I need him now. You saw what happened out there. I'll need that kind of power to hunt down the other three."

During the conversation, Massikus' Force prescence touched mine, and then attacked it furiously. He invaded my mind relentlessly searching for information on the Jedi who had escaped, and I was powerless to stop him.

"We can send the Assassins after them-"

"Who? Maricus? He'll be caught or worse for sure, and we'll be exposed. We are not yet ready."

"There are some who would think otherwise."

"It's final." He walked onto a slab adjacent to mine with the same bindings, and activated them using the Force. With a sly grin on her face and her hands glowing a vibrant green she moved towards him and place her hands on his temple. He fell asleep quickly, and she turned to me, her hands now red.

"You, unfortunately, don't get to sleep. But don't worry; in time you will play your part." I tried to escape, but I was too weak. While I was squirming, she put her hands to my head. Immediately an onslaught of pain was all I knew. In my body, in the Force, in my mind, in my very soul, I knew suffering for what it really was. She was wrong, though. The pain knocked me out pretty quickly.

When I awoke, I found myself once again bound to the tablet. I saw the three from before looking at me, expectantly. Talzin, Maricus, and Varad. How did I know their names? For an answer, I reached into the Force, but I found only one thing. A massive, incredibly powerful prescence in the Dark Side blocking me off from anything else. I tried to reach into it, but I couldn't. Shifting back to my previous goal, I strained to get off the slab, but it didn't even seem like my muscles were moving. Suddenly all the shackles were lifted, and I fell to the ground, straining to move a muscle but failing. Still, I landed on my feet, as though someone else had directed my body. Hold on... As if in response to that thought, my body stood up, but I wasn't in control. Someone else was.

"That's right, Ganner. You belong to me now."

In my mind his voice was a thousand times more insidious.

"Really, your consciousness wasn't even supposed to survive, but it is of no consequence. You are just another victim of Darth Massikus."

In my mind I tried to lash out, however I could. Nothing worked. Inside the head we shared, he let out a long cackle.

"Let the darkness consume you. I promise I will give you the least painful death I can." He was lying.

With my voice, he spoke. "This is a strong one, I can feel it. His mind still lingers by a thread."

"Does he pose a threat?" Varad questioned him. Of course Varad would want to know, the conniving little... Hold on. I could read Massikus' thoughts. Of course.

"No. He is but a small pond against the ocean of the Dark Side's power." Just as Varad was.

Just in the nick of time, Massikus reached out into the Force, and I could feel it within myself as well. Together though guided by him, we searched for Yula, Tyrral, and Bail. The three were together, escaping Umbara. Utilizing both of our respective levels of power in the Force, Massikus was able to locate them just outside orbit. During the events that followed, we were constantly tracking them.

"Yula, Tyrral, Bail. All vermin who will deserve the slow deaths they will be given."

"I know where the Jedi are," he said through me.

"You made your decision clear," Varad responded. "Go get them."

Without another word, Massikus left. He went to his quarters and found new robes to fit my body, and choose a doublesaber out of a large collection, mostly trophies from dead Force users, Jedi and SIth alike. As he walked through the Academy to the private hangar, each Sith we passed bowed down to him hesitantly. Weaklings.

Stunned by my thoughts, I tried to push him out to no avail. He laughed some more.

"Might as well get used to it, Slarwalker. Welcome to the rest of this body's pathetic life."

As he walked, I decided I might as well learn who my new enemy was, and I dove into his memories.

Massikus was able to block me from getting the full story, but I was able to slowly begin to piece it together. Massikus was an ancient Sith from thousands of years ago, dating back to the Great War. He was primarily a warrior, but when he uncovered ancient texts speaking of a way to live forever, he took a more studious position. He began experimenting on lesser Force users, mainly victims from the battlefield. While true immortality eluded him, he made a new breakthrough when he discovered how to transfer the consciousness of a Force user into the body of another. As his aging body began to lose its usefulness, he decided it was time to try it on himself. It worked, and he discovered he gained not only the body of his victims, but their power in the Force as well. For a long time, he went about causing chaos in the Republic, constantly shifting identities and getting stronger every single time.

However, this power came with a price. Eventually Massikus' power became more than his bodies could handle, and he had to step down from the battlefield before he ran out, and resolved to work from the shadows until he could find a body capable of holding his might. Somewhere between then and now, he ended up at the Sith Academy, where he waited for an Assassin to be produced worthy of his power. Then I came along. I was able to glimpse, through his eyes, the turning point. It was me, running rampant against the Sith, telling the others to run. They hesitantly complied, and I held the Sith off long enough for them to escape. It took Massikus letting out a barrage of blows that sealed his current body's fate to finally put me down. I could sense that not even he knew why I didn't remember.

As he began to take off, I learned his plan: Divide and conquer. Leave each one of them stranded and cut off from the outside world, then pick them off one by one. He was quiet now; he was too focused on the others. Silently, we took off into the night sky to kill my three best friends.

The Hunt
It must have lasted days. Massikus toyed with them for what felt like forever, slowly pointing them in the direction he wanted them to run. Eventually we found our destination: Mustafar. Once we were close enough, Massikus shot their engines out like it was nothing and just let them crash to the surface. Then, he found a nearby mining complex, landed there, and dined before he set out to eliminate them. As he ate, he mocked me.

"I must say, I find your choice of partners intruiging. I think I'll kill Tyrral first, and then Bail. We'll see how much agony the girl can take before she gives in."

I was silent.

Finally, we set out into the inferno. They had crashed in a valley a few kilometers out, by a tall volcano. Using a technique of the Sith Assassins, Massikus was able to hide his prescence from them while he quickly scaled the volcano, and called to them, his voice amplified though the Force.

 ‍“JEDI!” 

Startled, they all turned quickly, struggling to make out the body the sound had came from. They must have recognized the voice, but in their minds it surely couldn't have been me.

"Watch this. It gets them every time."

He activated one red blade of his lightsaber and let it sink in for a moment. I could feel the menacing smile he was forming with my face. For just a second, he charged up energy in the Force, and then he leapt into the air, making my friends look like specks. Then, gravity regained control and we began to plummet towards them as he activated the second blade, and landed in a battle position, dust flying from the impact.

Altmustafar.png
When it settled, in front of me were Bail, Tyrral, and Yula, lightsabers not even drawn, with looks of absolute horror on their faces.

"Told you."

Finally, Tyrral was the one to blurt out, "Ganner?"

Massikus laughed. "Ganner Slarwalker is dead. All that remains is Darth Massikus, the Destroyer."

Bail was the first to apparently come to his senses, activating his cerulean blue lightsaber. "Listen, Ganner. We can help you, but you need to fight back."

Almost incrediously, Massikus replied, "You really still think I'm him, don't you?"

I felt Yula's prescence touch mine and Massikus' and then pull away almost instantly.

"Wh-W-.... What are you?"

"I am fear itself."

With these words, he leapt into combat.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Turned
(First person chapter)

I was assigned a mission to find the ancient Umbaran bunker system and destroy it. When I did i felt a... calling. I wandered towards a temple. I went in.

One day later, I left, a completely different man than before.

I was a Sith, I was sure of that, but how I wasn't sure. My memory was wiped somehow. And for some reason, I didn't really focus on why.

I began setting up secret bases in planets I had defended in the past: Maridun, Felucia, Mustafar, and Christophsis. I begin preparations to destroy Dark Nebula once and for all, but realized there were more important things. When I became a Sith, I gained a lot of power, which I used to mind trick almost everyone into believing I was still a Jedi so nobody would try to stop me. What I didn't know was that some people were more observant than others.

Slarwalker Vs. Darkhitch
Slarwalker tried to get an apprentice, but every time he went searching someone tried to kill him. His last attempt was seen by Ranulph, who had trained himself in the ways of the force since he fell to the dark side, who tracked him down to his Maridun base.

When Slarwalker discovered Ranulph had infiltrated his base, he activated every turret he had to kill him. Ranulph had prepared for this and dispatched them with an EMP grenade, the largest ever created. Knowing he had to run, he got in his starfighter and went immediately to the Unknown Regions, hoping Ranulph would not pursue. He hoped wrong. They engaged in a starfighter battle and Slarwalker lost an engine. Knowing he had only one place left to run, he went to Mustafar. Once there he confronted him and revealed he was a Jedi, and that he would do whatever it took do defeat Ganner. He engaged Ganner in an amazing lightsaber battle, leading him to one of the many bridges of the complex that hung over the lava. He waited to the time was right, then cut it out of the complex. He went all-out on Darkhitch, weakening him, then mind-tricked him into believing he had managed to stab his eye out. When he considered mercy on the fake Slarwalker, he shot force lightning into him from behind, revealed that he had tricked and manipulated him the entire time, then threw him into the lava, presumably killing who at that point was his greatest enemy, but somehow, by the power of the Force, Ranulph managed to throw his lightsaber before dying and actually did hit his eye, but Ganner didn't die. He had it replaced with a cybernetic look-alike later.

Exile
(Expect a big expansion to this section.)

Killing Ranulph was so dark and evil Ganner had a fierce mental battle with himself, and the light side won. He knew if he was going to find out what had happened to him he needed to go back to Umbara and learn the truth.

A Bunch of Umbara Happens
(gonna revise this as well)

He joined up with a group called Antimatter Squadron and they went to umbara, to take out an airfield. He met a man named Hans Novastar, who became one of his best friends. Ganner and hans led an assault on a secret Separatist base on Umbara, Using a pipe entrance which had been used in a previous operation in the Clone Wars. They went in and saw Trandoshans experimenting with Umbaran technology to see if they could stop the Republic. Ganner and Hans found old clone Specops armor which they used to take down the base once and for all. Ganner revealed that he was a Jedi during the battle by using his lightsabers, now with the crystals of the Kashyyyk lightsaber for more power.

Umbara's Secrets
(TONS OF REVISION TO COME)

6 months later....

During a space battle I was sent to be part of a boarding party to defeat the enemy from the inside out. We were doing just fine when I heard the pilot yell " Get down!" everyone else did, but I reacted a little slowly. It was that alone that saved me. Right after that, a missile hit the bottom of the ship, instantly taking everyone taking over with it. Thinking faster, I grabbed an oxygen mask and waited for the ship to float by something I could hitch a ride on. Suddenly I noticed something. I could feel being pulled down. I looked down and saw the gunship was headed straight for Umbara. "What?" I thought. I forgot we were in this area of space. The pilot had lived and was praying during this, and I was considering it too, when the gunship hit the surface. I crashed actually not too far away from the airfield, and I started heading towards it with hope of there being some old medical kit. As I'm going an Umbaran comes up with a gun, and it's obvious what he's going to do, so I jump over his shot, slide under him before he turns to keep him confused, and take the gun. He had another weapon, and had seen me anyway, so I had to kill him. So I went to the airfield with an Umbaran rifle for a medkit. I found much more that. I jumped in. A group of Umbarans was having a conversation about what seemed to be AT-RTs. I snuck by them like it was my job and turned around a corner into a partol of droids. The droids saw me, and I could've taken them out but I never noticed the stun beam heading at me from behind.

Revelations
''A temple. A darkness so powerful the light had almost vanquished. A strange holocron, but not like one I had ever seen. I put it in a triangular shape in the door and it opened. I entered. An amazing number of hooded figures looked up.''

And activated lightsabers.

A flash.

Another room, but definitely in the same temple. Two Zabraks stood deciding what do to with me. Eventually they decided on something. A green light appeared in the room as a woman from a species I cou ld identify as a Dathomirian appeared seemingly out of nowhere. She said things I will never understand, but it made things happen. I felt more powerful, and ''the ritual continued.I felt a growing darkness in the Force as this happened and realized with a horror it was my power. When I realized I could resist, it was too late.''

Blackness.

I woke up in a jail cell, with a man next to me. A man I knew was Ranulph Darkhitch.

A Daring Escape
"RANULPH?" I asked. " Of course it's me, Ganner," he replied. " Well I couldn't be sure, in a galaxy like this and all." "Well I can't be sure you're not a Sith." What??  I thought, then remembered those days. "Not any more, but there's something I have to do that will stop anyone else from going down that path." Ranulph looked at me for a second, trying to tell if I was lying. "Okay it's you," he said. 'Now that we have that covered, how are we going to get out? They took my lightsaber, and probably yours too. " Haven't you ever wondered where I put my guns?" "Not really" "Well they didn't find it, and I'll let you figure out what that means." 'I already did." He tossed me a pistol that came out of his sleeve and took another from the other. "Let's get out of here." I shot the lock and we went out. It struck me what sort of jail these days would have such an old locking system but I didn't bother to think about it too much. I had an escape to carry out. We ran into the hallway, where the guard was sleeping on the job.

We moved past him and literally bumped into a squad of Umbarans. I realized this was the squad that had captured us and in a flash I took my lightsabers and gave Ranulph his, pocketing this pistol. We proceeded to fight our way out of the prison. When we got to the entrance, there was almost an army's worth of Umbarans waiting for us. They hadn't noticed us quite yet because we came from a dark exit but it wouldn't be long before we were caught. I saw a piece of tech I wasn't able to identify and noted it. We walked out and an officer ordered us to stand down. We responded by using an ancient technique: turning oneself invisible with the Force. They began looking for us frantically and I knew we wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

All of a sudden I felt a surge of darkness, and that distraction put my guard down. "Over there!" The officer shouted, and troops were closing in on us. I looked at all the blasters pointed at me, and completely knowing what could happen if I miscalculated, I pulled out my pistol and shot the piece of tech. At least 20 shots fired at once and I ducked under them all, for all of them were aiming at my head. However that soon became irrelevant as a massive explosion rocked the jail. In the distraction we managed to get out of the jail.

When I figured we were safe, we turned around to examine the disaster we had just caused. There was still lots of screaming and it made me queasy to think about all the deaths I had just caused. We managed to get a signal on the fleet and they came by to take us back, but I knew before I died, I had one more thing to take care of on Umbara.

Felucia
The war continued on, and it was nearing the end when an elite recon squad sent on a mission to Felucia went missing. Naturally, they sent me to investigate, for this squad had a perfect record. I landed on Felucia and felt a disturbance in the force, and immediately jumped away. A split second later, a series of thermal detonators went off, destroying my ship. I was stranded on Felucia. I had no idea what had just happened, and I didn't get a chance to figure it out. Just as soon as the detonators went off, Every rancor in the area was attracted. Up against 5 rancors, I knew I had no chance, but I fought for as long as I could before giving out. The first one to take a swipe at me suddenly had one hand. The other hand went into the face of another Rancor. 3 left. 2 seemingly teamed up and attacked me at the same time, but they were on opposite sides, one little dodge took them out. The last one took a swipe at me, and when it did I ran up it's arm, stabbed it in the head, and jumped down, not waiting to know what happened. I ran for a while, eventually stopping to catch my breath when I felt 2 other presences. One was a dark one, one I knew was a Sith. The other one was a rancor, and it was....Behind me? Before I could even react,a hand swiped down at me. I jumped just in time to avoid death, but only that. I went flying, and by some slight chance I landed on a light plant before hitting the ground. The last thing I remember seeing was someone in Sith gear looking down at me.

The Story of Darth Maricus
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was that I was in another prison. "Great..." I muttered to myself. A voice, the same man who I had seen earlier, I realized, responded "And it's only going to get better." "Who are you?" I asked. "Why only your worst enemy, your most powerful rival." " I really don't know who you are." "Fine, if you really want to know who I am, I shall....remind you.

My name is Darth Maricus, Lord of the Sith.

I was found an orphan, by Darth Maul, who took me to the Sith Academy to teach me my true power.

I easily became the most powerful apprentice, and eventually one of the most powerful Sith all together.

Then you came.

A former Jedi, captured by a squad of Sith. We all saw great potential in you, and we began training you immediately.

You were a natural, a good challenge to even me. In only a few months you were even stronger.

I would not allow anyone to defeat me. I was to be the true Sith Lord, and lead us to our takeover of the galaxy.

To prove a point, I challenged you to a duel. A duel to the death.

You fought very powerful due to a combination of your Jedi and Sith lightsaber skills, but I was almost about to defeat you when you realized my plan."

I remembered this. He would fake being about leap up for an swooping down style of attack and then stab me through the chest as I took the bait. I stabbed him in the thigh, and I was about to finish him off, when I had a flashback. Me doing the exact same things, but as a Jedi. Something changed in me then, I became more myself than I ever was. I turned began to walk away, and as he threw his lightsaber at me, I simply caught it and added it to my belt.

"You ruined me. You made me look like a fool in front of every Sith in the temple. You all but exiled me, and soon I had to go into exile. I learned of your recovery, the killing of Nova and saving of Ranulph. I began making plans. And now Ganner Slarwalker, you will di-"

I'd had enough of this. I force pushed him into the wall, pulled his saber while activating it to unbind me, then sent it next to his head to make a point. As I ran out into the open, I saw a lightsaber. I could sense a fallen Jedi had died with this. But I had other things to worry about. As I ran, I saw a hangar. "We could use the fighters," I thought. I made a mental list of my goals. I set out to complete the first.
 * 1) Finding the squad (IF they were still alive)
 * 2) Finding a way back (Assuming I was still alive)
 * 3) Escaping (Alive)
 * 4) Stopping Maricus (Somehow doing this alive)

Antimatter Squadron
I searched in the Force, looking for any presence that could have been them. I found something close enough, and there was the right number. I headed in that direction, ready for anything. I ducked under a low hanging plant, and that was what saved me. A blaster shot flew directly over my head and into the plant. I looked up and saw the one thing that could possibly help me: A member of Antimatter Squadron. "Al right you, put your hands to the sky!" I was so startled I didn't even know what do to. "UP!" I put

my hands up and said " I'm from the Republic, sent here to rescue you." He replied, " Yeah, I've heard that one 4 times. Also been betrayed 4 times." "I'm Ganner Slarwalker!" "That's what the last one said." "Well, I really AM Ganner Slarwalker." "Sure. Since you're pretty much dead out here you can come with me but if you try anything the last thing you'll hear is my blaster."

He took me to his base, where I met the other squadron members. There was a Girl named Siri, a man named Blaze, and....."HANS?"

"GANNER?"

"What are you even doing here?"

"I've been sent to rescue you!"

At this point the first member ( who I later learned was named Arran) said "Back away, he could be a Separatist!"

Hans pushed his gun down and said,"Relax, this is him. I've met him, remember?" He looked at me and said, "But the goatee's new." "For you and me both," I replied. "Anyway, we need to get out of here. The Separatists are coming. They're coming from there." I pointed out the direction I had come from. "From the west," Hans said. "On the way out, I saw a hangar, and due to the fact humans are there we could likely find a ship to get out in." I said. "Great idea, but there's no way we'd get there alive. He's trying to kill us!" Complained Arron. I got the idea he didn't like me. "Calm down, Arron. He's our only chance at getting off this place alive." Countered Siri. "Remember what I said about humans being there? It's not just any human. There are Sith on this planet hunting me down." Arron, who apparently had had enough of it, turned an ran, yelling "SITH NOW? THIS MAN IS A ONE WAY TICKET TO-" "ARRON GET DOWN," Blaze yelled. BOOM, Arron was gone. " I think I can get us out here," I said. Bombers were flying overhead, destroying everything they could see. "Hold on tight!" Just as a bomb was about to hit us, I grabbed everyone and jumped as high as I could. The Blast from the bomb launched us up onto one of the ships. Using the force to keep everyone on the ship, I sliced a hole in the cockpit. A pilot droid looked up, and the last thing it ever saw was the green blade of my lightsaber. "Hans, do you think you can fly this?" I yelled over the wind. He probably didn't hear me but he knew what I meant and took control of the ship. We could see the hangar now, and we had to get there before the rest of the ships attacked. Suddenly, 4 shots came out of nowhere, and one knocked Blaze off. "No!" Siri yelled. This wasn't going well.I turned to where the shots came from. A modified Tri-fighter, with a cockpit and pilot, Maricus, was closing in. He fired, and I blocked all his shots except one. He hit the engines, and we were going down. Down towards the hangar. The place we had to go to live was where we were going to die.

The Greatest Hero I Never Knew
There were no words to describe how much it hurt when I woke up. I could see the hangar but I couldn't summon the will to get there. Suddenly, as if from nowhere Hans and Siri appeared, dragging me towards a ship. Then I sensed Maricus. Hans turned pale as he saw him. I stood up. "Get to the ships, this is my fight," I said. Hans turned but Siri said, "We can't just leave you here!" "I won't let anyone else die, not now. Go!" She ran. Maricus was closing in. He activated his saber and I activated mine. We could've dueled for five minutes or an hour, I wasn't sure. Maricus force pushed me down onto the ground. He leaped in the air, sabers raised for the killing blow. I knew it was over. Suddenly I was pushed over and out of the way. I turned just in time to see Blaze impaled. "HURRY!" He yelled. Blaze was going to die to keep Maricus at bay. Knowing it was over, I ran to the ship, just as it started to move. The ramp opened and Hans said "Get in!" As we left, I saw Blaze's body. I think the others did too. We sat there silently for a long time.

Return to the Temple
"Halt right there!" The guard outside the temple yells. "We don't just let anyone in!" "I think you'll find I'm not just anyone," I say. I give him a false ID. It says my name is Corran Comentsinger returning on a mission from the Underworld. I don't know who he is, but as long as the guard doesn't either it's fine. "Sorry, to bother you, General. We've had too many fake Jedi in here recently and we have to crack down." I tell him it's fine, and walk into the temple. It's just how I remember it, but somehow different. Something has shifted, but I can't tell what. A familiar looking man goes up to me and asks, "Are you Corran Cometsinger?" "That would be me," I reply. "The Jedi Council requests your immediate presence." He informs me. "They shall have it," I reply. Uh-oh.

Some time later later I'm there ( I know some shortcuts). As I walk in, I notice there are only 3 people in the room, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, and Master Yoda. Once I'm in the room I heard the sound of lightsabers activating and a female voice says, "We found him, Masters." I'd recognize the voice anywhere. It's Ahsoka Tano. I turn to see her, Anakin Skywalker, and two Temple Guards. "Oh, well this went well," I silenty think.. "Put your hands behind your back" Anakin orders. "What did I do to apparently upset you?" I reply. "You are under arrest for the murder of Ranulph Darkhitch, now PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR," He yells at me. "At least it's for someone who' still alive," I mutter, putting my hands behind me. Unexpectedly, he puts a lightsaber in my hand and whispers, "Protect yourself." Suddenly Maricus, alongside 2 Mandalorians, probably Death Watch, burst through the windows of the room.

The council members disappear, like holograms, which they must have been. Behind me, I sense the guards' masks come off. They're magnaguards. It's an assassination attempt and I'm the target. Maricus really wants me dead to atrack here.Ahsoka and Anakin take on the guards, leaving me to the 3 people I'd never expect to see together. Maricus leaps to attack me while the 2 Death Watch take potshots at me from the air. Maricus looks really mad, and I don't think I am supposed to be alive at this point. We clash sabers, blue and red making an almost beautiful shade of purple. Between all the firing and dueling, I'm getting overwhelmed. Time to even the odds.

I run up the walls, jump and land on the back of a Death Watch. I cut into his jetpack and as he goes flying I jump off and land on the other. Before I can do the same, Maricus barrages me with force lightning. I turn the Death Watch in time to take the volts for me. It goes beserk, flying everywhere and I barely let go before it explodes violently, and the last thing I see is the green flash of a lightsaber blade.

I wake up to the cold feeling of a hospital bed. There's a little machine recording my pulse. I let the beep aing me to sleep.

At some point, I'm awake again. This time a medical droid, along with Ranulph, Hans, and Siri are here. "Ohhhhh," I groan. "How long was I out?" "About a week," says Ranulph. "Where's Maricus?" I ask. "Ahsoka managed to capture him. He's in the Republic's main prison on Coruscant right now," Siri answers. Hans pulls put a holoprojector from a pocket in his jacket. The Council told me to give you this. A breach in security at the Temple makes it impossible to trust that we won't be watched there. The council sends their regards."

He activates the holoprojector and places it in my hand. A blue image of Mace Windu flashes to life. "Greetings, Master Slarwalker. After a long debate, the council has decided on your standing with us. Due to your clouded past, we are not offically allowed to let you rejoin. However, you can work for us unofficially if you want. The choice is yours, Master Slarwalker." The tape ended.

"Wow," said Ranulph. "You could be their secret weapon, like I was." "I don't like that idea. Basically they said. ' You can join us but not be one of us.' I say we leave the jedi and stick together, fight the galaxy side by side, with people I can trust," Says Hans. "I'm not sure which side to pick," Siri says. "Me neither," I reply. "But we don't have do decide yet. Let's go say hi to Maricus."

The Reverence
"Mariucs is being transferred," Siri explains while Hans pilots the airspeeded we're in to a starport, "Because they think he's too dangerous to be set loose on a planet like this. There's a cruiser, the Reverence, heading to Malastare in five minutes. That's probably where he is." "We're not going to make it," Hans says "If we have to turn around and get to it." "If I know Marcius right, the entire crew of the ship will be dead in five minutes." I point out. We turn around, and definitely break some speed limits.

Hans
As I'm speeding, racing towards that ship I look over at Ganner, and he's got his eyes closed, and he seems to be really concentrating, and I'm wond-

I've got no idea where I am, I fall to the ground, trying not to throw up. Siri groans, and says "Ugh...Ganner, don't EVER do that again." As my vision starts to catch up to the rest of me, I see where we are. The bridge of the Reverence, and all around us lay bodies. " I think he used the Force to teleport.....Oh." Ranulph says as his vison comes back. "Yeah. The lightsaber wounds are still fresh," Ganner says. "Maricus isn't far." "You're forgetting, this is a massive Republic Venator-class Destroyer, we can't just run around a corner and find him." I say. "Split up," Siri says. "Cover more ground." "How do we know when one of the others finds him?" Ganner asks. "I'll stay here, monitor the ship. I'll contact you over the intercom if I need to." Ranulph tells him.

Ranulph
The other leave, and I'm stuck in the bridge of a Republic Cruiser surrounded by a bunch of dead clones. As I'm looking around, I notice the windows are closed, something that usually only happens when they are breached. There's a bit of rustling in the small area below the floor, where people are crammed into and work on computers doing whatever. I pull a pistol from my holster, and hop down. There's what looks a trap door, sticking out just slightly from the small wall. I peer into it, and suddenly realize I'm looking down the barrel of a blaster rifle. I jump back, ducking, as a blaster bolt zooms over my head. I grab the blaster, pull it by the barrell, and a human male comes out. He's dressed in the most ridiculous robes, and looks a little beaten. I climb up out of the small area to gain the high ground, and he's gone. He comes out the other side below, and as he climbs up. I aim my blaster at him, and he just stands there, stunned. "You'd better start talking." I say. "You see, I was eating this bologna sandwich, horrible thing, baloney, I don't know why Oreo gave it to me, and I heard all this commotion outside the place where I'd been stow...... hiding. There was either one guy screaming a lot or a bunch of guys screaming the same way," He said while looking around, "And I guess it was the second.... " "Who are you?" I yell more than ask, poking him in the chest with the pistol. "Jeez, alright. My name is Dylan Antiunknown. I stowed away here because..... Let's just say I needed to get away from someone." I shoot the blaster in his hands, and he jumps away and drops it. I switch the pistol to stun, and before he even has time to react, pull the trigger. No more distractions. I pull out my comlink as I begin to fiddle with the bridge controls. "Guys, are you there?" I test. "Loud and clear," Ganner reports. "How's everything going? I found a stowaway, but he's nothing I couldn't handle." "So far, nothing. I'm beginning to-" The SNAP-HISS of a lightsaber cuts her off. I can hear blaster fire, then static. "Son of a Bith, I'm going in," Hans says.

Ganner (at long last)
Through the Force, I can sense Siri is closer to me than Hans. I pull out a lightsaber, activate it, and run. As I move down the halls, I can see the dead troopers around me, their voids in the Force, and the damage on the walls, getting fresher and bloodier. Finally, I make the last turn, to see Maricus standing over an unconscious Siri. Why 'hasn't he killed her? It doesn't matter. Without hesitation, I run and jump at the last second, swooping down with my lightsaber. He turns and blocks, no surprises there. What is surprising though, is when Hans shoots him from behind, abruptly ending the fight. Maricus falls to the ground, apparently dead. Something's not right. Deactivating my lightsaber, I use the hilt and knock on his head. The sound of metal hitting metal is also no surprise. "Fake," I say to Hans. "But not bad." The droid flashes, and takes back it's mechanical appearance. I reach into it's stomach, using the Force to aid me in pulling out it's data core. "Imagine what Ranulph would give to look at that," Hans says. "Speaking of Ranulph, we'd better get to the bridge. He said he found a stowaway, and I think I might know who it is." I reply. Carrying Siri like they do in holodramas when a soldier is wounded between the two of us, we head toward the bridge.

The Only Lead
Minutes later, we're back at the bridge. There's some guy in fancy blue and golden robes who looks really weird. He takes one look at me, jumps up and says "PRICE! I KNEW I'D FIND YOU, YOU WEIRD-FACED CHILD MO-" He realizes everyone in the room is just staring at him blankly. "I'm glad I didn't finish that sentence or you would get banned," he states. It's taking all of my willpower not to facepalm like no man has facepalmed before. "Weirdness and possible insanity aside, you have information we need," Hans says. "You were hiding in there probably the entire time. Maricus had to have said something about where he was going." In my ear, Ranulph whispers, "Said he's Dylan Antiunkown, any idea who that is?" "None," I reply. "Well, he did say a bit." Dylan says.

Dylan Antiunknown, 15 minutes ago.
Troopers screamed and shot and died. Thank God I was apparently sa-HISS! A red lightsaber blade cut into the compartment, next to my head. The lightsaber pulled out, leaving a tiny peephole. I could see a pair of legs, and said legs were bending in a way that implied the peephole forger was going to inspect his latest masterpiece. Scrambling as quietly as I could, I pulled out my pistol and plugged the hole with it. A small "Hmm..." could be heard. "This is Maricus, can you read me?" The peephole master said. "Copy," A deep and electrionic sounding voice replied. The peephole master (apparently named Maricus) said,"The trap has been set. I will be on my way to Mandalore within the hour. Prepare your forces. These are Jedi we're dealing with." "Right away." Electronic-Sounding-Man responded. I took a bite out of my sandwich, and suddenly began to travel through an interdimensional vortex to the land of Wik-

Hans Novastar, Now.
"Alright, you told us what we needed. Now scram," I say, while poking him from behind with my blaster. He scrams. Siri asks,"So, we're going to Mandalore, right? What's the plan?" Ganner strokes his beard (I don't think he even realized he was doing it) and says, "I don't know yet, but we definitely need to get there and we definitely need to proceed with caution. Any idea who he could've talked to?" "Mandalorians, Death Watch in particular," Ranulph answers. "Yikes," I reply. "You positive?" "Positive," he informs me. "But I've got an idea."

Ganner
As I exit out the shuttle, it dawns on me just how stupid I'm about to look, but it has to be done anyway. In a cheap "bounty hunter"s costume, complete with a mask and cape, I walk out the stairs to greet the supercommando waiting in the docking bay.

He hesitates for just a second before he walks up to me, datapad in hand. "Need some ID, he says." I hand him a fake Hans obtained for me, and he scans it. As his head and attention are away, I discreetly push a button, a jammer that will disable any nearby recording devices. Then, I punch him with my fist enhanced by the Force. It doesn't take him out, but he stumbles, and a crack on his helmet tells me his vision is probably down. I walk up to him and slam him on the ground. The datapad came out as positive, which should delay suspicion of me for a short time. I take the ID, quietly tuck his body in the corner, and proceed into Mandalore.

And then immediately proceed right back into the docking bay. That datapad probably has some useful information, and I almost let it slip. I feel sorry for any other suckers who try this without being prepared. "Alright, I'm in, and I have a potential source of info. Tell me this has something." I mutter.

"Exactly two mentions of Maricus, I'll send it to your mask." Ranulph says. "The mask can do that?" I ask.



"No, I gave you a mask because every bounty hunter needs a mask, obviously." Ranulph replies sarcastically. "I'll keep digging. In the meantime, I've set you up with that other guys' coords in the city."

Right in front of my face and in bright lights no less, a giant map pops up. A red X denotes the target, not too far away. Meanwhile, I'm a green G. Funny. Now, how do I turn this thing off?

Hans
Decked out in some old armor I had, with Siri behind me, I scan the many buildings in this city, looking for anything unusual. Using the data Ganner gave him, Ranulph tracked "Zalgo" backwards in time until he found a point where Maricus would have most likely been found. Unfortunately, some idiot is stirring up the signal, and the closest we can get is within a few kilometers. Zooming out of the helmet display, I turn to Siri and ask how she's doing. When she doesn't reply I begin to turn away before she yells "There!" I tell her to mark him, and link up my helmet feed to her modified electrobinoculars. Off in the distance there's a definite humanoid shape covered in red. Obviously since he's covered in red I can't tell for sure, but I'd bet my life on Siri being right. I relay a quick picture with coords to Ranulph. Suddenly the feed moves backwards, and I'm observing the back of my head. Then Siri realizes her mistake. And turns the feed off. Staring at blackness, I feel the light push of a blaster against my helmet.

"You weren't supposed to spread the word, Hans. You're trying to move too quickly, and now look what you did." With only my eyes I'm searching for something in this infernal suit that can get me out of here. The jetpack is almost full-"By the way, this is a no fly zone. You even move an inch upwards and I'll send you down like the Jedi Order." Not the jetpack. On the bright side she's not shooting me any time soon. Ranulph has the picture and is no doubt trying to contact me. Now I stall until he figures out the situation.

"Maricus must be getting desperate if his plan is this fragile. I mean, seriously, your entire mission almost being aborted because I hit a button too quickly? I get the feeling Maricus will need a new spy girl soon."

"Oh, I am so much more than some petty agent. Soon, you'll all see."

"Doesn't sound like I'll be around for much of that, so by all means, give me a description."

"Imagine..."

Her voice trails off, leaviing the ambient city noises, and I'm tempted to turn around and see if she happened to fall off the edge somehow. Then her arm wraps around my neck, choking me much harder than I'd have expected. Immediately, somewhere around eight men in all-white police gear kick open the door to this roof and run out. Most of them have Mandalorian blaster rifles but two have white shields. "Hands up or we drop you!" One yells. For a moment, Siri's grip weakens, and I strike. I throw my head backwards, hitting her with the cold steel of my helmet and sending her backwards off building, but her grip stays strong enough to pull me over too.

It's funny how your opinions of a person can change vastly in the span of a few moments.

I begin falling from 200 stories, headbutting Siri twice before feeling her grip give. I activate the jetpack, watch her fall for a few seconds, then zoom off to Ranulph.

Ganner As soon as Ranulph gave me the location I began running and jumping my way across this planet. At last I have a physical visual on where the site is. With a lightsaber my left hand, I carry onward.

I can vaugely since Maricus' presence in the vicinity. I can't reach out and get a closer position on him, because now I need to keep my Force presence small. He's definitely in this building, though. I touch my earpiece and ask, "Ranulph, can you get a bead on him?" "I can do you one better," he replies. A red outline signifying his body appears somewhere a couple stories down the building. In addition, an audio feed begins to play.

"-ven if I agreed to this, and I'm not answering yet, what's in this for me?"

"Glory. Eternal glory as being the man who lead the Death Watch, and the entire galaxy, into a new age."

"And then, I suppose, once our business is finished you'll turn your backs on us."

As the conversation plays out, I creep down dark floors, my green blade giving me warmth in an otherwise chilly building. Using the Force to dampen the sound, I deactivate my lightsaber as I enter the floor they are on. The walls of the room are all glass, and Maricus is walking with a tall man in decorated Death Watch armor towads an elevator. Must be the leader.

"The men are loyal to you and only you, Pre."

"...I can get you fifty men right now. Once more are ready, I can send those too."

The two men walk in the elevator. Both turn to face me, though I'm not visible to them.

"Take care of it. I have business to attend to. I'll see you on Umbara."

Maricus presses a button and the door begins to close, but before it does he manages to step out with the speed of the Force.

I draw my other saber, and ignite them both. Staring me down with his yellow eyes, he ignites his own.

"You're here earlier than I anticipated, Ganner, but you've only hastened your demise." "Funny, I could say the same for you."

He runs towards me, saber raised,but I simply extend my hand and Force push him into the closed elevator door. I leap towards him, sabers poised to impale, but at the last second dodges out of the way, grabs my throat, and slams me against the door. I try to raise my sabers, but he's pushing them down, so I try a different tactic. I pry open the doors, and we both fall back into the shaft. I grab his arm, quickly spin so that he is on the bottom, and land hard on the elevator, deactivating all our weapons. Out of breath, with my head spinning, I roll off of Maricus, who's knocked out cold. "Ranulph," I gasp, "Get me out of here."

I stand up, still holding a lightsaber in my left hand. I could kill him now, and all this would be over. It maybe be against the Jedi Code, but I'm not necessarily a Jedi anymore. What does that make me? I push the button to activate the saber, and look at Maricus in the green light. I turn the saber upside down, raise it with both hands, and as I prepare to take his life, the window breaks behind me.

I turn in an instant to see who it is, and time seems to slow. Through an explosion of glass, Siri is flying towards me, saber raised. She has cuts and bruises across her face, chest and arms, more than could've come from the glass. There's a fire in her amber eyes as her crimson blade runs through my chest.

There's no better word to describe the feeling of having a beam of pure plasma buring through your chest as you lie on the ground than hot. It's like my insides are melting, and I take a second to reflect on the fact that they probably are. Maricus is standing now, and Siri talks with him for what feels like an eternity, though I can't make out any words. At long last, Siri pulls her saber out of me, and I let the relief of death finally take me.

Eye of the Storm
Siri The Umbaran Sith Temple

Lying next to a bed of lava outside the doorway to a main chamber, I entertain myself by shooting some lightning between my fingers. Inside, Maricus is speaking to his Master. I've never seen my Master's Master, nor he I, but one day, we shall strike him down... I hope. Maricus has barely spoken to me since. I killed Ganner myself, but he's still mad at me for breaking the plan. I see motion out of the corner of my eye, and look up to see Maricus leaving, the door sliding shut behind him. I join him and we walk together through the halls as the other Sith go about their business. "Despite your best efforts, we are closer to success than ever before." He says. "I was just trying to take advantage of an opportunity to rid us of an enemy. You would have done the same thing." He turns to me, a look of rage upon his face. "I would not have failed!" he screams, grabbing my throat and lifting me off the ground. "Did you think there wouldn't be consequences? Because of your foolishness, because I had to take responsibility for your idiodicy, Lord Zagg is most displeased." He throws me across the room into a stone pillar, where I lie, catching my breath. "Go to the training room until further notice. I will not let you continue to drag the new order down." He mutters, walking away.

Ranulph
Brotherhood HQ

"You owe us for this, big time," Dylan says. We're looking at Ganner, in a bacta tank. With us is Oriuss Stealthgleam, Rylie Tano, Jay (no idea what his last name is), and Boba Bactapack. "Say we go along with this insane plan to maybe kill a Sith Lord and topple a conspiracy shrouded in mystery. That's a lot of Brotherhood forces on the ground, and we will not be happy if any of the big players die. What do we get in return?"

As one, each of the Brotherhood members raise blaster pistols of various types at me.

After thinking for a second, I respond, "Lightsabers. Where there's tons of Sith, there's tons of lightsabers, and I bet you could make a fortune using those things on the black markets."

Dylan puts his hand to his ear and asks, "Price, is this guy telling the truth?" After a few seconds, he nods, and they lower their weapons. Dylan leans in close to me, and whispers in my ear, "If you don't come through, I will kill you, him, and everything you love." He leans back again and begins barking commands. "Alright, boys, move out! Except you Oriuss, you stay here and keep and eye on our guests."

We both watch Ganner float for a moment in silence. Oreo looks over at me and asks, "What's the plan anyway?"

"Well, once this guy wakes up..."

Captain Xux
The Umbaran Sith Temple

I'm lying on a slab with my helmet off. The lava combined with the layered armor I wear has probably made me sweat gallons at this point, but the four figures standing over me don't seem fazed. One is some strangely tattooed female humanoid, and the others are humans who seem to be Sith. A blonde female, a brown-haired male (Maricus), and a black-haired male with a goatee. Maricus asks the humanoid, "Are you sure it's going to work this time? You know what happened the last time we tried..." The humanoid simply smiles and replies "And whose fault was that, hmm?" Maricus shuts up and they all turn their eyes to me. The humanoid begins whispering in a language I can't hope to understand, and her hands begin to glow purple and black. She closes her eyes, and the darkness becomes all I can see.

Ranulph
"....Now, we won't know the full extent of their threat until the attack begins. If we can safely get feet on the ground, we'll take the area by force. If we can't, we blow it up once Ganner is clear. We're packing enough firepower to do some damage to the mantle. We've got little to no idea who is in that temple or what their plan is, but Ganner and a few backups should be able to take care of any threats. Miss anything?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much all of it."

"Basically, kill the bad guys but don't die."

Behind us, Ganner says "Got it, when do we go?"

We look out the window at hyperspace, just as we stop. Umbara is before us. The dark planet where this all began will be where it all ends.

Dylan's voice rings out on the intercom, "Get ready, brothers. This is gonna be like the good old times!'

"Right about now."

Maricus
I lie meditating with my Master as Talzin converts the first of our new army. Feeding of my passion, I feel the current of the Force flow through me. Then, a massive shift. I open my eyes and see Zagg do the same. He whispers, "He is coming."

Eclipse
Ganner

Somewhere above Umbara

After making sure all systems are working properly, I take a moment to look down at the red and black surface of the planet that has called me time and time again. Why here? In fact, why was Ranulph here in the first place?

I guess I'll have an answer shortly. The drop pod counts down the minutes until I reach the surface, and I think I can faintly see the drop pod with my equipment in the distance, but it's hard to distinguish it with such a dark background.

My first objective is to secure the Umbaran airfield. If anything can shoot the fleet down, it'll be there. With any luck, however, it'll be just like I left it. Following that, I'll keep the area on lockdown and wait for the Brotherhood forces to rendezvous. There's an area some distance away from the airfield that comes up as static on our sensors. Hopefully we'll be able get eyes on it from the surface. If it's nothing, we'll conduct a planetwide sweep until we find Maricus and end him.

The surface is coming up. I brace for impact.

Maricus

Umbaran Sith Temple

"This is Ganner. The airfield is clear. There's some artillery here but it's offline and we can probably use it ourselves."

The Mandalorians who haven't been turned yet (namely, all of them except Xux) are monitoring communications between Ganner and whoever he's brought with him. Once we hear enough, we can start jamming them and give our own orders. Behind me, Varad asks, "Tell me, my student, what should we do next?"

"Send some acolytes over to the airfield, to watch from the shadows. We'll evaluate their forces and strike accordingly once they think they've settled in."

Varad chuckles, and says, "You heard him. Get the acolytes out there."

Siri
"THROUGH POWER, I GAIN VICTORY."

Yet another training droid. I've gone through the Sith Code dozens of times, and these machines keep coming. They aren't getting any stronger, either. It jumps in the air, staff raised to stab me, and I take the advantage to simply Force push the staff of the last robot through its chest. I sense danger behind me, and as the robot falls I use the Force to grab the staff, turn, and barely stop myself in time from decapitating Maricus.

"Well, well. You might make a Jedi slayer after all."

Ranulph
Brotherhood HQ

"We're esablishing a scan link now. Whatever we can see down here, you see up there."

The missing images quickly fill in the black voids they had left. Very foogy and obscured but I can see some sort of building. It's the only lead we have, however.

"Jay, I need a way to penetrate the fog at coordinates 1125, 793, 87. Something big is over there."

"Copy that, working on it."

A few seconds later, a second image comes up, in black and white with the building outlined.



"Oh, no." I whisper. "Dylan, how long will it be before we can blow this thing up?"

"I don't know. We never actually tried Eclipse protocol. We don't really ever need to attack on this scale."

"We're gonna need it now. Jay, we've got a bloody Sith temple out there. Warn everyone, and set up as much defenses as you can. We're activating Eclipse protocol, so make sure everyone has a beacon on them."

"....Copy that."

"Redirect power from cloaking to weaponry and scanners," I say over the intercom.

"Redirecting," Price says.

Siri
Umbara

As I venture through the darkness, I feel a disturbance in the Force. A warning from... above? I stop to look up at the night sky.

Suddenly, a massive...thing seems to unfurl out of thin air in front of the moon. It keeps growing, until the entire moon is enveloped in its shadow, and stops. As the entire planet suddenly darkens, I struggle to make out what it is. It looks like... a space station?

Varad Zagg
Umbaran Sith Temple

As we look into the sky, Xux asks, "What in Death's name is that?"

"That," I say, "is your target."

Dylan Antiunknown
Brotherhood HQ Satellite, Umbaran Orbit

The monitor shows the surface of the black and red planet. Any living things within the area I selected should be glowing red, save for my troopers, who are blue, but I don't see anything.

Oh, right, the planet is practically half red.

I adjust the settings, replacing all non-friendly life with green. Practically half the planet turns green.

After filtering out plants I can finally see what's going down on this place. Lots of Rancors. The Temple is simply filled with hostile signatures. As I'm about to order a strike, I see more green out of the corner of my eye.

They've surrounded the airfield.

Hans
Umbaran Airfield

"Guys, we've got a massive problem. No time to explain, but you've got dozens of Sith converging on your location. With you being this close, we can't blow the site up, so either kill them or get out fast. Dylan out."

Dylan's hologram vanishes from the table. I look up, and exchange glances with Atom and Ganner. None of us need to speak to each other. I activate my comlink. "Boys, I recommend getting settled in real well, because we've got incoming."

Maricus
Umbaran Sith Temple

"Dylan, this is Atom. We're moving eastbound towards the Temple. Go ahead and light up the airfield, over."

"Atom, from my screen, you guys haven't moved a bit."

"The enemy must be running interference of some kind. Trust me, we're outta there."

"If you're lying for some reason, you'll regret it."

"Copy that. Atom out."

"It's working perfectly," I tell Varad. "The acolytes who aren't smart enough to run won't be missed anyway."

Varad smirks and nods his head.

Ganner
Umbaran Airfield

As I stand surveying the surrounding area, I feel a lot of danger. Then, the grey fog becomes red. Dozens of crimson lightsabers surround us on all sides. I reach out in the Force to find Siri, but quickly pull back when I realize the Sith aren't the danger here.

It's the station. 

The sky turns purple as a prototype superlaser prepares to fire. Jedi, mercenaries, patriots, and Sith alike take just a second to look to the sky and see the oncoming storm. Then each runs their separate ways. As I head into the thickness, I turn in time to see the purple laser hit the surf '  Mԑ█ﭬλǈɓɚᶷбﺝԁ¾ßйƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồᾯώἀﻃﯡẵ┤┌╠≈|êõ↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ =¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰Əȃƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶבẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵẻﱠ︠     ¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨Əȃك؀ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉṰṜṲṮḪồẵẻ ╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬ﱠ︠ ╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤ ↔₰┌╠≈|êõ₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ╫┴זּﻪ﴾ﺉﻍ᷂מس٬ҭᾯώἀﻃﯡҧӬ¦ ó=¤҂ӏẶ  ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰┌╠ ≈|êõ₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇك؀בẛẻﱠjjhfҭᾯώἀﻃﯡҧӬ¦ ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồ┌╠≈|êõẵ┤↔₰₨ƏἉồẵ┤┌╠≈| êõ↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇẶἉ₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ ¦ó=¤҂ ӏẶἉồ ẵ┤₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤ ↔₰₨Əȃك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰┌╠≈|êõ₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭᾯώἀﻃﯡҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồ┌╠≈|êõẵ┤↔₰ ₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó= ¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ ᾯώἀﻃﯡك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧבẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇҧӬ¦ó=ẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏ҂ӏẶἉồẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀בẛẻﱠ︠ gҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ƏȃȉҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ƏȃȉƯƥׇسك؀ב┌╠≈|êõẛẻﱠ︠ ҭҧӬ¦ó=¤҂ӏẶἉồẵ┤↔₰₨ '

Truth
J̸ed͝i̕ Master G͝anneŕ ͝Sl͢a͢r̴w͝a͝l̵ḱeŗ

Ṵ͓̪̣͔̞́m̗̦͍͎̲̬b̘a̟̙̠̱͠r̷͚̞̜̙ͅͅa̞̠̥̖̠͇͘

2͝3҉͖̤̠ ͙̖̰̟̺BB͉̝̣͔ͅY̫̜̯̗͡ͅ ͈͚̣̥̘͖͠(͓͖͕F̨͓̺̣̙̮̭ǫ͔͚u͍̯̼͞r ̝̜͖̼̠͈Y͉̩͇̺̫͓̖ḙ̵̻͉a̳̹r̸͇͖̭͉͚̯s̟̪̜͙̜̱̣͝ ̮̖͕A̷g̦̬̪̞͓̕o̮̘͚̺̫̰)

"Wha...?" I mutter. The moon isn't blocked at all; It's full. In fact, this place looks brighter than usual. Where am I, anyway?

As I loo҉̫k̲ ̠͐͂̄͛̽͠a̖̭͕̩̋̿͛ṛ̥ͣ̎̈́͊͊o̦̳̫̽͝u̹͈̯ͯ̕n̵͉̆dͦ̉ͫ̿̈́̚҉̞͖ ̰̪̯͕̹̰̝̌ͭ̑́t̶̖͍͙̝o̠̪͖̯̥̊ͦ ͧ̐͏͚s̙̣͊ͪ̽͐̎͋̈́u̦̱̘͖͓r̥̩vey the area, I see something r̢̧͓̠͎̯̎̚ṵ̧͎̜̮ͦ͑̓ͬͣͦ͐̽͝n̛̳̟̥̬̥̩ͭͧͅn̸͔̘͓̳͇̩͛ͧ͌̐̅̚͜i͓̹̅n̮ͭ̏ͫ̽̔͒̽ͫ͢͠ģ̡̣̥̗͚̱̖̗ͦͯ̇̽̀͊̔͆ͅ in the distance. Seems like they're following a path, as it's the only direction not obscured by vegetation. "Hey!" I call out, running towards them. Th͈̥̘͕̙̘̐̆͋̎ͯ̓ͅe̘̤̲̣͙͇ͯ͊ͨ̄̎ͅy̻̥̮͑ͣͅ ̠̣̬̃s̖̻̝̮͙̻ͯ͂̂̿͌͝t̯̩̥͚̔̿ͅoͪ̇̈́ṕ̆̄͜,̔ ̹͇͈͙̺͉́a̸̖͖̣̻͚̅n̞̠̈͆́̉͂͞ḋ͇ ̟̤͕̞̇͠ͅͅạ̻̳̗̉ͬ͊s̰̙ͥ̒ͥ̚ ̠̥̥̻̬̗̠̓͋I catch up to them I realize I wasn't the cause of it. They're a male, and he's inspecting something on the ground. I tap him on the shoulder, and he quickly turns around, activͣ̃̐̉͑̕a͈̜͉͕̠͕͍̎̔̈́̄t̩̲̭̣̞̙̩̋̆̾iͪͮ̃̉n̬͇͙̪̭ͨ͐ͅg̙̻ͨ͒ͩͨ̑ ͙͇̣̲͋ͥ͋t̡̥ͧͧ͐͋͊w̋͆̏̂̀̒̚õ̜̝̀ ͙͈̟̟̯̹̫͗͐̂͆ͥg̘̒r̯̓̕eͯ͗̄͊e̊ͬͮ̑͗̚n̨̦̬͈̗͍ ̰̺̇͌̚͟l̗̙̱͇͔̄͒͡ightsabers.



He's me.

What's more, he's not even looking at me. He's looking through me. He scans the area, deactivates his lightsabers, and takes off running straight through me. I follow, and he leads me through thick underbrush. I can̶͖̭͔̟͋'̮͎͚̲̤͗̚t̿̾͂͝͏̛̖̲̤̲̰̼͔͇ ͕͚̘͎͍͔̠͙͑̄ͩ̈́ͧ̍ͤ͠͞f̰̹̞͇̤͓͈͉͛e̠̼̝͉̣ͧ́͗e͈͇͛ͫͥ͂ͥ̉̉ͤͦ͘l̒̉ͯ̓҉̯͇̲̣̪͎͔̦̕ ̵̲͇̦̙ͦͨ͛ͭ̇a͖͍̭̭̗͈͉̫̠͛̍ͫͩ͡͝nything in the Force, and this definitely isn't something I remember. At the same time, this place was clearly not hit by a superlaser and seems a lot brighter than I re͙̲̮͇̪̼ͫ̈́̃ͪ̑̈ͮ̾m̱͉͕̒̀͡e̼̮̗͇̤̅ͥͨ͘͜ͅm̷͈̥̤̘̱̑̌ͩ̾ͩ͐̎̚͟ͅb̳̺̮͔̟͔͓̍̂͒̃̓̿ͪ͡ͅe̵͚̜͍̪͓̓̌̇͊͜r̢̭͉̲̬͇̻̻̱ͣͧ̇̎̓̑͊̊̀̚ ̝̩̬̗̞̈́̊̔͞i̘͉͔͓̣͉̖̞ͬͨ̍̍͟t̛̩̠͌̈́̕ͅ.̧̝͍̱͇ͨͥ̿̄̈́ͅ ̙̮̲̟͇̗̠̯̼̿ͤ͊͗Ḓ̼͔͍ͫ͂͌̽̊̈́ͬ̀ͥe̢̍͏̢̯̙̙̞̠f̯̙̱̦͇ͤͪͨ͌̐̀i̷̖̟̪͈̯̠̦̫͒̈́ͦͤͭnitely a vision, taking place in t̶̼͍̤̗͆̓̓ͪ̿ͤͬ̔͢ḥ̨̧̞̻͕̮̒̒̊ͦ́ͅe͍͈̦͕̬̖̿̃ ̷̡̰̰̖̱͖͎̫̈͠p̷̝͖͎͍͓̬̱̎̄ͅa̅̂̽͐̌҉͓̱͓͓͎̻̤s̡̟̱̞̘̣͒ͨͨ͋͝͞t̺̯͓͍̎ͩͫ͞. But what happened here, and why don't I remember? I follow myself until he stops again, picking something else off the ground. I can't get a peek in time, but whatever it is, it's pyramid shaped.... A holocron? This has to have something to do with the temple. Another lightsaber activates, and both of us look up. A tall human stands before us, wieldi̫̣̯̩͎̳ͪ͛́͜nͤ̌ͦ͂͂̇͆̚͏̬̮̮̝̤̰͇g̦̞̹͇̞̥͈̍̇ͪ̐ͨ͑ͥ̚ ̘̖̳̗̟̜̮̯̟͋̅͌̀ͨ͟ȁ̪̠̳̝̊́͗͐ͤ ̜̲̝͌͂ͭ̓̚̕c̡̢̦̦̰̪̲̓r̡̋͂̉̋͟҉̳̱̘͉̺̩̟͎̬i̬̞̬͖̻̞͆ͬ̾͌ͤͮͩ̇̏m̡̼̮̣̩̮̱̘̼͓͑̾͐̒̚͠s̱͈̘̞͎͂̀̈o̳̰̞͙̯ͤ̑n̵͚͚͔̜ͥ͌̄͌ͩ̋ ̵̘̬͈̩̱̌̃ͦ͗̾̄̆̚ḻ̼͙̤͖̞̅͑̔̾̐ͭḯ͑̓͒ͨ͋̚͏͓͙̬gͧ̌ͮ̈́͗̿͑̓͏̣͇̥͕͟ḩ͚̣̺̮͕̾̅̔̑͛͗tsaber. A black and red hood masks his eyes, but he has a black beard. Past me activates his sabers again, and they both have a staredown, no doubt evaluating the other's power. Finally, the Sith speaks.

"I don't often see one of your kind."

"I could say the same to you." My voice, though the mask, is definitely a few ỳ̩͛̌͌͂͜e̯̲̟̘͙͔͎̲̩̽͊͆̕͘a͙̩̯͇͈̠̭̅ͦ͗̓ͨ͂r̶͍͖̈́̄ͬ̈̈ͅs̢͕̯̥̓̉ younger.

"I sense your power. You would make a great Sith."

"Sorry to disappoint, but that's not happening."

"I beg to differ. Take him alive."

Seemingly out of nowhere, dozens of lightsabers activate, and we're surrounded. One Sith jumps out, and past me Force pushes him back. Two more attack, and he leaps out of the way. The two slowly walk towards him, and he slowly backs up. From behind, I can see the first Sith, his hood now down. It's..M̴̛̝̻̟̝̠̥͔͚̪̰̞͇̳͓̳͔̳̲̟ͫ̈́͂ͭ̚̚͡a̙̪͉͈̯̪̯͔̠̱͖̻̭̖̞̜͓͇ͧͤ̿́ͤͬ͑̇ͥ̊̔̐͒͂͂̀́͢͡r̖͕̪̩̺̦̼ͦ̆ͦͯ̃̒̇ͧ̾̕͟i̭̼̙͎̩̳̻̯̱̲̭͉͇̩̻ͧ̇ͩ̓͌͊̏ͪ̈́͒͋͐̇ͭͩ̀͘͞c̷ͣ̎̽̊ͭ̑̇̊ͪ͒͆͒̋ͣ̔͟͏͇͖͚̜͖̳̯̗͎͚̻̙̠̞ͅữ̩̣͖̻̝̗̣͉͕͎̞̝̣͕͔̻̤̝̬ͯͣ͒̈̅̓ͬͦ͟͟͞sͭ̒͋̉͆͊ͤ̋́̑̾̈́̓͂ͯ̕͟͢҉̼̲̳̺̝͍̼̳̟͍̯̜̝̗̘̟̥̘?̢̡̼̺̥̠̹̥̘͈͚̦̫͇̊ͦ̓͒ͩ͌̅ Maricus walks up behind past me, emptyhanded. He smirks. Past me grabs one of the two Sith converging on him, throws him into the second, and keeps spinning. Within inches of the Sith hitting him, Maricus lunges foward toward past me. The lightsabers of the two Sith come flying into his hands, and he slams both hilts into my past head before I can react. Even though I'm technically not the one losing consciousness, e͏̻̺̳͉͚̩̫͙͇͟v̞̦̥̼̳̻͎̮̕͞e͇͚͇̠̹̫̳͙͚͠͞r̴̠͇̘͓y̰̩̗̥̟̠̗̞t̡̘̟̣ͅh͍̗̬͖̝̙̟̼ͅi̴̩͖͖̜͓̝̱͞n̴̡͎g̴̗̯̩̪͙̝͓ ̡̡̧͔̫̬f̬̣͈͘á̛̺̖̤͎̳d̻̘͔̪̀ȩ̮̯̺͙̗̕͠ͅs̸̨̛͍̪̰͔̝͔͙͓̺ to black.

When it returns again, I'm watching some sort of ritual in what I assume is the Sith Temple. Past Ganner lies on a slab. There's two Zabraks off in the distance, one red and one yellow as well as the black-bearded sith I saw earlier. However, my focus is quickly shifted to the Nightsister. She stands over Ganner, whispering ancient words. Suddenly, it hits me. I remember this, deep down. Still, this must be later; it's not quite exactly the same. The room is getting brighter and brighter, and the Nightsister yells, "Everyone, leave the room!" I'm considering following Black-Beard when she whispers "Except you."

I turn to face her, and our eyes meet. She steps away from my body on the slab; She must be at a stopping point. "You've come a long way to see this," she says. "Would you really leave now?"

"Who are you?"

"My name matters not. In fact, I hardly matter at all right now. What you should be more concerned about is who you are."

"What are...did you do to me?"

"It was an ancient ritual. Only the wisest and the strongest could perform it, and only one in a thousand could be the recepient. The ritual was meant to amplify the Force potential in a being; primarliy the Dark Side. Even a decent Force wielder could lay waste to entire planets with the power offered by it. Uncovering it was among my greatest acomplishments within the last century. However, I have seen visions of the futures that lie ahead, and I have seen what Varad plans to do. Somehow, he learns the ritual, makes an army, and with you as his second in command, he conquers the galaxy. It would destroy the balance of the Force. But this path is a farce, for here you are. In another future, the ritual I perform on you doesn't go how it is meant to. You gain the power and the darkness, but in return you lose your mind, your heart. In the end, this doesn't stop Varad from going through with his plan. By the will of the Force, however, you come back with your mind and your heart set on one thing: Taking this Temple down. Something happens, and you're knocked unconcious, and here you are."

"...Why am I here, though?"

"Because you don't understand the truth extent of your power yet. Nothing near it. You used it once, on Coruscant, but you don't realize what you are capable of. And unless you learn quickly, Varad will pull the Galaxy apart."

"...Show me."

Annihilation
Ganner Slarwalker

Umbara

19 BBY (The present)

As I regain consciousness, the first thing I hear is the burning. I open my eyes, and I see the source. Though I can't see the crater, a massive mushroom cloud hangs over the sky. However, I don't have time to worry about it.

"What about my friends? Did they make it?"

''I don't know. By the time you awaken, you should be able to tell."''

I need to know. I let my mind dive into the Force.

I feel every living thing on the planet. Every little vine, every Sith, every poor soul working for the Brotherhood unfortunate enough to still be stuck here. I can feel Hans, too. He's safe, for now. I reach out and find Varad.

"However, in the end, this will be your fight and your fight alone."

I feel his tranquil fury and I know he can sense me back. He knows what's coming. It's time to get moving.

Reaching out past Varad, I feel more acolytes, confirming he's in the Sith Temple. Teleporting there would take too much energy for me to take them on, so I take off dashing through the forest is their direction.

"Why are you doing all this?"

"To preserve the balance. There can be no Dark without the Light."

"I don't need to have amplified Force powers to know you aren't telling me everything."

The path to the Sith Temple, and likely the rest of Umbara, took the explosion hard. In many places, the ground has broken and lava has surfaced. If this place weren't so remote, it would be nearly impossible to cover this up.

''"Indeed you don't. But, even now, you are not ready to learn the full truth." ''

"Then we'll meet again?"

"Of course."

I'm getting closer by the second, and I sense an Acolyte ahead. Obscuring myself with the Force, I quickly dispatch her with my lightsabers and move on. The less Sith I have to deal with, the better. Finally, the temple is in view. It's definitely taken damage. I can't see him, but I sense Maricus, and with my improved senses, I hear him.

"Acolytes, our finest hour is upon us. Even in the face of Death itself, the Force will carry us to victory. However, there remains one man who would have this victory ruined, have our years of study for naught. Ganner Slarwalker must die tonight."

Gathered around the entrance to the temple are at about a dozen Acolytes. Among them, I sense Siri. Even now, part of me is reluctant to kill her. The Sith are no doubt weary after the blast, and they haven't spotted me yet. Unfortunately, if I don't take them out now, I'll have to deal with them after, or even worse, during the final duel. Sorry, Siri.

I slowly approach them from the front, dropping my camouflage and opening myself up to the Force again. Siri is scared, the others less so. They must not know what I really am. They're in for a rude awakening.

They draw their weapons. I do the same. Both sides stop for a brief moment, and I pick an Acolyte at random and charge them. The surprise, combined with my swiftness, is a lethal advantage. Briefly stunned by my attack, the other Acolytes freeze and I take this time to count them. Thirteen left. I wasn't too far off. They finally recover, and two more jump at me, one from in front and one from behind. Completely disregarding the one behind me, I lunge at the first, catching him in mid-jump. Really, it's amazing these people were ever threats to me. Twelve left. Siri is still among them, though I'm too caught in the fight to tell which one she is.

Obviously aware of the threat I pose to them at this point, the twelve Sith form a circle around me, connecting themselves with purple lightning. I don't know what the point of this is, but I'm not sticking around to find out. I throw my lightsabers, one left and one right. As they hit and kill two more Sith (ten left) I pound the ground with the Force. The blast knocks all the Sith in the area off their feet, and their chain is broken. I Force pull my lightsabers from the corpses and slowly look around the fallen Sith as they regain their composure. "Who's next?" I ask. One Sith actually begins to run away away, but I Force grab him, and bring him back, slowly turning him back towards me. The Sith are all stunned with fear, I can feel it. It only makes me stronger.

For a moment, there is absolute silence. They know they've lost. The question is, what now?

One by one, they drop their sabers. Even Siri. I can sense her fear. I'm not the man she knew, the man she deceived. I'm someone else. Something else. She know's what's coming. Tapping into the Force again, I feel each of their lightsabers. Gripping them but not yet moving them, I drop the Sith and walk towards the Temple's entrance. As they watch in bewilderment, I activate all the sabers, send them all hurtling toward their targets. Siri and the other Sith become one with the Force.

I'm in.

Immersing myself in the Force again, I feel everyone in the Sith Academy, most of them unimportant. It feels rather empty, probably because of the Eclipse. However, I can feel Maricus and Varad. They're way in the back of the temple. As I begin walking towards them, I look around. Lava is flowing everywhere, overflowing the trenches that had been laid for it. Just goes to show why you don't mess around with lava. Almost as if she wants to further prove this point, another assassin leaps out of the shadows behind me. I don't even both turning as I redirect her into the molten rock. Really, I'm steeling myself for the fight ahead. Walking ahead more, I extend my senses out and listen to Maricus and Varad.

"...He's in space?"

"I wasn't expecting such cowardice. With his powers, he'll make it back soon enough anyway."

"Varad, we don't have time for this. I can't feel Siri."

"That's Master to you."

"Against Ganner, we're practically on the same level."

Turns out ancient Sith rituals to make you into a murderous superweapon are good for your self-esteem.

"....Do you think Xux can take him?"

"He has to."

Finally, I've found the room. It's partially destroyed lava pouring in at the corners of the room. The rest is very dimly lit, to the point where I almost can't make out my targets. The details of the room don't matter, though. My attention is on the two people responsible for the hell I've gone through and back to make it this far. Varad Zagg stands before me, seemingly having not aged in four years. His face projects a sinister confidence, but I can sense his fear. Beside him is Darth Maricus. He looks tired, beaten. Still, like Varad, he is projecting nothing but power and readiness. Funny; that's what I should be doing. Their lightsabers are already activated, their crimson glows illuminating the two Sith. I activate mine, turning the room into a battle between their own light and my emerald glow. Pretty metaphorical. For a second, like old times, we both examine the other. "Hello again. It's been a long time since we've last met, Varad."

"Ha! What would you remember?"

"I remember how Talzin knew that what you were planning would destroy everything. I remember her plan to stop you, and it seems to be working."

This catches him far off guard, and I lunge at him. He quickly dodges out of the way, and I too dodge just to the right of Maricus' blade. So begins the duel.

Varad throws his saber, and I kick it at Maricus. While he's unarmed, I rush Varad, but Maricus quickly Force pushes me off to the side. Though I'm easily stronger than either of them, these two are very well coordinated and it's clear the easy part doesn't come until one of them is dead. Still, I can't go all out just yet. I need to save it for Xux. Maricus throws Varad his saber, and I push it out of the air again. Varad being disarmed is a massive advantage and I need to capitalize on it. I jump at him again, sabers raised above my head but pointed downward to stab him. I sense Maricus jump to intercept, and suddenly, I shove my lightsabers back. Just like I expected, between the hilts and the ends of my sabers, lie a stunned Maricus.

I deactivate the sabers, and turn towards him. With Maricus out of the way, I quickly unleash a mental barrage on Varad, stunning him briefly enough for me to watch Maricus' demise. His yellow eyes are wide, and he looks down in shock just before collapsing. I activate the saber in my right hand, ready to end his misery, when he gasps "...Wait." I kneel down and he leans in close and whispers weakly. "Too late." Then Darth Maricus finally dies in my arms. I turn to Varad, who is gripping his head, and grab him by the throat. I throw him across the room into a wall, sprinting across with my lightsaber poised for the kill when I sense immediate danger, and stop myself by thrusting the lightsaber into the wall, braking me. In front of my face is yet another red lightsaber. I cut it in half, disabling it, and look at its source as another lightsaber flies towards it.

Dressed in red-stained Death Watch armor, holding a blaster pistol in his left hand, a mask hiding his true face, is Xux. A deep, almost growling voice, speaks from behind the helmet.

"Welcome to your demise."

"Famous last words."

He dives towards me, saber thrust forward. A rocket pack boosts his speed, and I barely sidestep in time to see him turn, jump off the wall, and take another lunge at me. I parry this one while stepping back, causing Xax to plunge his saber into the wall. As he pulls it out, he raises his blaster and fires at me. I reflect the first few shots back at his chest, but when it becomes apparent that won't hurt him, I reflect the shot back at the blaster, knocking it out of his hand. He responds by pulling the other leftover saber to that hand while finally managing to get the lightsaber stuck out of the wall. Just splendid.

Again, we run at each other. The duel seems to last forever, neither of us gaining a definitive edge over the other. As I keep Xux in check, I lose track of Varad. At this point, it probably doesn't matter, but I will still need to kill him. As the fight drags on, we both begin charging more and more Force power, unleashing it upon each other. Eventually the room we're fighting in loses its integrity, and we move into the main hall. Varad is out there too, and though I'm not paying attention to what actually happens, I almost trip over his head at one point. We continue our duel, our power causing lava to flow everywhere, sometimes even being a greater threat to me than Xux. Finally, Xux and I charge at each other from opposite sides of the room. Our lightsabers meet, and before he can react I kick him into the lava. He goes under, and just like that, it's over.

Panting heavily, I deactivate my lightsabers and brush the sweat from my head. I begin to walk out, and I sense danger. I turn immediately, and dive to the right to avoid a stream of lava flying towards me. Looking up, I see Xux atop a spout of lava.

"For heaven's sakes..." I say.

Finally, I let go of everything I have built up, and everything I've been. I give in not only to the Light Side, but the Dark Side. One little spark begins within me, and suddenly I am encompassed in the true power of the Force. Maybe I am the Force. In the physical world, I see the emerald lightning at my fingertips, and I feel its charge. As Xux hesitates for the slightest of moments, I release it. The Force-infused electricity engulfs him, and being surrounded by a liquid doesn't make things much better for him. Though I can no longer see him, I hear him scream one last time before he falls, dead. The temple is now flooding with lava, and I run out as it collapses behind me. Outside the temple, I look into the sky. At long last it's over, but I feel a great darkness, and I know that it's not over.

Aftershock
When we'd gathered together, the Brotherhood was nowhere to be seen. It was probably for the best, because I doubt they would've been satisfied with how many casualties they had. After the fight, we'd had to finish off the rest of the Sith, and they did surprisingly well against the Brotherhood. Hans seemed fine, though I knew he wasn't, and he didn't talk about it. Dylan still had Ranulph, and we both knew we would have to mount a rescue mission. Even though our friend was in danger, we had to take at least a quick break. After everything that had happened, the tension was too high.

So we set out for Coruscant.



I could feel it the entire time, but until now, as I look out the balcony onto what should be a clean Coruscant sunset, only now do I understand what I felt.

Even despite my best efforts, the Sith have won. While I was off on a distant planet, saving the universe from a madman, another one was here the whole time pulling the strings. There's nothing I can do to save the Temple. So I stand there for a while, watching it burn. For the first time in a while, I get a feeling - that feeling you get when something big happens, when you know everything just changed, and the future you face is uncertain. Then I remember Ranulph, and the Brotherhood. Finally, I go to bed, to prepare myself for the oncoming storm.

The Birdman
Ranulph

It's been days, though I can't tell how long, since Umbara. I don't know if Ganner made it. It's not important right now. I'm blindfolded and gagged, being walked somewhere, with a gun on my back. I know Dylan's here, but not who else. We've been walking for about five minutes now when I hear a pair of doors open. Dylan pulls off my blindfold. As my eyes adjust to the light, I find myself in a white room. On the other side stand a tall, blonde man, a shorter, blonde woman, and behind them, another tall man with an eyepatch and long, brown hair. "Who's this?" the blond man asks. "Everything I owe you, Adam," Dylan replies. Adam looks at me and chuckles. "This guy? What's he got going for him?"

"Master hacker. Fine shot. Apparently he's a former Republic operative." "What's his name?"

"Ranluph Darkhitch."

"...Listen, I'm on a tight clock here, so I've gotta fly. If you're lying, you're dead."

"I know."

I look back, and Dylan and Atom walk out the door we entered from. The brown-haired man gets behind me and pokes my back with a blaster pistol. I get moving.

As we walk, Adam turns to me and says, "I'm Adam Silverknight. Welcome to the War Eagle. I think you'll do just fine here."

Brave New Galaxy
Ganner

Coruscant

15 hours after Declaration of A New Order

I sense someone outside the department a few seconds before I hear the knocking on the door. As I groggily roll out of bed and get up to answer, I come back to my senses and use the Force to determine who it is. Eight men, malicious intentions. I grab the saber I worked on last night, leave my room, and use the Force to open the door. Standing there is a group of clone troopers, the same legion who stormed the temple. As they fire, I activate my saber and reflect the shots with its gray blade. Five clones drop dead. I throw my saber at the sixth, and I take it back out of him as he too falls to the ground. Hans finally stumbles out of his room, armed with a blaster pistol, but he lowers it when he sees me. Looking past me at the clones, he says, "We have to move."

"Agreed."

...

An hour, two narrow escapes, and 3 dead Jedi later, Hans and I sit in a mediocre cantina in the underworld, ready to jump at the slightest sign of danger. Over a few drinks, we make small talk about the recent events, but finally I get to the point.

"Hans, we need to find Ranulph ASAP if we want to get out of this alive."

"Where are we gonna look? We've got the whole planet cracking down on us. We can't just go wherever we want anymore. Assuming Dylan actually lives on Coruscant, where would he live?"

As if in response, Han's datapad makes a notification beep. He pulls it out, looks at the screen, and shows me it.

It reads: 

"You can hear us?" Han asks.



"What's at the coordinates?"



"Not sure I should be taking travel advice from a datapad, but it's the best we've got," I say.

"Agreed," Hans replies.

We get up and leave, walking past two more clone troopers. They don't seem to care, but I scramble their minds a bit anyway. Gotta play it as safe as possible.

...

Fifteen minutes and another dead Jedi trying to avenge her Order later, we arrive at the apartment. The galaxy sure has changed. As we walk into the glamorous apartment, I begin to sense an oncoming danger. I warn Hans, but we press forward.

As Hans holds a ECD, I knock on the door. "Room Service," I say.

"Not now," Dylan says. "I'm busy if you know what I mean."

Hans detonates the ECD, disabling the room's security and Dylan's lock. I kick it in, and see him casually lying on the bed, alone. He's even still dressed in that purple robe.

"Hey, Price." He says casually.

Not in the mood to waste any time, I lifed him up and throw him against the wall, my saber at his throat.

"Ranulph. Talk. Now."

"Literally WHO?"

"Blast it, you KNOW who!"

"Careful Price, you're getting angry and you'll get banned if you swear on a page."

"I'll give you one chance before I pull the information from your mind. It will hurt."

For the first time, his otherwise gleeful composure breaks. "Whoa man," he says. "I don't get paid enough to do this."

"Do what?"

"I-I'm a body double. The other Dylan gives me cash to go and act like so idiot for him, lower his rep. If you talk to a guy constantly spouting random stuff, you don't generally think, 'Wow, this guy is clearly a master crime lord.' You think. 'Wow this guy is clearly absolutely incompetent and probably not capable of anything.' How'd you even find Dylan?"

"I had a feeling he could help. Does he even know who I am?"

"Not that I know of, the man is a master at improvisation."

Behind me, another familiar voice rings out. Somehow, I was too distracted to notice.

"Dang right he is. Drop the double and I'm sure we can talk about this like gentlemen, Slarwalker."

I turn to see Dylan - the real Dylan - holding Hans down on the floor with a blaster pistol. I pull my saber away, and the double scampers out of the room. Dylan takes his gun off Hans, and he stands up angrily.

"Now, where were we?"

"Ranulph."

"Oh, him? He's gone. Gave him to a buddy of mine as payment of a debt."

"WHO?"

"Old friend of mine. Goes by the name Adam Silvernight. I never really got why, since that was his girlf-"

His rambling is cut short by my fist.

"Adam Silvernight," Hans mutters. "Wasn't he some other crime lord, or some terrorist, or something?"

"Yeah. The one who claimed, along with his stupid cartel called the War Eagle or something, to be working for the Republic while basically killing everyone they saw."

"Great. "

"Yep."

The datapad goes off again with new coordinates. We get moving.

Hans
War Eagle HQ, Coruscant

Back in my armor, I check the power cell on my blaster one more time. It's fully charged. Ganner is near the top of the building somewhere with his mask overlay too. There's a breach charge set on the door, and I'm just waiting for Ganner's signal. Suddenly, all the lights in the building go off as it loses power. I activate the night vision on my visor and blow the wall. Drawing my second blaster, I walk in and see two unarmed people inside. I stun them both, and quickly examine the room. Nothing. The plan here is to just slowly cover every room in the building; eventually we'll find either Adam, Ranulph, or both. "First room's clear," I inform Ganner, "Anything on your end?"

"Not a whole lot that matters," he says. "Couple of unconscious guys. You should know, I can definitely sense Ranulph here and something's not right."

"What do you mean?" A tall, bald man kicks the door in, wielding a blast cannon. I stun him and he falls to the ground, hitting his head on the wall.

"I've just got a really bad feeling about this. Be careful."

"Copy that. Novastar out."

Ganner
I don't really need to use the Night Vision mode on the mask, but if I use it, it saves me a bit of energy seeing everything with the Force. I cut through the next door and enter, lightsaber raised, but no one's there. However, there's a holovision on the wall.

 I stab my lightsaber into the floor, make a circle, and Force push it down, taking a good deal of the rest of the floor with it. Maybe by chance, maybe by fate, Hans bursts into the room downstairs at the same time. Back to back, we stand surrounded by a dozen or so highly, illegally armed men. Among them stands Ranulph. He has multiple cuts across his face, and some of the flesh on his face gives way to metal, revealing in part a red, glowing, cybernetic eye. Smiling cynically, he begins to speak.

"Well, well. You certainly got here quick. I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell me. But before we get to that, my boss wants a word with you."

For a few seconds both Hans and I are speechless, and in the one instant where I wasn't prepared to stop it, a flash bomb rolls in. It explodes, and I lose my senses, seeing only a painful white and feeling the ringing in my ear for several minutes. I feel that I'm being moved, but I'm too stunned now to even use the Force, so I do the only thing I can and wait.

Somewhere on Coruscant

When I finally regain my senses, I find myself lying in a bed. The room is dimly lit, and a tan man with black hair and blue eyes stands over me. For a moment I think it's Dylan, but I sense otherwise. Even in the Force he seems... familiar. I'm too weak to talk; I must have been hurt during whatever escape happened. "So, you're Ganner." He mutters. "I remember the first time Mom told me about you. A Jedi. A hero. A legend. She told me tales of your exploits. Antiburst, your history with Antimatter Squadron, Hans, everything. Between the gaps, she made stories up. You were my hero. So you can imagine I was very surprised to find you here, hunting Adam Silvernight no less."

Finally, I've mustered the energy to speak. "Who are you?"

He chuckles. "You can't tell? I'd always hoped you would remember. Then again, you were an infant, and I barely remember you myself. Shame, since I seem to be named after you. My name is Cade Slarwalker. I'm your brother." There's a brief silence, and then I ask a question. "How did you find me?"

"Dantooine? Not too bad. Life there was simpler. Our parents were farmers. Galen and Vara Slarwalker. Last I saw them they were still alive and doing okay, but it was years ago. I was a farmer too, until the pirates came.

They found Mom and Dad. Tied them up. I don't know what they would've done with them, but I stopped them. That was the first time I ever killed, and I only managed it because I knew I had to be a hero like you were. I saved Mom and Dad, told them to hide. They did. They were safe when the pirates found me, when they took me. Tied me up, tortured me, took me to Nal Hutta thinking they could sell me off as a slave. I killed them all and Tugta the Hutt hired me as a mercenary on the spot. It wasn't the life I wanted, but it was living.

Come, what, four years later? Last week, came in to kill Adam Heart. Got shot down in low orbit, crash landed in some stupid beauty parlor. Been watching for a week, waiting to strike. Then, when I'm ready, you guys show up. Now we're here, a quarter of the planet away. But enough about me, how'd you get here?"

"Got turned into an ultra-powerful Force user by a Nightsister with the side effects of becoming a pyschopath, spent a while trying to pull myself together in some ruins, found some old friends and enemies on Felucia, had a couple fights on a cruiser and Mandalore before we finished everything at Umbara... Mostly everything. My friend got kidnapped. Adam has him. I'm here to get him back."

"So, kill Adam and get your friend back, hightail it out of there and work things out after?"

"Sounds like a plan. Just one question?"

"What is it?"

"What did the R stand for?"

"Rebel."

Exodus
In theory, nothing should go wrong with this plan. Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy. During the day, Cade and Hans gather intel, while I use the Force to learn where everyone is. Every time I feel Ranulph's mind, even from this distance, it gives me chills. Whatever Adam did to him was bad. I can sense so much hate in him. Still, I know he can be saved. He has to be.

Our plan was to strike at night, and it still is, but the wild card has been thrown in. The entire city is pratically on lockdown, with Imperial patrols all over the place. Unless we keep this totally silent, we'll gather some really unwanted attention. That's not something I'm looking forward to.

Through my scope (we brought quiet projectile weapons because we'll need them) I observe the new location of the War Eagle from above. They're divided into four buildings. I can sense that Adam and Ranulph are in the same one and inform Cade and Hans of it. During our reconnaissance missions, we tagged as many of Adam's men as we could get our eyes on. Adam and Ranulph were savvy enough to avoid being visible, but we're tracking a good deal of gangsters. Right now my barrel is focused on the two leaning over a balcony, enjoying some death sticks. Despicable. "Two on the balcony," Cade announces, mirroring my own words.

"I got left, you get right," I reply.

"Copy that." Two shots silently drift into the night, and into two thugs who, thank the heavens, don't fall off the balcony. In the Force, aside from two departures, no one reacts.

For a few minutes, we go about picking them off from afar. It goes just as planned until I feel a disturbance in the Force. It's coming from... the balcony? Nothing's changed there. I zoom in more with both my sight and the Force and I realize what's wrong. The body is shifting. It's too far for me to stop it with the Force in time and out of desperation, I shoot it, but it only serves to quicken its descent. The shot passes through, and hits a window. The body falls for some stories before it finally lands, no doubt with a very audible thud. The Force explodes in alarm. "We're compromised!" I yell, albeit unintentionally. This sound is just enough to warrant the attention of ia LAAT who, until now, hadn't paid us any notice. It turns, displaying lights where its turrets usually sat. Thinking fast, I fire a trio of shots at the pilot. As soon as I know the shots have connected, I grab the gunship with the Force and throw it at the building I feel Adam in.

"Well, now we're compromised for sure..." Cade mutters. He takes off on rocket boots I hadn't even noticed. Hans and I don't have that luxury, so I grab Hans and use the Force to launch us into the hole in the building and cushion our fall. The area we've landed in is on fire, but security systems are handling the inferno quite well. I sense Adam above us, and we begin our ascent. Hans, Cade, and I work our way up the building. Initially I take the lead, effortlessly mowing down grunts, but the others begin to take over while I concentrate on keeping Adam and Ranulph suppressed mentally. I'm trying to get deeper into Ranulph's mind, to find out if I can save him, and he goes completely off the radar. I can't find him in the Force. Now, I can feel the Imperials coming in too. We're surrounded by LAATs and there's no doubt foot soldiers are inbound.

At long last, we reach the highest point in the building. Cade kicks the door down and shoots two goons hiding on either side as he walks in. Hans takes out another two and Cade finishes a third as we approach Ranulph, who stands in front of Adam. Letting up on Adam, I draw my lightsaber.

"Back away and come with us, Ranulph."

He smiles gleefully. Between the metal and his flesh, perhaps the purest expression of evil I've ever seen is made. "Stun him."

Hans fires, and the blue bolt hits Ranulph dead in the chest. Ranulph falls down to his knees, but doesn't lose consciousness. Adam, now more or less recovered, draws a pistol and fires quickly. I deflect the shot with ease, and Cade lets loose onto Adam. As he begins to shoot, Ranulph leaps into the line of fire. Time seems to slow as I toss Ranulph the other way - hard - and Adam's reign of terror comes to an end.

While I check on Ranluph (he's unconscious), Cade does some scan of Adam's body. "Drinks are on me if we get out alive," he says.

Abruptly, a circle of the wall above us falls in, evidently cut. Immediately, two clones in heavily modified black armor with blue visors jump in. I've never seen them before but I know enough to know they're clone commandos. I Force push them both through the wall, and they go flying down. In their place, the cockpit of an LAAT appears. I quickly throw my saber at it and pull it back, and the gunship goes crashing down into the building.

"Cade," I say, "We need a way out."

"Working on it right now. Think fast."

Cade fires some sort of claw from a wrist-mounted launcher on his right arm, grabbing Ranulph as he jumps out the hole. Hans and I quickly follow, and are picked up by a fast-moving airspeeder. Cade is now climbing into the pilot's seat; it must have been on auto-pilot. "Pretty neat, huh? It's got short-range cloaks, so no one's gonna be tracking us back home." Indeed, no one does, and we arrive at Cade's apartment with a choice to make.

We quickly learn that not only are the cybernetic implants the source of Ranulph's corruption and would end it if removed, but they will self-destruct if tampered with. We can't keep Ranulph around in this condition, but we can't remove this stuff either, so we choose a third way out: Cyrostasis. Just wait until we can remove the implants. Of course, then the question of where comes up. We eventually settle on Dantooine because Cade knows the ruins well, and, as I reveal to him, I've been there once before and need to go back to meditate.

Finally, in the morning, after making sure Ranulph stays unconscious for a while again, we take off towards the Outer Rim to get what we need and then head to Dantooine. I can't help but wonder how much things will have changed when he gets out.

Hopefully, not a whole lot.

The Final Year
To be continued.