Ganner Slarwalker

Biography
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Introduction
Ganner Slarwalker

17 BBY

The wind howled around us, both a product of the ongoing blizzard and manipulation through the Force. Heat and sparks flew around as my lightsaber met with the one of the person who had always been destined to kill me. Even amidst the combat, with each swing of my blade another moment flashed back to me. The Binding. Antimatter Squadron. Maricus. In the final duel, it all came back to me. This is the story of how I went from a humble Padawan of the Jedi Order to an aging exile fighting for his life in a blizzard in the Outer Rim.

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 from 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 withheld, 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 something 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 Sen Qorbin
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 accomplish 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 spiritual areas of the Force, Bail was an expert in it's physical 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
20 BBY

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 presence 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? Saris? 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, the Nightsister, Arek Saris, the young apprentice, and Varad Zagg, his master. How did I know their names? For an answer, I reached into the Force, but I found only one thing. A massive, incredibly powerful presence 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 Begins
It must have lasted weeks. They didn't have a hyperdrive, so 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 intriguing. 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 presence 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.

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

I felt Yula's presence 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. He opened with a lightning quick lunge at Tyrral he barely dodged, landed on his feet and turned around to face the group once more. Already, they were moving together to strike. Analyzing them in the Force, Massikus gathered that Tyrral was unknowingly using Battle Meditation, solidifying the choice to kill him first. Seeing Battle Meditation as too much of a wildcard factor, Massikus decided it was time to cut to the chase.

As the Jedi all leapt to attack, he let forth an outburst in the Force, essentially a push in all directions, and they went flying back. Moving at full speed, Massikus grabbed Tyrral by the neck before he even hit the ground. He let forth a burst of lightning, and Tyrral screamed in pain. Moving in to save him, Bail lunged toward Massikus. Without missing a beat, Massikus dropped Tyrral, grabbed Bail, and threw him at Yula. He turned back to Tyrral just in time to dodge his orange lightsaber. In the Force, I felt Tyrral reach out to me one final time before he died. Massikus raised his blade, and in desperation I pushed against it. It plunged, but just before it hit his heart, it stopped for a second, and then Massikus regained control. Tyrral was dead.

"Did you really think you could save him? Pathetic."

Despite his words, I could sense the fear in his mind. Deciding this fight was enough and it was time for the games to continue, Massikus retreated.

Fall of the Guardian
Something I learned about Massikus that night was that he didn't sleep. Instead, he meditated. I couldn't break into his mind to tell what it was about, so I ended up just waiting for hours. Massikus was so distracted by his meditations he didn't sense anything in the Force until the alarms in the facility began going off. He quickly snapped out of his trance, and dove into the Force to sense the cause of the disturbance. It didn't take long to figure out what- Bail and Yula. Seeming more annoyed than anything, Massikus stirred. He grabbed his lightsaber and then headed off through the facility towards them.

I felt anger surge through his, wait, my body as he realized their destination: The landing pad. He broke into a sprint, but they were already too close for him to beat them to it. He zoomed through lava-lit corridors and hallways until he finally reached the pad. Yula and Bail were running, with only a small flight of stairs separating them from Massikus' shuttle. He activated his saber, and Bail stopped. Yula kept running up the stairs, and turned to yell at him. "Come on!"

"Get out of here," Bail replied. He turned to Massikus and activated his lightsaber. "Don't let this be in vain."

She stopped for a second, her eyes watering, and then continued up the stairs and into the vessel. In bemusement, Massikus watched this all play out. Now he moved towards Bail, preparing to fight,

"You know," Bail remarked, "I always wanted to know which one of us would win in a duel."

As one, they both leap towards each other, meeting halfway in a saber lock. I could feel the intense heat and strain of the struggle.

"He's better than I expected, I'll give him that."

Finally, Massikus managed to push him back for just a second, giving Massikus time to build power. Behind Bail, the shuttle's engines begin to activate, and Massikus had an idea. Not one to waste time, Bail leapt again. Massikus Force pushed him back, leapt towards him, grabbed him in the air, and threw him against the engines as they fired up. Bail screamed, and the sound of sizzling flesh will reverberate through my ears for the rest of my life. I can't imagine the effort it must have taken, but he managed to leap out of the way of danger just before Yula lifted off into the night sky. Blast.

Lying on the ground, beaten, lied Bail.

"You fought well," Massikus said. "Better than most."

Looking us right in the eyes, Bail replied. "I haven't even started fighting yet."

Massikus raised his saber, preparing to plunge it into him. As he struck, Bail rolled out of the way, jumped up, and activated his lightsaber once more. Still, the wounds had taken their toll, and what was meant to be a wide swing became little more than a stumble. Moving quickly, Massikus sliced off his right arm, the one holding the saber, followed by both his legs in one sweep. As he fell, Massikus removed his left arm for good measure. Bail fell to the ground one last time.

"Know that you die with honor, Jedi."

He raised his sword, ready to decapitate. He swung, and again I tried to stop it. The blade faltered just above his neck.

"Ganner?"

"B-Bail?"

Massikus struck back, applying all his power to finishing the blow. I did the opposite. For a minute, we struggled against each other. For the slightest moment I felt a shift in Massikus' emotions, and then he let go of the saber., and it plummeted. Unlike the events leading directly up to it, Bail's death was quick and painless. I gave up, and Massikus regained control again. He looked to the sky, and let out an angry sigh. Then, grabbing his lightsaber, he set off towards the crash site.

Ganner Slarwalker
Speeding through space in the ship the trio had come in, rebuilt through the Force, Massikus activated a tracking beacon. The beacon wasn't on his shuttle, but rather on the shuttle belonging to Varad. Massikus had figured he would be followed. He was right. The shuttle was heading towards Dantooine, and Varad had no other reason to leave Umbara. Massikus followed.

Arek Saris
I must admit, I was intrigued as to why Massikus would stop at such a place. He certainly wasn't following anyone, why would he be here? Cloaked just under the clouds, I saw the shuttle land by what looked like the remains of a Jedi Temple. An interesting location to kill an ancient Sith Lord. I landed my, technically Varad's, ship a few kilometers out and went into full Force stealth mode, swiftly moving in for the kill.

My first sign that something was wrong was that I felt nothing in the Dark Side. Nothing at all. Given the overwhelmingly Light nature of this place, it was hard to tell without breaking stealth if anyone aligned with the Light Side was here. I started following the tracks from the vessel, and it was immediately clear that these were a female's steps. Unless Massikus had decided to transfer his consciousness into the woman for some reason, I had a feeling this wasn't him.

I followed her tracks into the ruins. Sitting in a wide chamber, with a small pond and a hint of sunlight from above, was the Zabrak from before.

"I don't know who you are, but you'll have to try a little harder to hide from a Jedi Master."

A master, eh? I accepted the challenge.

"I didn't come here for you, so maybe before your life ends you can make yourself useful. Where's Massikus?"

She rose. "Stranded on Mustafar, where he'll stay until I make it home and warn the Jedi Council about him."

"On the contrary. You won't warn anyone about anything again."

"I'll warn you right now this isn't a fight you want to start."

I activated my lightsaber. "But it is."

"Very well then." She remained motionless, leaving me to initiate the combat. And so I did.

Ganner Slarwalker
Massikus found his shuttle parked not far from the rubble of a Jedi Temple on Dantooine even he had never seen it undestroyed. Through our connection, he could sense Yula, and we could sense Saris too. He quickly landed and ran inside to see the two of them locked in combat. Neither of them were wounded, and they seemed to be fairly even. When we entered the room, they both stopped. Saris spoke up.

"Lord Massikus! I-"

"Silence! You will be dealt with later. Leave."

Saris look at Yula, then back at us for a moment, then deactivated this lightsaber and ran out. In the Force, he briefly touched me and I could feel the shock in him.

"Now, where was I?"

Massikus' crimson blade snapped to life. "I can feel Ganner in there. How long do you really think you have before he wins?"

"Much longer than it's going to take me to kill you."

In objection, she deactivated her weapon and spread her arms wide, beckoning me to slay her.

"Or will it?"

I knew I had to save her.

Massikus, mostly still in control, walked towards her. With every step he took, the strain increased, and he shook.... Hold on. Not he, I. He struggled to raise my lightsaber while I deactivated it with ease. Yula's face visibly grew calmer.

"Y-Yula..." I began to form words.

"Ganner?"

"Get..him...out..."

She closed her eyes and raised her arms, her hands reaching for my forehead.

Before they could arrive at their destination, I heard a lightsaber activate behind me. Without thinking, I pushed Yula away- hard. She flew across the room, hitting the other wall and falling unconscious immediately. As soon as I had processed this, I was impaled. I looked down to see another red blade bursting out of my chest. It retraced, and I turned, falling to the ground. It was Saris.

"Tell me, Ganner, Massikus, whoever's in there, have any last words?"

Against the light, the silhouette of a fourth figure in hooded robes approached. "Not for you, he doesn't." He activated a deep blue lightsaber, like the blade of the ocean itself. Scowling, Saris turned.

"And you would be?"

"Call me Galen."

And with that, I passed out from my injuries.

Galen
Could it be him? It had to be. Still, I had to focus on the enemy at hand.

"I don't know who you are, but there's always an easy way and a hard way to these things, and you can measure someone's intelligence by which way they choose. Choose wisely."

He raised his saber and charged at me. Bad choice. Swiftly, I charged towards him in a sudden counter-attack, catching him in the face with the hilt of my lightsaber. He fell, inertia keeping him moving for a brief moment before he stopped. With the Force, I picked him up and shot him out through the hole in the ceiling. He probably would survive. I ran to the Jedi- It had to be Ganner, I could sense it, and began to carry him. Looking across the lake, I saw that his female companion had left. In my haste, I decided it was of little consequence. With Ganner, I left what was left of the Temple, and headed home.

Ganner Slarwalker
I woke standing in the middle of a clearing surrounded some abandoned buildings, and further out, by a field of tall grass. Examining myself and the surroundings, I found myself clad in more typical Jedi gear, with my main lightsaber clipped onto my belt. In the Force, Massikus was not tethered to me. Immediately, I began to fully reach out once more as I began to take in my surroundings in more detail. The buildings were broken and withered with age, and on the other side of the village stood another being.

He was certainly bulky, and wore heavy black armor covering nearly everything but his dark gray face and his red eyes. The Force quickly confirmed my suspicions. This was Massikus. I activated my lightsaber, and he followed suit. We both walked towards the center to exchange words before the inevitable duel. Massikus spoke first. "Some sort of bubble within the Force. I'm impressed."

"Why are we here?"

"Because there can only be one of us."

Really, that was all there needed to be said on the matter. We both knew what was coming, and leapt into the final duel.

Galen
I gave Ganner some water as he laid on my bed. Bleeding slightly on his black and red robes, I had many questions for him. Unfortunately, he wasn't conscious for me to answer them. He was very warm, but I could sense his fever did not come from disease; rather, it was from the Force. At my side my wife, Vara, asked "Is it him?"

"It has to be. I felt it in the Temple, or what's left of it. Something inside him is blocking me out, but it doesn't feel like him."

"What is it then?"

"An alternate personality, maybe? Some sort of Force leech that latched on to him? Chances are only he knows."

"Can you help him?"

"I have to try."

Placing my hands lightly on his head, I reached out towards him in the Force.

Ganner
Thrown through one of the huts, I landed on my feet just in time to roll out of the way of another slash. Massikus just kept coming, never giving me a chance to recover. I was almost constantly retreating, blocking and dodging, but never giving in. I didn't think I was going to break any time soon, but neither was he. Massikus attacked again and I held my ground, bringing us violently crashing into a saber lock. I pushed, my arms feeling like they were about to fall off. Aside from the sound of our blades colliding the air was still.

Then, to our left, another blade hissed to life.

"If you're smart, you'll back away from my son." Galen stated. Massikus and I looked over to see a man who indeed looked like an older version of me. Holding his saber from before, he was dressed in white robes with battle armor underneath, and his hood pulled back, giving way to a familiar worn face like looking in a mirror 30 years into the future, with brown hair like mine and a goatee. His eyes, however, were another dark brown.

"Okay, time's up. Made a choice?"

Massikus actually snarled and raised his weapon. I took a quick stab at him, which he dodged, giving Galen time to close in. Galen attack with a large overhead swing, which Massikus blocked. Again, I stabbed him and this time my blade met his flesh. He let out a short gasp, and dropped his weapon.

"This...is...not..."

I pulled my weapon upwards, cutting his top half in two.

In an instant, my senses returned to the real world.

The Knight Returns
I opened my eyes as I quickly sat up, blinded momentarily by the light. I was one in the Force, stronger than I was before but I felt a sort of void where Massikus' strength had been. Standing in front of me was Galen, and a woman. She was shorter than him, and her face was softer and smoother. Her hair was strawberry blonde, and I immediately noticed her eyes- they were the same shade as mine.

"Mom?" I whispered.

"Welcome home," she said.

They took some time to explain everything to me. Their names were Galen and Vara Slarwalker, and they were indeed my parents. Galen was a former Jedi Master himself. Though he was presumed dead, he had merely withdrawn from the teachings of the Order to live differently. Vara was a woman he had met on a passenger freighter during his travels as he searched for a better life.

They had high hopes for me as soon as I displayed my Force and gave me to the Order believing I would go on to do great things. They tried to keep up with the news of my exploits with Bail, Yula, and Tyrral. They also had another son two years after I left, named Cade in my honor. Then, when he was 17, pirates attacked the family farm and kidnapped Cade when he tried to fight back. They hadn't heard from him since.

I told them how I had been bound to Massikus and what had happened since, leading up to the fight in the ruins. When I was over, Galen asked, "So what now?"

"I can't go back to the Order, and even if I could I don't have time. Saris is getting away, and I need to catch him before he can escape to the Temple and warn them that I'm coming for them- and mark my words, I am."

"I ought to give you this before you go." He handed me an orange lightsaber crystal. "This belonged to my Master, who gave it to me when he died. It was found on Kashyyk and is very potent. I'm sure you'll need it."

"Thank you."

As the three of us moved in for a hug, Vara spoke. "We're so proud of you."

When all was said and done, I set out with new gear. I still had Massikus' tracking device and identified Saris' destination as Felucia. I took off into hyperspace to bring him down.

Planetfall
Felucia

Even from orbit, I could feel the pure life emanating from Felucia. As I got closer, impossible as it seemed, it only grew. Finally, I reached the surface and stepped out. I had never felt more immersed in the Force as noises rang out all around me. Against this surge of life, I felt the Dark Side pulling deep from within the jungle. Saris. However, it was more than just him. I couldn't place my finger on it, but there were definitely some other beings here with questionable morals. Focusing on Saris, I entered the jungle.

At first I felt just a light thump. As I pressed on, it grew stronger and stronger, until it was practically a localized earthquake. Then, suddenly it stopped, causing me to take my focus off of Saris for a second. Sensing something behind me- no, it couldn't be- I turned slowly. Standing in front of me was a full sized Rancor. I activated my new orange lightsaber as it roared.

I sensed danger in the Force, and rolled away just in time to dodge a rocket that flew past me into the Rancor's open mouth. I turned to look at the source and found a tall, blonde man, who dropped a now useless rocket launcher. "Looking for me?" he asked.

"Should I be?"

"That depends on whether or not you can help me. I'm part of a special ops squad working for the Republic. Long story short, we were raiding a Sep base a few klicks out and the rest of them got captured."

"Where is this base?"

"North-northeast."

Reaching out in the Force in that direction, I felt Saris, among other Force presences.

"Then let's move."

Ganner
My new friend (who I learned was named Hans) and I stood, covered by the underbrush, observing the base. There wasn't a lot to be made of it from outside, other than the presence of a few AATs and a hangar with some droid starfighters and a few shuttles, one of which belonged to Saris. The plan we shortly formed was rather simple: Steal a tank, burst into the base, get everyone out, and then Hans would pilot the squad out while I stayed behind to deal with Saris.

As the droids patrolling the perimeter turned and began to walk to the other side of the base, Hans and I grabbed our weapons and made a dash for it. We quickly hopped inside one of the tanks and powered it on. Hans took the gun while I was the pilot.

"Now we're talking!" he exclaimed.

He moved the turret about, taking aim at a few tanks and firing. They exploded forcefully, launching our tank several yards. Had our shields not been activated, we too would have been blown up. Alerted by the noise, droids began pouring out of the base. I unloaded onto them with the cannons as Hans blasted a hole into the base.

Arek Saris
A loud series of explosions rocked the base. Immediately, a dozen droid voices lit up in a torrent of confusion and chaos. "What happened?" I yelled, but they were beyond listening. Surely these nitwits couldn't be the force that was at war with the Republic. Then again, given how easy it was to reprogram into seeing me as an officer, maybe it was possible. In the Force, I sensed Ganner and another presence, not Force-sensitive. Could Ganner really have overcome Massikus?

If so, a tactical retreat seemed like the best decision. Still, I had to be sure. They were heading straight for the cells, and I moved to intercept.

Ganner
I busted down another wall and through the cockpit HUD I could see five figures locked in shielded cells. Then, a blur jumped in front of the camera and I rolled (as much as I could with my limited space) out of the way in time to dodge a crimson lighsaber blade plunging into the tank. "Get them out!" I shouted to Hans as I tore off the hull with the Force. Standing between me and the prisioners was Saris. He pulled his lightsaber out of the hull as we faced each other.

"I must say, Slarwalker, you have a talent for escaping apparent death."

"Let's see if we share it."

I activated my orange lightsaber as I leapt at him. He rolled out of the way and I pushed him farther, taking the fight outside and away from the cells. In the corner of my eye, I saw Hans running towards the controls, taking down a few droids with his hands as he ran. I continued pushing towards Saris, leading him away from the others. They all picked up weapons from fallen droids and began making their escape.

"CONCENTRATE FIRE!" Saris ordered. By some unfortunate miracle, none of the droids fired at the escapees, but rather at me. With my concentration shifted to deflecting the dozens of shots being fired at me, Saris ran for his transport, not even bothering to stop to take out the escapees. I was too bogged down to stop him as he flew into the atmosphere, running away a second time. Noticing this, the others turned and shot down the droids that I didn't take care of.

When the last one had fallen, one of the escapees, a short blonde woman, spoke up.

"We're going after him."

With that, we got in one of the other shuttles and took off into the skies to bring Saris down.

Saris
The Mandalore System

One moment I was meditating as my shuttle cruised through hyperspace, and the next I was nearly thrown across the room as I was abruptly stopped. In my window was a Republic cruiser with some unsightly bulges- gravity wells? A message came through.

"Unidentified vessel, this is the Republic Cruiser Reverence. prepare for tractor beam lock. Failure to comply will result in your termination."

Blast.

Ganner
As we followed Saris through hyperspace, I acquainted myself with the crew. I also learned that each member of the squad was actually a criminal of some sort that the Republic had captured and decided to use for their own purposes.

Hans Novastar, the man who had helped me rescue the rest, was the closest thing the team had to a "leader" aside from their overseer, some Admiral. Hans was a commando of sorts and was arrested launching a successful attack on the fortress of a Hutt the Republic had secretly been negotiating with.

Next was Ranulph Darkhitch, a tan young man with blonde hair and a goatee to match. Ranulph was the techie of the group, arrested for hacking into Coruscant's military databases and uncovering secret plans for superweapons. He was also the youngest, at only 18, though he looked much older.

Siri Tokolighter was the blonde girl from before. She was also somewhat young, being 21. Siri was the crackshot of the group and was arrested for attempting to assassinate some big-shot known as Xalandra Nova. In fact, the shot was dead on, but a Jedi Master known as Kahar Zamet deflected it just in time.

Fourth in line was Blaze Terrant. He was stocky with auburn hair, and was arrested for going into casinos claiming to be the fastest shot in the galaxy and shooting down anyone who dared to challenge him. Needless to say, he was quite the gunslinger.

Last but not least was Arron Radion. Hans told me that he was a big-time bounty hunter who had worked for the Hutt he killed, and was sort of the jack of all trades of the group. The torture he endured while captured must have been too much, however, because he was very reclusive and never spoke.

The team had been sent to Felucia to kill the general of the base and destroy as much as they could. Saris, in what I gathered was an attempt to hide from me, infiltrated the base, disposed of and replaced the general by reprogramming all the droids to see him as the general's replacement. Now, since Saris technically was the general of the base, they could get away with going with me to take him down. And so, the six of us sat on the ship as we were violently thrown out of hyperspace. "Unidentified vessel, this is the Republic Cruiser Reverence. prepare for tractor beam lock. Failure to comply will result in your termination."

"Impossible..." Ranulph muttered.

The ship began to slowly pull us in.

Saris
I walked out of my shuttle, with a small patrol of clone troopers staring blankly at me, guns raised. In the middle stood a captain, with a cyan shoulder pad and a kama. "Mind giving us a name?"

It was time. In my mind, I knew the name at once. It was new, and yet, it had always been mine. I could sense their fingers tightening on their triggers as I took my time. Despite myself, a small sneer was beginning to form.

"Lock him-"

"Darth."

They froze at the word. In their single second of hesitation, my lightsaber flew to my hand.

"Darth Maricus."

With my blade as red as the blood I was about to spill, I attacked.

Ganner
I felt a large ripple in the Force. Saris was here, and had revealed himself, presumably to the clones. Right on cue, over the intercom, I heard screaming and gunshots. Little by little, voice by voice, the screams quieted, until finally either Saris or a single clone had lived.

I didn't have much faith in the clone.

"Why, that's you, Ganner, isn't it? Incredible."

"Surrender, Saris. You've got no backup and no way out."

"Arek Saris is dead. I just killed him."

Static.

"How awfully nice of that Saris-sounding scum to take care of him for us," Ranulph sarcastically remarked. The rest of us sat momentarily in silence as the tractor beam pulled us in closer and closer. Finally, Ranulph was the one who broke it.

"So what exactly is the plan, anyway?"

Hans began thinking.

"Ranulph, you need to get to the bridge. Get help, find something to stop Saris.

Blaze, you and Arron need to lock down the hangars. Saris isn't getting off this ship.

Siri and I will, uh, patrol the ship. Ganner, you can sense Saris, so you'll be the most essential component of the plan. I think this goes without saying, but you'll need to track him and coordinate with Ranulph and the rest of us to keep him in while you two do whatever you do." He handed us all holocoms.

The ship began to pull into the hangar, and through our hull, the carnage was remarkable. Squads of clones laid in pieces across the room. The ship landed. Saris' voice rang out over the ship's intercom.

"Now boarding six walking corpses."

"I know the layout of Republic cruisers well enough to know that came from the bridge," Ranulph says.

"I'll come with you," I reply.

"All right, everyone split up!" Hans says.

"Oh, yay, ship duty. Such fun." Blaze mutters as we all go our separate ways.

Darth Maricus (AKA Saris)
Using the ship's cameras, I scanned around looking for any stragglers besides Ganner. All across the Reverence were my little pieces of art. I flicked through the ship, but no one was left. It was time to call Varad and make my escape.

Ranulph Darkhitch
"He's splitting off," Ganner said. "I'll go after him. You get to the bridge." With that, he quickly took a left down another blank corridor and quickly vanished. When I approached the bridge, there was no door to open, and I could see the carnage from across the hallway. There was not a single clone in sight, and the walls of the bridge looked like someone had made modern art with only gray and black. By some miracle, the computers were barely scratched. However, just as I began to examine them, I heard a sneeze. Quickly and silently I spun and drew my pistol, but no one was there. Just as I was about to dismiss it as nothing, a section of the ceiling opened up, and a man dressed in colorful robes fell past, screaming.

"Hans, Siri, someone, get up here. There's a freaking stowaway."

As he stood up and brushed off his dusty, fancy clothes I got a closer glance at him. He was tan, with golden eyes and black hair. He had about the same physique as me, tall and slightly skinny. He was also, somehow, wielding a sniper rifle.

"Hello there," he said. "I'm Dylan and I'm sure we can talk things out."

Blaze Terrant
Truth be told, ship duty was pretty dang boring.

"You know, we could make this more interesting. Play a game of pazaak or something." Arron was still mute, staring out the window. A long silence ensued.

"Fine, have it your way."

Another long silence. Maybe I could annoy him into talking.

"You know, that Siri is quite the looker. And did you see the way she was glancing at Hans during our briefing? I'm telling you, man-" The airlock opened.

"Man?"

He had left the ship. I quickly followed. He was running towards Saris' ship. "Arron!" I yelled.

He stopped and turned slowly.

"I hate to do this," he said.

Before I had time to react, he drew his pistol and shot me. The last thing I saw was a blue flash - he had stunned me.

Darth Maricus
As I ran through the halls, a door opened in front of me that Ganner promptly jumped through. Yet again, we watched each other, preparing to strike.

"Saris."

"That's Maricus to you, Slarwalker."

"Right then. Shall we?"

He activated his sabers. I did the same. I knew I couldn't take him in a fight, but I quickly found a solution to that as a blonde man and woman walked behind me.

Ranulph
"Okay, okay, let me explain. So I'm sitting here in this ceiling nibbling this rifle because I'm really hungry, right? (I'm still really hungry.) Then I hear a lot of people screaming and stuff, right? Then it gets reeeeal quiet, and there's some other voice who doesn't sound like everyone else saying some random stuff I can't understand. Then I guess he walks closer to me, 'cuz I hear him talking about finding his 'secondary objective' on Man-dollar or something. Then he got real quiet and I figured I was alone so I started thinking about my friend named Price, he's pretty cool, you should meet him. Then you showed up. Also I bit a little bit off the scope."

"...What."

"So I'm sitting here in this ceiling nibbling this rifle because I'm really hungry, right? (I'm still really hungry.) Then I hear a lot of people screaming and stuff, right? Then it gets reeeeal quiet, and there's some other voice who doesn't sound like everyone else saying some random stuff I can't understand. Then I guess he walks closer to me, 'cuz I hear him talking about finding his 'secondary objective' on Man-dollar or something. Then he got real quiet and I figured I was alone so I started thinking about my friend named Price, he's pretty cool, you should meet him. Then you showed up. Also I bit a little bit off the scope."

"What."

"Nope, you're out of chances."

I activated my comlink. "Guys, Saris has some sort of ulterior objective on Mandalore."

Silence. What were they doing? I moved to the cameras to find out. There was Saris, apparently holding Siri hostage, with Ganner and Hans on either side. Just great.

Ganner
"You, behind me, don't even think of pulling anything." Saris slowly backed away from me. Hans kept his gun trained on Saris' head. As soon as he was next to Hans, Saris quickly threw him with the Force against the wall. He threw Siri at me, whom I jumped over, and started to run. As he ran down the halls he sliced a vent open, causing a gust of gas to blow me off my feet across the room, leaving the 3 of us left behind in a heap. Over the comlink, Ranulph began to panic. "Guys, Saris is headed for the hangars, Arron is gone, and Blaze is unconscious. He's gonna escape!" I slowly got to my feet and parted the gas so that I could run after him but I knew he was already too far gone. I got into the hangar in time to see him leave with our shuttle.

"Blast it all."

Minutes later, we all assembled at the bridge. As I entered I immediately took notice of the stowaway, who I could since was... off, in some way. "Price! You made it to the part where I come in again! And you're still not banned!" He said.

"What?"

"Stop with the nonsense," Ranulph said. "What is Maricus- apparently what Saris calls himself now- planning?"

"I don't know, all I caught was something about Mandalore and a second objective and Vizla."

We all looked at each other in confusion and surprise.

"Vizla?" Hans asked, hesitantly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Vizla works for the Death Watch."

We all took a collective moment to realize the trouble we were about to get into, which was ruined when Dylan burped quite loudly and then said "Gesundheit."

"May I do the honors?" Ranulph inquired.

"Be my guest."

With a nice whap on the head from Ranulph's pistol, Dylan was down for the count. From there we returned to our shuttle. "I have a plan," Hans announced as we all sat down. "And I don't think you're gonna particularly like it."

Maricus
"I've arrived."

"Good. Find the target and leave swiftly. No one can know." Even over the holo, Varad's voice was commanding.

"Of course, Master."

"And one more thing-- Slarwalker must not leave alive."

I hadn't told him anything about Slarwalker.

"Yes, Master."

Minutes later, I opened a second comm channel.

"It's time to take him down. Finish off the others and wait for my signal."

"It will be done," the mole replied.

"It had better. Maricus out."

Ganner
Dressed in possibly the stupidest bounty hunter outfit to ever "grace" the galaxy with its presence, complete with a little green cape and a black mask, I walked out the shuttle into the docking bay. A Mandalorian in black and red armor came over to greet me. He hesitated for just a second before he walked up to me, datapad in hand. "Need some ID, he said." I handed him a fake Hans obtained for me, and he scanned it.

"Starlord? Really?" He remarked.

As soon as his head and attention were away, I activated a jammer hidden in my left glove that would disable any nearby recording devices. Then, I punched him with my fist enhanced by the shock glove on my right hand. It didn't take him out, but he stumbled, and a crack on visor told me his vision was probably down. I walked up to him and slammed him on the ground. The datapad came out as positive, which ought to have delayed suspicion of me for a short time. I took the ID, his datapad (you never know when something like that could come in handy), quietly tucked his body in the corner, and proceeded into Mandalore.

"It went smoothly," I muttered. "Got some potential intel also." As I walked in, I stuck a small chip onto the datapad that allowed Ranulph to remotely access it.

"Scanning now... Ever wonder what Mandalorians do in their downtime?"

"No...?"

"Good. You don't want to know. No mentions of an Arek Saris, but exactly two of a Maricus. Displaying them on your visor now."

"You can do that?" The words flashed to life in front of me.

"That's all he got out before you knocked the guy unconscious."

"Interesting. Infusions could have something to do with the ritual, but why would Varad want that? All it would take is one body, and certainly he could find a more sustainable one than a Death Watch member."

"Your guess is as good as mine. At any rate, stop Maricus and it won't matter. I've got Hans, Siri, and Blaze running recon for Vizla and Maricus right now, so it's only a matter of time."

"Copy that. Heading out now."

Hans
Standing on an empty rooftop, I scanned the city. Ranulph had programmed my mask to look for beings matching Pre Vizla's or Maricus' biological signatures. Judging from her swearing, Siri, on the other side of the roof, was having no luck either. Blaze was down below, making sure no one came too close to finding us. Suddenly, two red bodies were outlined- one fitting Maricus and one Vizla. "It will be done," Siri whispered.

"Huh?"

I quietly sent Ranulph the signatures and their coordinates. Just as I did it, I felt a blaster poke me in the back.

"Siri, what are you doing?"

"Carrying out the will of the Force."

I needed to keep her talking while I looked for a way out.

"Sorry, I thought Ganner was the Jedi here?"

"I serve no Jedi." She vocalized the word with such disgust I thought she was actually about to vomit on me. "I am a Shadow Assassin, like my master, Darth Maricus, and you will perish before me."

The only exit I could see was to jump and pray my jetpack could save me. I could also attack Siri, but I had no idea if I would be able to take her.

"How could you do this? After all we've been through?"

My words seemed to make her hesitate just a bit, giving me the opening I needed. I quickly elbowed her in the face, causing her arm to move off target as she fired. I leapt off the building and spun to shoot back as I fell. Instead, I saw her leap towards me. She grabbed me as my rocket activated and we flew wildly through the sky in a frantic melee. We careened onto a large taxi speeder and stood up facing each other. Between the two of us was Siri's pistol. We both leapt for it and I grabbed it first. We both quickly drew away from each other, and I stood pointing it at her.

"Any last words?"

Her response was to fall back off the taxi. I was moving too fast to track her. Suddenly, Blaze's voice rang over the comms.

"Where are you guys!?!?! There's DW's everywhere and I can't take much longer!"

"Hang tight," I responded. I was too far though. Blaze was going to die.

"I don't have time!" A explosion went off in the distance, and the comm went to static.

"Blast...."

Ganner
As soon as Ranulph gave me the location I began running and jumping towards him. At last I had a physical visual on where the site was. With a lightsaber my left hand, I carried onwards.

I could vaugely since Maricus' presence in the vicinity. However, I couldn't reach out and get a closer position on him, because now I needed to keep my Force presence small. He was definitely in this building, though. I touched my earpiece and asked, "Ranulph, can you get a bead on him?"

"I can do you one better," He replied. A red outline signifying his body appeared somewhere a couple stories down the building. In addition, an audio feed began 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 played out, I crept down dark floors, my green blade giving me warmth in an otherwise chilly building. Using the Force to dampen the sound, I deactivated my lightsaber as I entered the floor they occupied. The walls of the room were all glass, and Maricus was walking with a tall man in decorated Death Watch armor towads an elevator: Vizla.

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

"...I can get you fifty men right now. But I will need them back in a month unharmed."

The two men walked in the elevator. Both turned to face me, though I wasn't visible to them.

"I agree on one condition- I need the one you call Xux."

"I can get him, but you'd better pay well for this."

"Do your part and I'll do mine. Now, I have business to attend to. I'll see you on Umbara."

Maricus pressed a button and the door began to close, but before it did, he stepped out with the speed of the Force.

I drew my other saber, and ignited them both. Staring me down with his yellow eyes, he ignited 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 ran towards me, saber raised, but I simply extended my hand and Force pushed him into the closed elevator door. I leapt towards him, sabers poised to impale, but at the last second he dodged out of the way, grabbed my throat, and slammed me against the door. I tried to raise my sabers, but he was Force pushing them down, so I tried a different tactic. I pried open the doors with the Force, and we both fell back into the shaft. I grabbed his arm, quickly spinning so that he was on the bottom, and landed hard on the elevator, deactivating all our weapons. Out of breath, with my head spinning, I rolled off of Maricus, who was knocked out cold. "Ranulph," I gasp, "Get me out of here."

I stood up, still holding a lightsaber in my left hand. I knew I could kill him now, and all this would be over. All I would've needed to do was kill one unarmed person. I knew it was against the Jedi code, but I wasn't a Jedi. What was I? I pushed the button to activate the saber, and looked at Maricus in the green light. I turned the saber upside down, raised it with both hands, and as I prepared to take his life, the window broke behind me.

I turned in an instant to see who it was, and time seemed to slow. Through an explosion of glass, Siri flew towards me with a fiery red saber raised. She had cuts and bruises across her face, chest and arms, more than could've come from the glass. There was a fire in her amber eyes as her blade ran 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 was like my insides were melting, and I took a second to reflect on the fact that they probably were. Shocked, I tried to form words but didn't have the energy, and I plummeted to the ground, rapidly losing consciousness. Maricus stood, and Siri talked with him for what feels like an eternity as they watched me, though I couldn't make out any words. At long last, Siri pulled her saber out of me, and I let the relief of death finally take me.

Ranulph
When I got to Ganner, Hans was already there, trying to apply first aid. "What in the world happened?" I asked. Ganner had a bad lightsaber wound in his chest.

"Siri was a traitor. She must have attacked Ganner and ran off with Maricus."

"Damn it. We'll kill her for that."

"Agreed, but we have to get Ganner out of here first."

We both looked at him for a second, thinking, and then a thought occured to me.

"Don't worry- I have a plan."

Siri
Umbara

Lying next to a bed of lava outside the doorway to a main chamber, I entertained myself by shooting some lightning between my fingers. Inside, Maricus was speaking to his Master. I'd never met Varad, but one day I was going to help Maricus kill him. He had barely spoken to me since we left Mandalore. I killed Ganner myself, but he was still mad at me for allowing the others to escape. He refused to see that they were of little consequence and couldn't put even the tiniest dent in our plans if they wanted to. I saw motion out of the corner of my eye, and looked up to see Maricus leaving as the door slid shut behind him. I joined him and we walked together through the halls as the other Sith went about their business.

"Despite your best efforts, we are closer to success than ever before." He said. "I was just trying to take advantage of an opportunity to rid us of an enemy. You would have done the same thing."

He turned to me and I could see the rage he barely held back upon his face. "I would not have failed." he said cooly, 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 let me go and I sat for a moment, catching my breath. "Go to the training room until further notice. I will not let you continue to drag the new order down." He muttered, walking away.

Ranulph
Brotherhood HQ

"Remind me again why we're here?" Hans asked.

"I did some research on Dylan after we met him. He's a big time criminal, with experimental Republic military-grade tech. We need his help."

"That was rethorical," He muttered.

We walked into the medbay.

"You owe us for this, big time," Dylan said. He was looking at Ganner, in a bacta tank. He was flanked by a dozen and a half members of his crime ring, the Brotherhood. "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 risk for us. What's the reward?"

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

After thinking for a second, I responded, "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 put his hand to his ear and asked, "Price, is this guy telling the truth?" After a few seconds, he nodded, and they lowered their weapons. Dylan leaned in close to me, and whispered in my ear, "If you don't come through, I will kill you, him, and everything you love." He leaned back again and began barking commands. "Alright, boys, move out! Except you Oriuss, you stay here and keep and eye on our guests."

We both watched Ganner float for a moment in silence. Oriuss, a Pantoran, looks over at me and asked, "What's the plan anyway?"

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

Varad Zagg
Umbara

Gathered in the main hall, the 50 Mandalorians stood before me. Talzin stood to one side of me; Saris stood to the other. "You're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here."

"The truth is, we are here to make the perfect soldier. And you, well, one of you, are going to be that soldier."

Finding Xux was truly a miracle for the cause. Everyone could sense his strength in the Dark Side, and he didn't even know it.

"So, to the point- all of you are going to fight to the death, and if you don't, we'll kill you." To prove this point, I allowed Saris to stab the closest Mandalorian. The melee began, and I turned to leave so that I could meditate for the ritual to come.

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 said "Got it, when do we go?"

We looked out the window at hyperspace, just as we stopped. Umbara was before us. The dark planet where this all began for him would where it all ended.

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

"Right about now."

"Let's do this," Ganner's voice trailed off, and I caught him as he fell unconscious.

"Oh boy."

Maricus
Covered in red, Xux stood in his armor amongst the corpses of the folly.

"Will he be ready?" Varad asked Talzin. She looked up to the sky.

"It is not him you need to worry about."

Against the moon that filled the night sky, a large outline suddenly appeared. It was barely visible- it had to be cloaked, and Slarwalker had to be behind it.

"It is him."

Ganner
After making sure all systems were working properly, I took a moment to look down at the red and black surface of the planet where it all began. Where Ganner Slarwalker died and Darth Massikus took his place. Why there?

I supposed an answer would reach me shortly. The drop pod counted down the seconds until I reached the surface, and I thought I could faintly see the drop pod with my equipment in the distance, but it was hard to distinguish it with such a dark background.

My first objective was to secure the Umbaran airfield. If anything could shoot the HQ down, it would be there. With any luck, however, it'll be just like I left it. Following that, I was to keep the area on lockdown and wait for the Brotherhood forces to rendezvous. The temple wasn't far and I could use the help in the assault. Hopefully, Eclipse protocol would be ready by then, but the Sith had proven to be quite troublesome thus far and we couldn't take the risk.

The surface was coming up. I braced 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."

Behind me, Varad asked, "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 said, "You heard him. Get the acolytes out there."

Siri
"THROUGH POWER, I GAIN VICTORY."

Yet another training droid. I'd gone through the Sith Code dozens of times, and the machines keptcoming. They weren't getting any stronger, either. It jumped in the air, staff raised to stab me, and I took the advantage to simply Force push the staff of the last robot through its chest. I sensed danger behind me, and as the robot fell I used 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."

"To what might I owe the honors?"

"Ganner Slarwalker is alive and he is coming. We will kill him, or he will kill us all."

"As you wish, Master."

"And when this is all done, we will point our guns to Varad."

Ganner
The airfield was all clear. A few anti-air guns and tanks that someone had tried to repair was all that was left of the Umbaran airfield. I activated my comlink. "It's clear. Come on down." Like a meteor shower, drop pods began to rain in, quickly deploying a local Brotherhood field base. Out came Ranulph, Hans, and many Brotherhood mercenaries. As they set up, I decided to meditate. All around me I sensed a strong Dark Side presence. In fact, it felt literally all around me....

The Shadow Assassins were upon us.

Varad
I activated the voice modifier.

"Dylan, this is Atom. We're moving eastbound towards the Temple. The airfield has been overrun by Sith assassins. 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."

"Copy that, initiating Eclipse protocol..."

The moon was blotted out by the space station as it began to glow purple. 

Ganner
As the world went black, I felt a lot of danger. Then, the grey fog became red. Dozens of crimson lightsabers surrounded us on all sides. I reached out in the Force to find Siri, but quickly pulled back when I realize the Sith weren't the danger here.

It was the station.

The sky turned purple as a prototype superlaser prepared to fire. Jedi, mercenaries, patriots, and Sith alike took just a second to look to the sky and see the oncoming storm. Then each rantheir separate ways. As I head edinto the thickness, I turn in time to see the purple laser hit the surf-

Truth
Ganner

I woke up, quickly adopting a battle stance, though no one was around. In fact, the planet seemed almost serene, like it was untouched. The moon wasn't blocked. In fact, there was no evidence a fight had even occured, and certainly no craters. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw movement and began to follow it. It was 4 Jedi.

Could it be..? No, it was impossible.

I had to know. I followed them.

They were running in the direction of the Temple, though I couldn't make out who they were.

After making sure they weren't followed, they stopped in a clearing to rest and wait. I approached from afar, and it was them. It was me. I kept my distance, fearing what interference would reap. Just as I remembered it, 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. They were all speechless with faces of sheer surprise as it began to fly off into the distance.

After another exchange of glances, they followed it.

They followed it down the path as I observed. As they turned the corner they stopped in awe.

The Holocron flew into the door to the Temple. I knew what came next.

"Ganner, it's me."

It was an illusion of the Dark Side. Without thinking, I- that is, the other Ganner- 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. Left to right: Maricus, Talzin, Massikus in his old body, and Varad.

Both groups activated their lightsabers and Varad leapt at my past self. Unlike last time, I didnt black out. Varad's strike was strong, but my past self stood his ground in blocking it, defiance in his eyes.

"RUN!" He yelled.

Then he unleashed a bold flurry of attacks as the others hesitantly ran. I didn't know I was capable of putting up such a fight, holding off Varad, Maricus, Siri, and countless other Sith. Only when Massikus stepped in did I finally fall. As past Ganner lost consciousness, the world began to turn black, except for one person: Talzin.

"Impressive, is it not? She asked. "I'm sure you're very confused. Let's continue."

When I came to, I was in the room where it happened. I saw myself bound to the tablet. I saw the pain and the fear in my eyes- eyes that looked at me, but through me.

Talzin and Massikus stood in front of him, as they had before.

"Something was helping him out there, I'm sure of it. And getting in his head is the only way to find out what." 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."

Massikus replied. "I need him now. You saw what happened out there. I'll need that kind of power to hunt down the other three."

He concentrated on past me. I knew what he was doing.

"We can send the Assassins after them-"

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

Funny how that worked out.

"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 past me, her hands now red.

"You, unfortunately, don't get to sleep. But don't worry; in time you will play your part." He tried to escape, but he was too weak. While he was squirming, she put her hands to his head. I knew what was happening now. Past me lost consciousness again, but this time the vision didn't end. The world froze and Talzin turned to me.

"Tell me, how did you fight them?"

"I-I don't know. What is this?"

"This is where you learn the truth. There was not one ritual performed on you, but two."

"It was an ancient ritual. Only the wisest and the strongest could perform it, and only one in trillions 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 kind's greatest acomplishments within the last generation. However, I have seen visions of the futures that lie ahead, and I have seen what Varad plans to do. Somehow, he learned the ritual, made an army, and with you as his second in command, he conquered 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 but not the darkness, and you lose the memories of how to use it, even past memories if by some chance you did what was necessary."

"And what was necessary?"

Around us, the world once again returned to the duel outside the Temple.

"You have to let go of your tethers. You have to plunge into the Force itself, without Light or Dark, ready to die for the cause you fight for. You give yourself entirely, and you recieve true power in return."

The battle started anew, with Varad attacking me.

"RUN!" As their lightsabers met, the Ganner of the past gave himself to the Force with one goal: Save the others. There was no code that mattered now, only allowing them to escape. As we reached the point where Massikus subdued me, I saw Talzin's hands lightly glowly, her lips quietly whispering some sort of spell to weaken me. Massikus wasn't the one who had really taken me down.

"Why now?"

"Because the ritual of power has been used on someone else. And Varad is going to use him to bring Massikus back. Then, they'll be able to find every Force-user in the galaxy with the potential, build the army, and civilizations will fall. We can't allow that, now can me?"

"No. Send me back."

"As you wish, but know this: Only with your life will the curse of the Binding ever truly be lifted from the Galaxy."

''The wind howled around me, in a raging snowstorm. A world of white, of snow, seemingly empty. I trudged through the frost of the planet where I would die. Somewhere in the distance, out of the storm, another shadow walked towards me. A shadow I had not seen for a long, long time.''

Throughout the rest of our covnersation until I re-entered the material world, the hiss of her lightsaber, the one meant to kill me, rang through my ears.

"Tell me, Talzin, why are you really doing this?"

She smiled.

Annihilation
As I regained consciousness, the first thing I noticed was the burning. I could hear it, I could feel the flames, and I could smell it. I opened my eyes, and I saw the source. Though I couldn't see the crater, a massive mushroom cloud hung over the sky. However, I didn't have time to worry about it.

I needed to know if my friends were safe. I let my mind dive into the Force.

I could sense thousands of beings on the planet, including Ranulph and Hans. I could sense Siri, and Varad, and Maricus, and I could sense the one the ritual was being performed on as I sensed him.

I could feel their fury as they sensed my presence back. They knew what was coming.

"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 was broken and lava had surfaced. If this place wasn't so remote, it would've been 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."

Getting closer by the second,  I sensed an Acolyte ahead. Obscuring myself with the Force, I quickly dispatch ed her with my lightsabers and moved on. The less Sith I had to deal with, the better. Finally, the temple was in view. It's definitely taken damage.

Dozens of Sith were gathered around as Maricus gave them the orders that sent them to their deaths.

"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."

Amongst the crowd I spotted Siri slipping away. As I began moving, a massive ripple flew across the entire Galaxy, and I halted.

I knew his prescence in an instant. In the Force, he reached at me, full of the malice he had borne in the past. "Massikus," I whispered in disbelief. It was too late. From behind the temple, a shuttle took off into the night. He was gone.

For a second I stopped, unsure what to do. "Ganner," Ranulph's voice rang out over the comlink, "What happened?"

"He's back."

The link went silent. I'm pretty sure he was cursing.

"We'll figure something out. Take down the Academy."

"Copy that. Ganner out."

I slowly approached the Assassins from the front, dropping my camouflage and opening myself up to the Force again. Siri was scared, the others less so. They must not have known what I really was. They were in for a rude awakening.

They drew their weapons. I did the same. Both sides stopped for a brief moment, and I picked an Acolyte at random and charged them. The surprise, combined with my swiftness, was a lethal advantage. Briefly stunned by my attack, the other Acolytes froze and I took this time to knock off a couple more. They finally recovered, and two more jumped at me, one from in front and one from behind. Completely disregarding the one behind me, I lunged at the first, catching him in mid-jump. Really, it's amazing these people were ever threats to me. Siri was still among them, though I was too caught in the fight to tell which one she is.

Obviously aware of the threat I pose to them at this point, the remaining Sith formed a circle around me, connecting themselves with purple lightning. I didn't know what the point of this was, and I was not sticking around to find out. I threw my lightsabers, one left and one right. As they hit and killed two more Sith (about 2 dozen left) I pounded the ground with the Force. The blast knocked all the Sith in the area off their feet, and their chain was broken. I Force pulled my lightsabers from the corpses and slowly looked around the fallen Sith as they regained their composure. "Who's next?" I asked. One Sith actually began to run away away, but I Force grabed him and brought him back, slowly turning him back towards me. The Sith were all stunned with fear, I could feel it. It only made me stronger.

For a moment, there was absolute silence. They knew they'dlost. The question was, what now?

One by one, they dropped their sabers. Even Siri. I could sense her fear. I was not the man she was supposed to kill, the man she deceived. I was someone else. Something else. She knew what was coming. Tapping into the Force again, I feel each of their lightsabers. Gripping them but not yet moving them, I dropped the Sith and walked towards the Temple's entrance. As they watch in bewilderment, I activated all the sabers and sent them all hurtling toward their targets. As long as a single one of them lived, no one was safe. Siri and the other Sith became one with the Force.

I was in.

Immersing myself in the Force again, I felt everyone in the Sith Academy, most of them unimportant. It felt rather empty, probably because of the Eclipse and the fact that I just killed most of them. However, I could feel Maricus and Varad. They were way in the back of the temple. As I began walking towards them, I looked around. Lava was 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 wanted to further prove this point, another assassin leapt out of the shadows behind me. I didn't even both turning as I redirected her into the molten rock. Really, I was steeling myself for the fight ahead. Walking ahead more, I extended my senses out and listened to Maricus and Varad.

"...He ran?'"

"Talzin said he had amnesia, that he didn't know who she was and he ran off to try and remember. A side effect of taking so long to bring him back."

"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."

"Then maybe our deaths have a purpose."

Finally, I found the room. It was partially destroyed by lava pouring in at the corners of the room. The rest was very dimly lit, to the point where I almost couldn't make out my targets. The details of the room didn't matter, though. My attention was on the two people responsible for the hell I'd gone through and back to make it this far. Varad Zagg stood before me, seemingly having not aged in almost two years. His face projected a sinister confidence, but I could sense his fear. Beside him was Arek Saris- Darth Maricus. He was tired, beaten. Still, like Varad, he was projecting nothing but power and readiness. Funny; that's what I should've been doing. Their lightsabers were already activated, their crimson glows illuminating the two Sith. A few training Magnaguards and higher Sith Acolytes stood behind them, ready to jump in and help them. I activated my sabers, turning the colors of the room into a battle between their own light and my emerald glow. Pretty metaphorical. For a second, like old times, we both examined 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 caught him far off guard, and I lunged at him. He quickly dodged out of the way, and I too dodged just to the right of Maricus' blade. They were impressively in sync. So began the duel.

Varad threw his saber, and I kicked it at Maricus. While he was unarmed, I rushed Varad, but Maricus quickly Force pushes me off to the side. Though I was easily stronger than either of them, these two were very well coordinated and it was clear the easy part wouldn't come until one of them was dead. Or, maybe, until Battle Meditation was broken? I took a second to look at our spectators. Indeed, they were more than just watchers- they were helping Varad and Maricus. Maricus threw Varad his saber, and I push it out of the air again, directing it through the chain of Sith. Varad being disarmed and weakened was a massive advantage and I needed to capitalize on it. I jumped at him again, sabers raised above my head but pointed downward to stab him. I sensed Maricus jump to intercept, and suddenly, I shovde my lightsabers back. Just like I expected, between the hilts and the ends of my sabers, stood a stunned Maricus.

I deactivated the sabers, and turned towards him. With Maricus out of the way, I quickly unleashed a mental barrage on Varad, stunning him briefly enough for me to watch Maricus' demise. His yellow eyes were wide, and he looked down in shock just before collapsing. I activated the saber in my right hand, ready to end his misery, when he gasped, "Wait. Please..." I knelt down and he leaned in close and whispered weakly.

"Massikus was already gone."

Then Darth Maricus finally died in my arms.

I turned to Varad, who was gripping his head, and grabbed him by the throat. I throw him across the room into a wall, sprinting across with my lightsaber poised for the kill when he raised his hand and weakly slowed me. He coughed. "I could have saved the galaxy. No more wars, no more politicans, no more corruption."

"You're wrong. It was pure corruption."

He laughed. "From my point of view, the Jedi are pure corruption."

"Then it's a good thing I'm not a Jedi." I gave him a quick death, and his body and head toppled to the floor separately. As the adrenaline wore off, I stood there, catching my breath. The Sith Academy was destroyed. All that remained was Talzin and Massikus, and it would be over. Again I was reminded of my vision of the icy planet where it all would end. Where could it be?

I supposed I could die later. It was time to finish off Massikus. as I left the temple, I looked into the sky. At long last I had my revenge, but I felt a great darkness, and I knew that it was not over.

Aftershock
When we'd gathered together, the Brotherhood was nowhere to be seen. It was probably for the best, because I doubted they would've been satisfied with how many casualties they'd had. Next we needed to know where Massikus was heading because he was off my radar and, for once, the shuttle didn't have a tracking beacon on it. Since I had been detatched from Massikus I had lost almost all of his memories, and only one place I knew of could have information on him- the Jedi Archives.

So, we set out for Coruscant.

The Return
Coruscant

It was so strange to see how the planet had changed since I left. The Temples and spaceports were heavily guarded, and it felt like someone was always watching me. I was able to just waltz in, however, because as far as anyone knew I was a Jedi anyways. Still, I tried to hide in the Force. I felt that if I didn't, everyone would immediately know something wasn't right about me. All these Jedi, they didn't look like the peacekeepers we were. They looked like the peacekeepers a corrupt government sent to force a little quiet when the people got too noisy. This was a temple of warriors. Practically unseen, I paced along the quiet halls into the Archives. In the sunset, it was really a serene place. Though I wasn't going to look, I could swear I felt Jocasta's eyes on me like she knew what I was doing.

According to the databanks, Massikus was a Sith Sorcerer from Dathomir from roughly 3700 years ago. That was literally all it said. I supposed it was a start. He was connected to Talzin, a Nightsister, so it was definitely possible he went back to Dathomir. As I started to leave, I sensed a massive danger in the Force. No one else in the Archives reacted- it must have been too far out and I was the first to notice. Something was coming.

Walking as calmly through the darkening halls as I could, I looked out towards the city to see what could be the cause. Led by a single hooded figure, a legion of clones marched toward the Temple.

"Ranulph," I whispered, "You seeing this?" Nothing on the other end. Someone was jamming the signal. Conflicted, I quickly debated the best course of action. I'd been locked out of the loop for too long, wasn't sure what higher powers were at play here, and didn't want to attract attention to myself. Quietly throwing the shadow of the Force over myself, I snuck out ahead of the legions.

I was already halfway back when the explosions started. I turned around and the Temple was burning. Without hesitation, I activated my lightsabers and turned back. Within seconds, I had to quickly leap out of the way of a missle fired from a LAAT now strafing me from above. It fired a second missle, which I caught with the Force and returned to its sender. A second took its place, but I instead ignored it and began sprinting towards the Temple again. Within a minute I had quite an armada on my tail. Suddenly, a voice rang out over the comlink.

"Listen to me, pal, you've got one chance of getting out of this alive. You might be good, but you can't take on the entire Republic in its capital."

I didn't recognize the voice. It sounded Outer Rim-ish, and authoritative. I was coming closer and closer with each step to the Temple.

"Ganner! Listen!" He yelled.

I ran.

"Blast it..." He muttered.

Another LAAT flew in front of me. Instead of destroying it, I jumped onto it and used it as a platform for another jump. In the air, I saw a red speeder rapily approaching me, faster than I could avoid it. I landed in the passenger seat, and the driver quickly turned and shot me while I was stunned from the impact.

The Hunted
When I finally regained my senses, I found myself lying in a bed. The room wass dimly lit, and a tan man with black hair and stood on the other side looking out a window. He looked like...Arron? In the Force he seemed... familiar. "Long time, no see." He muttered. "I haven't seen Siri or Blaze since you landed here. What happened to them?"

Barely, I mustered the energy to speak. "Siri was working for Mari-.. for Saris."

He let out a sigh. "And why are you here?"

"Massikus isn't dead. Why are you here?"

"Dylan Antiunknown put a bounty on my brother's head. I followed him here."

"Where is he?"

"Ganner, I'm a criminal. I went by an alias. My name is Cade Slarwalker."

He was my brother. And I had a bounty on my head.

 TO BE CONTINUED.

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.

Credits
(will add more when I have time)
 * Dylan Best- Character base, screenshots, and story inspiration
 * Hans Novastar- Character base, screenshots, and story inspiration
 * Siri Tokolighter- Character base and story inspiration
 * Reedman211- helped with screenshots
 * Admiral Atom- Character base
 * JayJayJohnson- Character base
 * Oriuss Stealthgleam- Character base
 * Rylie Tano- Character base
 * Boba Bactapack- Character base
 * Adam Heart- Character base and story inspiration
 * Xalandra Nova- Was part of the inspiration behind my first first-person section and how I learned to write boldly
 * CWAC Admins- For making and maintaining the wiki
 * Wookiepedia- a lot of research
 * SOE- for making CWA and this page possible