Origins of the Force II

[philly]

Character Profiles:

Name: Darth Cain
Age: 21
Height/Weight: 5'11" 160lbs
Appearance: Long silver hair and blue eyes with a scar over his right eye. Wears black sith robes.
Weapons: Single hilt dark core blue lightsaber.
Background: The apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, Lord Cain now finds himself caught up in the plot to destroy the Dark Lord, Ajunta Pall. Led by the manipulative hand of his real master, Jack Razor, Cain's mission now is to kill the Lord of the Sith and bring the power which he possesses back to his master.

Name: Sarah
Age: 20
Height/Weight: 5'6" 130lbs
Appearance: Long brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wears brown Jedi robes.
Weapons: Single hilt green lightsaber.
Background: Born and raised on Naboo, when she was 15 years old Sarah and the rest of her village were attacked by the Sith. While most of the villagers were killed, Sarah and a select few others were brought to Chinine to work in the factories there. It is on Chinine where Sarah has now lived for five years, her only thoughts on the planet she'd left behind and the fate of the boy she knew what seemed like a life time ago...

Name: Tenkai
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: 6’2” 185lbs
Appearance: His face is heavily scarred and he wears a black blindfold over his eyes. He has silver hair that hangs just over the blind fold and wears black Kumori robes.
Weapons: A long staff.
Background: Kumori legend tells of a man who would someday find perfect balance, and would become all that was the force made real and he was known to the ancients as Tenkai. It is unclear whether or not this man is the same Tenkai from legend, but the mysteries that surround him all seem to stem back to the Kumori and the Luminos…

Name: Daigo
Age: 38
Height/Weight: 6’3” 200lbs
Appearance: He wears dark armor and a jet pack on his back. His helmet is metal with a tinted mask that hides his face.
Weapons: Energy whip, blaster pistol, blaster rifle, grenades, flamethrower, etc.
Background: A ruthless bounty hunter from the core world of Corellia, Daigo is infamous across the galaxy for assisting the dark lord Ajunta Pall in hunting down the last remnants of the Jedi. Those whom he hunts have come to know him by his icy demeanor and his signature whip that can ensnare even lightsabers.

Name: Blaze
Age: 23
Height/Weight: 5’9” 130lbs
Appearance: Blond hair and light blue eyes. He wears black Jedi robes.
Weapons: Single hilt yellow lightsaber and a pair of modified blaster pistols.
Background: Born on Naboo, Blaze was the son of a former Jedi knight and had trained as one himself. After their village was destroyed Blaze fled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy and used his force training to gain the upper hand in some of societies lower circles.

Name: Ajunta Pall
Age: 55
Height/Weight: 6’0” 185lbs
Appearance: Long black hair and dark eyes. He wears black Sith armor.
Weapons: Moujuu’s blade
Background: The Apprentice of Darth Atredious, Ajunta Pall betrayed his master with the help of Jack Razor and became the Lord of the Sith. With the blade of the beast at his side, Ajunta has grown increasingly paranoid and power hungry. He trusts no one; only the darkness and his blade...

Name: Shokun
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: 6’6” 220lbs
Appearance: An imposing man who wears dark armor and a black cape. He has long dark heir and his eyes glow a sickly yellow color.
Weapons: Double bladed war sword
Background: The Lord of the Samasu and ruler of all Chinine, Shokun has spent most of his life trying to revive the dark King, Anemos. Now aligned with the Sith, Shokun relentlessly hunts the last of the Luminos so that the seal on the beast may be broken.

Name: Jack Razor
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: 5’9” 150lbs
Appearance: Short black hair and dark eyes. He wears black robes.
Weapons: Single hilt red lightsaber.
Background: Jack Razor has spent a great deal of time attempting to resurrect the power of Moujuu. While his personal motives for this remain hidden from the Samasu, if he were to succeed it would be nothing short of catastrophic…

Name: Luster
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: 6’3” 160lbs
Appearance: Long black hair and blue eyes. He wears long tattered dark gray robes.
Weapons: Single hilt white lightsaber, Akari’s blade.
Background: A stern yet soft spoken man with a cold disposition, Luster is one of the only known living Intangibles. He keeps to himself and is very guarded about his past, his reasons for joining Tenkai are known only to him.

Name: Anemos of Shadows
Age: Unknown
Height/Weight: Unknown
Appearance: Everything you fear.
Weapons: Darkness, the Kuragari, A dark core lightsaber wreathed in red flame.
Background: The Kumori King of Evil from legend, Anemos is the embodiment of destruction. With an unstoppable army of souls at his command, there is little that can stand in the way of his lust for power. Anemos feeds upon the dark side of the force, it is the anger and hatred within the galaxy that fuels his strength.

[Cain]

“Have you ever had to take a knife to your own flesh just to know you were alive? Some would consider such acts ‘sick and depraved’ and perhaps there is some level of truth in that. But then again it takes a sick individual to think outside the boundaries of convention, and without this sort of thought how would we ever improve ourselves? The knife… is like the dark side. Before it you feel numb. The day in day out monotony of life dulls your senses and leaves you wanting more. And then… and then you feel it. The rush of pain… the sight of blood… and suddenly nothing is the same as before. The mistakes made in the past, the cold and unfeeling reality of the present, in an instant it is all washed away and in that moment you feel alive again. And you will always come back for more…”

~Ajunta Pall

[glow=gold,2,300]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS

The Scourge of Anemos

The force, it has the power to give life and to inspire all that it touches. But through the force there is also destruction. For those who would covet such power, they would bring not life but death.

Not too long ago this “dark side” of the force drove those who used it insane with greed. The Sith, who wanted dominion over the entire galaxy. The Samasu, whose purpose was to resurrect their dark king and share in his power. And the Intangible Jack Razor, who harbored such hatred for the universe that he sought to destroy it.

These three forces met the Jedi on Coruscant and a cataclysmic battle ensued. It was a slaughter on the Jedi's side. In the wake of this catastrophe, the galaxy finds itself ready to fall. The darkness is returning, who now has the strength to stop the coming scourge of Anemos…

[/glow]

Chapter Twenty-one: Temptation

For a long time I have watched the comings and goings of this galaxy from afar, a bloody history of war and hatred interposed periodically by fleeting moments of peace. Peace that is held together by blood, war and corrupt bargains. To be united by hatred is a fragile alliance indeed… Hope is what this galaxy needs the most. Hope is what has been denied for far too long…

Darth Cain stood silhouetted against the moon. The ruin of his enemies lay all about as he gazed to the heavens. A tall man, Cain’s hair was long and gray and tied off at the back. He wore black leather armor and bore a scar just over his right eye. Cain’s lightsaber was ignited and he held it down at his right hip. The blade had an eerie dark core and glowed with soft blue light. Their was another man behind him who stood in the shadows watching carefully.

“It is finished,” Cain said slowly.

“I know,” The man in the shadows replied calmly, “And the blade?”

“It is gone master. The coward fled.”

“No. We must have the blade! Find him and bring it to me!”

“Are the lives of all these people not enough for you?”

“Do not misunderstand Lord Cain, these people’s lives are as inconsequential to me as yours if you should fail me. Now bring me the blade and I will bring you to her.”

“As you wish… my master…”

Cain leapt from the edge of the cliff upon which he had just stood and down into the dark valley below. The blue light from his lightsaber dimly lit the entrance to the tomb in which Ajunta Pall had fled. Inspecting the entrance carefully, Cain hesitantly stepped forward, slowing his breathing and listening intently to his surroundings. The sounds of the Tuk’atas feasting on the flesh of their prey intermingled with the soft groan that seemed to ooze out from the walls. As Cain entered the first chamber he came upon the creatures picking apart the corpse of one of their own dead. The Tuk’atas were large hounds with horns on top of their heads who dwelt within the caves on Korriban. They were used by the Sith to protect the tombs of the great Lords of old. Fierce and on the brink of starvation the hounds attacked Cain.

The first to leap at him Cain impaled with his lightsaber and tossed aside. Cain spun his blade around slicing the next one in half and then reached out snapping the neck of the third with the force. With the Tuk’ata dead Cain calmly continued forward toward the heart of the tomb. It was then that he could hear the uneasy breathing and the unsettling laughter echoing off the cavern walls.

Cain entered a room that was lit by a pair of torches on the walls. In the center of the room Ajunta Pall sat with his back to Cain clutching at a black katana and rocking back and forth.

“Hehehehehe,” Ajunta laughed to himself, “You have come for it haven’t you? For the blade…”

Cain paused a moment looking over the room. There was blood spattered everywhere but no corpses.

“Yes. There is no need for you to die here my lord. Jack only wants the sword… once you give it to him I may be able to persuade him to be merciful.”

“Merciful? Hahahahahaha! What is mercy?” Ajunta asked. His voice was strange and periodically changed between a normal and deeper tone.

“Just come with me. I promise no harm will come to you.”

“No…” Ajunta’s voice was suddenly very sad, a 180 degree turn from the uproarious laughter he had been experiencing just seconds ago, “We can’t go back now. We can never go back… once it takes you, you shall see to.”

“See what?”

“You always come back for more…”

Ajunta slowly stood up and turned towards Cain. The sight of him caused Cain to fall backwards and recoil from fear. Ajunta was horribly mutilated with the flesh hanging loosely from his face. There were self inflicted slashes, hundreds of them, up and down the length of both his arms and the blade ran red with blood as it came into the light. Ajunta looked down at the sword and began to speak again.

“I… I still… can’t feel…”

Ajunta slowly brought the blade up and pressed it to his neck. Cain’s eyes widened and he lurched forward to try and stop him.

“Don’t!”

Ajunta pulled back hard and with one last spatter his head rocked backward and his body feel limply to the floor. The blade hit the ground with a clang and skidded right over to Cain. With a look of shock on his face Cain hesitantly reached out toward the katana. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest, almost ready to explode. And as he wrapped his fingers around the hilt a wave of pain shot through him. Cain suddenly found himself struggling for breath, his face went pale. The sounds of screaming and death rushed into his head. Unable to lift his hand from the blade, Cain grabbed his skull with his left hand in an attempt to keep his head from splitting open from the sheer volume of information flooding in. But it was too much and the pressure was finally released all at once with a blood curdling scream that rocked the walls of the tomb.

* * *

It was raining again on Chinine and the siren had sounded early. Everyone in the yard immediately stood up and began the march back into the factory. Sarah sat alone on one of the tree stumps in yard. You were lucky if you found a place to sit out there that didn’t end with you covering your ass in mud. For people who use forced labor, pack their workers into bunks like sardines and beat them with sticks, the Samasu were very picky about the appearance of their uniforms. They would have no reservations about killing someone for something as benign as muddy trousers. So for those not lucky enough to find a stump they would have to spend their break period standing up and getting no rest for their tired backs. You could always lean against the fence if you enjoy having 10,000 volts coursing through your system… but upon hearing that siren again and knowing what they are returning to, some may not think that to be such a terrible fate.

With that horrible air raid siren blaring over the loud speakers Sarah reluctantly gave up her seat and fell back into line. The men all lined up on one side and the women on another. As they continued their march the woman in front of Sarah tripped and fell into the mud. Sarah quickly knelt down to try and pick her up.

“On your feet, hurry before they see!”

“Who’s holding up the line back there!?” One of the Samasu yelled. He was large and imposing man brandishing a leather whip and a blaster pistol. He stormed over to where Sarah was trying to help the woman to her feet and promptly removed his blaster from its holster. Then with a well aimed shot he put a blaster bolt right between her eyes and drug her out from the line. He then lifted Sarah up by her shirt and threw her forward and into the next woman ahead of her.

“We have a schedule to keep here you know! You ungrateful maggots better shape up or all of you will be spending time with the business end of my blaster! You!”

The man pointed at Sarah.

“Since you were so willing to help her, you can bury the body. You have 15 minutes.”

One of the Samasu tossed Sarah a shovel and then they left her out in the pouring rain. Sarah began to dig but the mud kept sliding down into the hole with every scoop of her shovel. Sarah began to panic and became frantic, not noticing her own feet sinking into the mud. As she tried to step backward she too fell down and became covered from head to toe in filth. Worse yet, she had lost her shoes and the shovel. On her knees Sarah began to dig with her hands to find the shovel when the Samasu officer stormed back outside.

“Your time is up!... What the hell have you been doing out here?”

“I-I’m sorry sir,” Sarah said softly, “I lost the shovel and I couldn’t dig with all of the rain…”

“Useless!” The man shouted as he backhanded Sarah across the face, knocking her down again. He then took his blaster from its holster and pointed it down at her, “It looks like we’ll be burying two bodies out here today…”

Sarah closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands. Just then she heard the sound of something spinning through the air, then the clang of metal and a loud grunt. Sarah opened her eyes in time to see the Samasu officer fall to the ground. She looked up and saw a long staff spinning rapidly though the air. It flew back and was caught by a man standing on one of the pillars of the fence. His silvery hair blew over his face in the wind and rain. He wore a blind fold over his eyes and was garbed in black robes.

The doors of the factory suddenly swung open and about twelve Samasu officers rushed out to find Sarah sitting next to the unconscious body of one of the guards.

“What did you do!?” One of the officers yelled.

“It wasn’t me!” Sarah shouted back, “It was him!” Sarah pointed up at the fence, but the man was gone.

“Think you’re pretty clever, don’t you? Well I can guarantee you, you’ll pay for this. Lord Shokun doesn’t look kindly on people who assault his officers…”

“Could the Samasu really be so pathetic that it would take twelve of them just to kill one little girl?”

“What the?...”

As the officer turned around he was met immediately by the blindfolded man’s metal staff right under his chin. The force of the blow lifted him off the ground and sent him flying backwards. The other officers all pulled out their blasters and fired off into the deluge in the direction of the mysterious stranger. After firing about twenty rounds each they finally stopped.

“Hold your fire!”

“Did we get him? Did we get him!?”

“I don’t think so…"

Suddenly appearing behind them, the man began to skillfully spin his staff about knocking the officers down left and right. As the last officer standing fired at him with his blaster the man blocked the bolt with his hand then used the force to shove the officer back into the fence. With a dazzling display of sparks the officer was fried in less then five seconds. Then man then turned to Sarah and extended his hand.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine…” Sarah said in a state of shock, “Who are you?”

“You can call me Tenkai. Now hurry, there’ll be more of them along shortly.”

Sarah took Tenkai’s hand and he picked her up off the ground. Tenkai led her over into the shadow of the factory where he gripped her hand tightly.

“Ok, now whatever you do… don’t let go.”

Upon saying those words suddenly the world around Sarah became wrapped in darkness. There was no sound accept for a low rumble, like the sound of giant flames burning somewhere in the distance. Tenkai then grabbed Sarah around the waist and the leapt upwards onto the roof of the factory. Then the darkness suddenly lifted away and the sound of rain filled the air once more.

“Wait here,” Tenkai said turning away from Sarah and heading back toward the edge of the roof.

“Hold on a second,” Sarah shouted back, “what was that? Why are you here?”

“Patience my dear, the answers are coming…”

Tenkai headed over to the air conditioning vent and used the force to pull of the grate and toss it aside. As he disappeared inside Sarah curled up on the roof hugging her knees to try and keep warm. She wasn’t sure what this guy’s deal was. First he rescues her, then he leaves her alone in the driving rain on a roof top. At some point in her stewing over this the sound of the siren blaring right in her ear caused Sarah to jump upward. This siren was not the normal one however, it was the evacuation siren. Sarah scrambled to the edge of the roof to see the other works come pouring outside into the yard. Sarah continued to watch until someone from behind grabbed her on the shoulder. She spun around to see Tenkai behind her.

“Come on, let’s move!”

Tenkai took Sarah by the hand once more and the two leapt off the roof down to ground just outside the fence.

“Tenkai, what is going on here!?”

“Justice…”

It was just then that a flash of light burst out from within the factory and a massive explosion shattered the building and spewed straight upward into the sky. Tenkai chuckled to himself a bit.

“Do you think Lord Shokun looks kindly on people who blow up his factories?”

Sarah just looked over at Tenkai with her jaw hanging down, completely speechless.

“Bah! You’re probably right. Who cares! Hahaha!”

“Oh my god… you’re insane.”

“You have no idea, love. Now I suggest you head off into the woods. You’ll be safer there.”

“And what about you?”

“I’m going to go help out your friends back there. Don’t worry, we’ll find you. Now go!”

Sarah didn’t question it any further. She turned and ran off into the woods. She ran as fast and as far as she could without ever looking back.

* * *

The next morning Sarah awoke in a warm bed with the sun shining down on her face. Outside the window she could hear a lone bird singing and the sound of hammers and saws hard at work. As Sarah got out of bed she found some clean brown robes sitting on the chair next to her bed. After changing into them she emerged from her room to find she was in a small hut at the top of a tree. There was a man next to her hammering some nails into the railing around the balcony. As Sarah gazed out into the forest she could see that there were many other houses in the trees as well, each of them also being worked on.

“You’re up awfully early,” From a branch over Sarah’s head Tenkai sat with his arms behind his head taking in the sunlight, “I hope Brudis here didn’t wake you.”

“What is this place?”

“This… is my home,” Tenkai replied, “Such as it were… This is the last haven for the freed people of Chinine.”

Sarah looked around in awe at the trees and the stream that ran below with crystal clear water that sparkled in the morning sun.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Yes well… this part of the forest has always held a special beauty for me… I couldn’t let it fall into Shokun’s hands.”

“You know… you never told me who you were… I mean really, who you were.”

“Who I am? Is that really important? I am just the shadow of a man long dead… besides… you never really told me who you were.”

“Well I’m Sarah. I was brought here from Naboo… to work in the factory.”

“Naboo you say?” Tenkai said, sitting up and placing is hand on his chin, “Could Shokun’s reach really have grown that far?”

“It’s not just the Samasu… it’s the Sith who brought me here.”

“Hmph! The Sith? And why exactly, m’lady, would the Sith go all the way to Naboo to find slaves for a factory on Chinine?”

“They weren’t looking for me…” Sarah said hanging her head down, “They were after a friend of mine.”

“Oh? And what happened to this friend of yours?”

“I don’t know… he may still be on Naboo…”

“Or he may be dead,” Tenkai interrupted.

“No. He’s alive. I know he is! And I’m going to find him…”

“Oh really? Well that’d be a neat trick, cause unfortunately I can’t let you leave this village… ever.”

“What!? Are you saying I’m a prisoner here!?”

“Oh come now, don’t think of it as a prison. If I were to let you go and the Samasu were to capture you they might be able to find out our location… and I’m afraid I can’t risk that.”

“Well I don’t really care what you ‘can and cannot’ allow. I’m leaving. If you want to stop me, then kill me.”

“Do you really think I’d have any reservations about killing you in order to save the lives of the hundreds of people living in this village?” Tenkai said leaning down toward Sarah.

“If it would mean living the rest of my life without ever seeing him again… then I’d rather die.”

Tenkai smiled softly and leaned back into his perch in the tree. He took in a deep breath and turned his head back up toward the sky.

“I see. So that’s how it is… well I suppose there’s no stopping you then.”

“You mean… you’ll let me go?”

“I understand what you mean… sometimes I feel the same way…”

Sarah smiled back at Tenkai.

“Thank you Tenkai… for everything.”

“You’d better go. He’s probably waiting for you.”

[Cain]

“And then Anemos rose up and the hand of darkness scorched the skies. The ever corruptible minds of the weak and sinful fell and all became slaves to his will. The Kuragari he called them. The Kuragari who hunted the souls of the righteous to be fed to their master, fed until there was nothing left but him and his power.”

~Excerpt from the Book of Lucias

Chapter Twenty-two: Envy

The past twenty years have not been kind to many places, but if there is one world that has seen its share of growth it would without a doubt be Korriban. The Sith home world has gone from a barren wasteland to a major military outpost in a relatively short amount of time. The Sith have even built an academy among the valley of the Dark Lords to train the influx of new recruits that would come in day after day.

On one particularly warm afternoon a shuttle arrived at the Dreshdae space station carrying the latest shipment of new recruits. Standing in the hanger to greet them was Darth Cain. He was wearing black Sith robes and his face was perfectly unscarred. Around his neck he wore a pendant, a yin yang in which the two opposing sides were that of the sun and the moon. As the ship eased onto the landing platform Cain tucked the pendant into his shirt and folded his arms over his chest.

“More worthless trainees…” Cain commented to one of the Sith guards in the hanger, “I swear there are more of them everyday.”

The trainees filed out of the ship and lined up in front of Cain. He walked up and down the line looking them over until finally stopping at one man who wore a lightsaber on his belt.

“You have some training with that weapon, soldier?”

“Some…” The man answered.

“What’s your name?” Cain asked summoning the man’s lightsaber from his belt.

“Vak Rander.”

Cain ignited the lightsaber to see it had a green blade. He looked suspiciously back at Vak.

“You were a Jedi?” Cain asked.

“For my part…”

“Then you must have fought in the battle of Coruscant. I had thought all the Jedi had been killed that day.”

“Not all…” Vak replied with a small grin on his face.

Cain chuckled to himself and handed Vak back his lightsaber. He signaled for the recruits to follow and he led them through the Dreshdae space station and out to the valley of the Dark Lords where the academy was located. The inside of the academy was as dank and dark as any of the tombs that you’d find on the planet. There were hundreds of students living within, each trying to gain the notice of the Dark Lord of the Sith… Ajunta Pall. However, Ajunta was no where to be found on this particular day. So Darth Cain took over the duties of bringing the new trainees to the academy.

After showing all the new students to their dorms Cain headed down to Ajunta’s chambers. The door was shut and locked tight.

“Master,” Cain shouted through the stone slab, “Open the door, I must speak with you!”

Inside sat a man with long dark hair. His skin was ghostly white, as if he had not seen the light of day for years. In his hands he clinched tightly at a katana which was housed in its sheathe.

“No visitors today!” Ajunta shouted back, “Leave me here in peace!”

“Master, you’ve been locked up in there for over a week now. The students are growing restless!”

“Oh… I’m sure they are…”

Cain gave up and headed off for his own chambers. Meanwhile back inside of Ajunta’s room he carefully and methodically removed the blade from it’s sheathe. Gripping tightly at the hilt, Ajunta gazed hypnotically into the dark tinted blade.

“It is just as you said my lord…” Ajunta said softly to the blade, “They’re all jealous of my power.”

Inside Ajunta’s head another voice spoke to him, a particularly low and darker voice who spoke in the tongue of the ancient Kumori. Somehow Ajunta still understood every word perfectly.

“He wants the blade,” the voice said to Ajunta, “There can be no denying his need for it. You can see it in his eyes.”

“What can I do?”

“He will come for it. He will kill them all and you before he is through. You must not let him have it…”

“Kill him?…”

“Kill him.”

“Yes…” Ajunta said, his eyes widening, “Kill him… kill them all.”

Ajunta then slowly turned the blade on himself. Wrapping his hand around the katana and pressing his palm up against the serrated edge, Ajunta slowly began to slide it backwards. As it tore through his skin and the blood began to run down his arm Ajunta started to laugh to himself.

“Hahahaha… I can feel it… the power!”

* * *

Alone in his study, Cain kneels down on the floor by the light of a single candle. He stared down at a photograph that bore burn marks and had been singed all around its sides. The photo depicted two young boys, the one on the left looked a lot like Cain… In between them was a pretty young girl with long brown hair and soft brown eyes. Cain gripped his pendant tightly in his hand and his normally sorrowful expression was in that moment lit up as he looked into the picture.

Suddenly the sound of something hitting the floor caught Cain’s attention. He slipped the photo under his mattress and stood up staring off into the darkness of the rest of the room.

“Who’s there?” Cain called into the darkness, “Show yourself!”

“It’s me, Vak Rander. You summoned me, master?”

Vak stepped into the light and Cain moved his hand away from his lightsaber.

“Yes… please, sit down.”

Cain motioned to the chair over by his desk and Vak sat down. Cain remained standing and began to pace back and forth about the room.

“I wanted to speak with you about what we talked about earlier,” Cain said, “The battle on Coruscant.”

“What is it you wanted to know?”

“More then you could tell me, most likely… does the name Miles Drake mean anything to you?”

“Miles Drake,” Vak answered leaning back in his chair, “Now that’s a name I’ve not heard for a long time…”

“So you do know him?”

“He was a Jedi Knight the same as I. Trained by three original masters, one of the most skilled Jedi I’d ever known. I had thought he was killed that day.”

“Well he is dead,” Cain answered, “But he did not die that day.”

Vak looked up at Cain somewhat unsure of his intentions.

“What do you mean? Did you kill him?”

“That’s one way to look at it,” Cain said with his head down, “For a time he was my father…”

Vak seemed confused by Cain’s choice of words, and even more so as to why he was telling him all this.

“Ok Vak, now this is very important…” Cain paused for a moment and turned away from Vak, “Did you know a man named Carashi?”

“Why do you want to know all of this?”

“Please, it’s very important. I think my father knew him, I must find him.”

“Well… yeah I knew Carashi. He killed Ajunta Pall’s old master and disappeared. No one’s seen or heard from him since.”

“Would you know where he is?” Cain asked.

“Yeah… I think I might. It’s a small planet, not on any navigational charts. If you’d like I think I could get you there.

“Excellent. Then we’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!?” Vak exclaimed, “What about the Sith and the academy?”

“Never mind that,” Cain answered, “This is more important…”

* * *

Back on Chinine, Tenkai walked out of the woods and into a clearing. The field was speckled with a dazzling array of flowers of every shape, size and color. As Tenkai reached the center he reached behind his head and untied his blindfold. Bringing the cloth away from his face he tilted his head up toward the sun. The flesh around his eyes was heavily scarred and his eyes themselves were glazed over white. Tenkai could see the force all around him… but he could not see the flowers growing in the field, or the sunlight that was shining down on his face. Slowly he knelt down and ran his hand over the flowers below. Finally stopping over one, he cupped his hand around it and plucked it from the ground.

“Picking flowers?… I didn’t peg you as that type.”

Tenkai perked up upon hearing Sarah’s voice behind him. He continued to run his hand over the flowers searching for just the right one.

“I thought you were leaving…” Tenkai responded.

“I was. I just wanted to stop by and say goodbye before I left.”

“Well you shouldn’t delay on my account…” Tenkai found another flower and plucked it from the ground too. It was the same type as the previous flower. Sarah looked at Tenkai inquisitively.

“How do you know which flowers to pick?” She asked.

“It’s easy,” Tenkai answered, “Each flower, like a person, has its own unique fingerprint, a scent that is all its own. As I brush my hand over them the pollen is released into the air,” Tenkai took in a big breath as he held the flowers under his nose, “I’d recognize this scent anywhere… it was her favorite…”

“Whose?”

“It’s not important. You’d best go on now… leave me in peace…”

Tenkai stood up and put his blindfold back on over his eyes. He took the flowers he’d picked and headed back towards the woods. Sarah wanted to say something but she couldn’t find the words. He was strong but fragile at the same time. The way he carried himself you’d think a stiff breeze would knock him over. His eyes were the proof of it, the proof of the pain in which he constantly lived, the pain which he tried to cover up and hide.

Back in the woods Tenkai headed down to the stream and towards a stone placed right on the bank. At the base of the stone were countless flowers, most of which were wilted and all of the same type. As Tenkai stepped in front of the stone he laid the two flowers he had just picked down. On the stone was carved:

“In memory of Raina, beloved wife, daughter and mother. And Alex, beloved son.”

Tenkai quietly sat down in front of the stone and placed his hand on its surface, feeling the engravings.

“Hey there,” Tenkai said with an uneasy smile on his face, “Twenty-one years… two months and fifteen days. That’s how long it’s been,” Tenkai’s smile faded away as he slowly pulled his hand back, “Tell me… tell me that my job here is done. Please tell me that I’m the man you believed I could be.”

Tenkai paused to wipe away a tear that had formed underneath his blindfold. He collected himself and continued.

“I know what your answer will be… it’s the same everyday. I know why it’s important for me to stay here but… I just miss you guys. And I promise that someday we’ll be together again.”

Tenkai then kissed his hand and pressed it up against the stone.

“Wait for me…”

Just then Sarah stepped out from behind a tree and stood behind Tenkai.

“Who were they?” She asked.

“Damn woman,” Tenkai said wiping the tears from his face and struggling to recollect himself, “Didn’t I tell you to leave me in peace?”

“Was she your wife?” Sarah asked.

“And my son,” Tenkai answered, “They both died a long time ago. Before you were born.”

“I’m sorry Tenkai… I didn’t know.”

“This is where we first met. She was so beautiful… and her voice. I’ve never heard anyone sing like that…”

“If you don’t mind my asking… how did she die?”

“She was taken from me,” Tenkai responded dejectedly, “I’ve thought a long time about what I would do to the man who took them from me if I were to ever meet him again. Would I be able to forgive? Could I? But those sort of thoughts do nothing to ease the pain… they only enhance it. I envy you… your love may still be alive. You still have hope. Go to him, and do not delay. Because I can guarantee you that if he is still alive he is feeling the same pain that you are now.”

“I want to find him… but on my own I’m not so sure I can. The Sith and the Samasu will be hunting me, and hunting him for sure. There’s a good chance they’ve already captured him and if that’s the case… then there is nothing I can do.”

Tenkai was silent. He turned away from Sarah almost in anticipation of her next question.

“Why don’t you come with me?” Sarah asked, “I need your help, if I go alone I may lose him again… and this time it could be forever.”

“I… I can’t…” Tenkai answered slowly, “I just can’t.”

“Why not? You’ve already freed all of these people and given them a home. There’s nothing more you can do for them if you stay here, you have to stand and fight!”

“And what if I do!?” Tenkai snapped back, “What possible difference could it make? The Samasu have complete control over our planet… and the Sith fleet grows larger with each passing day. What difference can one used up blind man make? Let’s face it, I’m no hero…”

“You don’t have to be,” Sarah said, “Just be Tenkai.”

With Sarah’s words Tenkai lifted his head. He went quiet in a state of deep thought.

“Raina said that to me once…” He finally said, “Fine… I’ll help you find your friend… for her.”

[Cain]

“Like the new born sun rising in the east each morning, the Luminos are the light and the hope of all worlds for a brighter future. But even the suns must set, and the brightest shining stars must eventually fade. In that hour when the darkness closes in all around you will you be a beacon for all others to follow? Or shall you fade into nothingness with the rest of your brothers?”

~Excerpt from the Book of Lucias

Chapter Twenty-three: Fear

Before the blood red sun could rise over Korriban, in the watches of the early morning Darth Cain made his way through the Sith Academy. He was constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure that he would not be followed. As Cain stepped out of the academy the wind rushing through the valley gave off an ominous groan. Cain paused for a moment before reluctantly pulling his hood over his head and moving onward.

Upon approaching the ship that had landed in the valley Cain could immediately tell that something was wrong. He rushed forward stumbling through the almost impossible darkness before he felt his foot slide out from under him. Cain fell backwards using his hands to brace his fall. Strangely the ground felt warm. Cain slowly lifted his hands in front of his face to get a closer look at what he had slipped on… it was blood. Jumping back to his feet Cain ripped the lightsaber off his belt and ignited it. The blue glow revealed the ship riddled with blade marks and spattered in blood… and on the ground it had pooled. It was then that Cain saw him, Vak lying motionless in the darkness. He let out a groan as he struggled to tilt his head towards Cain.

“I’m… sorry…” Vak barely managed to sputter out the words as he exhaled his last breath. Cain rushed to his side inspecting his wounds. His throat had been cut, but not with a lightsaber as this injury showed no signs of cauterization.

“Who did this to you!? Vak!” Cain’s yells went unanswered as Vak’s head went limp on the ground.

“My, my…” A voice from behind Cain said. Cain spun around to see a dark haired young man in black robes standing by the ship, “You’re up early…”

“Jack…” Cain said, “You did this?”

“No my boy. I have more important things to do with my time then slaughtering students who break curfew. But I know who did.”

“Tell me!” Cain shouted back, the emotion in his voice was evident.

“Such emotion… did you honestly believe that this drone could lead you back to your real father?”

“He said he’d fought with him in the war, just like you. That he was alive in hiding.”

“I watched your father die…” Jack answered back stoically, “There is no mistaking it. You mustn’t lose focus, Lord Cain… or the same fate may befall your other loved ones.”

“I’m sorry master,” Cain said looking down towards the ground, “I will do whatever it takes to help them… just tell me how.”

“Of course,” Jack replied with smirk on his face. He opened his arm and Cain stepped forward, Jack then placed his arm around Cain’s shoulders.

“The man who murdered Vak was none other then the Lord of the Sith…” Jack said slowly, “Ajunta Pall. The blade he possesses… he does not have the power to control it and thus it has driven him mad.”

“The blade?” Cain asked curiously.

“Yes… it must be taken from him as soon as possible. In the hands of the weak the blade could cause untold destruction. We must make sure that it never falls into weaker hands again.”

“What would you have me do?”

“You know what you must do,” Jack answered. Cain looked away for a moment, somewhat unsure before finally turning his head back towards Jack.

“If I do this… then will I be strong enough to save Sarah?”

Jack smiled and nodded his head slightly.

“I guarantee it.”

* * *

Back on Chinine, Sarah and Tenkai hiked their way through the woods, Tenkai using his staff to feel around for obstacles in front of him. Sarah seemed distant, staring off into the sunset with a sad expression on her face. Suddenly Tenkai stopped. He breathed in heavily and motioned for Sarah to come closer.

“Do you smell that?” Tenkai asked, “Smog… the star port is close.”

“So what’s your plan exactly?” Sarah asked.

“Well the ship parts they produce in the factories here are shipped to the Sith fleets stationed all throughout the galaxy. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to stow away on a ship that’s headed for a planet in which we can get transport back to Naboo.”

“And if we’re not lucky?”

“Hmph… then we’re dead.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that…”

Tenkai crept forward through the last bit of tree cover before coming upon the outer fence of the star port. A large cargo ship had it’s ramp down and two men were lifting heavy crates up into the ship.

“That’s what I love about bad guys,” Tenkai said, “Just a fence and two inept guards… hmph, and they’re unarmed too.”

Sarah looked over at Tenkai puzzled.

“How did you know that?”

Tenkai merely grinned and began to climb over the fence. Sarah followed and as she jumped down to the other side Tenkai motioned with his finger for her to be quiet.

“Shhh… wait here a moment.”

Sarah watched as Tenkai snuck forward and disappeared behind the crates. As the two guards came back down the ramp one suddenly grabbed his neck and fell to his knees. As the other rushed over to help him Tenkai emerged from the darkness behind them and by simply closing his fist the two guards slammed together and fell over unconscious. Tenkai then beckoned Sarah forward and she rushed over.

“Your chariot awaits,” Tenkai said allowing Sarah to enter first. The ramp closed behind them and the ships engines began to warm up. As the ship lifted off Tenkai and Sarah found themselves a seat among some of the crates.

“Well here we go,” Tenkai said, “Lucias only knows where this ship is headed, could be a few hours or a few days. I suggest you get some rest.”

“And what about you?”

“I’ll be alright…”

Tenkai stood up and walked over to the far side on the cargo hold. He sat down and removed his blindfold. With his eyes closed he went into a meditative state. Sarah pulled a few crates together and lay down on top of them. Her thoughts were only on Naboo and what had transpired there only six years ago…

* * *

It was a beautiful day as was per usual on Naboo. A bright blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. The lush green steppes that stretched out in all directions broken only by one tiny village. The homes of this village were modest, most belonging to farmers, humble folk only trying to live day by day. But the head piece of this village was a tall structure that overlooked the waterfront, the Jedi Academy. Stepping out of the academy’s front doors and into the courtyard was a boy with long silvery hair who wore black colored robes and couldn’t have been any older then fifteen. His name was Alex Drake.

Alex sat himself down on the front step off to the side in the shade of the building. He had a depressed look on his face as he pulled out a brown bag and fished around inside until finally emerging with a sandwich. Alex was just about to take a bite when suddenly the sandwich was snatched out of his hands. He was a taller boy with blonde hair who was wearing brown robes and had what appeared to be a wooden practice sword tied at his waist.

“No freaks aloud in the courtyard!” The taller boy shouted as he took a big bite of the sandwich, “You eat around back with the Shaaks,” The taller boy’s face wrinkled with disgust as he chewed. He suddenly spat the chewed food out and threw the sandwich down at Alex’s feet.

“And you can tell your mom that her sandwiches suck,” The boy grabbed Alex’s lunch bag and began to root through it, “What else you got for me?”

“Hey! Give it back!”

Alex stood up and lunged forward for his lunch but the boy just shoved him back down.

“I think you owe me after what happened this morning,” The boy said, “You think you can show me up and just get away with it, freshmen? No body does that to me! Especially not some freak like you!”

As Alex was arguing two more boys had gotten behind him. As he stood up again they grabbed his arms and held him back.

“He’s all yours Blaze,” One of them said. Alex struggled but was unable to get free. Blaze then dumped out the contents of Alex’s lunch on to the ground and tossed the bag aside.

“You know my sister told me to leave you alone but… she’s clueless. I don’t really want any of your crappy food… I think there’s a better way you can make it up to me.”

Blaze then thrust his fist forward into Alex’s stomach. With a gasp he fell to his knees struggling for breath.

“And next time I’ll make sure you won’t get up. Come on, let’s get outta here.”

Blaze and the other boys left Alex hunched over on the step. Trying to fight back the tears in his eyes he gathered up the remains of his lunch and slowly placed it back into the bag. It was then that a hand extended an apple towards him. Alex looked up to see Sarah smiling down at him. She was a pretty young girl with long brown hair and dark brown eyes. Alex quickly rubbed his face with his forearm to try and hide the fact he was crying.

“Just ignore my brother,” Sarah said, “He’s only doing it because he’s afraid of you.”

“Yeah… him and everyone else.” Alex replied under his breath. Sarah sat down next to Alex.

“I heard you kicked his butt pretty good during saber practice. They say it only took you ten seconds to beat him.”

“Seven seconds,” Alex said with a restrained smile.

“Heh, so you are as good as they say.” Sarah answered still looking inquisitively at Alex as he struggled to avoid her gaze.

“They say a lot… don’t they?” Alex answered.

“They do. They also say you’re one of the most gifted students in the whole academy. Truly something special.”

“If I’m so special… then why does everyone hate me?”

Sarah smiled softly and placed Alex’s apple into his hand.

“Not everyone hates you…”

As Alex looked up at Sarah she blushed and looked away. Finally she hesitantly spoke again.

“Is it also true… about your real parents?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah…” Alex responded half heartedly, “I never even knew them…”

“Our parents died when I was about five,” Sarah said, “I know how hard it must be for you…”

Alex didn’t answer, he just gazed down at the apple resting in his hand.

“Here, I want you to have this,” Sarah said taking the necklace that was around her neck off and placing around Alex’s. At the bottom of the necklace was a small charm of a yin yang in which one half was the sun and the other the moon.

“My mother gave it to me,” Sarah said, “She told me that every time I look at it I should think of her and that way I’d always remember that I’m not alone.”

Alex held the charm in his hand still silent for a long while before speaking up.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Well… this way when ever you look at it… you can remember that you’re not alone either.”

With that Sarah stood up and began to walk away. She turned back one last time and waved at Alex.

“Thank you…” Alex said in a whisper as he waved back at her.

[Cain]

“Watch them. Watch them quarrel and watch them fight. Bring forth their blood with your blade black as night. From shadow and earth he comes on the wind. His power foretold by all who have sinned. Watch them hate and fight their war. Watch their greed as they beg for more. Silently wait as the darkness shall start. Then burn them all, darling, with your ice cold heart.”

~Jack Razor

Chapter Twenty-four: Purpose

The skies over Corellia were covered in thick clouds as a lone cruiser entered the system. The entire planet was under a blockade of Sith war ships, all of them with their guns trained on the invading cruiser. The cruiser suddenly received a message from one of the Sith ships. It was the commander of the Sith fleet, a tall man with the characteristic red skin and tentacle beards of the Sith species.

“This is Admiral Sourne, please state your name and cargo.”

The pilot of the cruiser spun around in his chair. He was wearing full body armor and a helmet that covered his face.

“My name is Daigo. I’m here with the slave transfer from Malastare.”

“Slave transfer?” Sourne questioned with a suspicious look on his face, “I wasn’t made aware of this. Who hired you?”

“I’m sorry,” Daigo answered in a cocky tone, “But my client has requested that he remain anonymous… but I can tell you that these slaves are for the Sith. So I’d think it in your best interests to let me pass.”

The admiral hesitated for a moment before finally responding.

“Very well… you’ve been authorized to land in docking bay 94.”

“Much obliged.”

Daigo’s ship passed by the blockade then into the stormy atmosphere of Corellia. The cruiser touched down in the landing bay and the ramp lowered to reveal the cargo of about fifty slaves held in cages. Daigo exited soon thereafter and was met by the dock manager.

“Welcome home, Daigo,” the manager said, “I have direct orders to unload this cargo and send them to the factories immediately.”

Daigo nodded and the dock workers hurried onto the ship, taking the prisoners from their cages, shackling them and marching them out into the pouring rain to be taken off to the factories. Suddenly there was a crash and the sound of a lightsaber igniting.

“Look out, he’s loose!”

From inside the ship a man wielding a blue lightsaber darted down the ramp. As the dock workers hurried after him the man spun around and extended his hand sending the workers flying back into the ship.

“Son of bitch…” Daigo said casually, “I’ll handle this.”

Daigo reached for his belt and unclipped what looked like a lightsaber. However, when he ignited it a long yellow colored lash came out from the hilt. Daigo cracked the light whip creating a flash of light that caught the Jedi’s attention. As the Jedi turned to run Daigo snapped the whip forward wrapping it around the Jedi’s lightsaber. With a quick tug he spun the Jedi around and yanked his lightsaber from his hand. Then with another flick of his wrist the whip cracked again, this time separating the Jedi’s head from his body.

“Sorry about that,” Daigo said as he turned off the light whip. The manager collected himself and turned back to Daigo.

“Also…” the manager added, “My master would like to have a word with you.”

“Good,” Daigo answered, “I have a few words for him too.”

Daigo followed the dock manager. He left his ship behind at the dock and entered into the tall building directly across from them. The manager led Daigo onto the elevator finally getting off on one of the upper floors. He opened one of the doors and promptly turned around leaving Daigo alone.

Daigo slowly entered. The room was completely dark accept for the light from the hall and the flashes of lightning outside. The far side of the room was nothing but windows that overlooked the docks below, but they were barely visible in the driving rain storm. There was no furniture in the room, no pictures on the walls, nothing. Only a lone man standing in front of the windows looking down on the docks. Suddenly the door slammed behind Daigo.

“Took you long enough. After all this time I was beginning to think I was out yet another bounty hunter…”

“Hey, what did I tell you before?” Daigo snapped back, “I aint one of these hired Hutt slug goons, we Corellians always get the job done. I’ve got more Jedi kills then any other bounty hunter in this galaxy.”

“Good… well that being the case, perhaps you’d be willing to take on one more assignment.”

“Well that depends…”

Daigo lifted off his helmet and held it at his side. He had light skin and dark hair and was unshaven. There was also a patch over his right eye and his left eye was an icy blue color.

“I can’t live off of weapons and armaments,” Daigo said, “I don’t do no more missions until I get paid.”

“If money is what you want… then money is what you shall receive.”

“That’s all I ask… now what kinda mission is this? And what’s it pay?”

“An academy has been located on a Mid Rim system called Naboo.”

“Yeah,” Daigo answered back lighting up a cigarette. As he took a puff the light it gave of briefly illuminated his face, “What sort of academy?”

“An academy that trains Jedi. It is located in a small farming village. For a man of your talents you should have little trouble taking care of the locals… Kill all of the Jedi, burn the temple and bring any survivors to our factories on Chinine.”

“Hmph… sounds like a shit job to me…”

“Remember Daigo, you don’t get paid unless every Jedi is killed.”

“Yeah yeah,” Daigo answered back, “Don’t worry, I’ll get em all. I’ve dealt with scarier things then prepubescent Jedi and a bunch of farmers with pitchforks.”

“Let us hope so…”

The man finally turned around and walked towards Daigo. As he was about to pass him he paused and grabbed the cigarette from his mouth. Throwing it onto the floor he stomped it out.

“You really shouldn’t smoke,” The man said calmly, “Those things’ll kill ya.”

The man continued past and exited out the door. As he left Daigo caught a glimpse of a black wing sticking out from his robe.

“What a freak show…”

* * *

Back on Naboo the morning sun slowly rose over the village. It was bright and beautiful morning and the only person out and about was a tall man with a short red beard who stepped off his porch and took a big breath of air. From inside the house, a woman called to him.

“Miles! Your breakfast is getting cold!”

“Let it!” Miles shouted back, “Cold breakfast is good for a man. Wake up the boy, Elora and make sure he isn’t late again.”

“Yes dear…”

Inside the house the table was set for breakfast. There were three plates with no one to eat off them. Elora headed around the table and called up the stairs.

“Alex!... Alex, wake up! You don’t want to be late for school again, do you?”

Slowly Alex trudged down the stairs rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His long silvery hair was tied off in the back.

“There you are,” Elora said hurrying Alex down the stairs, “Now hurry up and eat your breakfast, your father is waiting for you.”

Alex’s only response was an unenthusiastic grunt. He grabbed his bag lunch from the counter and headed out the door.

“Wait!” Elora called after him, “What about your breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry.” Alex answered. Elora was left alone in the house staring disappointedly at the three plates on the kitchen table.

Outside Alex hopped off the porch and began to head down the road to the academy. He kept his eyes on the ground and stayed off to the side of the path to stay out of the way of the other students headed towards the academy as well.

“Hey, Alex!”

Alex turned around to see Sarah running up behind him. She stopped in front of him out of breath.

“You weren’t planning on heading off without me, were you?”

Alex smiled ever so slightly. She reached out her hand and he took it and the two began to walk towards the academy together.

“There’s gonna be a big exam tomorrow,” Sarah commented, “Are you nervous?”

“No,” Alex answered, “Not about the exam anyway…”

Sarah looked over at Alex somewhat concerned.

“It’s Blaze, isn’t it? I told you not to listen to him.”

“No… he’s right. If I’m not a freak then what am I? Why was I given this power?”

“You’re not a freak,” Sarah answered, “You just haven’t found your purpose yet.”

Alex looked puzzled.

“My… purpose?”

“Yeah. You were blessed with your power for a reason and someday you’ll discover exactly what that reason is.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

Alex smiled again but quickly turned away to hide his face from Sarah. She grabbed his chin and turned him back towards her.

“You know you shouldn’t try so hard to hide your smile, you’ll feel a lot better if you don’t.”

Sarah leaned in and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek then headed into the building.

“I’ll see you after school,” She called back to him. He stood there and watched her still with a smile on his face as she disappeared into the academy.

* * *

That night Alex sat alone on the floor in his room which was lit by two small candles next to him. Just then there was a knock at his door.

“Alex…” Miles said through the door, “Alex are you still awake in there? It’s time for bed.”

When there was still no answer Miles slowly opened the door to find Alex sitting silently. He slowly craned his head around showing his cheeks which were stained with tears.

“Alex, what’s wrong?”

“Dad…” Alex said fighting back his tears, “Am I a freak?”

“Alex… why would you think something like that?” Miles entered the room and sat down next to Alex. He put his arm around him and tried to comfort him.

“That’s what everyone else thinks,” Alex answered, “Sarah told me that there was a reason I had this power and that I was blessed… but what good is a blessing if everyone hates you for it?...”

Miles was silent for a moment. He sighed as he finally spoke.

“Alex, I think it’s time I told you about your parents…”

“My… parents? You already told me that they died right after I was born…”

“Yes, but I haven’t told you the whole story. Your father was a man I’m sad to say I didn’t know that well. His name was Carashi. It was he who trained the first of us to use the force. He like you had a powerful gift… and he like you was unsure exactly how to use it.”

“What did he do?” Alex asked now clinging eagerly to every word Miles said.

“He did the only thing he knew how to do… he ran. He ran away from his troubles and I do think that the doubts that plagued his mind would’ve gotten the better of him had it not been for your mother.”

“My mother…”

“Yes… she showed Carashi the true purpose of his great power.”

“And what was that?” Alex asked.

Miles smiled down at Alex.

“Protecting the ones you love. You see Alex, as long as you can love you will never be alone… and you’ll always have a purpose.”

Alex looked down at the necklace that Sarah had given him and he wiped the tear away from his face.

“I think I understand now,” He said.

“That’s good son,” Miles answered, “Here, I have something for you.”

Miles stood up and stepped out of the room. He returned not too long afterward with a small box in his hand.

“After the battle that claimed your parent’s lives I returned to Coruscant to try and find them. I was unable to locate your parents, but what I did find amid the rubble of the Jedi Temple was this…”

Miles lifted the lid of the box and revealed to Alex an old lightsaber.

“It belonged to your father,” Miles said, “I was going to wait until after you graduated to give this to you but… I figure now’s as good a time as any.”

Alex carefully removed the hilt of the saber from the box and ignited it. A dark cored blade shot out that cast a blue glow about the room. Miles smiled as he watched him swing it about.

“You look so much like him… and you have your mother’s eyes.”

Alex turned off the blade and looked up at Miles.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t mention it,” Miles replied, “Now get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow…”

[Cain]

“Beyond Megiddo there is Terresta. Beyond Terresta there are the far reaches of space. Beyond space there is the unknown. Beyond the unknown there is death. And beyond death… there is the force. The force is what lies at the end of all things. It was there in the beginning, it shall be there at the end. The only thing we have to decide… is how we meet that end.”

~Excerpt from the Book of Lucias

Chapter Twenty-five: Harbinger

“For a Jedi, combat is an absolute last resort. The force should never be used to harm others… only for self defense and obtaining a greater understanding of one’s self.”

The children sat quietly in the garden in front of the academy listening as Miles spoke to them from his place atop the steps. The other Jedi instructors stood alongside him watching over the students as he spoke.

“You are all here today because you are the top students this academy has to offer,” Miles continued, “Through your perseverance and tireless effort you have conquered the first three trials and set yourselves above the rest. The trials of skill… of the flesh… of courage, and now you face your greatest challenge. The trial of the spirit.”

The students began to murmur amongst themselves and Miles raised his hand to silence them. The students immediately turned their attention back to him.

“The trial of the spirit will force you to look deep within yourself and to see what truly lies within,” Miles explained. He paused for a moment looking over the young Jedi, “I won’t lie to you… you may not like what you see. You shall each face this trial… at Ashimori…”

The students began to nervously murmur once more. In the crowd Blaze leaned over to talk to Alex who was sitting silently while the others seemed on edge.

“Ashimori… the dark forest. You know they say those woods are haunted,” Blaze whispered to Alex who didn’t seem to pay him any mind, “They say that over the years about twenty villagers have accidentally stumbled into those woods… none have ever been seen again…”

“What’s wrong Blaze?” Alex answered still keeping his head forward, “Think I’m afraid of the bogeyman?”

“Hehe…” Blaze chuckled back at Alex, “You have a lot scarier things to deal with then the bogeyman, kid. I bet you don’t last more then ten minutes in that forest.”

“I bet I last longer then you…” Alex answered back under his breath.

“Hmph!” Blaze snickered back having heard what Alex said, “I’ll take that bet. You win, I’ll admit that you’re a greater Jedi then me and leave you alone. But if I win… you have stay away from my sister… forever.”

Alex glared over at Blaze, the anger burning in his eyes before he finally stuck out his hand.

“Deal!”

Blaze shook Alex’s hand with a cocky smirk on his face.

“May the best Jedi win…” Blaze said turning himself back towards the front. On the other side of Alex, Sarah tugged at his shirt.

“What was that all about?” She asked. Alex turned to her with a smile on his face.

“It’s nothing, just a personal matter between me and Blaze.”

“Look Alex…” Sarah lowered her head, “You don’t have to try and upstage Blaze just to impress me. You know how dangerous those woods are, please don’t try and do anything brave out there… if you’re in trouble just run away.”

“What are you saying? You think I can’t handle this?” Alex snapped back.

“No,” Sarah replied calmly, “That’s not what I meant, I just… just promise me you’ll come back to us.”

Alex silently nodded.

“I will. I promise.”

Sarah smiled at him and he took her hand. The sound of Miles’ booming voice drew their attention forward again.

“As you all well know, the Ashimori is a dangerous and treacherous landscape. Use all your training, let the force guide you, and you shall come back alive and all the stronger for it. Once you have gazed into your spirit and seen what it has to tell you… return here to this academy, and remember that you must complete this trial alone. If you are unable to return here by sundown… you will fail.”

Miles’ words gave Alex a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Go now my young padawans,” Miles said, “And may the force be with you all.”

* * *

In the space over Naboo a lone Corellian cruiser exited hyperspace and settled into orbit above the planet. On board Daigo struggled with his lighter to light up another cigarette as he headed down one of the passages to the crew quarters. As Daigo finally got a good enough puff to ignite the end of his cigarette he came to the end of the passage and kicked in the door of the crew quarters sending it flying off its hinges and smashing into a table in the center of the room that was covered in half drunken mugs of Corellian ale and random pazaak cards. The door abruptly smashing into the table awakened the other bounty hunters that were napping on the floor all around the table.

“Would you drunken bums get up off your asses already!” Daigo shouted into the room. The other bounty hunters immediately shot up and began collecting their gear, “I hit the alarm that we were approaching the system over an hour ago and you pirates still aren’t ready… how do they expect me to get anything done with such piss poor help?”

“We’re sorry sir!” One of the bounty hunters shouted back, “We must’ve lost track of time.”

“Yeah,” Daigo shot back, “Well unlose track of it! We’ve got a mission here, and my clients don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“What exactly is the mission?... Sir,” One of the bounty hunters asked. Daigo turned to him and calmly walked over to where he was standing at attention. Daigo looked him up and down then took another drag off of his cigarette. He blew the smoke into the bounty hunters face as he stared into his eyes.

“The mission?...,” Daigo began, “The mission is to destroy a Jedi academy on this planet’s surface in the harshest possible manner… and to dispose of all the Jedi therein.”

“The Jedi!?” The bounty hunter exclaimed, “Are you mad, Daigo? You may have skills fighting the Jedi one on one, but there is no way we could dare go against an entire academy. It is suicide!”

Daigo sighed and shook his head. As he turned away from the man he drew his blaster and hit him with a shot right between the eyes that sent the man flying backwards. The other three bounty hunters flinched but were careful not to break attention.

“Now,” Daigo said throwing his cigarette to the ground and stomping it out, “Anyone else contemplating suicide?” The men were silent, “Good. Now let’s get this show on the road.”

* * *

Back on the planet’s surface Alex wandered through the dark forest of Ashimori. Even though it was the middle of summer, the trees of this forest were all dead, their leafless branches clattering in the strangely cold wind. The villagers told stories about the Ashimori. They say that the forest had a soul, a will of its own. They tell of a great evil that sleeps there and that all who enter should be lost.

Alex knew these stories well… but they did not faze him. The voices that whispered to Alex on the wind spoke to him of blood, murder and pain… but still Alex pressed forward. He finally came to a clearing… which was extremely odd considering that there was no such clearing on any map of the forest. The tall grass swayed hypnotically in the wind and the sun above was hidden behind dark clouds.

As Alex stepped out into the field he could hear the sound of a child’s laughter. Alex froze as he saw the form of a young boy running through the grass towards a man with long silvery hair and blue eyes. The man got down on one knee and opened his arms as the boy leapt into them. Alex couldn’t tell who the man was from so far away, but there was no mistaking who the boy was… it was Alex.

In the next moment the boy was Alex’s age standing in front of the man and a beautiful woman with long dark hair. The boy stared at Alex with a smile on his face and Alex stared right back, still unable to move. The boy’s stare then suddenly turned from one of joy to that of anger. He and the man and woman’s eyes began to glow a bright yellow color and their skin turned black as shadow. They all at once took out lightsabers and ignited them, then began to walk towards Alex.

Alex quickly unclipped his own lightsaber and ignited it. The boy approached first. Alex took a swing at him only to have his lightsaber pass through the boy leaving him unharmed. The boy returned with a swing of his own lightsaber that raked Alex across the chest. Alex jumped backwards. He turned off his lightsaber and stuck out both of his hands trying to shove the strangers back with the force, but it did nothing. As Alex continued to stumble back away he lost his footing and fell backwards. Gazing into the sky something caught Alex’s eye… another dark figure with large black wings flying overhead. With the figure passing by something suddenly fell from the sky like a dart and planted itself into the ground in front of Alex.

Alex sat up to see a sword in the ground in front of him. It too was as black as shadow. Alex slowly reached for the blade, his hand coming within an inch of the hilt.

“Alex! Help me!”

The voice echoed through the field. It was Sarah… she sounded like she was in pain. Alex hesitated now, no longer. He wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the blade and pulled it up from the ground. The power he felt was incredible. As the woman came forward Alex slashed her across the neck. Then the man came at him and Alex thrust the blade through his stomach. They both went down. It was now just Alex and the boy. Alex did not hesitate, he rushed forward abandoning all defenses and began hacking away. The boy slashed back at Alex and the two continued to hack at each other until finally the boy keeled over.

Alex’s shirt was torn off and his chest covered in scares. It was then that behind him Alex heard a voice.

“Alex?...”

Alex slowly turned to see Sarah behind him… but she was older. Upon seeing Alex as he was Sarah’s jaw dropped and she covered her mouth with her hand stepping backwards away from him.

Alex then looked down and saw the blackness of the sword spreading like an infection from the blade and onto his hand. Alex immediately dropped the sword, but it was too late. The darkness spread up his arm and onto his body covering every inch of him. As it began to spread up his neck Alex looked over to Sarah who was watching horrified with tears running down her cheeks. The darkness spread over his head and seemed to be converging on his eyes. Alex reached out to Sarah when his vision suddenly went to black.

* * *

Back in the village the sun was creeping below the horizon and most all of the students were gathered in front of the academy. Sarah stood looking nervously over the crowd when Blaze walked up behind her.

“Hey sis,” Blaze said somewhat out of breath, “Who you looking for?”

“Alex… he still isn’t back yet…”

“What!?” Blaze was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head and an odd smirk came over his face, “Heh, what do ya know… the little runt actually did it… I’m impressed.”

“Blaze!” Sarah shouted back, “This isn’t a game! What if something seriously bad has happened to him?”

“Don’t worry, sis. I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s just trying to prove what a tough guy he is.”

“None of this would’ve ever happened if you didn’t provoke him!”

“Well if it’ll make you feel any better when he gets back I’ll tell him that I was wrong and give him a big sloppy kiss.”

“You’re such a jerk…”

“Oh come on, I know I’m your hero.”

Meanwhile, up on the stairs Miles kept a careful visual over his stop watch. He finally clicked it and then looked up over the students gathered in the courtyard.

“Well,” Miles exclaimed, “That’s time. Did everyone make it back ok?”

“Not quite everyone, master,” One of the Jedi instructors said looking over a list of names, “There is still one student yet to report back in.”

“Oh yeah? Who might that be?”

“Uhhh… Drake. Alex… Drake…”

“Alex…” Miles said in almost a whisper, “Alex… is still out there?”

“I’m afraid so, master.”

“Well we have to go find him!”

Miles suddenly ran down the steps of the Jedi academy and into the crowd.

“Miles, wait! It’s too dangerous to go into the Ashimori after sundown!”

Miles ignored the instructors warnings and continued to run through the crowd when suddenly an enormous explosion from within the academy blasted him forward and knocked over all the other students in the courtyard with it’s concussive force. All the instructors who were standing on the steps were instantly killed.

The academy was in flames as the Jedi slowly rose back to their feet.

“Is everyone ok!?” Miles shouted, “Is anyone hurt!?”

Just then three bounty hunters sporting jet packs came down from the sky and landed around the Jedi, each holding a blaster rifle and a thermal detonator. From the burning temple a deep, cocky voice answered Miles.

“Yeah sure, I’m alright… but these Jedi here… well damn.”

Daigo slowly emerged from the temple. The corpse of one of the Jedi instructors was burning just to his right as Daigo kicked at it causing sparks to rise up from the ashes.

“Get back everyone,” Miles said. He summoned his lightsaber from his robe and ignited its blue blade, “Who are you? What do you want from us?”

Daigo ignored Miles at first, leaning over to use the Jedi’s burning corpse in order to light up another cigarette. He then stood up right and faced Miles.

“Oh… you’re talking to me?... What do I want from you? Heh, show him boys…”

The other three bounty hunters hit the triggers on their thermal detonators and each tossed them into the air over the student’s heads. Upon seeing this Miles immediately grabbed the students to the left and right of him, which happened to be Blaze and Sarah, and pulled them both to the ground using the force to shield them.

With the detonators in the air, the bounty hunters each lifted their blasters and fired at them. The explosions rocked the ground and kicked up a massive dust cloud. When it finally settled most all the students were unrecognizable. All say for Miles, Blaze and Sarah.

“Resilient, are we?” Daigo remarked staring stoically at Miles.

“You have no idea.”

Daigo flicked his cigarette away and unclipped the hilt of his lightwhip from his belt. He ignited it and the glowing yellow whip unfurled out onto the ground.

“Well, let’s see what we can’t do about that…”

Daigo cracked his whip creating a brilliant flash of light. Miles didn’t back off, he stood his ground and raised his lightsaber.

“Sarah, Blaze, run to the village and warn everyone there…”

“But Master Drake,” Sarah yelled at him, “What about you!?”

“I can hold him off, but not if I have to worry about you two. Now go!”

Blaze grabbed Sarah by the arm. She hesitated for a moment looking back at Miles before dashing off towards the village with her brother. As they ran off down the road suddenly one of the bounty hunters landed in front of them.

“Where does a pretty thing like you think she’s off to in such a hurry?”

Sarah was about to lunge forward to attack him when she was suddenly grabbed from behind and restrained by another bounty hunter. The third one tried to grab Blaze but he slipped away and took off down the road.

“Blaze!” Sarah shouted, “Where are you going!? Don’t just leave me here!!”

“Brave kid,” The first bounty hunter said, “Put her in the cargo hold along with whatever other civilians you can find. Then burn the village.”

“Yes sir!” The other two bounty hunters answered back. As they were dragging Sarah to their ship she watched wide eyed as they set fire to houses in the village, attacking the villagers as they tried to flee from their burning homes.

“Alex…” Sarah whispered, “Please be ok…”

Back in front of the temple Miles and Daigo circled around each other, Daigo mocking the Jedi by cracking his whip at his feet.

“Tell me,” Miles said, “Who sent you?”

“Sorry… but this particular client wishes to remain anonymous. Just die comfortably in the knowledge that your head was worth quite a lot to him…”

Miles then suddenly leapt forward. Daigo scowled and quickly spun around sending his whip lashing out at Miles and wrapping itself around his lightsaber. Daigo then tugged hard on the whip to pull the lightsaber away from Miles’ body.

“Jedi…” Daigo chuckled, “all so pathetically predictable…”

Daigo quickly drew his blaster with his other hand and fired a shot Miles’ now unprotected chest. Miles immediately stuck out his hand and absorbed the blaster bolt with his palm.

“I wonder if you saw this one coming…”

Miles then let go of his lightsaber and leapt high over Daigo’s head. As he landed behind him Miles stuck out his hand to summon the lightsaber, still attached to Daigo’s lightwhip, back to him. As the lightsaber came back to Miles the whip followed after and was headed straight for Daigo’s neck.

Daigo ducked quickly but the whip passing over head sliced the jet pack on his back clean off. Daigo shot back up and tugged hard on the whip, pulling the saber away just before Miles could grab it again and then with a snap sending it flying off towards the horizon.

“I bet you thought that was pretty cute, eh Jedi?”

Daigo then glanced down and noticed what was left of his jet pack on the ground.

“Oh… you didn’t…” Daigo looked over his shoulder and noticed his pack missing, “You… you… Look what you did! Do you have any idea how much that thing costs!?”

Daigo didn’t wait for Miles to respond. He wound up his whip and snapped it at the Jedi’s neck. Miles closed his eyes as the whip came in and struck him. Then all at once Miles’ body disappeared and his robes fell into a pile on the ground.

* * *

Alex’s eyes slowly opened only to see the full moon shining brightly down upon him among the skeleton branches of the trees. Alex scanned the sky for a moment before he suddenly realized where he was. He sat up abruptly to find he was no longer in a field but still in the forest. It was dark, by now he would have failed the trial.

Alex shot back to his feet and looked at his skin. It wasn’t dark anymore, and his shirt and chest were both uncut. Alex breathed a sigh of relief, a hopeless look came over him. He began to make the long hike back to the village.

It wasn’t until he was about a mile away that Alex could smell the smoke. Something was definitely wrong. Alex quickened his pace, running now towards the village. He could see it glowing on the horizon. Then as he finally passed through the last few trees of the Ashimori Alex saw it. The flames towered high into the sky and the academy at the end of the road was nearly unrecognizable.

Alex rushed from house to house calling out for any survivors… but there were no answers. When he finally came to the courtyard the horror and the carnage of what had happened finally had sunk in. With the remains of this former class mates strewn all about, Alex could only assume the worst. He fell to his knees unable to hold back his emotion.

“Mom… Dad…. Sarah! Who did this to you!?” Alex cried out, “If only I had been here… If only I had come back like I promised…”

Alex picked himself up and walked towards the academy. He sat down on the steps and buried his head in his arms. As he sat their sobbing the jet pack sitting besides him caught his eye. It was insignificant accept for something written in very small print on the side…

“Made on Corellia”

[Cain]

“It is not the lust for blood that drives him; no… it is fear that brings him to strike vengeance down upon another. For it is when we have none left to avenge that we have none left to fear.”

~Luster

Chapter Twenty-six: Revenge

Returning back to Corellia, Daigo’s cruiser cut through the thick cloud cover and landed in the star port just as it always had done. The ramp lowered and Daigo charged down flanked by the three other bounty hunters. The dock manager was there to greet him once again.

“Daigo,” The manager called out at him, “You’re late. You know the master doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Daigo said as he walked past the manager not even giving him a second look, “Shove a sock in it, will ya? I had to drop off the prisoners at Chinine this time. That system is a bit ‘out of the way’ if you know what I’m sayin.”

“Regardless, the master is most displeased. He wishes to speak with you at once.”

“Yeah, what else is new?” Daigo stuck another cigarette in his mouth and pulled out his lighter. With the wind beginning to pick up on Corellia, he struggled to keep the flame lit.

“Tell him I’ll be by in about an hour,” Daigo said turning and walking off.

“An hour!?” The manager yelled back, “Didn’t I just tell you that the master detested being made to wait?”

“You did,” Daigo answered, “But I just got done slaughtering 300 some odd Jedi and transporting prisoners over 1,000 light years… so if he can’t wait another hour he can kiss my ass, cause I’m gettin a drink.”

“Reckless fool…”

As Daigo walked off the star port another cargo ship was just making its arrival. As its ramp lowered a figure in black robes snuck off the ship and caught a glimpse of Daigo from behind, and of his severed jet pack. A strong gust of wind blew the figure’s hood back to reveal Alex’s face. His blue eyes watching intensely as Daigo wandered out into the streets of Corellia.

It was two hours later when Daigo finally emerged from the bar. The sky had grown darker with clouds and the streets were all but abandoned in anticipation of the approaching storm. Daigo took out another cigarette, but in his inebriated state was unable to place it on his lips properly. The cigarette slipped out of his fingers and was then whisked down the street having been caught up in the gusting wind.

“Figures…” Daigo grumbled to himself. He then began to stumble making his way back towards the star port. As he came further down the road a crack of lightning caused him to stop in his tracks. He slowly turned himself around to see Alex standing in the street behind him some twenty meters away.

“You lost kid!?” Daigo yelled back at Alex. He didn’t answer. Instead he slowly reached into his robe and pulled out the lightsaber Miles had given him. He ignited the dark core blue blade which sizzled from the rain drops that then began to fall.

“Jedi, eh?” Daigo said scornfully, “You must be stupider then you look. Don’t you know who I am?”

“I don’t care who you are…” Alex said slowly, “It doesn’t matter. You killed my parents… you killed Sarah… and now you’re going to die… that’s all that matters.”

“Ha! Hahaha!” Daigo laughed to himself, “You’ve got balls, kid, I’ll give ya that. I like your attitude. That lightsaber of yours is gonna find a very special place in my collection”

Daigo then reached down and unclipped the hilt of his lightwhip from his belt. It was then that Alex noticed Miles’ lightsaber on Daigo’s belt as well. Daigo flicked his wrist and the whip ignited, its crack coinciding perfectly with a clap of thunder.

“Well come on then, kid,” Daigo taunted, “Entertain me.”

Alex’s anger was become more and more visible as he stared at Miles’ lightsaber. The memories of his mom and dad… of Sarah were becoming like fire in his veins until finally he reached the breaking point.

“What’s a matter? You just gonna puss out and give up like that crusty old man?”

At that moment Alex craned his head back and let out a scream that blasted through the air like an explosion. The shock wave blew all the rain water back and shattered the windows in buildings on either side of him. Daigo was also thrown backwards and sent skidding down the street.

Disoriented, Daigo stumbled back to his feet. As he turned back around Alex was immediately over top of him. Daigo dove to the side just barely avoiding getting sliced in two by his lightsaber. Alex then charged forward, Daigo cracked his whip at him but Alex weaved to the side with almost impossible quickness and then swung his lightsaber up at Daigo who fell backwards trying to dodge. The saber swing had missed cutting the bounty hunter but it succeeded in detaching Miles’ lightsaber from his belt.

With Daigo on the ground he went to swing his whip at Alex again, but Alex wasted no time hacking off his hand and kicking the whip into the nearest sewer drain.

“You idiot!” Daigo called out at Alex in a daze as he clutched at the stump where his hand once was, “When I get done with you there won’t be enough of you left to clone a finger nail! Your gonna wish you’d never been born!”

Alex stood over Daigo as he thrashed about, watching him quietly. The rain water ran down Alex’s face and soaked his hair which partially shielded his eyes. Eyes that stared coldly at Daigo who shouted and squirmed in pain on the ground before him. Alex then calmly extended his hand and Daigo suddenly was silenced and began gasping for air.

“Be silent,” Alex said stoically, “Have the good sense to die with some dignity.”

With Alex crushing his neck Daigo continued to struggle, but the more he struggled the more pressure Alex put on until finally the breath left Daigo’s body. And it was suddenly very quiet. Alex turned off his lightsaber and continued to gaze at the ruin of his enemy who lay defeated before him, a small amount of blood trickling out from his mouth and being washed away by the rain and into the storm drain.

“Interesting…”

The voice behind Alex startled him and he spun around. A young man who couldn’t have been much older then Alex stood out in the rain with a heavy black coat on. He had strange sort of smile on his face as he looked at Alex.

“I was watching you, you know. You showed some impressive strength there. Most unexpected from a Jedi… but I suspect you’re not just any other Jedi… are you?

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Alex answered.

“Getting right to the point I see… My name is Jack. As I said, I’ve been watching you. That bounty hunter killed some friends of yours, eh? Well what if I told you there was a chance that they were still alive?”

“What did you say?”

“That bounty hunter was collecting slaves for trade with a warlord named Shokun. It’s possible that you could still save them…”

“ Where!? Where are they!?” Alex shouted back. Jack just smiled and shook his head.

“Now, now… don’t be hasty. You are strong, but do not think that just because you bested one drunken bounty hunter that you’d stand a chance against Shokun. No Jedi has that much power… but for a Sith… you do want that kind of power, don’t you?”

“Tell me… what must I do? I’ll do anything… just help me get them back.”

“Hmph… I see,” Jack answered with a smile, “Come with me…”

* * *

“Sarah… Sarah!”

Sarah woke up lying in the cargo hold with Tenkai standing over her trying to shake her awake. She sat up and immediately grabbed her back.

“Ah geez… I slept with a crate jutting right into my back…”

“Really? I’m surprised you didn’t notice,” Tenkai commented, “you’ve been out for nearly fifteen hours now. You seemed kind of uneasy… is everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Sarah answered, “Just a bad dream…”

“Well anyways, we’re here… seems to be a desert planet, Tatooine. The Sith and the Samasu have little presence here but I’d still be careful, there are some unsavory types about on this planet.”

Tatooine was a barren world scorched by its twin suns. The small settlement in which Tenkai and Sarah had landed was a space port populated by pirates, bounty hunters, smugglers, and all the worst sort of people imaginable. It was hardly a place that one would expect to find a Jedi, but perhaps this very fact could work to their advantage.

As they walked through the streets the locals shot the two force users all sorts of suspicious looks. Even on a world like this, they were anything but conspicuous.

“I think we should get indoors,” Tenkai said softly leaning towards Sarah, “Most of the spacers spend their time at the local watering hole. If we go there perhaps we might hear some news about your friend… or even find a ride off this planet.”

“Wait,” Sarah answered back with concern in her voice, “you mean the cantina?”

Glancing down the street Sarah noticed the entrance to the ‘Anchorhead Cantina’. Suddenly a glass bottle came spinning out from the front door and smashed up against the wall across the street. It was followed immediately by a man scrambling from the bar and blaster bolts whizzing by his head. One caught him in the back and laid him out on the street causing him to drop the credits he had been cradling against his chest. The pedestrians in the street swarmed upon the free money that the man had dropped when another blaster shot rang out through the air and caused the crowd to disperse.

The source of the blast was a Nikto, a reptilian humanoid species, and this one seemed to have a bad temper. He was wearing silver and black armor and wielded a blaster pistol as if it were a third hand. With a snicker and a smirk he holstered his weapon and recovered the credits from the corpse in the street.

“Pleasure doin business with ya,” the Nikto said as he patted the dead man on the back and then returned to the cantina.

“I’m not so sure the cantina is such a good idea,” Sarah said turning back to Tenkai.

“Neither am I,” Tenkai answered, “Just try not to draw any attention to yourself and we should be fine…”

Inside the cantina the music was blaring and the atmosphere was, if anything, chaotic. The air was thick with smoke and Sarah’s eyes had trouble adjusting to the dim lighting after having been in the harsh sunlight outside.

“Why don’t you go have a look around, see if you can scope out anything interesting,” Tenkai said turning away from Sarah.

“Oh? And where are you going?”

Tenkai turned back to Sarah and smiled.

“For a drink…”

Tenkai found an open stool at the bar and sat himself down. An overweight and unshaven man next to him took a big swig from his ale and then began eyeing Tenkai down.

“One Juri Juice,” Tenkai said to the bartender, “and in a clean glass, please.”

“You stink,” The large man next to Tenkai commented. Tenkai slowly craned his head around toward the man.

“Look who’s talking…”

“What’s with the blindfold?” The man asked tugging at Tenkai who quickly swatted him away, “What’s the matter? Heh, where’d you get dem scars from, spacer? Makin love to a Wookiee?”

One of the drunks next to the man began to laugh uproariously at the comment as the bartender handed Tenkai his drink. He slowly lifted it up and took a sip, keeping a calm look about him. The man then noticed the staff that Tenkai had been carrying on his back.

“A metal pole too?” The man mocked, “Maybe you wanna jump up on the stage with them Twi’lek girls and give us a little show, eh?”

The drunks began to cackle again at the man’s comment and Tenkai slammed his drink down on the coaster after taking the last gulp.

Meanwhile, Sarah weaved her way through the crowds of patrons, most of which were gawking at her and whispering things as she past. Sarah put up her hood and made her way into the corner next to one of the Pazaak tables. Across the table she noticed the Nikto from earlier sitting in front of the massive pile of his winnings. All the other players had no cards in front of them and were all staring the man sitting in front of Sarah. He had only two credits left on the table in front of him as he nervously eyed his hand.

“What’ll it be, Knight?” The Nikto growled across the table, “I haven’t got all day.”

“Easy Tavak,” The man answered, “I didn’t rush you.”

“All this waiting irritates me,” Tavak answered, “If you don’t want to end up like Yuri out there on the street then you’ll make a move!”

“Hit.”

The dealer handed the man another card. His face was still hidden from Sarah’s view but she could see his hand. He had 15. It was a tough spot since another hit would likely put him over 20.

“I’ll stay,” Tavak said to the dealer. He eyed the man across the table with a confident grin on his face, “Well? What’s the call?”

“Hit,” The man answered. The dealer handed him a card, it was a 7. The man was still for a moment.

“Well!?” Tavak shouted at him.

“You can’t rush genius, Tavak.”

Sarah noticed as the man spoke he slipped the 7 card between his fingers and then let it slide down his sleeve. Leaning backwards the man let his arm hang down at his side where he grabbed a new card from his boot. As he did this, he didn’t notice the old card up his sleeve fall out onto the ground. Placing the new card into his hand, the man’s total was a perfect 20.

“I’ll stay,” The man said, “Whaddya got, Tavak?”

“Nineteen,” Tavak said turning over his cards.

“Gee… that’s a good hand. In fact that’s a great hand…”

Tavak smiled, he leaned in and placed his arms around the pile of credits in the middle of the table.

“But!” The man suddenly shouted causing Tavak to lean back, “Not quite good enough.”

The man turned over his cards to show a 7, a 3, and two 5’s. The others at the table began to whisper to each other, shocked by what had just transpired, as the man leaned across the table and pulled in his winnings.

“Impossible!” Tavak shouted, “You could not have won!”

“There’s no shame in being beaten by the best, Tavak,” The man replied smugly.

“I wasn’t beatin!” Tavak yelled standing up from his seat, “You cheated!”

The man then suddenly stood up as well and slammed his fist down on the table.

“Cheated!? Ha! What would make you think something like that!?”

“I know you cheated because I cheated!” Tavak shouted swatting the deck of cards in front of him off the table, “Those cards were set up so there was no way you could beat anything higher then a 15!”

“You cheated!?”

“Hey boss…” The man was interrupted by one of the other players at the table next to him. He leaned over and picked up the card that the man had dropped from the ground and handed it to Tavak. The table went silent as they all looked at the card then at the man now standing speechless faced with the evidence.

“Uhhhh… I can explain that.”

“Not this time Blaze! This time you’re gonna explain it to the business end of my blaster!”

The name that Tavak used caught Sarah’s attention. Blaze stood frozen as the others at the table all stood up and reached for their blasters. Just at that moment a loud scream from the bar caught everyone’s attention. The fat drunk who had been mocking Tenkai fell out of his stool as Tenkai still sat calmly. The man continued his screams of terror as he clutched his head and stumbled through the cantina, crashing into tables and knocking people aside as he desperately dashed for the exit.

Using this distraction to his advantage, Blaze quickly scooped up the credits in front of him and took off towards the door.

“Stop him!” Tavak shouted. The others at the table all drew their blasters and took aim. Sarah then extended both of her hands and a force wave rippled across the cantina knocking all of Tavak’s men to the ground. Sarah then followed after Blaze where she was met by Tenkai at the entrance.

“I see you’ve made some new friends too,” Tenkai commented.

“I wouldn’t call them all new,” Sarah answered, “Come on, we have to find that kid.”

“Do you know him?” Tenkai asked.

“Unfortunately. He’s my brother.”