The Lemorian nodded and Xavier stepped off to gather his belongings. Zannah tarried awhile, however, looking to her teacher with solemn eyes. “Master Kain, you don’t have to face him. If what you say is true then there is nothing gained from throwing your life away.”

The Sovereign gave a weary smile and shook his head. “It’s the greatest shame of a world for its leader to flee in battle and allow his people to fall. This system is the root of my family and the cradle of my people’s civilization. I have sworn to protect it with my life.”

"But Master, you can't just die," Zannah insisted. "There are barely any true Jedi Masters left alive . . . What of the Order? The Sith are so many and we are few and scattered. How could we ever hope to rebuild the strength of the Jedi without you?"

The Sovereign’s response was to embrace her, softly muffling her protests into his cloak. He held her close for a few quiet moments before he stepped back to look at the Lemorian. “You must train him now, and protect him from the ravages of the Dark Side until he is ready.” He raised a hand and motioned to a compartment against the far wall, opening a small mechanical safe embedded into the stone with the Force. A small crystal the size of a man’s fist floated from the safe into Kain’s hand.  “This will help you.”

The Lemorian wiped her eyes and gazed at the object. “But…  Master, is that what I think it is?”

“My family’s holocron,” the Sovereign replied lightly. “Take it.  As a Master it will help you to train him in the ways of the Jedi.”

Zannah opened her mouth to protest. “I couldn’t—“

“Shh,” Kain admonished. “Now go.”

———————————— 

Admiral Khal’Saad’s drop ship dove from the belly of the massive command ship IMPERIOUS into a sea of shimmering blaster bolts and explosions. Flanked by a half-squadron of dagger-winged TIE Interceptors, the tiny ship made a beeline for the green planet below, capital ships and fighters erupting into huge plumes of flame around it as it crossed the battle lines.

As the formation entered Daktia’s atmosphere and descended through the clouds toward Kadan City, Khal’Saad spotted one of the Amazon evacuation barges and ordered his TIE escort to dispose of it. Undefended and alone, the admiral tilted the nose of his drop pod toward the earth and its thermal tiles began to glow orange. A pair of sonic booms hailed Khal’Saad’s arrival as the drop pod’s repulsor engines kicked in and the pod glided below the smoky cloud cover of the city.

When he was about half a kilometer from the ground, Darth Khal’Saad took a calming breath and punched the release lever on the pod, and the deck dropped out from beneath him. He spent the next several seconds in freefall, perched atop his speeder bike as the abandoned vessel tumbled away from him. At 50 meters he gunned the engines of his swoop and shot forward, the bike’s repulsors cushioning his fall as he sped down the nearest alley.

In the distance he heard the sound of the repulsor craft as it smashed into the planet, leveling part of the market square. He could feel the Jedi Master nearby, and as he gunned the throttle to his bike he looked to the nearby palace mount, his ultimate destination, and whispered through the Force. Yes, Jedi, I am here . . . there is no escape. I know you can sense my presence, just as I can feel yours.  Know that death has come for you, and despair.

It was only moments before Khal’Saad reached the base of the mount. He quickly climbed the hillside, his black cape twisting in the air behind him until he came to a stop in the courtyard just outside the palace doors.

As the Sith Lord leapt from his vehicle, the tall wooden doors burst open and three people stepped out. The eyes of the tallest among them, Kain, immediately locked onto Khal’Saad as the other two took a few steps forward and paused, doing the same.

What’s this? Sher thought to himself, scrutinizing the trio. He had only expected to meet one Jedi at the end of his journey, but instead found himself looking at three? Kain’s aura within the Force was strong enough to make it obvious to Khal’Saad that he was the master. The second among them, a white furred vixen with long black hair, struck him no differently than most other Jedi: average, though with an odd sense of familiarity about her. It might be worth trying to discover the origins of that one when this was through.

The third, however, gave him a moment of pause, and he narrowed his eyes at Xavier.  There was something unusual about the tremors in the Force emanating from the male fox. “Strange,” he said under his breath. “But no matter. Once I dispose of the master, I will deliver the students to the Emperor as a gift . . . if they prove worthy of the trouble.”

Khal’Saad began to pace deliberately toward the group.  Kain stepped in front of his students, reaching for his own lightsaber as the Sith Lord approached. “I should have told you to leave long before this,” he muttered to the pair behind him. “Now run.”

Zannah started to make her way down the opposite side of the hill, but Xavier ignored the comment.  The captain remained at the Jedi Master’s side, leveling his phaser rifle at the approaching Sith lord.

“What the frag are you doing?!” Zannah shouted when she realized the fox wasn’t following her.

Xavier was busily punching a series of keys on the phaser rifle. “Using my brain, damn it. You said Force users can deflect energy blasts with their sabers, right? Well I’ve got an idea.”

Kain looked aside. “No, Ma’arc! Your weapon will not help you . . . I must deal with him.”

“We’ll see . . .”  Marc stepped in front of the Sovereign and leveled the phaser, firing it off in a wide-beam pattern.

It was a perfectly aimed shot that would have enveloped the Sith Lord in a field of body-stunning energy had Khal’Saad not opened his palm in anticipation of an attack. The phaser energy funneled inexplicably into Sher’s palm, eliciting a slight grimace. A moment later, the dark lord released the absorbed energy into a point on the courtyard’s floor, scorching the stone. “Do not insult me with your asinine belief that I can be defeated with such toys, padawan.”

The captain stared at the blackened pavement in shock. “How in the—“  The weapon crumpled in his hands as the Sith glared at him, driving the futility of the fight into Xavier’s mind.  “H’okay... that didn’t work. Running away now.”

Khal’Saad lit his crimson lightsaber with a sneer and took off after the foolish padawan. “Do not think I’ll allow you to simply escape after that one, fool,” he growled contemptuously.

Sovereign Kain reached out with his hand to forcibly throw the Sith Lord into a nearby pillar.  “And you, Dark One, should not be fool enough to think you may ignore a Jedi Master.”  With a practiced motion, Kain armed his own saber, revealing its brilliant aquamarine blade as he assumed a battle stance.

Khal’Saad rose from the ground and dusted himself off, giving only a cursory glance to the cracked stone pillar behind him. “You will regret that, Jedi.”

Master Kain gave an almost taunting smile. “And I will make sure you regret ever coming to this world.”

———————————— 

Zannah and Marc reached the base of the mountain several minutes later, both winded from the run.  Still in shock, Marc turned to gaze up at the palace as he followed Zannah into the heart of Kadan City. “How could he do that?” the captain wondered aloud. “That was a heavy-stun shot. It should have been more than enough to tranq an elephant!”

“He’s a Sith Lord, that’s how.  I don’t have time to explain the niceties.  Frankly, we’re lucky we’re not just dead.”

“That’s not possible—“

“When are you going to quit saying that and start trusting your senses?  It’s obviously not true.”

Xavier didn’t quite know how to respond to that. “Well . . . I . . .“

“Come on,” Zannah motioned around a nearby corner. “Save your breath. We’ve got more running to do if we want to get off this world with our skins intact.”

———————————— 

Sparks flew as lightsabers clashed atop the palace mount of Kadan City. Jedi Master Azuka Kain and Darth Sher Khal’Saad were locked in lethal combat, their movements swift and calculating.  Each opponent played off the moves of the other, simultaneously defending as they manipulated openings.  Both duelists grasped even the tiniest slips in technique or execution to grant crushing blows to their challenger.

Their weapons locked together for a moment as they occasionally did, the contest of dueling becoming a test of strength and will as the pair turned the deadly blades of their weapons against one another.

Darth Khal’Saad snarled, hatred written on his face. “It is curious that I should find a Jedi Master cowering out here in the far reaches of the galaxy. For some time my master had allowed himself to believe that anyone above the rank of Knight had been eliminated.”

Kain’s eyes held nothing but calm and pity for the disdainful dark lord. “Another proof that the so-called 'Emperor' is nothing more than a fallible imposter, and certainly not a god.”

Sher’s nostrils flared with anger, and in a swift, forceful motion he pushed away from the Jedi, his lightsaber spinning effortlessly in his hands as he assumed a neutral stance. “Whether he is a god or not, you defile the emperor by speaking his name, Jedi. I will make you suffer for that.” With a burst of Force-enhanced speed he darted forward, his saber humming in a deadly arc aimed to cut the Jedi Master in two.

But Kain deflected the headstrong swing, rebuffing Sher’s assault with his own saber and a swift kick to the gut. “I pity you, Dark One,” he shook his head. “Not only are you blinded from the true power of the Light, you are a slave to Darkness, and yet do not know it. Your mind has been filled with lies and mistruths to make you believe you are the master of your own destiny when you are simply a tool of evil.”

The tiger blurred into action again with a snarl, his saber scorching the air. High and low, parry and riposte, the two blades clashed together in a fury, crackling and hissing as the two let the Force guide their movements.

With a sudden shift, Khal’Saad spun aside and managed to catch Kain’s blade at an odd angle, leaving the sovereign open for a split second. Sher followed the motion through with a high side kick that cracked solidly under Kain’s jaw, picking him up off the ground and catapulting him backwards.

The Jedi Master landed in the courtyard’s central fountain, his bones bruising against the solid marble. Khal’Saad gave a mirthless chuckle. “So it seems your defense isn’t entirely impenetrable.”

Kain let out a groan and slowly picked himself up, ignoring the Sith lord’s taunting comment. He steadied himself, holding out his saber and shook his head slightly. “Before you, it was Skywalker, and before him his father, the one they called Vader. Before them it was Palpatine, Grievous and Dooku, and even before that, Maul. All of them were tools, and when they outlived their usefulness, they were cast aside as empty husks, only good to be thrown to the flames.”

“Brave words.” Khal’Saad leveled his own saber and spoke in an icy purr, “But your feelings betray you. You know at the end, you will fall and this pitiful world will burn. The galaxy will be rid of the troublesome Jedi, and the Empire will live on in glory.”

“The Empire will end.”

Sher laughed. “Empty words and foolish pride were the Jedi Order’s undoing.  Such things will not defend you here.”

As before, the sovereign did not seem to be listening. Instead he seemed to be deep in concentration, his left hand balled into a fist as he called on some connection to the Force.

Khal’Saad looked at him curiously and then raised his weapon in a defensive posture, preparing to deflect whatever it was the Jedi Master intended to do.

———————————— 

Marc Xavier and Zannah Lyles stepped out into the secret clearing in the field where they had landed their stolen Imperial shuttle. About a dozen other Daktians, people they had found abandoned in the streets on their way, were behind them.

“There it is.” Marc looked relieved to see that his former prison was still there.

Zannah lowered the boarding ramp and immediately began to shuffle people into the rear compartment. Xavier got in last and closed the ramp while the Lemorian pilot began to run the shuttle through the startup routine.  Zannah quickly strapped herself in, motioning for Marc to do the same.

“Hang on,” she called over her shoulder to the motley crowd of refugees.  “This is gonna be a bumpy ride.”

———————————— 

Khal'Saad smirked as he stepped toward Kain, tired of waiting, walking smoothly over the cracked marble floor.  His ominous blade hummed with every step he took toward the sovereign, who made no move to ignite his own weapon.  "Your life has come to an end, Jedi.  With your death I will place the final seal upon your line."

His step faltered, a puzzled look flashing briefly across his face to be replaced with a wicked grin.

"But that isn't all, is it?" he purred.  "Your thoughts betray you, old one.  You had no desire to face me but to protect your pathetic students.  You believe you bought them time enough to escape.  No matter.  I will find them in due time, whoever they are.  And when I do, they will join you in death."

The snap-hiss of Kain's blade echoed through the courtyard as the tiger leapt forward, their two blades connecting in a shower of sparks.  The sovereign breathed in and met the cold, hate-filled eyes of the Sith.

"My thoughts may betray me, but so do your emotions."

Sovereign Kain pushed Khal'Saad away with the Force and shook his fiery red hair away from his eyes, settling into a battle stance.  "Let's finish this."

Grinning, the tiger pressed his attack with confidence.  With precision and grace guided by the Force, the Sith lord launched a flurry of blinding attacks, alternating his weapon from his left to right hand in a whirlwind of motion that forced Kain backward.

The sovereign blocked each blow, reaching out through the Force to guide his movements.  The unrelenting assault seemed off, somehow, as if the dark lord's attack were merely a front.

"You disappoint me, dark one," Kain ground out, the sovereign's voice harsh.  "I would have thought a revered student of the black arts would provide a bit more of a challenge."  Ducking below the flurry of swipes, the sovereign allowed the tiger to push him back before sweeping the tiger's feet out from under him.

The Sith rolled with the impact and leapt back to his feet, his rage flaring to white-hot intensity as the power of the Dark Side surged through him.  With a crackle and a roar, a massive section of the marble floor surrounding him heaved, shattered and tore free; huge chunks of stone flung themselves violently at the Jedi Master, the stone shards brutally pummeling the sovereign and flinging him into the air only to smash the reptilian Jedi headlong against the wall.

The tiger closed his weapon down as he lifted Kain through the Force, jerking him free of the pile of rubble that had half-buried him and holding him in the air.  "No more games, Jedi.  Your time is at an end."

Kain was breathing hard as he shook the dust from his robes and lifted his head.  "Death is nothing, dark one.  You fear it, but I welcome it."  The Jedi dropped his hands to his sides and favored the dark lord with a level stare.  "Finish your task."

"So be it, fool..."  Dark power flashed in the tiger's burning eyes as the pure force of his power ripped from him, jagged blue bolts of energy leaping forth from his outstretched hand to inundate the Jedi.  The electricity coursed through his body, the sovereign convulsing in agony under the Sith lord's assault.  "Go into the dark knowing that I will hunt down those whom you tried to protect . . ."

The bolts leapt forth from the tiger's hand once more as Kain gave an eerie howl of pain.  Khal'Saad released his grip and allowed the sovereign to slump to the floor in a shuddering, smoking heap.  A cruel smirk twisted the tiger's features as he admired his work.  "Embrace your destiny, old fool."

The power that had surged from the dark lord before was nothing compared to the unholy blast that shrieked from his hands, illuminating the entire chamber.  There was a scream and a sizzling sound, and then it was over.

Khal'Saad walked over to gloat once more over the sovereign's body, his leer of triumph fading into a scowl as he studied the smoking rags where Sovereign Kain had been.  He probed the empty cloth with one foot, wary of some kind of trick, but there was nothing.  Sovereign Kain was no more.

With a sneer, the admiral summoned Kain's lightsaber to his empty hand and clipped it onto his belt before he turned and strode from the throne room.

———————————— 

Marc Xavier looked out the viewing window of the stolen shuttle. The vessel had just cleared the atmosphere on the dark side of Daktia and begun pulling away from the planet’s curve. The cockpit filled with brilliant sunlight that made Xavier blink and shield his eyes before the transparisteel viewport darkened to compensate for it.  The captain could vaguely make out the silhouettes of some of the alien cruisers caught up in the distant battle.  When he glanced down to protect his eyes from the sunlight, he could make out the eerie red glow of fires on Daktia’s surface.  “What was he talking about?” he asked as he turned to face Zannah.  “My destiny lies along a different path?”

The Lemorian, however, was preoccupied with flying the shuttle and looked distracted and more than a bit worried.  “Not now.  Flying first, questions later.”  As she prepared to pull the shuttle out of Daktian orbit, the ripples caused by Kain’s death struck her full force.  “No…” she gasped.

Out of the corner of her eye, Zannah caught Xavier’s quizzical stare.  “Are you all right?” he asked.

"I—no—Sithspawn," she swore aloud, "Kain . . . Kain is dead."

“What do you mean, dead?  How could you know?”

Zannah shook her head, her ears flat against her skull.  Could Marc not feel the disturbance as she did?  The death of a Jedi Master screamed through the Force, assaulting her senses, making it difficult to concentrate.  Perhaps it was still out of the captain’s reach.  His lack of sensitivity could only come from his lack of training, and apparently she was the one who would have to complete it.

“We—we can’t stay here.”  She wiped her hand across her eyes and plotted a course to take the small ship out of the system, making sure their route led away from the thickest parts of the firefight.  “We’ll have to jump back toward the Rim,” she decided aloud, her voice far steadier than it ought to have been.  “More allies there, more places to hole up . . .”

“Wait a minute,” Xavier interrupted.  “I can’t stay here.  I’ve got to get back home to my people.”  The brown fox hesitated, considering.  As far as he could tell, this was a warp-equivalent society he was dealing with, capable of cultural interaction without social damage.  Technically, he could not be violating the Prime Directive here.  This entire experience could be classified as a first contact incident.  “We’ll be safe enough inside of Federation space,” he continued.  “You can stay if you wish, or return to another one of your safe houses.  But I must return . . .”

———————————— 

A full squadron of TIE Bombers howled through the black curtain of space, red and green turbolaser bolts crackling past them in a hailstorm of fire.

"Black group, this is Black Lead. Fire link and arm Proton Torpedoes; target the Amazon battle-cruiser at point zero-two-five."

A chorus of affirmatives answered him as his copilot targeted the missiles and began feeding target data into the torpedo guidance systems.

A small knot of X-Wings, A-Wings and Amazon fighters, fresh from a brutal dogfight, dove in pursuit of the TIEs.

"Red boys, got a pack of bombers on a torpedo run . . . cut your speed and take 'em out before they can launch!"

"Roger that, Red Lead . . . engaging now!"

"Red lead, we got incoming! Eight marks at two ten!"

"I copy! Reiak, Chopper, break off and give us some cover, will ya? We're a little busy down here!"

"Yeah, boss, we're on it . . ."

"Cap, I'm reading positive torpedo locks on that cruiser: it's now or never!"

"HIT 'EM!"

The rebel fighters opened up on the Imperial bomber group just as the first set of torpedoes rocketed from them. Half a dozen bombers exploded outright as the Amazons and rebels began their rain of fire; the rest scattered, desperately trying to stay on target while staying alive.  The Imperial pilots were professionals, regrouping to attack the rebels from above as their fightercraft mingled in the chaos.

Some twenty-six proton torpedoes impacted the Amazon battle-cruiser, shattering its shields and ripping huge gouges deep into her hull; the wounded cruiser listed to one side as her maneuver systems struggled to compensate for the impact. Her gunfire stuttered to a halt as main power failed and the ship went dark; burning atmosphere jetted out into space from the damaged sections.

On the other side of the battlefield, four more Amazon ships poured withering fire into the Imperator Star Destroyer DEVASTATOR as the massive vessel lumbered forward. The upper surface of the star destroyer erupted in a surge of concentrated turbolaser fire, peppering one of the cruisers already damaged from an earlier barrage and reducing large portions of the hull to scrap and glowing slag. The stricken cruiser heeled to port, already beginning to break up, pillars of flame from secondary explosions leaping up only to die in airless space.

"Report!" Violet snapped; the tactical hologram at the center of her bridge alive with motion.

Aris piped up in Amazon, "We've lost three of our own ships but we're better off than the Alliance, milady."

"We are the Alliance, now," Violet responded in kind. "I want to know their status as well! Contact the OSSUS REMEMBERED and get a tactical update."

"Yes, Jotei-sama."

On the battlefield of space, alliances were made. Fire ripped through the wing of a TIE Interceptor, sending it spiraling towards a squadron of Amazon fighters already engaged with a group of assault gunboats.

"Down!" a rebel X-Wing pilot warned over his speakers.

Perfectly in sync, the bladed Amazon fighters swept downwards as the scorched TIE crashed into the lead of another TIE group, resulting in a spectacular explosion of orange flame.

"Thanks," one of the Amazon pilots called.

"Well, we're allies right?"

"Hai."

However, some alliances were not wanted.

"Sol Lead this is Blue Lead, would you ladies like some company?"

A long flurry of foreign curses followed. The Amazon squadron turned and swerved around the rebel squadron to engage three lone TIE Fighters.

"I guess not . . ."

———————————— 

Khal'Saad's shuttle lifted free of the surface of Daktia, its wings lowering as it turned smoothly and lifted skyward above the chaos of the ground walkers slowly approaching Kadan City. At the controls, the tiger scanned over sensor monitors, noting the positions of various vessels and plotting the safest course back to the command ship.  The dark lord reached out with the Dark Side once his course was set, turning away the attention of pilots who wandered too close to his lone and relatively vulnerable craft.

His monitor board lit up and a soft tone sounded in the cockpit. Sher gazed over it and frowned. He was picking up multiple hyperspace exits, unknown IFF codes. The computer automatically tagged them as hostile, their icons turning a deep red on the screen. "That will be more reinforcements of the Amazon fleet, I suspect…" He frowned as the shuttle locked on course, the SENTINEL's powerful tractor beams guiding him in on final approach. His fingers stroked the smooth metal of the new lightsaber laid crossways on the control panel before he turned and walked toward the rear of the shuttle, shrugging his fleet jacket on as he did so and preparing to resume the role he had played now for almost fifteen years . . .