All That Remains: The Shroud of the Dark Side

[General Dan]

The journey from Hoth to the Atravis Sector was short, but it gave Dan enough time to return to prepare. He had changed - again wearing the uniform of an Alliance General. It also gave him time to consider his next move. Loklorien was dead, buried with finality in the ruins of Echo Base. With her death, plans that were in motion would have to be accelerated. The Jedi were on the move, but their days of moving were coming to an end. For his plans to succeed, they would need to be taken unaware.

As Dan's shuttle broke into realspace, he could see his assembled fleet. Task Force 42 lay in wait beyond a nebula's wispy trail. The starships appeared as dark silhouettes against the purple and red gas clouds, as his comm system fired up with an incoming message.

"General, we have you on our scopes, sir. Welcome back."

Lieutenant Bren's voice was recognizable on the audio link, and Dan nodded.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. What is the status of the fleet?"

"We're holding position and awaiting orders, sir."

Good. A thin smile grew on Dan's face.

"Prepare the fleet to jump to hyperspace. I will be boarding shortly."

A pause on the line, and the Lieutenant's voice returned, a bit hesitant.

"Sir, we have taken on some passengers since you left. Alliance Intelligence, and some others. I believe they are Jedi Knights."

A complication. The General arched a brow.

"Is that so?"

"Yessir. They insist on speaking with you personally. Shall I inform them of your arrival?"

Dan considered the options that lay ahead. This changed nothing.

"No. I will deal with them later. Prepare for my arrival."

"Understood, Dauntless out."

The shuttlecraft continued its approach, slowing at the last instant to draw in its retractable wings as the cavernous hangar of the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Dauntless drew it the rest of the way inside.

[Marlon Kori]

He was waiting in the hangar, standing on the periphery as Dan's shuttle entered. He watched with impatience, willing the craft to hurry its' landing procedures. And even as the landing struts touched the decking, he was moving, falling into a long gait that wasn't frantic, but it certainly wasn't lazy and ambling either. A frown held his features in a downward spell, and his eyes were hard. There was a distinct look of uncomfortable frustration that seemed to literally drape off of him.

When Dage had accepted promotion and inevitably stayed on Bothawui, he - Marlon Kori - had volunteered to fill the void that had been left until Dan would be able to find a suitable replacement. It was almost like being back home to a degree. Only, well, on a bigger ship. There was also a lot more red tape and bureaucratic nonsense to wade through, but that was what happened when you transitioned from a cobbled-together fighting force into something more legitimate. Of course, it didn't mean he was unable to pine for the old days.

The look on his face now was an aggravated one. Alliance Intel? What in the world would cause them to find it necessary to be here? On Bothawui he could understand. But here? It rankled him.

As the boarding ramp to Dan's shuttle began to fall, Kori was still walking, his stride bringing him ever closer as the storm on his features did not let up.

[General Dan]

"Where are they?"

Dan was down the gangplank as soon as it lowered, meeting the stormy expression of his executive officer. They both walked in lockstep across the expansive hangar bay to the door that would take them to the nearest lift.

[Marlon Kori]

"They are in your office."

It was spoken with a clipped cadence. Kori pulled his hands back, clasping them at the small of his back as he walked.

"You mind telling me... "

A realization hit him then; a glaring absence that caused him to draw up into a standstill and his original question to die on his lips. They were at the threshold of the arching doorway that led deeper into the ship, and he turned half on his heel to look at the shuttle they'd left behind. Confusion swept over frustrated features as no other passengers debarked. His brow knit.

"Where is Lok... ?"

[General Dan]

Dan's stride faltered, and a troubled look filled his features.

"Dead."

He averted his eyes from Kori.

"She uncovered a Jedi plot on Hoth, and in their betrayal they killed her. I only barely escaped with my own life."

When he looked back at his second, the General's eyes were filled with grim resolve.

"Alert all commands. Our destination is Ossus."

[Marlon Kori]

Strange, how one word could take the wind out of your sails in the span of a millisecond. Kori blinked, then met the General's eyes with a gaze that seemed to've been thrown out of a speeder and was now playing a desperate catch-up.

"... dead?!"

Gods and all nine Corellian hells, this was some sort of sick joke, yes? A last look back to the shuttle before he turned his attentions fully on his superior. One hand went out to clamp down on the older man's shoulder, and Kori pulled him to a stop.

"Hold on, now," This revelation of the death of one of his oldest friends was a hard pill to swallow, but even in the face of it he knew that they had protocols and procedure to follow.

"You can't just rush into some mission of revenge, Dan... "

His grip seemed to tighten.

"As your XO, I have to insist we take official channels on this matter."

[General Dan]

"The Jedi control the official channels!"

Kori couldn't yet see, so Dan would make him see.

"They're involved in everything. The high command, in intelligence, all of it. It's been a conspiracy for years. Maybe even since the beginning. They have no interest in mutual cooperation. They've taken matters into their own hands, and intend on using all of their influence to create a New Republic in name only. Mark my words, they won't be content to sit on the sidelines as a council of advisors this time. They'll rule over us all just as surely as Palpatine wants to, as princes."

[Marlon Kori]

He scowled, thoughts racing through his mind. None of this made sense, and yet at the same time, it all made perfect sense. His expression became clouded as he let go of Dan's shoulder, one hand going up to rub at his temple.

"Dan," his old friend was mad with grief, that had to be the only explanation.

He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it once more as if to reconsider his words.

Finally, he continued.

"You're sure about this?"

[General Dan]

"We've been through it all since the beginning, Marlon."

The General gave a resolute nod.

"If I wasn't sure about this, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm asking you to make a difficult decision. There's the procedural choice, and there's the right choice. We don't get a second chance at this."

[Marlon Kori]

It felt like eons that they stood there. The choice that Dan now set at his feet was a difficult one, and yet at the same time it was the easiest choice that he would possibly ever have to make. His jaw clenched, and he pulled in a long breath.

Fine time for Dage to go skipping off to his own boat, leaving Kori to saddle something of this magnitude. There was no malice in the observation, but more of a fatalistic sense of humor. He and Dage had grown up together on Myomar. They had history. And, they had history with Dan and Loklorien. Now, one of their number was dead. Dead at the hands of the very group that she had once been a part of. The Jedi...

Kori gave a slow nod while stepping back slightly, his back straightening as he drew himself up to stand at attention.

"I'll give the word."

[General Dan]

Dan drew up a reciprocating salute.

"The next twenty four hours are going to decide whether our Alliance survives, Marlon. Let's make the best use of them."

And with that, the General dismissed Kori to carry out his orders, while he headed to his office to deal with his unwanted visitors.

[Jane Starborn]

The Sith is moving. Trust no one under his command.
File s'Ilancy-271 in Alliance High Command database. Execute access code 573-HND-9.
All information regarding Dan Thrule's movements and activities will be found in that file.

Jane Starborn's fingers tapped nervously on the desk as her eyes scanned the file she had been directed toward, her stomach sinking with every new paragraph. Byl Laprovik had not answered her return call to his commlink, though it was his that had been used to send the message. Was he compromised again? Did it even matter, in light of this file? General Thrule was a Sith. The Sith. She was still certain that Loklorien was also, which made the origin of this information suspect to say the least, but the dates and locations matched up with what she knew of his activities. Which was everything in the official record, as she'd read over it months ago and kept up to date. His task force, Task Force 42, was in the Atravis sector, and he was not with them as far as she was aware, the Dauntless having been diverted off on some random trip a few days previous.

He was outed, or near enough to it, so he would be enacting his endgame. She packaged the message and a copy of the file together in an encrypted datacard, and paused, eyeing her holocam. After a moment she switched it on.

"Hey Mom, it's me." Jane smiled tightly in the recording, stress visible on her face. "You know what I've been working on? It's come to a head. Everything in this datacard will justify my actions, and I'm entrusting it to you...that you'll know what to do with it. He's going to take out the Jedi, so I'm going to Ossus. You can't trust anyone in Task Force 42, the entire chain of command there is suspect and probably tainted. I'll... I'll call you when I get back."

She ended the recording, copied it to the card and deleted the original from her computer. Thirty minutes later it was in a secure envelope, being couriered to the Senate and the hands of Celeste Starborn, and she was sitting in her ship waiting for clearance to take off. Ossus was vulnerable, the Jedi barely on the ground and certainly not capable of defending against an interplanetary attack. The Alliance ships and troops there were not adequate to take on an entire Task Force, and would be called off by the General as soon as he arrived anyway.

Jane bit her lip as she plugged the coordinates into her navicomp, and found it hard to relax even for the journey through hyperspace, her mind racing with near infinite possibilities.

[Serena Laran]

"We have an ship incoming." The hologram of Ensign Traener from the Alliance HQ on Ossus (a glorified prefab that housed all the electronic communications and sensor equipment) stood three inches tall on Serena Laran's desk. A wind gust buffeted the tent, and the hologram flickered. "We aren't expecting anyone."

Serena frowned. "Is there -"

"Wait, we're receiving a fleet code." The Ensign's visage looked to the side and down as someone off camera spoke to her. "All clear, sorry Ma'am. I didn't mean to alarm you, but they were a little late transmitting..."

"It's all right, Ensign. We're all a little jumpy."

The officer smiled, and then her face changed. She looked sharply to the side and then back to Serena. "It's a priority visit from Intel. They're requesting an emergency meeting with the Council."

"I'll be right there. Solomon is still off planet and - I'll be there as soon as possible." Serena ended the transmission and pulled her cloak on over her cream colored robes, wrapping a scarf around her face to keep the dust out as she headed out into the wind.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane nearly sprinted out of her ship, but she managed to keep herself to a brisk walk. She'd arrived before the General and his fleet of misguided loyalists, but by how much she couldn't know. A cloaked and hooded figure at the edge of the temporary dirt landing pad lifted a hand in welcome, and she adjusted her vector to intersect, a hand in front of her face to keep the wind out of her eyes.

"Operative Jane Starborn!" she shouted, a particularly large gust nearly tossing her into the person. "Is it always like this?" Her hair whipped free of it's ponytail and wrapped itself around her face, and she pulled what she could away from her mouth.

"Not always! Master Laran of the Council," said the woman in the cloak. "Let's go inside to talk."

Jane nodded, following the Jedi Master toward a grouping of tents huddled around the hull of a grounded bulk transport. There were no signs of life, but with the wind storm driving dirt into the air from the land the settlers had recently cleared, she couldn't blame them for staying indoors. Thunder cracked and boomed as Serena pulled open one of the tents, and ushered her inside. The air felt electrified, her wind buffeted hair clinging to her with static. Jane was glad there weren't any mirrors in sight.

"I'm afraid I don't have time for pleasantries, Master Laran. Are there... more Council members around?"

"No, I'm it for now," the Jedi said apologetically. "What can I help Alliance Intel with, Operative Starborn?"

"It's what I can do for you - well, we can help each other, I hope. A general has gone rogue -"

"Dan Thrule."

"Y-yes. How did you..?" Jane shook herself, and took a deep breath. "Then I don't have to explain that he's a serious security problem for this settlement."

The Jedi shook her head, a strange look coming over her face. Determination? Jane smiled grimly, and turned away from her memory to the present. On board the Dauntless. In General Thrule's office, with Serena Laran and three other Jedi Knights. It was a laughably small force, but the Jedi were calmly confident, or at least had great poker faces. Their operating assumption was if they could cut the head off the snake the rest of the Fleet would fall in line. Her mother, Celeste Starborn, was mustering forces to converge on Ossus, or whatever it is the military would want to do, but Jane didn't have much hope that it would progress beyond yelling at each other on Bothawui before Dan had accomplished his mission.

[General Dan]

The doors to the General's ready room slid open, and Dan stepped inside with his hands clasped behind his back. His eyes immediately met the familiar face in the room.

"Operative Starborn."

His eyes then moved towards Serena and the other three Jedi Knights, a feigned look of confusion on his face.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

[Jane Starborn]

Jane straightened her spine, the damning holovids and other evidence that had been sent to her spinning up in her mind like a news reel. "You are under arrest under the authority of the Alliance of Free Planets." She held out her hand, presenting a pair of stun cuffs. "Submit without incident, General, and this will all be over soon." The ship silently rumbled deep beneath her boots, the subtle thrum of hyperspace. She felt like she might throw up.

[Serena Laran]

Serena watched impassively as the Operative went by the book. Perhaps she was hoping that the Sith would assume this was about an unrelated, military matter. It was not likely to succeed, and by the fear that Starborn was feeling she knew it as well. The General didn't move, his eyes tracking toward Serena.

"We know. And you will not be allowed to continue." The Jedi Master lashed out with the Force, intent on pinning the man to the bulkhead.

[General Dan]

He could feel her fear. Her exquisite fear, running swift and hot under the cool surface.

"Arrested?"

A look of confusion crossed his face, and Dan looked from Starborn to Laran and back.

"On what grounds? What is this abo-"

And suddenly, Dan was thrown back against the wall, his arms and legs pressed firmly immobile, fixing him to the spot.

"Master Jedi?!"

[Jane Starborn]

"You are accused of treason against the Alliance of Free Planets, and we know you're a Sith. The video evidence I was sent is quite damning." Jane blanched a bit, knowing that she would never be able to forget anything she'd read or seen in Loklorien s'Ilancy's files.

She pulled her blaster and leveled it at the man. "Consider yourself relieved of duty."

[General Dan]

The faux expression of surprise was calmly discarded. Dan ignored the weapon pointed at him, even as he was pinned to the wall by Serena's power. He coolly regarded Jane and her words.

"I'm curious, Operative Starborn. Under what authority are you acting?"

[Jane Starborn]

"The authority of the Speaker of the House of the Alliance Senate," she said evenly. Jane walked to the ship's comm, a respectful distance from the disgraced General, and pressed the ship wide button.

"This is Operative Starborn of Alliance Intelligence. The General has been relieved of his command per the Speaker of the House and the Senate. You will slow the Dauntless and change your heading to Bothawui for debriefing." The vibrations of the ship didn't change, and she narrowed her eyes at Dan. "Tell your officers to stand down and bring the ship out of hyperspace."

[General Dan]

The General looked unimpressed, even as he stood splayed and pinned to the wall by Serena's power.

"I'm afraid my crew are already well aware of the Jedi plot to overthrow the Alliance, and the fifth columnists in Intelligence who may be helping them betray us all."

A knowing smile brightened Dan's features.

"You honestly thought you would arrest me, Operative?"

Dan glanced down, shaking his head slightly.

"There is absolutely nothing to gain from it, and yet I cannot help myself. I pity you, Starborn. I haven't pitied anyone in five hundred years, so cherish it. You have so many gifts, and so many unique talents. And for everything to your credit, you lack power."

Dan's smile evaporated as he looked up at the operative.

"I can feel your will and your desire. Your hatred of me and everything you think you know that I am. And if you had the slightest inkling of how to kindle that spark into fire, you might yet be useful. But I'm afraid your usefulness is at an end, Jane Starborn. Kill Yourself."

The words, spoken with unnatural gravity through the Dark Side would have a profound persuasive effect. A person of weaker foundations might immediately reach for their gun and paint the wall with their own brains, but for those with stronger will, they would only be driven mad trying to resist the urge, if left to their devices.

[Serena Laran]

The agent stiffened at the Sith's words, her arm trembling as she struggled to keep it leveled at him. Serena frowned. "Be calm, child." She touched Jane with the Force, soothing the urge she was feeling and washing it away.

"If you will not submit, you will be made to submit," Serena said quietly. She knew what had happened to Master Fisto, and even Master Windu when they had faced Palpatine. Was Dan on the same level? She had doubted it, and yet...

[General Dan]

"Master Laran are you threatening me?"

There was something sinister in the way he said it. His eyes gleamed at the Jedi Master, an unnatural light to them.

"What good is a threat if not followed through. What a will you must have to break my resolve. Careful, Jedi, lest the abyss stares back."

And with a shrug, Dan removed himself from the wall as everyone else in the room, save Serena, crashed to the ground in a spectacular release of energy. Eyes now vividly feral, the Alliance General parted his jacket, an elegant silver serpent drawn into his hand. The asp's death's head opened its jaws, spilling from it's hell mouth a column of blood red.

[Serena Laran]

Her lightsaber jumped into her hand, igniting in a flash of brilliant green as Agent Starborn and Knights Darjeeling, Seretan, and Keziah went flying into the bulkheads. "I do not threaten, Sith." Serena's eyes narrowed, her emotions tamped down as she pulled Thrule forward off his feet and into the path of her incoming blade.

[Darth Decepis]

Dan smiled, allowing the momentum to bring himself towards Serena, his own blade meeting to connect in a violent saber lock. Red and green screamed against each other, the magnetic vortexes that kept their powerful energies in check flickering with the violence pregnant in the moment.

"I have waited so long for this moment, Jedi!"

His voice changed. A timbre lower, more deliberate and sepulchral by each measure. The color seemed to leave the man's face. Lines of age slowly appeared where fewer had once been visible.

"You must know by now that your convictions won't be enough to stop me. I am forever!"

[Jane Starborn]

Jane shook her head, the buzzing feeling in her brain subsiding as Master Laran engaged General Thrule. She had smacked her head on the bulkhead and a book had fallen off of a shelf onto her, but she would live. Knight Seretan, a quiet male Twi'lek who was shades of pale blue on white and had been a padawan during the Purge of Palpatine, hidden by his master when the Clonetroopers had turned on them; who had lain on the ground under the corpse of his master for a day before daring to move; recently come to Sanctuary One on Ossus via the Wheel Convoy -

She blinked, pushing away the flood of words from the man's Intel file. Seretan put out a hand and helped her to her feet. "You will want to step back, Agent." He ignited his saber, a turquoise blade emerging from a pommel that resembled a dull bit of plumbing pipe more than anything else. The other two Knights were also standing, Darjeeling exiting the room to make sure the hallway was clear and would remain so; Keziah seemed a bit dazed.

[Serena Laran]

Thrule's eyes yellowed, his skin deteriorated - how had he hidden himself for so long? Serena could feel the fear threatening to rise, shades of her time with the Inquisitorate coming back to haunt her. She breathed deep, pushing blade against blade, and the fear melted away as she opened herself fully to the Force. Form VI would perhaps not gain her any advantage over the Sith, but she did not doubt she could hold her own against his frenzy of anger.

She shoved him backwards with the Force, circling to the side. The room was too small for this kind of combat. She gestured, and a metal paperweight flew off his desk and toward his head; she followed up with a quick slashing attack at his thighs.

[Darth Decepis]

The aged look of her nemesis betrayed his extreme agility. He contorted his body with purpose, red blade meeting green at just the right point to deflect it's trajectory as the paperweight sailed. But by that time, he was already circling through the air, raking the other three Jedi with a gout of lightning as he landed with his feet on the wall. In an instant he charged again, more lightning screaming from his off hand as it lapped against the ceiling of the room, destroying the lights and casting everything into darkness barely held at bay by lightsabers.

[Serena Laran]

Seretan caught the lightning aimed toward him and Starborn on his blade with a grunt of effort, the Agent crouching with blaster drawn, unable to fire at anything but ready nonetheless. Keziah's yellow blade switched off as he was hit, slumping back against the bulkhead.

Serena flicked her hand up, the desk tearing from the deck and smashing into the Sith, bouncing him off the ceiling as the lights went out.

[Darth Decepis]

The metal of the desk split against the ceiling in an angry gash of molten effluence, and cast aside across the room in opposite directions, one of which crushed the now-hapless Keziah. Decepis dropped to the floor, giving his opponent a bit of space as he moved to finish off the pinned knight.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane's eyes flicked around the room as things crashed and the light from the Force users' weapons spun around crazily. Seretan moved suddenly from her side as Dan rounded on Keziah, the human Jedi struggling to get out from under the broken desk. He was the same age as her cousin Dashiel.

The Twi'lek intercepted the killing blow meant for his companion, and Jane saw an opening. She leveled her blaster at the General before she realized that Seretan was shouting "No!" at her, and pulled the trigger.

[Darth Decepis]

Decepis shrugged off Seretan's intercepting saber slash, drawing back to center. His eyes remained on the knight, and the only change in his posture was a flick of a wrist. The killing bolt meant for him returned to sender, striking Jane Starborn dead between the eyes.

He smiled.

[Serena Laran]

The Operative slumped backwards to the decking as Thrule re-engaged with Seretan, the pair trading blows until Keziah blasted the desk off of himself, slamming the Sith with the furniture for the second time in a minute. Serena lunged forward, coordinating her attack with the Twi'leki Jedi, both coming at Thrule at the same time. One went high, the other low.

[Darth Decepis]

"Aaagh"

Bowled over by the half desk, Decepis was quick on his feet and losing more ground to Serena and Seretan alike. The dual threat attack was difficult to meet. Serena's high strike was parried by his lightsaber. Seretan's low strike was interrupted with a quick kick to the Twi'lek's face, sending him off balance. Decepis didn't wait to meet the next attack. He arrested Seretan's fall, finishing him by plunging his lightsaber into his heart.

[Serena Laran]

Keziah got to his feet and ignited his own weapon as Seretan's body slid off the vile red blade of Thrule's lightsaber. Serena sucked in a breath, following her blocked strike up with a hard chop at the Sith's exposed back with her lightsaber.

[Darth Decepis]

Drawing his saber back, Decepis quickly cocked the blade high and behind, catching Serena's backslash. The precarious position made more tenable by his unnatural strength in the Dark Side, Decepis tilted a shoulder down, using the meeting point of blades as a fulcrum to stand off against his enemy as he righted himself. By now, Keziah had recovered to bring home another attack, and Decepis disengaged from Serena, sliding back to meet the younger Knight's advances. His face was a mocking grin, betraying his pleasure at their struggles. Keziah feinted, but the Sith Lord by now had seen this move, the Force betraying the next moment to Decepis, who did not take the baited move, but instead moved a moment early, meeting Keziah's true overhanded cleave, not in a force-on-force block, but instead diverted it forward in a parry close to center, where Keziah's wrist was now dangerously close to Serena's own incoming attack.

[Serena Laran]

Serena halted her swing with effort, Knight Keziah managing to get out of the way of her blade but not before Thrule had enough time to regain his poise. For a moment they stood in a rough triangle, the two Jedi moving in slowly on the Sith, lightsabers the only thing illuminating the scene. She had to step over Seretan's body as she closed in on Thrule; Keziah feinted a bit to keep the Sith's attention split as he backed up toward the door.

She caught a glimpse of Jane Starborn, laid out on the floor with debris from the shattered desk on her body, eyes staring at the ceiling, and quickly refocused on Thrule. The door opened behind him, the Chiss knight Dar'jeeling standing there with his lightsaber ignited, and she pressed the attack, stepping up and slashing at the Sith.

[Darth Decepis]

Serena's saber burned through the back of the Sith Lord's jacket, searing a hairline wound across Decepis' shoulder as he turned his immediate attention to breaking the two-fronted assault, driving Dar'jeeling on his heels with a furious offensive. Eventually the Knight found his footing and clashed in close for a saber lock. Knowing that he couldn't offer his back to Laran a second time, the Sith Lord pushed their entwined blades towards a wall, driving the Jedi's edge into a bulkhead that belched a gout of sparks. With the Jedi attempting to recover his blade, Decepis pressed a hand to the man's chest, and force lightning ravaged him for but a moment until he was savagely blasted down the hall with a force push. With only a moment to spare, he brought his blade around once again to meet Serena, narrowly diverting a strike that would have decapitated him. Gone was his mirthless smile. Only a baleful scowl remained.

"You only prolong the inevitable. I will make an example of your friends."

[Serena Laran]

"We will stop you," she said calmly, eyes flicking past him to where Dar'jeeling was lying on the decking, his clothes smoking as he struggled to regain his feet. His lightsaber was down the hall from him, just out of reach. Serena's focus snapped to Thrule, and she stepped up to him, lightsaber flashing as she fought for an opening in his defenses, any opening.

Keziah stood behind her, lightsaber in a guard position, unable to do much in the tight space. Serena locked blades with the Sith, grimacing with effort, and Dar'jeeling gestured, his saber igniting and spinning down the hall toward Thrule's back.

[Darth Decepis]

The Sith Lord's eyes moved from Serena to Keziah, the contempt on his face palpable.

"How small you must think my power. How truly arrogant the Jedi have become. Now you will know your Enemy."

His pallid yellow eyes seemed to glow as he cast his gaze upon both Jedi before him. Caught within his Deadly Sight, the pain would come first, exquisite and complete across whatever fell into view. His gaze lingered longer on Keziah, who screamed and collapsed to the ground, trying to shield his smoldering face with his robe which was burning away under Decepis' hateful gaze.

His dark sight only parted from his enemies to turn and face Dar'jeeling's missile, which he angrily swatted aside with his lightsaber, plunging it into the ceiling above. Now within Decepis' sight, Dar'jeeling too seemed to wither under his gaze, shrieking as he collapsed in pain.

[Serena Laran]

Serena recoiled, the pain she was experiencing amplified by the screams of Knight Keziah. As the Sith turned his gaze toward Dar'jeeling, she pulled the Force inside as easy as breathing, banishing the pain. She thrust her hands out in front of herself, the Force slamming into Thrule like a battering ram.

[Darth Decepis]

His saber knocked from his grasp, Decepis shrieked as Serena drove him to the wall. Eyes still fouled with terrible power, he raked across her with his evil gaze, again withering Keziah and Dar'jeeling in a pass. He could not maintain his deadly sight as Serena pummeled him, and instead savaged her with lightning as she tried to close the distance. They separated in a blast of energy, Decepis scrabbling to his feet as he called his saber once more. Keziah saw the evil weapon begin to move, and himself made a dash for it, leaving his feet with an outstretched hand. Sensing an opportunity, Decepis smiled. The glinting metal viper righted itself instantly, flying back to meet Keziah's grasp. Yet before the dread weapon could be taken by the knight, the red blade activated once again. The Sith's saber pierced Keziah's awaiting hand, passing through cleanly to lodge in the Jedi Knight's mouth.

[Serena Laran]

Serena slumped against the bulkhead, Keziah's death resonating in the Force. So much death. If she hesitated, the fear would gain a foothold, so she pushed herself up, clothes smoking, body protesting the stresses it was under, and assumed a defensive stance. Dar'jeeling was doing much the same, on the other side of Thrule, though she could feel how much pain he was in. There was no surrender. No running away. They finished this here, or died trying.

She moved toward the Sith, and he held out his hands, dark side lightning spraying at the two remaining Jedi. Serena managed to catch this assault on her blade, focusing on channeling the energy away and into the air, but Dar'jeeling was not so lucky.

[Darth Decepis]

His lightning slowed Serena, and incapacitated Dar'jeeling as Decepis moved to put distance on the Jedi Master. He paused his assault on Dar'jeeling only long enough to wrest his lightsaber from Keziah's smoldering head, then took off after the Knight at full speed. A glance back at Laran, and the Sith reached a gnarled hand to a wall control, activating a blast door that slowly began to constrict the passage and block the Jedi Master from rendering aid to her injured accomplice.

[Serena Laran]

Dar'jeeling backed up, lightsaber held in shaking hands, his body ravaged by the electrical current it had endured. Serena grimaced, pressing against the blast doors with the Force, prying them back open, trying to get through them in time. The Sith and the Jedi crashed together at the far end of the hallway, and she felt the loss of the Chiss knight as she climbed through the doors and let them slam behind her.

[Darth Decepis]

The Sith Lord's head turned at the sound of her arrival, a smile on his twisted features. He pivoted, turning away from Dar'jeeling, his lightsaber pulling free from where the Jedi Knight had been impaled upon it, sending the dead Chiss to the ground.

"Your friends...have failed, Master Laran. They died, knowing how completely incapable you were of helping them. And yet..."

Decepis deactivated his lightsaber.

"They were spared witness of how complete your failure shall soon become."

Again, a mocking smile on his face.

"Your perfect eyes and ears. I want you to see and hear everything that I destroy."

[Serena Laran]

Serena took in a deep breath, her lightsaber still held up at the ready. "Your lies will not affect me, Sith." She took a step forward. "They came to fight for what they knew was right, as do I."

The Dauntless hummed underneath her feet, the Force as much a part of the ship as it was everything else. Her arm shook a little, the fear returning as she faced that horrible gaze. "We knew the cost could be high." Serena steeled herself, locking away the fear and the anger, expelling it from her mind. Then she ran at the Sith, fully aware these could be her last moments.

[Darth Decepis]

His smile remained, now bathed by an unnatural red light. An orb of destructive force crackled into existence at the tip of an extended bony finger. Pulsing and thrumming in the discordant powers of the Dark Side, the unnatural energy raked the walls around them with lightning as it grew.

"You've only begun to comprehend the cost, Jedi."

[Marlon Kori]

* * *

The bridge had become a hive of action and movement, and Kori directed it all as best as possible. There had been a blaster shot registered by Dauntless' internal systems, and he'd sent a team to investigate. The fact that the alarm had been triggered in the General's office generated no small amount of concern. He knew he should've stayed with Dan, but orders had been orders.

Had he truly made such a terrible mistake in not insisting to stay?

"Security Detail to Commander Kori... "

Sitting in Dan's chair, the rangy brunette tapped the callback button on the armrest.

"What's it look like, in there."

"We got a mess, Commander. The whole room is trashed and-" there was a pause on the line as he could hear shuffling. A scraping sound soon followed, then a soft curse.

"Looks like the spook headbutted a blaster bolt."

Now it was Kori's turn to scowl, and he was on his feet in the next instant, but the report wasn't quite over yet.

"One of the Jedi is here too. Dead."

"Dammit. Find the General, and find the rest of the Jedi."

Dan's words were coming back to haunt him now, and the truth of the Jedi's betrayal was laid out before him, unmistakable and terrible in its' implications.

An sudden klaxon cut through all sound, and a lieutenant snapped his head back to Kori.

"Sir, we've got a hull breach!"

"What?!"

"Level 12; looks like some of the blast doors have been tripped."

A hull breach... in hyperspace...

One of the navigators swiveled in his seat.

"Coming up on our exit point, Commander!"

"Drop early! Get us out of hyperspace now!"

The navigator was quick to act, and the massive hulk of the Dauntless pierced into subspace with a noiseless crash, her massive form dropping from hyperspace with terrible malevolence.

[Serena Laran]

Serena was close, her saber beginning a downward arc, when Thrule released the dark energy he was forming. It slammed into the bulkhead, ripping through the durasteel and plastics and sending her flying backwards from the concussive force. Her lightsaber fell from her hand, and suddenly she felt herself being pulled toward the hole he had made. Serena looked toward her feet and saw the blackness of space, her eyes wide but breath still steady. She reached out behind herself, holding fast with the Force until the Sith hit her with another blast of lightning.

She was sucked out of the hull breach, curling into a ball and closing her eyes. Everything became quiet.



The Force was all around her in the freezing dark.



She was a leaf in the wind.

[Darth Decepis]

She didn't have his permission to die.

Her unconscious form was drawn back into the ship by the very nature of forces that had expelled her from it. As the atmospheric shielding engaged to staunch the injury to the ship, Serena's body fell to the deck, battered, bleeding, but still very much alive. The Dark Lord of the Sith closed distance as she lay on the deck, and kneeled. He rested a hand to her forehead, drawing her deep into sleep so that she could be dealt with on his terms.

Oh yes, she did not have his permission to die. Only once everything she knew and loved had burned to nothing and the stink of ashes was all she could feel would he dispose of Serena Laran. She was the last to seriously oppose him. She would be the last to fall.

[Marlon Kori]

He'd followed the security team's progress from afar, but when they signalled that they'd found the General; albeit on the other side of a still closed blast door, Kori had left the bridge at a clipped jog.

Another four security officers followed after him, and the group moved quickly through to where a small smattering of engineers now laid siege to the blast doors.

"Hurry up!"

"Working as fast as we can, Sir."

The one who'd spoken had not even looked up from his work. He'd plugged a small handheld pad into the reception terminal behind the main activation panel that controlled the massive durasteel plated door. His finger worked furiously to input the override sequences, and Kori very nearly turned to the man standing beside him to order a search for a cutting torch. His thought was silenced as the engineer reared back.

"Got it!"

The blast door groaned, and slowly rose. Even before it was halfway up, Kori ducked through to the other side.

"General!"

[Darth Decepis]

There were no need for pretenses now. His crew, exposed to the energies of the dark side, were easily convinced of the Truth of things.

"You arrived just in time!"

The Sith spider spun his web, directing the marionettes along it as he played his part.

"The Jedi sprung their attack, ambushing me. It is even worse than I feared!"

[Marlon Kori]

Kori gave a curse, looking from the lifeless form of one dead Jedi to the unconscious form of another. His gaze went up to the glaring hole in Dauntless' hull.

Another curse, and he finally turned to Dan, placing a hand on the other man's shoulder.

"How bad are you hurt?"

And without waiting for an answer, he turned to the group that was filing in and taking stock of the carnage.

"I need a medic!"

[Darth Decepis]

The Sith waived off the well-meaning inquiry from his subordinate.

"But a scratch, Kori."

His expression remained serious.

"It is clear that we cannot delay. Rally the fleet to meet us at Ossus. The Jedi have already made plain they wish to destroy the Alliance. We must move quickly. Secure the prisoner, and do what must be done. The very survival of our movement is at stake!"

[Marlon Kori]

Kori frowned as he looked at his superior.

"We had to drop out of hyperspace early," he gestured to massive tear that exposed the stark beauty and deadliness of space. "... because of that."

It didn't need to be said, the fact that the whole ship would've been torn apart if he'd not given the order to drop into hyperspace.

Two security guards hefted up the motionless form of Serena Laran, beginning the arduous task of dragging her back through the now open doorway. Kori watched, as if detached, but his attention soon enough turned back to Dan.

He saluted.

"We'll be ready, General."

[Darth Decepis]

He watched as Serena was carried away to the prison cell that had once held Zem Vymes for so long. Already, the Sith Lord's mind was turning to the next steps. As his fleet rallied around his flagship and pointed a dagger towards Ossus, the war drums began to beat. The Lord of the Sith smiled, making the long walk to the bridge to oversee the Jedi's final destruction.