Star Wars: Path of Redemption

The Dark Saga

Sixty-five years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Chapter Two-Dark Path

Two years later

Darth Bane slowly descended from the shuttle. Froma, a Chiss Captain in the Sith Navy bowed as he approached. "Lord Bane, we have just received work that the Jedi Academy on Bespin has been destroyed, and that we are now in control of the Tibanna Gas mines there."

Bane smiled. "Excellent. See that production begins at once, and inform General Bizzen that I shall be coming to oversee operations shortly."

Froma bowed, "Yes milord."

"Was there something else?"

"Yes Milord. Emperor Baal commands you to see him immediately."

Bane had to fight to control his anger and restrain himself from ripping the man apart. Instead, he just walked out of the shuttle bay. Soon, Baal wouldn't be commanding anyone. Bane smiled to himself.

The Emperor's throne room was all but pitch black, with the exception of the huge map of the Galaxy along the left-hand wall. The area in Blue was the Republic; green, the systems that were still being reconditioned from the Vong invasion; and finally a large portion of red that took about 1/3 of the map; The Sith Empire. During the last two years, the Sith had been strategically targeting systems. First, they would move in and destroy the Jedi in the system. Without their Jedi protectors, the rest of the system fell easily to the superior Chiss weaponry, soldiers, and the Dark Jedi. The Republic was too spread out, and could not mount a major offensive without leaving vital core worlds open for attack. The Jedi were far too few to do any serious damage. Most of the council and their Jedi Apprentices remained on Coruscant to protect the Chief of State and the senate from the continuous assassination attempts Baal's strike teams had been performing.

"Ah, young Brice. Do come forward."

Brice's gaze fell upon the dimly lit throne at the top of an upraised platform. Baal's eyes shone brightly through the darkness. Vader, standing next to the throne, was all but invisible in his black body armor. "What news do we have from Bespin?"

"The Jedi Academy has been destroyed, and our people are now in control of production. Milord" He added, almost as an afterthought.

Baal's eyes became red slits. "Your lack of respect troubles me, Bane," Baal said, almost at a whisper.

Suddenly, Brice could feel a tightening around his throat. "Remember who is your master." The tightening increased and Brice could feel himself slowly dropping to the deck "It would be a shame for me to have to destroy you."

"I apologize.... my lord...I...meant... no disrespect." Brice was on his knees now, hands grasping at the invisible grip; trying to concentrate to keep his windpipe open with the Force. Then he was free.

"Remember your place boy!" Baal spat. "The next time I shall not be so lenient."

Kieran watched as glistening stars flared into brilliant starlines, merging to become the blue tunnel of hyperspace. His thoughts flashed back to a conversation he had had two years earlier with his one time apprentice, and truth be told, best friend, Brice Canor. Brice, the young man who loved the look of hyperspace because it reminded him of home. Brice, who turned to the darkside and assumed the name Darth Bane; named for the Sith Lord that had kept the order alive after the downfall of the old sith empire over two thousand years ago. Keiran still had no idea why Brice had joined Vader. Whatever Vader had said, it must have been powerful.

Keiran sensed Master Skywalker's approach before he heard it. "We'll arrive at Coruscant in six hours." Keiran absently nodded. "Hey, you awake?"

Keiran shook his head, "I'm sorry Master. I was just lost in thought there for a second."

Ben smiled. "That's ok. Perhaps you should go to your cabin and meditate for a while."

"Yes Master." Keiran walked towards the door and then stopped. "Master Skywalker? Do you think that Brice could turn back to the light side?"

"My father believed that anyone could be redeemed."

"What do you think?"

Ben turned to face the younger Jedi. " I don't know Kieran, but we are going to try."

Coruscant looked like a mini solar system of metal. Huge orbital battle stations surrounded the world as smaller cargo vessels, corvettes, and commercial transports zoomed in and out. The newest class of X-wing, the protector, a sleeker and more powerful version of its predecessors, flew in pairs patrolling the flight zone, alert and ready for trouble. The tower for Coruscant Control hailed the incoming freighter. "Unidentified vessel, this is Coruscant Control. Please state your heading and your business here."

"Coruscant Control, this is cargo vessel 321 Vega, code clearance alpha-one-niner. We were scheduled to make a supply delivery to the Imperial Center Air Base. Over."

"Acknowledged 321. You have been cleared for landing. Continue on your current heading and land on platform 118. Any deviance from your flight path will be considered a hostel act and you will be fired upon."

"Acknowledged control. 321 out." The young man turned to face his hooded co-pilot, his red eyes glistening in the light. "That was almost too easy."

A smile could be detected beneath the hooded vale. " Easy, commander. The hard part is yet to come."

"Bespin." Jacen solo closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. "Were there any survivors?"

"If there were," Anakin took the data pad from his brother, "they were surely captured by the Sith and are being held prisoner."

"We have to do something," Jaina chimed in. "We cannot just stand by and let the Sith systematically destroy us."

"What would you have us do?" Valin glanced at her. "We are far too few to protect so many. Most of the council is needed here to protect the Chief of State and the senate."

"We could arrange a strike team of our own." Everyone looked towards Ben. "A sort of Jedi Rouge Squadron, if you will." He grinned at Jaina. "We could take the brightest and the strongest of the younger Jedi and form a team that can go in and reclaim control of the Academy on Bespin. That way a follow up team of the New Republic's can come in behind them and set up an offensive to re-take control of the mining facilities there. If it works on Bespin, we could do it again on some of the other worlds the Sith have taken."

Jacen slowly shook his head. "I don't know if I like this. The Jedi are to be protectors, not aggressors."

"They won't be," Jaina became excited at the thought. "This isn't an act of aggression, this is taking back one of our key mining facilities, while also rescuing whatever prisoners are held there."

"This is our only shot," Valin agreed. "New Republic forces are just no match for the Dark Jedi that are sent along with the Chiss troops. They need our help."

Jacen looked to Ben. "I assume you want to command this operation?"

Ben nodded and then looked towards Kieran, who, up to this point, had remained silent. "With Kieran's help."

Keiran's head shot up. "Me?"

Ben grinned. "Of course. I can't think of anyone better to be my XO. That is if you will accept the job."

Keiran nodded. "Yes, Master. I will be honored."

"Okay then," Jacen smiled, "it is settled. I want a list of all the candidates you have in mind by this time tomorrow."

The black of night concealed them as they slowly stalked through the cargo bay to the entrance of the Imperial Palace. A simple gesture from their leader and the Palace guards slumped to the ground. The ten others made sure the area was clear and that the guards were placed out of sight. Two of them, dressed in Palace guard uniforms, took up the now vacant positions at the entrance as the others followed their robed leader into the palace.

Anakin awoke instantly, senses alert and searching for the danger that had wrenched him from his sleep. He reached out with the Force; opening himself up to the palace around him. Then he sensed him. A Sith had infiltrated the palace. Anakin scooped his lightsaber from his nightstand and slowly made his way to the next room. Kaman, his human apprentice from Tiber, was already awake and waiting, lightsaber at the ready. The two sneaked into the hallway, and made their way towards the Chief of State's wing.

His senses flared. There were nine of them. Eight were an alien species that Anakin assumed was Chiss. The other was human, and he was incredibly strong in the Force. So strong that he sensed Anakin almost immediately. The hallway erupted with blue laser fire from the Chiss' unique blasters. Anakin and Kaman ignighted their lightsabers and began to deflect their shots. Anakin scored a direct hit on one of the soldiers, and a blue hue engulfed him. Personal shields.

"Deflect at the ceiling," Anakin yelled over the roar of the Chiss weapons.

The Chiss were good all right. They saw what the Jedi were doing and immediately held their fire, but the damage was already done. With a strong force tug, a huge chunk of the ceiling fell, catching three of the troops underneath. The other five were dazed and blinded from the debris, and Anakin and Kaman took them out in short order. "Go and get some help," Anakin said to the young man, "And help them track down the others. There had to be more than eight of them."

"Yes Master," the young Jedi replied and took off down the hallway.

Zekk sensed the guards waiting to ambush him the next room over. He smiled to himself. This will be fun. The walls exploded with debris as one of the Republic Guards were yanked through with the Force and was thrown to the opposite end of the hallway. The rest of the group spun and opened fire through the hole their fallen comrade had made. Zekk's lightsaber was ignighted instantly and he took out three of the five remaining guards with deflected shots. He then reached out his hand and absorbed the remaining red bolts, using the energy to engulf the remaining guards in force lightning. They collapsed to the floor; their bodies still spasming as the electricity flowed over their muscles. The Dark Jedi turned and continued to stalk towards the Chief of State's quarters.

"Going somewhere?"

Zekk turned, tendrils of blue lighting erupting from his outstretched hand. Anakin caught most of it on his lightsaber; the remaining electricity ran through his body, causing his muscles to twitch. Anakin reached out with the Force and hurled a volley of debris at his opponent. Zekk's red lightsaber blade sprang into existence, trying frantically to deflect the onslaught. It was the opening Anakin needed. Anakin charged and did a jump kick that landed squarely on the Dark Jedi's chest. Zekk was thrown backwards and into the security door behind him. Electricity played over the man's body. The security mechanism automatically shut itself down and the body slumped to the floor, smoke slowly rising from the charred robes.

"Well, he is still in the bacta tank," Jacen Solo laid the data pad he had been studying on the nightstand in front of him. "After he gets out we will be able to find out more." Ben nodded slowly. "I want you to know, I think your idea is needed. After what happened last night, I can see that it is time to stand up and fight back, or we won't have anything left to defend."

Ben smiled at his older cousin. "I'm glad you feel that way. Here is the list of the twelve Jedi I want to take along with me."

Jacen looked over the list and then nodded. "Incidentally, the President wanted me to tell you that he fully supports this plan and will provide you with anything you need. He feels he owes us after what Anakin did last night."

"Good, because I need a favor."

The twelve Jedi sat around a metal table in the briefing room. Ben, Jacen and Keiran stood before them. Jacen began first. "The Sith have gained ground and we have suffered a terrible loss. Losing Bespin has been a powerful blow to both the New Republic and the Jedi. We must get it back. Master Skywalker has been put in charge of a mission to do just that."

Jacen stepped aside as Ben approached the front."You have all been chosen to be the first wave that will be sent in to take back Bespin." A three dimensional hologram of the Academy appeared on the viewer. "Our mission objective is to infiltrate the Sith stronghold at the former Jedi Academy and free any prisoners there. Once that has been accomplished we will do our best to take out any Dark Jedi that the Sith have in place. A New Republic task force will then come in behind us and take back both the academy and the mining facility. We will approach Bespin here on the night side of the planet. " A bright blip appeared on the screen.

"We will be piloting a transport that has been modified with a cloaking devise. Using the Force, we will be able to pilot the ship in and land undetected. Our first objective will then be to free whatever prisoners may be held there and get them off the planet. Bizzen, Tarmel, it will be your job to fly the prisoners off the planet and get them back to Coruscant." The two Caamasi Jedi nodded. "The rest of us will remain and do as much as we can until the Task Force arrives. You will be divided into two teams. Kieran will lead one team and I will lead the other. Each team will have specific jobs they are to perform if this operation is to succeed. We have training simulators that we will run through to make sure we all know what we are doing going in. Any questions?" The Jedi looked around at each other. "Okay then. See Kieran for your team assignments and training times, and may the Force be with you."

"That was not the most intelligent thing I have seen you do." Kreat commented dryly as he and Brice headed for the docking bay.

Brice stopped and gave his brother a dark look. "I am tired of being ordered around by that self-exalted megalomaniac!"

"Easy brother, our time will come soon enough." Kreat grinned underneath his mask. "Go and oversee our operation on Bespin, and make sure everything is running smoothly. I have things I must arrange here. I have a feeling that our beloved Emperor has outlived his usefulness to us." Brice smiled tightly. "When you get back, we will discuss this further." Brice nodded and headed towards his shuttle.

"Brice."

The young man turned around. "We will rule, and the Sith shall rise again.”