Star Wars: Path of Redemption

The Dark Saga

By Randy B

Sixty-five years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Chapter Four-Dark Vengeance

The MonCal cruiser Survivor’s Tale slid through the blackness of space like a bullet through air, intent on its target. It was the command vessel of the fleet of various warships being sent in to assault Darth Baal’s hidden base of operations. Brice Canor stood alone in a darkened room, watching the molten blue tunnel of hyperspace as they traveled along. He sensed Kieran’s approach, and didn’t object as the Jedi entered the room.

   “I thought I might find you here.” The young man forced a smile. “You always did like to watch the hyperspace tunnels.”

Brice nodded in response, but remained silent for a few minuets. Finally, he turned to face his old friend. “I’m not sure where this path I am on will lead, but I wanted you to know that I will always cherish our friendship.” Kieran remained silent, so Brice continued. “I have done many things I regret. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing. In reality, I was serving the Dark Side. However, I do not believe I was totally wrong either.” Brice began to pace the room.

   “I see the Jedi Order growing, and once again taking its place as the guardians of the Republic. However, I don’t think that the Jedi have become what people like Master Skywalker or your grandfather intended. We haven’t become protectors, we have become politicians.” Kieran began to object, but Brice waved it away. “All this,” Brice waved at the fleet following them, “Would never have been necessary had the Jedi acted when they had the chance. Baal would never have been able to become as strong as he has if they had acted when he first revealed himself.”

   “We had to be cautious. We had no idea what we were dealing with.” Kieran stepped closer to his former student.

Brice looked him in the eye. “Caution is good, to a point. The Jedi waited until they were already long past that point, and had no power to fix things the way they should have.”

Kieran slowly shook his head and sat at the sofa next to him. “I can’t say I don’t agree with you to some extent. However, I do think you are being a bit harsh.”

Frustrated, Brice turned back to face the viewport once again. “I’m not being harsh, I’m being truthful. I served Baal as a commander. I saw hundreds of ways the Jedi could have stopped us in our tracks, but they didn’t.” He turned to face Kieran again. “It is the fault of the Jedi that we are here now. I only hope that it is not too late.”

Commander Volchar stood at the command station of the Survivor, eyes fixed at the viewscreen before him. In fifteen minuets they would be thrust into a battle the likes of which they had not seen since the Vong invasion. Volchar had every confidence in his troops, both those of the fleet and those on the ground force. He had served with many Jedi throughout his twenty years of service to the Republic. He had seen them do things he would never had imagined possible. He had no doubts that they would emerge victorious this day.  That final thought had just occurred when they were suddenly yanked from hyperspace.

Klaxons blared and emergency lights flicked on as the Commander looked wide-eyed at the scene in front of him. An entire fleet of star destroyers stood before him. Smaller vessels, reminiscent of Imperial TIEs, swarmed around them. They had been ambushed.

Brice’s eyes narrowed. “Something is very wrong.” Just then there was a lurch as the ship was yanked from hyperspace. Both Jedi looked out the viewport to see the massive fleet in front of them.

   “Sithspawn! How could he have known we were coming?”

Brice shook his head. “I have no idea.” He and Kieran began to sprint for the door. “But I do know that we are in big trouble.”

   “Well that’s an understatement if I have ever heard one,” Kieran murmured as they headed for the bridge.

Masters Skywalker and Solo were already on the bridge when they arrived. Jacen turned to look at Brice. “I wonder how they knew we would be here?” There was no amount of accusation in his voice, which put Brice at ease a bit.

   “I don’t know. I guess Baal has some spies in the Republic that I didn’t know about.” Brice shrugged. “He was never the most trusting individual.”

Commander Volchar stepped forward. “Well, I have sent out our fighters and our fleet is moving to engage theirs. It seems we are pretty evenly matched.”

Brice nodded. “That’s about all he has. The rest are out on assignment. Even if he did call ahead for reinforcements, this will be long over before they get here.”

   “Well that’s something at least,” Kieran looked to Master Skywalker who nodded his head in agreement.

   “Our advantage of surprise may be gone, but it appears we may still have the upper hand.”

Jacen stepped up to the viewpanel. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to get our ground forces past that fleet and to the planet.”

Kieran grinned. “I’ve got an idea.”

The battle was more intense than any Brice had ever seen. X-Wings and E-Wings swerving throughout the massive ships, spitting red fire as they went. The Chiss fighters were twice the size of the nimble X-Wings, and just as maneuverable. If it had been regular pilots in the New Rep fighters, the battle would be over. But these pilots were no ordinary pilots…they were Jedi. They formed up in pairs, and shot off on varying angles. Chiss fighters exploded all around, showering space with debris. The mix of red and light blue laser fire would have been almost pretty to those who didn’t know what the source of such things. The Star Destroyers moved in to meet the New Republic’s capital ships, lasers bouncing from shield to shield between each ship. 

Through all this, a small, modified transport flew unnoticed. Master Skywalker sat at the controls, eyes slits, piloting the invisible ship. The task was far from simple, for while the cloaking devise allowed them to fly undetected, it would be easy to be hit by crossfire or to be rammed into by an unsuspecting ship flying by. Kieran had taken the transport when he went to pick up Brice, and they had landed on the Survivor as soon as they reached Coruscant. They were all glad he did. Inside the transport, twenty-four Jedi were tightly packed together, all doing the best they could to keep their presence in the Force hidden for as long as possible. Jaina and Anakin had opted to lead the fighter squadrons, while Jacen was commanding the battle from the bridge of the Survivor. Valin had stayed behind on Courscant.

Fifteen of the Jedi were Masters. Kamborh, the Noghri Master, had volunteered to join Ben, saying that his people were warriors, and he would face his enemies face to face. Ben wasn’t about to argue, for they would need all the help they could get.

Che’ol looked like a large ball of smoke floating in the middle of space. Volcanoes littered the craggy surface of the unstable planet, and the gases released shrouded the planet in a dark mist. Baal’s temple was built into the base of largest of the volcanoes. Dark Jedi, armored in protective suits, patrolled the outer perimeter, ready for the imminent strike team that the Jedi would send.

Brice and Kamborh were the first two out of the transport. Three Dark Jedi ran to face the Noghri Master, blades ignighted. Kamborh ignighted his yellow blade and took a defensive stance. All three Jedi charged, and five seconds later, all that was let of them were three blue-black flames. Brice met the Jedi at the entrance. He knocked the red blade aside and followed with a punch to the gut, doubling the guard over. With a slash of his blue blade, the man was no more. With a Force blast, the blastdoor was thrown from its hinges, and Brice ran inside.

The rest of the Jedi had all gotten out of the transport and were rushing to meet the rest of the guards outside. Ben looked and saw that Brice had already entered the compound. “Kieran! Go with him!”

            Kieran nodded and ran to catch up to his friend. “Brice! Wait up.” Brice halted and waited for Kieran to catch up. “Thought you might want a little help. Taking on a whole fortress of Dark Jedi is a bit much, even for you.” He flashed Brice a smile, which he returned.

   “I’ll try and leave some for you.”

A group of Chiss Guards ran from around the corner with weapons raised and their personal shields up. “We don’t have time for this.” Brice closed his eyes. From behind him, the blast door rose from the ground. “Duck!” Both Jedi hit the ground just as the rushed overhead. It flipped and caught the soldiers, slinging them back and crushing them against the wall behind them. There was a small blast of electricity as the personal shields went out. “Lets go.”

Jaina weaved her X-Wing through ship debris and spit red blaster bolts at the Chiss fighter in front of her. The larger ship veered off, and formed into a loop, trying to get behind her. “Oh no you don’t.” Jaina followed the ship through its loop, and flipped her weapons from lasers to torpedoes. She got a solid tone and let two fly. The Chiss fighter exploded into a short-lived fireball.

   “Nice shot, Rogue Lead.” She heard Anakin shout in her headset.

   “Thanks, Blue Lead. Anakin! Watch your six!”

The E-wing did a sharp left and evaded the blue Chiss fire. The fighter flew past and Anakin snuck in behind. He let two torps fly and whooped triumphantly as they hit their mark. Jaina smiled. “What was it Uncle Luke was always telling you about concentration?”

   “Hardy, har, har. Hey! It looks like their fleet is pulling back!”

Jaina looked. The Chiss fighters were all flying towards the remaining Star Destroyers, which were slowly backing away from the firefight.

   “I wonder what they are doing,” She said. “They still have a good sized force.”

   “I dunno, but I bet it’s not good.”

Brice and Kieran did not meet any more resistance as they ran towards the throne room, which made Kieran decidedly nervous. “A bit strange that we haven’t seen anyone since we first came in.”

Brice shook his head. “Baal wants us here. Alone.”

The tone of Brice’s voice worried Kieran even more. It was dark, and decidedly distant. Brice was walking dangerously close to the edge of the Dark Side, and Kieran didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he crossed it.

They came upon a large blast door with strange hieroglyphic designs carved into it. Sith carving, Kieran assumed. He was just about to ignight his lightsaber and cut it open, when it did just that on its own. The room was almost completely dark, and had a musky odor to it. A huge holographic map of the galaxy made the only light in the room. “Well, that’s impressive.”

   “I am so glad you approve.”

Kieran jerked his head up to see two red eyes staring back at them from the throne platform. The figure began to step closer to the stairs, and the light from the map allowed Kieran to see a silhouette of the Dark Lords body. “I am pleased that you could once again join me Bane. It is fitting that you be here for my final victory over the Republic.”

Kieran looked to Brice. “What is he talking about.”

Baal took a step forward, allowing the maps illumination to partially cast on his blue face. “I am speaking of the destruction of your pitiful fleet, and all the Jedi that are with it.”

Brice shook his head. “Save your idol babble Baal. You do not have the resources to accomplish what you say.”

Baal smiled. “Don’t I?” He gestured towards the map, which was abruptly replaced by a viewscreen. “Watch and learn.” He gestured, and suddenly the ground began to quake. The viewscreen showed a picture of the Chiss fleet in orbit, with the Republic’s just outside. A blue sphere was moving to surround the planet.

   “A planetary shield?” Brice laughed. “You think that is enough to stop the Republic?”

   “It doesn’t have too.” Baal once again looked towards the screen. From behind the Republics fleet came five interdictor cruisers and four more Star Destroyers.   “They will be sufficent to hold off the Republic until the rest of my fleet arrives to annihilate them.” He looked down at Brice and smiled. “And to think, I have you to thank for this Bane.”

With a snap-hiss Brice’s blue saber blade sprang to life. “That name no longer has any meaning to me.”

   “Really? Well then, it is a shame that a talent such as your will go to waste. Now I’ll have to destroy you. Pity.”

   “You can try.” Kieran’s silver blade sprang from its hilt as well.

            Baal’s blood-red gaze shifted to take in Kieran, and a smirk formed against his face. “Is this the pitiful wretch that you throw away your future for? This Jedi scum? Really Canor, I thought you had just a bit more sense than that.”

   “I’m getting a bit tired of your mouth,” Kieran snapped.

   “And I yours.” The throne from behind Baal jumped from its place. “I shall have to shut it for you.” The throne sped towards Kieran, who switched the hilt on his saber, extending the blade from the silver to purple. He cut through the throne easily, but part of an edge caught him in the temple, dropping him to the ground.

   “Kieran!” Brice ran towards his fallen comrade. Baal merely laughed.

   “My, Canor, how weak you have become.”

Jaina jerked her fighter hard right, narrowly missing the blue fire that leapt at her ship. “They are trying to pin us here. They probably have reinforcements on the way.”

   “I have already called for backup of our own, but it will be a while before they get here.” Jacen’s voice was strained. Jaina knew he was beginning to doubt his decision about taking on the Sith.

   “Jacen, we will hold them off. We have no other choice. We must succeed.”

   “Right. Watch yourself out there.”

Jaina smiled. “You too.” She pulled her fighter into a loop and came out behind the Chiss that was tailing her. Two torps and a couple of seconds later, all that was left was debris.

Kieran was okay as far as Brice could tell. He moved the parts of throne away from his friend and used the Force to float him to a corner of the room. Baal was watching the whole time, a smirk on his face. “Such care for a piece of garbage. How touching.”

Brice looked towards the dark figure. “The only piece of garbage I see here is you.”

Baal laughed once again. “Small words for a small mind. Do you really thing you can defeat me Canor?” Baal began to walk to the edge of the stairs and shrug off his robe. “Your brother once thought as you did.” He gestured around the room. “As you can see, he is no longer here.”

   “That alone is reason enough for me to destroy you.”

   “You are more than welcome to try… Jedi.”

Baal crossed his arms into an X and his twin lightfoils shot into his hands. He flipped from the platform and landed directly behind Brice. Brice spun and knocked away the Sith’s first blade and jumped away from the second. Brice called Kieran’s saber to his hands and ignighted it. Flipping his right hand blade to his familiar underhanded form, he motioned the Sith Lord on. “Whenever you are ready.”

Jacen sat on the bridge of the Survivor. His eyes were slits; his mind was not concentrated on the battle before him, but on something more distant that was getting closer; the Chiss reinforcements. Jacen leapt from his chair and ran to a technician station near him. “What is the biggest of our ships that has taken the most damage?”

The young man instantly began to push buttons then responded with “The Bothan Crusier Clan’s Refuge has lost it’s shields and has a major hull fracture on decks five through eleven.”

   “Send a message to the Refuge to set its self destruct and key it to this console. Then order the crew to set a heading for the following coordinates and then abandon ship.” The Jedi quickly typed in the specified coordinates. The young Tech looked to Commander Volchar. “Sir?”

The Commander took a long look at Jacen and then nodded. “Do as Master Solo commanded ensign.”

   “Yes sir.”

Three minutes later, the Refuge was heading at top speed towards the coordinates Jacen specified, and straight into the entrance vector that the Chiss reinforcements were using. Jacen detonated the self-destruct just as the ships entered real space. With their shield down, the explosion was devastating to the first three Star Destroyers in the formation, which set off another series of explosions. Out of the seven Star Destroyers that had been sent, only the three that had managed to raise their shields were still operational, but they had sustained major damage.

Jaina smiled at the massive explosions taking place behind the fleet. “So much for their reinforcements.” She keyed the comm. “Alright Rogues, light ‘em up. We can’t let my brother have all the fun!”

   “You said it Rogue Lead!” Anakin’s voice came over the comm. “Let’s end this once and for all!”

Baal lunged for Brice, swinging his right blade in at Brice’s left flank. Brice batted it away with the silver blade as he brought his own up to block Baal’s chop at his head. He pushed off with the blade and then sent a Force push at Baal, which caused the Dark Lord to stumble back a few steps. Baal paused and smiled. “Very good. Perhaps I have underestimated you a bit.” He lowered his blades. “Or perhaps it is your anger that is giving you the strength that you are now using against me?”

Brice set himself for the next attack, not bothering to acknowledge the Sith’s statements. “What? Have I hit a nerve?” Baal let out a small chuckle. “Quit fighting it boy! You know it is the only way that you can defeat me. It is the only way to avenge your brother!”

Briiiiiiice! Kreat’s voice echoed in his mind, followed by the image of Baal’s red eyes, and the sound of his laughter. Brice let out a thundering cry as he charged the Sith Lord. He unleashed a volley of swings, each of which the Sith Lord blocked, but he staggered under the intensity of the onslaught.  Brice swung in high with his right and then stabbed out with Kieran’s blade. When Baal parried the thrust, Brice kicked out with his right leg. The blow was strengthened by the Force, and sent the Sith Lord flying across the room, to land on the stairs of the platform. “Good,” Baal said under muffled tones as he pulled himself up. “See how much stronger the Dark Side has made you?”

   “Brice.”

Brice turned to see Kieran slowly get to his feet. “Don’t give in. That’s what he wants. If you give in, he wins.”

   “Be silent!” Baal reached out with the Force. Kieran grabbed for his throat, and began to fall to his knees.

   “Stop it!” Brice reached out and opened Kieran’s windpipe, allowing air to rush in. He gasped and took in deep gulps of air.

Baal released his grip and turned to glare at Brice. “Don’t you see? They are making you weak!” He gestured towards Brice with his saber. “The Dark Side is where the true strength of the Force lies! You have felt it yourself!”

Brice shook his head. “No, what I felt was death. The Dark Side slowly consumes you, and will eventually kill you,“ he paused, “one way, or another.”

This time Baal charged, and ran full force into the Force bubble Brice had created. The impact clicked the Sith Lords teeth together and bounced him backward. Brice moved in. “You hate has blinded you.” Brice swung his saber at Baal’s left. Baal blocked, but barely.

   “Really, Jedi?” A smile formed on Baal’s face as he shut his eyes. Brice could feel the Force gathering inside the Sith Lord, and he tapped the Force to prepare himself for what would come. Suddenly a full force gale slammed into him. Even though Brice had already begun try and deflect some of the impact, it did no good. He was lifted off his feet and slammed into the far wall of the room. The Force gale continued, pinning him there. Brice could feel the skin on his face being pulled back in the turrent. He had to close his eyes to protect them from the wind. “So you see Jedi,” Baal began, spitting the word Jedi as though it were a piece of rotten food. “The Dark Side has not made me as weak as you would like to believe. It’s rather poetic. Seeing you hang there as your brother did before I erased his foul presence from this existence, just as I am about to do to you.”

   “No.” The word came from behind the Dark Lord. The voice was unmistakable, and was also impossible. Baal reeled around to see the tall imposing figure at the top of the platform. Black armor, masked face, and the sound of mechanical breathing that had caused millions to cower in terror. Darth Vader.

   “Impossible! “

Vader began to slowly descend the steps. His red saber blade leapt from its rest with a snap-hiss. “This ends now.”

In his utter shock, Baal forgot all about Brice. Instead he focused all his concentration on the monstrosity that was coming towards him. “I don’t know how you did it, but you won’t survive this time!” Baal reared up and charged….and ran straight through the hallucination Kieran had made.

   “No!”

Baal turned just in time to see Brice’s frost-colored blade sink into his chest. Brice switched the blade off just before the Sith Lord fell to his knees. His glowing red eyes slowly lost its light, and Brice barley jumped clear before Baal exploded.

With the loss of their reinforcements, the Chiss fleet began to reform and slowly fade back. It wasn’t until the Republic’s reinforcements arrived that they decided retreat would be a better alternative to being annihilated. Cheers echoed on the bridge of the Survivor, and Jacen could hear Jaina shout “Good work Rogues,” to her pilots over the comm.  They had won the battle here, but Jacen was more worried about the battle that was still being fought on the planet’s shielded surface.

The release of the Dark Side energy within Baal had burned away most of the stairway that had lead to the throne platform, and the shockwave had sent Brice flying across the throne room once again.  Kieran offered his hand, and helped to pull Brice to his feet.

Brice steadied himself on Kieran’s shoulders. “Thanks for the help…and the save.”

Kieran smiled. “What are friends for?”

   “That was a nice trick you did with the hallucination. All of the sudden Baal just let go, and it took me a moment to realized what was happening.”

Kieran walked over to the far wall where Brice had been pinned and picked up his lightsaber. “Hey, I couldn’t let you have all the fun, now could I?”

Brice smirked. “I guess not.”

   “Now we need to shut down that shield and let in the rest of our party. I expect Ben is a bit worried about us right now.”

Brice motioned towards the holographic map display. “If you would do the honors.”

   “Gladly.” Kieran ignighted his grandfather’s gray blade and turned the lever on the hilt, extending it to twice its size. He then leapt up and slashed down across the middle of the display. Sparks flew as the holographic projection flickered and then died.

Brice saluted with his lightsaber hilt. “Nicely done.”

   “Thanks. I do try.” The smile on Kieran’s face faded as he said, “I guess you will be leaving now.”

Brice slowly nodded. “There are a lot of questions I still have. I need to go and find out who I truly am, and what my place is in this universe.”

Kieran nodded. “I understand. Just remember that you have friends that are always there if you need them.”

Brice smiled. “I know.”

The two men embraced and clapped each other on the back. Then Brice walked over to the wall behind the now decimated display. He touched a panel and a hidden passage slid away. Brice ducked into it and was gone.

Kieran could sense the other Jedi approach. There were only six of them. Ben looked around. “Where’s Brice?”

   “Gone.” Was all Kieran could say. He knew that Ben would understand. There was no need to explain things to the others.

“I suppose we should be leaving ourselves.” Kamborh gestured with his lightsaber hilt towards the door. “We don’t want our comrades up there to worry about us. Ben nodded and the Jedi began to fall out for the exit.

As the others were leaving, Ben put his hand on Kieran’s shoulder. “You did a good job Kieran. Brice must find his own path, and once he does, you will see him again.

Kieran simply nodded, and continued towards the door.

The Carboth’s Dream was just like every other tapcafe on the Outer Rim. Dark, humid, run-down, and smelling of the stench that was made when aliens of all types of races were together in a confined space. Smugglers, pirates, and all other forms of spacers were this establishment’s clientele, and the cleaning of roasted bodies had become a regular event for the barkeeper. That was why he became worried when he saw a particularly inebriated spacer walk up to the bar and roughly clap the hooded man seated there on the back. ”Hey misser, wanna buy a down-n-is luck trader a li’l drink?”

The hooded man didn’t answer. The drunk shook a little harder. “Hey buddy! I’ma talkin to ya!”

When the hooded man still refused to answer, the drunk became enraged. “Oh yeah! Well this’ll learn ya!” The spacer sloppily drew his blaster and pointed it at the man. Or at least, that was his intent. Instead, his blaster hand slowly began to turn and point towards his own head. “What the…” The blaster went off, and blue electricity played over the drunk before he collapsed to the floor.

Without a word, the hooded man got up, downed his drink and tossed the barkeep a coin. He then turned, stepped over the twitching body of the drunk, and walked out the door.

To be continued in Path of Redemption Episode 5 - A New Beginning