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The Shadows Fall


Aurbere

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Quick update for my readers!

 

Recently I have been forced to readjust the story, so I will be forced to rewrite some of the chapters as well as add a few to the current part.

 

Thanks for reading, and May The Force Be With You!

Retcons! *sharpens pitchfork*
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Retcons! *sharpens pitchfork*

 

Not to worry, they will be good retcons. :D

 

Anyway, here's the next chapter!

 

Chapter 55

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple- Main Atrium

 

The Seeker assumed that the Battle of Coruscant was going well for his father’s armies, evidenced by the loss of power to the Temple and Senate districts. As such, the Jedi Temple’s Main Atrium had lost light. Jaina Solo was attempting to use the darkness and her skills in stealth to hide from him, but she didn’t know who or what she was dealing with. He let his senses spread out over the entire Temple. To anyone else, Jaina had completely vanished from conventional and Force-based detection systems, but to him she was a beacon of light, a pulsing light that sent waves of energy over the Atrium.

 

“You cannot hide from me.” The Seeker said, amplifying his voice with the Force to create a haunting echo. He turned to one of the large, ten meter tall Jedi Statues standing guard along the walls of the Atrium. “I see you!”

 

He reached a hand out and gripped the massive stone statue with the Force. A wave of his hand downward disrupted the integrity of the statue, collapsing it in on itself and shattering it, causing stone shards to fall around Jaina like a torrent of rain. A burst of Force energy hurled the stones away, and Jaina leapt away from the statue and landed gracefully on her feet.

 

The Seeker reactivated one end of his lightsaber and pointed it at her. “Our battle is almost over, prepare to die!”

 

The Seeker was about to charge, but Jaina made the first move, leaping forward and swinging her blade furiously. The Seeker blocked her strike as she came down on her feet.

 

“You’re right,” Jaina said confidently. “This fight is almost over, but I won’t be dying today.”

 

The Seeker grinned. “Are you hinting at the young Skywalker about to leap to your aid?”

 

He backed away and spun around just in time to see Ben Skywalker racing towards him. The Seeker thrust out a hand and blasted the young Skywalker away with a wave of Force energy. He spun back around and ducked under a strike from Jaina, and then brought his head up into her chin. He drove a knee into her gut and then kicked her away and fired a bolt of Force lightning at Ben, who caught the blue forks on his lightsaber blade.

 

The Seeker charged Ben Skywalker and stabbed at him with one end of his weapon. Ben angled his blade downward and pushed The Seeker’s weapon to the side, but The Seeker spun and brought the reverse end of his weapon around to prevent Ben from counter-attacking. He pulled away and spun the weapon to block strikes from both of his opponents.

 

The Seeker spun to the side and flourished his weapon. The two Jedi paused their assault and strafed around him, jockeying for advantageous positions as The Seeker prodded at them with his lightsaber. But The Seeker sensed something was off about the confrontation. Jaina Solo should have been tired and weakened by now, but her reserves of energy were still full. He sensed power flowing into her. The two Jedi had formed a bond and, like a river that flowed both ways, they shared their energy. But there was more. The technique they used melded their minds together. They shared thoughts and feelings, and a sense of knowing what the other would do before they did it. Their coordination would be augmented beyond what they would normally be capable of alone.

 

Now, where Jaina had been granted a second wind, The Seeker was tiring from drawing on the Force more than he was used to. Darkness flowed through him in greater strength than he had ever drawn from before, and that rush of power taxed him and started to tear at his physical form. He believed he could still defeat either one of them, but together they were too formidable to defeat at this time. He was not in a condition to fight like this. He had to retreat.

 

The Seeker began to back away from them, back towards the entrance to the Atrium. The Jedi knew his intentions and attacked. Ben made a frontal assault, forming a blue cage around The Seeker as he swung his lightsaber wildly. Jaina dashed behind The Seeker and attempted to put her blade through The Seeker, but he was fast enough to deflect Ben’s blade and spin his weapon around to push her blade away.

 

The Seeker now found himself cut off from escape and caught between two opponents. The Jedi attacked him again, forming a perfect team as their meld directed them. Where Ben attacked high, Jaina attacked low. Feints from one opened up avenues of attack for the other. They struck with incredible speed and coordination. Alone Jaina had pushed The Seeker to his limits. With another to defend against, The Seeker found himself immediately outmatched. He spun his double-bladed lightsaber desperately, spinning the weapon and himself to catch their attacks at any angles they struck from. Each rotation of the blade blocked four strikes, and he had to keep spinning himself to put his weapon in a position to defend against both of his assailants as they struck from all angles.

 

But the defense was only temporary. A thousand different outcomes raced through The Seeker’s mind, and each one ended with his defeat. He could not allow that. In the middle of a rotation, he foresaw a split-second lapse in the assault. He forced the lapse by separating his lightsaber at the middle and taking one end in each hand. He raised his blades up on either side of himself and forced a blade lock with them. He would have needed all of his energy to have the strength to hold them both off, but rather than maintain the blade lock, he opened his palms and held his blades up telekinetically to hold the two Jedi. Immediately he leapt towards the Atrium door, pulled his lightsabers back to his hands and sheathed the weapons as he flew through the air. Immediately upon landing in the archway, he raced out. He forcefully waved his hand downward to collapse the door and archway to cover his escape.

 

Jaina and Ben leapt over the broken Atrium entranceway to follow, but The Seeker continued to collapse more doorways and threw other objects to obstruct their path. The Seeker had escaped, but the two Jedi immediately sensed that their problems were far from over as a Kel Dor clad in gold and flanked by two dozen other golden-clad warriors entered the Temple.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Senate Building- East Wind Landing Field

 

General Hargreeves stabbed his decorated sword into an Alchemically altered Akk Dog and split it open, spraying blood out of it like a fountain. He and a squad of Alliance Commandos were all that held the beasts off from entering the Senate Building, yet the general knew that they couldn’t hold them for long, especially if The Beastmaster managed to defeat Master Horn.

 

From his point of view, General Hargreeves saw The Beastmaster as a dark blur streaked with red flying around the Jedi Master. Red streaks shot out of the shadow like bolts of lightning. Corran stayed grounded, merely shifting his feet to engage his opponent as she flew around him. He was playing defensively, using minimalistic movements to defend himself.

 

But Hargreeves could not see how much Corran was struggling. The Jedi Master was pushing himself to his limits just trying to defend himself. Every attempt he made to counter-attack was immediately shut down by the incredibly fast opponent he was faced with. The Beastmaster had used the Force to pull herself up off the ground and virtually fly around him, allowing her to strike at him from every conceivable angle. At the same time, tendrils of Dark Side energy shot out from the ground like javelins to strike where he was weak, keeping him from counter-attacking.

 

There was nothing he could do. There was no break, no opening between attacks that he could use to counter-attack. He could only wait her out and hope she ran out of energy before he did, or before she managed to kill him.

 

But then something happened that rendered his feelings moot. The Beastmaster stopped her assault and seemingly teleported in front of him. Her head was hung low, letting her black hair drape over her face. Corran didn’t move to attack. He put his guard up and took a deep breath, using the opportunity to recover some energy.

 

Then a screech from behind split his ear drums. The Landing Field platform began to shake and then a massive Mygeetan Whiteworm ripped through the platform with a screech. The creature roared at General Hargreeves and dived at him.

 

“Get down!” Hargreeves called out to his commandos as he dove out of the way. But one unfortunate soul was too late. The massive worm came down and caught one commando in its grinder of a mouth. It reared itself back up and chewed the soldier into bloody chunks, spraying blood and chunks of flesh everywhere.

 

Hargreeves wiped the blood off his sword on his uniform and pointed it at the worm. The worm dived for Hargreeves, but the general slid forward to just barely get out of the way as the creature flew over him. He drove his sword upward, stabbing it straight into the worm’s belly. The beast roared in pain and reared back up. Hargreeves clutched the sword as it dug further into the worm’s flesh. Hargreeves felt himself lift off the ground as the beast came back up. He started to slide down as the sword carved its way through the worm’s soft belly.

 

The beast roared again as its entrails began to fall out. It swayed and slowly fell to the ground, giving Hargreeves enough time to pull the sword out and get into a vertical position on top of the beast. The worm fell to the ground with a mighty crash, dead. Hargreeves leapt off the beast and charged The Beastmaster, but a pulse of smoking black energy sent him flying away from the epicenter of a blast that seemed to spawn as if from nowhere.

 

Wisps of black smoke dissipated, revealing the mastermind behind the attack: The Master. Garbed in steel armor wrapped around a black cloak, The Master looked more like an ancient warrior than a dark Force master. His arrival ended the clash between The Beastmaster and Corran, as well as all combat on the eastern landing field. Silence took hold as an eerie blackness emanating from The Master swept over them. Hargreeves and his men choked on their breath as the blackness felt like it was killing them. Corran raised his blade, but did not move to strike The Master.

 

The Beastmaster turned back to face her master. “Master,” She cried out. “You’re—“ She was cut off mid-sentence when Corran Horn lengthened his lightsaber blade and removed The Beastmaster’s sword arm with a flick of his wrist. She cried out in pain and instinctively threw Corran away with the Force. “Master!” She cried and reached out for him. “Help me!”

 

But The Master paid her no heed. He walked forward, his dark presence draining the life from the Alliance Commandos as he entered the Senate Building.

 

“Master!” She screamed, nearly choking on the word. Her next words were drowned out by a tremendous roar and the sound of crashing metal as her Krayt Dragon leapt off the Senate Building and swooped down for its master. It extended its claws and scooped The Beastmaster off the ground, and carried her off to safety as she fell unconscious.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
They had better be!Second coming of Koon confirmed. :D

 

Son of a nutcracker, how'd you guess?

 

Anyway, really late chapter, but it's long to compensate!

 

Chapter 56

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple- Main Atrium

 

Jaina Solo watched the Kel Dor and his entourage enter the Main Atrium. They were wrapped in golden armor and a golden armorweave cape that wrapped around their left shoulder. As if they had practiced their formations, they moved in perfect sync to stand around her and Ben Skywalker in a golden circle, completely surrounding them. Jaina would hazard to guess that the Kel Dor was the only non-human gold-clad warrior, for the rest of the warriors were concealed by golden masks with Y-shaped visors.

 

The Kel Dor stepped forward and spoke: “I am Kar Koon, Captain of The Master’s Golden Guard.” Kar spoke with a heavy voice, and one that seemed to echo around them and come from everywhere. “I am the Emissary of Darkness, come to claim your lives for The Master of Death.”

 

Jaina and Ben took a step towards each other and readied their weapons. Jaina scoffed at the Kel Dor. “Not going to happen.” She said under her breath.

 

Kar Koon looked down. “Master, I-“ He muttered. “I understand.” He looked back up at the two Jedi. “My Master has demanded the two of you surrender.” He unhooked the hilt of his lightsaber from his belt and gripped it tightly. “I will personally force you to surrender.” He thumbed the power switch, prompting an elastic whip of red energy to snake out of the emitter.

 

The air was still, all was quiet save for the hum of lightsaber blades. And then the combat began. Faster than Jaina had seen any opponent move save The Master, the Kel Dor lashed out with his whip. The crackling whip of energy snapped back and then wrapped around Ben’s lightsaber. Kar jerked his arm back, immediately breaking Ben’s grip on the weapon and pulling it away. Jaina was immediately in the air, swiping for the whip to break it, but only to find herself thrown to the ground by an invisible force. She struggled to get up, but the force kept her pinned to the ground. She looked up and saw Kar Koon holding Ben’s lightsaber in his other hand and keeping her pinned with two outstretched fingers.

 

Another flick of the Kel Dor’s wrist made the whip lash out again, this time wrapping itself around Ben’s ankle. Searing heat burned away Ben’s sock and charred his skin. Then Ben’s feet were taken out from under him and he found himself flying through the air. He felt the searing heat dissipate as he fell to the ground on Kar’s right, only for that pain to be replaced by a crushing hand around his throat. Kar had released Jaina and directed his efforts to placing Ben in a Force Choke.

 

Jaina stood up and reactivated her lightsaber.

 

“Stop!” Kar demanded. “Surrender or the boy dies!”

 

Jaina paused for a moment. She felt out the Kel Dor through the Force, but could feel nothing coming from him. “You need us both alive, you won’t kill him.” She called his bluff.

 

Kar laughed a hollow laugh from under his mask. “So long as I have one of you, my Master will be sated.” He flexed the whip. “Now, I will accept your surr-“

 

Kar Koon was interrupted mid-sentence when a blast of Force energy took him off his feet and slammed him to the ground. As if from nowhere, Kyp Durron had leapt down from one of the gaping holes in the ceiling and taken the Guard Captain by surprise.

 

Ben, freed from the Kel Dor’s grip, retrieved his lightsaber and ran back to join Jaina and Kyp at the center of the circle.

 

“Master Durron,” he said, breathing heavily. “When did you get here?”

 

Kyp grinned. “I’m not the only one here.” He nodded upward.

 

From the same hole in the ceiling dropped Jaina’s mother, Leia Organa Solo, and Master Cilghal, both of them landing with their compatriots at the center of the circle of guards. Similarly, from other holes in the ceiling, dozens of Jedi dropped in.

 

Kyp tightened his grip on his lightsaber. “We’re taking this planet back!” He raised his hand up, palm towards the ground, and let the Force gather within him. Sensing his intention, Ben, Leia, Cilghal, and Jaina leapt up just as Kyp’s hand slammed into the ground.

 

The ground shook and cracked under the weight of the Force. Massive chunks of stone and durasteel launched out of the ground and flew away from the epicenter of the blast and towards the ring of guards. Immediately, the golden-armored assailants broke into action, vanishing from sight and appearing amidst groups of Jedi. The Jedi Temple erupted into a battle.

 

Coruscant- Senate Building- Chief of State’s Office

 

The Master stepped into the Chief of State’s Senate Office. He had sensed her here. He had sensed his lover, the one he gave everything to. She was the one that had disrupted his carefully laid plans. She was the one who betrayed him. Shara. She had interfered with his plans, and now she foolishly revealed herself to him. She would suffer for her transgressions. That he would make sure of.

 

She was sitting in the Chief of State’s chair, a sly grin on her face. “Mighty Conqueror, Great Master of the Force,” She said with sarcastic respect and motioned to the chaos of battle through the window behind her. “Is it everything you expected it to be?”

 

The Master approached the COS’ desk and slammed his fists on it, almost crushing the desk under his strength. “Why return now, why move against me again?”

 

Shara chuckled. “To stop you from destroying the galaxy, of course.”

 

The Master scowled. “I’m trying to save it. What you have foreseen is wrong,” He said as he leaned over the desk. “I will save the galaxy,” He reached a hand out and caressed her soft, alabaster skin. “With you at my side, of course.” He grinned.

 

Shara pulled away. “Never again,” She said defiantly. “Not after what you’ve done.”

 

The Master pulled away and stood back up straight. “You will submit,” He turned his back to her and clasped his hands behind his back. “Everyone does, eventually, but first you will suffer.”

 

Shara stood up from the chair and activated her lightsaber. “I have to stop you; I’m the only one who can.”

 

The Master let his arms fall to the side. “No, you cannot.” He whirled around and whipped an arm to the side, hurling Shara against a wall.

 

Shara quickly recovered and thrust a palm out, throwing The Master back with her own attack. He crashed into the wall, but the attack didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest. He simply straightened his shoulders and spine.

 

“Your resistance is valiant, but futile,” The Master said. “I will not be stopped, not now.”

 

Shara gathered her energies and said: “That isn’t up to you.” And then she thrust a hand out and made a fist, wrapping an invisible hand around The Master. He did not resist, he simply allowed her to hurl her out of the office window, out on to the western landing field.

 

Shara raced to window and looked out to the landing field. The Master had been completely undisturbed by the attack and by the soldiers around him who were slowly dying as invisible tendrils choked the life out of them. She felt him looking up at her, his eyes burned through her as his anger rose.

 

Shara leapt down to the landing field, activated her lightsaber as she landed and pointed it at him. “If you are intent on this course, I demand you fight me!”

 

The Master cocked his head to the left. “No, you demand my surrender. You want me to stop this because you believe that I will destroy the galaxy. At the same time, you don’t want me dead because you need me.” He stretched his arms out to his sides. “You can’t live without me.”

 

Shara took a fighting stance. “We’ll see about that.”

 

The Master’s expression soured and he activated his own lightsaber. “Very well,” He said angrily. “If you will not give in, you will be destroyed.”

 

On his final word he charged, bearing down on Shara with incredible speed, stabbing for her chest. Shara pulled her arm back and angled her blade downward, pushing The Master’s lightsaber away as she spun the opposite way. The Master followed her force, spinning right and bringing his blade around from his left, crashing it against Shara’s in a shower of sparks.

 

Their blades locked and The Master pushed himself closer to her. “You cannot win.” He said through clenched jaw.

 

“I have to!” She replied, putting all of her weight into pushing him away. “You will destroy everything! I’ve seen it!”

 

The Master forced their blades up and spun underneath them, moving the blade lock to his right side. “You saw only what you wanted to see! I have been predicting the future for centuries. Do you think you could possibly be more accurate than me?!”

 

Shara pushed The Master’s blade down with her own and pulled away. “I do.” She said as she straightened. “I won’t let my visions come to pass.”

 

The Master charged her again, swinging his blade with controlled fury. Flurries of strikes pushed Shara on to the defensive. The Master’s blade was a bloody streak as it formed a red web around her. Shara backpedaled as she blocked and parried his strikes, sometimes spinning away from attacks when she could. The Master was pouring energy into his speed. His blade struck so fast it appeared invisible to her. She fell into the Force, relying purely on instinct to defend herself, but the attacks were coming in too fast and from too many varying angles for her to predict.

 

Eventually, The Master batted her lightsaber out of her hand and Force pushed her into a steel column supporting the Senate Building. Shara let out a scream of pain as some of her bones snapped against the column. She lashed out with an uncontrolled burst of Force energy in all directions. The attack buffeted The Master, but did nothing more to him than kick up his black cape like a gust of wind.

 

He drew close to her and put his lightsaber to her neck, just centimeters away from her skin, but close enough to fill the air between them with the scent of burning flesh.

 

“Now you see,” The Master said softly, but just loud enough to be heard over the humming of his lightsaber blade. “You could not stand against me. I have become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Submit, and give me what I want.”

 

He flicked his wrist to position his blade horizontally behind Shara and pulled her closer in, wrapping one of his arms around her waist.

 

“What more do you want from me?” She asked, pulling her head away from him. “You’ve already taken everything.”

 

“I want your undying loyalty. I want you to serve, as you did before.”

 

Shara tried to pull further away, but The Master’s blade kept her from getting away. “Never.”

 

The Master’s left eye twitched. He shut down his lightsaber and threw Shara down to the ground. “You’re defiant now, but you will give in. I can promise you that.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant

 

The Beastmaster fell against her Krayt Dragon and slid down into a sitting position, clutching at her stub of an arm and grimacing in pain. The battle had calmed by this point. Soldiers had surrendered either by threat of force or willingly after hearing the ‘Chief of State’s’ message. The last holdout was the Jedi Temple. Alliance soldiers and Jedi still willing to fight had taken refuge in the Jedi Temple. The Beastmaster could sense the Captain of the Master’s Golden Guard at the Jedi Temple. A war was being waged within its walls.

 

But The Beastmaster couldn’t care about any of that now. Her thoughts were racing as she looked back on what had just happened to her. She had been fighting Corran Horn. She was winning, she was prepared to annihilate him with a Sith spell of madness. But then her master appeared in all of his greatness. His appearance was sudden and stunning. His presence had washed over her, and she had been distracted by his arrival, and that split second had been enough. Corran Horn had extended the length of his blade and severed her sword arm.

 

She had called for The Master for aid, but he did nothing to help. He simply left her behind as he entered the Senate Building. Cry as she might, he abandoned her. Horn had been ready to strike her down. She was truly fortunate that her dragon had been able to save her.

 

Through the tears welling up in her eyes she saw The Master’s son leaping across rooftops over to her. He landed on the rooftop she and her dragon occupied and ran over to her.

 

“What happened here?” The Seeker said through heavy breathing as he stood over her.

 

The Beastmaster cradled her stub in one hand and struggled back to her feet. “The attack,” she winced from the pain. “The attack on the Senate Building was a success, I think.”

 

The Seeker addressed her with a quizzical look. “You think?”

 

She leaned back against the flank of her dragon. “The Master arrived and entered the building, but I was defeated and forced to flee. I don’t know what is happening over there now.”

 

The Seeker shook his head and under his breath he said: “Blast it.”

 

He stretched out his senses out to the Senate Building and began to feel subtle shockwaves in the Force. Two ripples in the Force were moving closer to each other. Like in an ocean, the waves crashed against each other and sent shockwaves rippling through the Force. To The Seeker, the ripples felt like they would tear him apart. He immediately knew what it meant: Luke Skywalker and The Master were prepared to fight.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Senate Building

 

General Hargreeves had told Luke Skywalker of their success in defending the Senate Building, and their fortune that The Master had virtually ignored him and his men. Luke collected what remained of the defense forces—a mere dozen men led by Hargreeves—and led them to the northern landing field. They raced through the Senate Building and, on entering the landing field, found the mysterious woman’s unconscious body, her black robes torn to shreds and blood trickling from her mouth.

 

The Master was at the edge of the field, standing on the edge of the platform like a statue. The winds kicked up his shredded black cape, and the flames from a nearby burning building cast an eerie yellow glow over his armor. Luke and his men approached The Master from his right. The soldiers pointed their weapons at him and Luke activated his lightsaber.

 

The Master had no expression on his face. It was as if he was indifferent to the destruction and death he had caused. He turned his head to look at Luke out of the corner of his eye. He then turned his whole body towards them.

 

The Master surveyed the opposition brought before him. “Is this all that can be brought before me, Skywalker?” He asked sincerely. He then sighed. “Very well, Skywalker, one last battle between the great masters.” He raised a hand up to shoulder level. “But I will not tolerate these distractions.”

 

Forks of red lightning arced from his fingertips and raced for the soldiers behind Luke. In defense, the Grand Master raised a Force Shield. The red bolts crackled against the shield, but eventually dissipated.

 

“Open fire!” General Hargreeves yelled out after the bolts dissipated. At his command, the soldiers leveled their rifles and opened fire. Blue plasma bolts lit up the area between the shooters and their target, who simply absorbed the bolts with a shield of his own. The firing continued for nearly a minute before the soldiers’ weapons ran empty.

 

The Master and Skywalker stood at a standoff. The Master began to simply ignore the soldiers and allow the Force to protect. For him, he and Skywalker were the only two beings on the planet. This was their battlefield. They were free to fight at their full capacity. Their battle would determine the fate of the galaxy.

 

The Master let the Force fill him up. Ever since his return, he had contained his power. He had hid it away until the right moment. This moment, he had chosen to finally tap into the full power of the Dark Side. His embrace of this power let loose a surge of energy that expanded over the landing field, covering it in a palpable haze of darkness, like a dark shadow stretching over the field.

 

The darkness choked the life out of the soldiers before him, dropping to their knees as they clawed at their clothes or grasped at their throats in some misguided attempt to stave off the attack. But there was one soldier who resisted. General Hargreeves, on the edge of vomiting from the stress of resistance, staggered towards The Master, silver and blood-stained sword raised to strike.

 

Knowing what would happen if Hargreeves fought The Master; Luke reached out and wrapped Hargreeves in the Force. An invisible bubble of Force energy protected Hargreeves and filled him with healing Force energies. As Luke had expected, the attack was a Force-based poison that quickly killed the infected. Luke’s protective bubble halted Hargreeves’ advance and cured him of the poison. Luke then gracefully waved his arm to the side, gently throwing him through an open door leading into the Senate Building.

 

With their battlefield purged of distractions, The Master activated his own lightsaber. “Come, Skywalker, let us decide the fate of the galaxy.”

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Part 1 of the final battle has arrived!

 

Chapter 57

 

 

 

Coruscant- Senate Building- Northern Landing Field

 

The game had reached its final moves, and the last pieces were on the board. On one end of the board was a dark colossus that casted a shadow over the galaxy. On the other side stood its polar opposite, a bright beacon of light that held back the darkness. The great masters of the Force had finally come face to face for the battle that would decide the fate of the galaxy. The final battle in the war had come to Coruscant, but their duel would affect the physical and spiritual realms. Both the Light and the Dark had resolved to gain victory no matter the cost. Surrender was no longer an option. Thus, the full power of the Light and the Dark would be unleashed. Even before their battle had begun, a whirlwind of Light and Dark energies swirled around them like a tempest in anticipation of the conflict.

 

Night had fallen on Coruscant. The moon was full, the air was still. The Master and Luke Skywalker stood apart from each other, completely still as they gathered their energies. The maelstrom of Force energy reached a crescendo then fell still. For a split second, Coruscant stopped spinning, as if the planet itself held its breath in preparation for the conflict. Everything paused as the great masters raised their lightsabers. And then the battle began.

 

The Master charged forward with such speed and force that the ground beneath him cracked with each step. He lashed out with his lightsaber, stabbing for Luke’s heart. Luke angled his blade downward to deflect the blow aside and then used the momentum of his parry to spin closer to The Master and deliver a Force-enhanced kick, propelling The Master back several meters.

 

The Master’s steel-clad feet grinded against the floor, casting sparks to the sides. He brought himself back up in time to block Luke’s next attack as the Jedi took the offensive. Luke pushed his offensive and started to drive The Master back with a flawlessly executed flurry of strikes. Each attack came with astonishing speed and strength. Despite constantly adjusting the angle of his blade mid-strike, Luke’s attacks flowed seamlessly into the next. But even against such an assault, The Master defended himself effortlessly. He predicted the impact of Luke’s strikes and easily blocked the attack. Then he positioned his blade to block Luke’s next attack, as if he already knew where the next strike would be before it was made.

 

The furious assault pushed The Master back farther and farther until their arena reached an end. The Master steeled himself and intercepted one of Luke’s attacks with his blade and forcing their blades to lock.

 

“You cannot win, Skywalker,” The Master grunted over the crashing sound of their lightsabers. “All you hold dear is now mine.”

 

Luke felt The Master push him back through his sheer strength. His blade was being pushed back closer and closer to his face, so close his skin was starting to burn. He leaned back and let The Master’s strength push him down. Luke let his feet fall out from under him. The unexpected move sent The Master falling forward. Luke fell to the ground and drove one of his legs up into The Master’s gut. He then rolled away and launched The Master away with a Force push, nearly sending him over the edge of the landing field.

 

The Master dug a claw into the ground to keep himself from falling off the edge and stood straight. The first exchange had been made and Luke took the advantage, surprisingly to The Master. But the battle was far from over, and The Master did not intend to be defeated so easily.

 

“You are strong, Skywalker,” The Master congratulated Luke sincerely. “But not strong enough. My victory is inevitable; nothing you can do will stop that.” He pointed his lightsaber at Luke.

 

Luke raised his lightsaber and took an offensive stance. “You’ll find I’m full of surprises.” On his last word he took off with all the speed the Force could give him. The force of his charge sent a gust of wind hurtling towards The Master.

 

The speed of Luke’s charge caught The Master off guard, but he quickly reacted by letting the Force lift him off the ground. He glided effortlessly around Luke, just barely dodging Luke’s blade. Luke quickly whirled around and brought his blade up, crashing it against The Master’s own.

 

Luke quickly looked down. The Master wasn’t grounded, he realized. Luke took advantage of this and began to push The Master back. He deflected The Master’s right and broke the blade lock. He immediately fell into an offensive flurry. The Master glided through the air as Luke pushed him back, using grand sweeping blows to keep The Master from evading his strikes and defensive flourishes and spins on the balls of his heels to keep him at Luke’s center.

 

But what Luke hadn’t expected was for The Master to gain altitude. The Master repelled himself away from Luke and went higher into the air. Luke thrust out a hand, blasting The Master out of the air and hurling him into the Senate Building’s mushroom rooftop, his lightsaber falling to the ground. The Master quickly recovered and stepped out of the crater his impact left in the building.

 

Once again, The Master took flight, ripping up pieces of the Senate Building’s roof as he positioned himself above the landing field, cackling maniacally as he did.

 

“Skywalker!” He called down. Tank and starfighter carcasses rose up from the ground and began to slowly rotate around him with the chunks of the Senate Building’s roof. “You have no idea what I have become! Your time is over. Submit to my power!”

 

Luke said nothing in response. He simply reached out a hand and wrapped an invisible sphere around The Master and his maelstrom. Immediately the objects’ rotations ceased and began to shake as the stress put on them by two opposing forces pushed them in opposite directions. Metal creaked and huge chunks of steel began to violently fall off of the objects and crash down onto the landing field.

 

In response, The Master formed a hazy red bubble around himself and called on the Force to summon clouds overhead. Bolts of red lightning streaked out of the bubble and clouds and struck out at Luke. Nimbly so, Luke dodged the bolts and began to race towards The Master. Propelling himself forward with the Force, Luke leapt up. At the same time he gripped one of the tank carcasses and pulled it under his feet, and then launched himself off of it, charging shoulder first into The Master’s shield. With the Force wrapped around him, the force of the impact shattered The Master’s shield. Luke collided into The Master and they plummeted to the ground.

 

The Master let out a pained breath as they crashed onto the landing pad. Luke stood up and pressed his feet on The Master’s arms, pinning them to the ground. He pointed his lightsaber at The Master.

 

“It’s over!” Luke said through a pained expression.

 

The Master only laughed. “Is it?” He asked rhetorically. “Then do it! Strike me down with all of your hatred! For all I have done, all I have killed, end my existence!”

 

Luke thrust his blade closer to The Master’s throat, nearly impaling him through the neck. “No! I will never kill you in anger!”

 

The Master laughed again. “If you will not kill me here and now, I will kill you!”

 

And then, suddenly and without warning, The Master unleashed a wave of Force energy, blasting Luke away.

 

“Skywalker,” The Master said as he stood up. “Our battle has only just begun. Now you will witness true power!”

 

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Part 2 of the Battle of Coruscant!

 

Chapter 58

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple- Main Atrium

 

The Jedi Temple was filled with the chaos of battle. Lightsabers clashed and Force powers were thrown with murderous intent on both sides of the conflict. Jedi clashed with the most elite of The Master’s guard, desperately fighting to save Coruscant from utter darkness. Numbers and desperation gave them the advantage for a time, but Kar Koon had watched his brothers-in-arms slowly gain the upper hand. Silver blades mercilessly cut and bolts of Force lightning reduced Jedi to charred husks.

 

Removed from the fighting, Kar was able to see clearly, however, that their advantage would fall apart quickly at the hands of Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo. Leia Organa Solo, Ben Skywalker, and Cilghal would be easy to defeat, but the other two would be more difficult. Kyp and Jaina, he resolved, would have to be isolated and dealt with.

 

He dropped down from the balcony he used to observe the battle and stretched out a gnarled hand, palm faced downward. White lightning crackled at his fingertips and then a dozen bolts streaked out like crooked vipers from his fingers. The bolts raced through the air at near imperceptible speeds and slammed into a single Jedi each, reducing them to charred skeletal frames.

 

Just as he had planned, the battle had stopped. All eyes trained on him. He activated his lightwhip and made a hand motion of challenge to Kyp and Jaina. They traded glances, no doubt considering that anyone else among the Jedi would be incapable of challenging Kar in battle. Their minds linked through their Force Meld, Jaina and Kyp rushed Kar Koon.

 

Kar’s whip lashed out for Kyp Durron, crackling and spitting energy as it covered the distance between them. In perfect unison, the two Jedi leapt to opposite sides of Kar and landed next to him. Thinking quickly and moving even quicker, Kar lashed out at Kyp with a kick and thrust a hand out at Jaina, throwing them both away. Kar then spun on his heel and brought his whip around, latching it around Kyp’s blade, and pulling him closer into Kar’s knee. Kyp doubled over in pain as his insides felt like they had been turned to pulp.

 

Kar then pulled his knee up and drove it into Kyp’s face, busting open his nose and sending him sprawling on his back. He then turned and saw Jaina coming down on him from above, blade angled to impale him through the chest. Kar quickly backed away. He wasn’t ready for close combat, not with the weapon he was using. He threw her away with a Force push again to create distance.

 

His whip lashed out again and wrapped around Jaina’s lightsaber blade. They entered a contest of strength, a push and pull, as they fought over the blade. Try as he might, he could not wrench Jaina’s blade from her grasp. Then Kar was taken off his feet once again and crashed into one of the stone statues. He looked back and saw Kyp Durron with an outstretched arm, holding him against the statue with the Force. Then he saw Jaina freeing herself from his lightwhip and coming towards him. Everything came down to this moment. Suppressed by one of the strongest Jedi in the galaxy and faced with the blade of the Sword of the Jedi with no weapon of his own, his thoughts raced. Struggle as he might, Kyp Durron’s grip was too strong to break out of. He was trapped and had no way of escape.

 

At this, he took a deep breath and relaxed. He had failed his master. A century of training, all of his power, everything had led him to this moment. He felt his time nearing, and then the veil lifted. Visions of the future raced through his mind, but they all showed one thing: Coruscant—dead, and The Master—wrapped in a sinister darkness streaked with a fiery red glare—standing over the corpses of the entirety Jedi Order. Kar knew then that his sacrifice would not be in vain. He closed his eyes and accepted death as Jaina ran her blade through him. One last gasp of breath was given to him, and then he let the darkness take him into nothingness.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Fire. Darkness. Death. Coruscant had become a shattered world. Buildings crumbled. Monuments Destroyed. Millions littered the streets. But none of that mattered anymore. For Luke Skywalker and The Master, one world no longer mattered. The fate of the galaxy—no, the universe—was at stake. Everything depended on the victor of their conflict.

 

Their conflict had ripped the Senate Building apart as they hurled massive chunks of metal at each other. Deflected Force attacks shattered or collapsed skyscrapers. But the greatest impact of their conflict had affected the Force itself. Ripples of energy tore at the Force’s balance. Each Force power thrown and every clash of their blades sent these ripples across the galaxy and worked to shift the balance of the Force, as if the Force itself depended on their conflict.

 

The Master stood atop the Senate Building. He cast a long shadow over the landing field, over Luke. He grinned triumphantly. “I can feel you growing weaker, Skywalker. You’re tired. It won’t be long now.” He said as he breathed heavily, himself feeling exhaustion. “You did not truly believe that you could defeat me, did you?”

 

Luke was tired and wounded. Cauterized gashes on his arms and legs, lightning burns, and bleeding wounds from the impacts of various metal objects and thrown fists and kicks sent pain shooting up and down his body. His body screamed for him to stop, but his spirit could never be broken, even when The Master seemed to heal himself from any and all damage that he had taken. Their conflict had an equal exchange of injuries, but The Master had shown no visual sign of it. But that didn’t stop Luke. The Master had made the mistake of forcing this reprieve to gloat. Luke took the chance he was given to draw heavily on the Light Side to heal his injuries. Soothing Force energies flowed through him and dug into his wounds like sutures, repairing broken flesh.

 

“Well?” The Master called down to a still silent Luke Skywalker. “What say you?” But then his eyes widened as he felt Luke drawing more heavily on the Force. “What is this? Do you still think you can win?” His left eye twitched and he scowled.

 

He leapt down from his perch, activated his lightsaber, and charged at Luke. The Jedi Master had not fully healed his injuries when he saw The Master charge him. He had gathered a great deal of energy to heal what remained, but instead of healing himself he stretched out a hand and let that energy out in a massive wave of Force energy. The Wave of energy caught The Master in the chest and swept him off his feet and launched him into the Senate Building, sending him crashing through several walls until he slid to a halt in one of the lobbies.

 

Wrapping himself in darkness, The Master evaporated only to reappear behind Luke with his blade raised to cut him down from behind. Luke whirled around and with a flick of his wrist he brought the tip of his blade up and cut a glowing red line diagonally across The Master’s face. The Master growled in pain and staggered back. The blow had left a orange gash glowing on his face. He traced a steel talon along the gash and snarled as the wound seemed to heal as his finger passed over it.

 

Luke attacked again, leaping at his enemy and driving a boot for The Master’s head. The Master reached out his free hand and grabbed Luke’s foot, and then threw him to the ground. Then he rushed Luke and struck him across the face with a steel boot. Luke fell on his back, and was held there by The Master’s boot.

 

The Master laughed. “Familiar territory, yes, Skywalker?” He asked as he pinned Luke’s weapon arm to the ground with his other foot. “But this time the conclusion will be much different. There is no help coming, there is no secret weapon.” He snarled and pointed his lightsaber at Luke’s neck, close enough that Luke felt as if his neck was being set on fire. “There is no hope, no savior for you.”

 

Luke winced as The Master pressed his foot down on his chest harder. Through the pain he said: “Thanks, but I’ll save myself this time.” And on his final word he grabbed The Master’s boot and sent a surge of Force energy into his leg, breaking the bones with a sickening crunch. He quickly flipped The Master off of him and threw him away. He stood up and took a fighting stance, allowing himself to grin at this small victory and to demoralize The Master.

 

The Master roared with pain as he struggled to stand on his broken leg. He fell to his knees and dropped his lightsaber, the blade winking out with a snap-hiss.

 

The Master snarled. “I cannot be stopped!” He yelled out. “Not now, not after everything I’ve done!”

 

“It’s over!” Luke said. “Accept your end!” He said as he started to approach the seemingly helpless dark master.

 

The Master looked up at Luke and grinned through a pained expression. “Indeed it is.” He took in a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “This battle ends here.” Red energy formed in his right hand.

 

As Luke raised his lightsaber to take The Master’s head off, The Master raised his right hand and let his gathered energy loose in a concentrated beam of pure Dark Side energy. Luke quickly spun away, only just dodging the blast before it could disintegrate him. The energy screamed past Luke and ripped through the Senate Building, cutting the burning building in two before ending in a fiery explosion after connecting with a nearby skyscraper, bringing that building down as well. Luke whirled around in horror as the skyscraper then crashed into the Senate Building, collapsing a large portion of it.

 

The Master stood back up straight as if his leg had been healed. In Luke’s moment of horror, The Master unleashed red veins of lightning at the Jedi Master. Desperately, Luke caught the bolts on his lightsaber blade, the kinetic force of the bolts nearly blasting Luke’s weapon out of his hands. The Master continued the stream of lightning, pushing at Luke’s defenses. The Master was strong, and gaining strength with each passing second, but Luke was confident in himself. Then Luke stepped forward, and stepped again. He staggered closer to The Master, who grinned at Luke’s struggle. Luke closed the gap between them and, with all of the strength he could muster; he broke his blade away from The Master’s lightning and drove it through The Master’s gut.

 

 

 

Vitiate reference at the end, lol. :p

 

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Driven by desperation, The Master raises the stakes!

 

Chapter 59

 

 

Coruscant

 

The Seeker was completely awestruck at the battle between The Master and Luke Skywalker. No battle he had ever felt during this war had such a profound effect on everything. The ripples of their conflict reached across the galaxy and affected the very balance of the Force. It was not just The Master and Luke fighting, it was as if the manifestations of Light and Dark were in conflict. The victor would not just change the galaxy, but the balance of the Force as well. Would utter darkness consume all? Or would the weakening Light shine through to banish the darkness?

 

It was not The Seeker’s place to contemplate the Force on such a grand scale, but he couldn’t help but be captivated by the ripples of energy being sent through him. However, this was all for naught. Behind him, The Beastmaster’s Krayt Dragon rose up and snarled, alerting The Seeker. The battle had distracted him, clouded his senses to everything else. He reached out and sensed dozens of Jedi racing out from the Temple, racing towards him and The Beastmaster.

 

The Seeker unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and activated it. Soon enough, some of the Jedi’s best had arrived. Jaina Solo, a bloodied Kyp Durron, Kyle Katarn, and Corran Horn had all come for him. Four of the best Jedi in the Order stood before him, lightsabers flared to life and ready for battle.

 

The Beastmaster’s Krayt Dragon roared and wrapped its wounded master under one of its wings, and then unleashed a stream of flame at the Jedi. Faster than thought, the Jedi put their hands in front of them and raised a Force Shield of nigh-impregnable strength. The dragon poured the flame down upon their shield. The heat radiating from it was almost enough to roast the Seeker alive, even through his natural Force defenses.

 

After several minutes, the dragon ceased. As the smoke cleared, The Seeker saw the Jedi completely unfazed. Then Kyp Durron raised his arms to the sky and then threw them down. A crackle and a boom sounded, and then lightning from the sky struck the Krayt Dragon. It seized and roared in pain. More bolts came down upon it, bombarding it with bolt after bolt. The dragon was struck by over a dozen bolts before it let out one final roar and collapsed, dead.

 

It had all happened in but a second. The Seeker’s eyes widened as he found himself forced to carry The Beastmaster’s dead weight against these four Jedi. He looked back and sensed The Beastmaster was still alive, but mentally broken. He was alone.

 

He turned back to the Jedi and prepared himself for a final stand. But then, suddenly, a ripple in the Force, a turning point in the battle between his father and the elder Skywalker, distracted him. In that moment, Corran Horn rushed him and punched him in the throat and then quickly disarmed him. In the blink of an eye, Corran then snapped The Seeker’s right arm, drove him to the ground and delivered a punch that sent The Seeker into unconsciousness.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

The Master gasped in pain and looked down at Luke Skywalker and the blade in his gut. His mind was reeling. Time stopped as thoughts raced through his head. His senses enveloped the planet. Alliance soldiers and Jedi had gained their second wind and were destroying his forces, his last remaining allies had been captured or killed, and he was on the verge of death at the hands of Luke Skywalker. He had been through too much, he couldn’t lose now.

 

A rush of energy came to The Master as time resumed. Faster than he had ever moved before, he latched a steel hand around Luke’s face and let a blast of Force energy send him flying away. The Master looked back down and saw Luke’s lightsaber still embedded in his abdomen. With a pain-filled grunt, he pulled the weapon out. He closed his hand around the hilt of the blade and crushed it to dust.

 

On the verge of exhaustion, he fell to his knees. He put a hand to his stomach and let the soothing energies of the Force reform tissue and organs. Then, a voice called out.

 

“You can’t keep going like this!” It was a familiar voice: Shara’s voice. “Can’t you feel what has happened?”

 

The Master looked around, but he couldn’t see or feel her anywhere. “I have felt everything that has transpired on this planet, if that is what you are referring to.”

 

“Then you know that you’ve lost.” She replied. “The entire Jedi Order and an army of soldiers are bearing down upon you. It’s over.”

 

The Master had felt this, and he was still coming to grips with that possibility. “No! It’s not over!” He clenched his fists. “I will not be stopped!” A twinge in the back of his mind made him look back. They were coming, Jedi and soldiers. He couldn’t defeat them all, not like this. He drove a fist into the ground, sending shrapnel flying everywhere, and let out a scream. Then, he vanished.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Shara helped Luke stand up and acted as a crutch for him as they walked to the landing field. There, dozens of Alliance soldiers and Jedi had gathered, expecting The Master to still be there. But The Master wasn’t to be found. He had vanished; he had escaped them for now. But Shara knew he was simply recovering and that he would return even stronger than before.

 

“Hey!” She called out to the Mon Calamarian Jedi, Cilghal. “Get Luke healed, we need to get ready.”

 

As ordered, Cilghal rushed out of the crowd of Jedi to heal Luke. She regarded Shara with mixed feelings. “I did not think we would see you again.”

 

Shara helped Luke lay down on the steel platform and then stood back up. “Ours is an alliance of mutual necessity. We need each other to stop him.”

 

Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo approached. Kyp nodded gravely. “The Master is stronger than we thought, if even Luke couldn’t stop him.” He looked back. “But I don’t think even he can stand up to us all.”

 

Just then, a voice ripped into the minds of everyone on the planet with such intensity that they gripped at their skulls in pain.

 

“I’ve had enough of your paltry resistance! You think you can resist me?” The voice’s anger made everyone’s blood boil. “I own you! I own this planet! And I am free to use it as I will!”

 

Only a minute later, an unnatural darkness reached across the planet, like a black hand wrapping around a marble, until the entire planet was covered in an all-pervading blackness. Then, billions of screams filled the air and rippled through the Force. The Jedi looked around and saw the Alliance soldiers who had accompanied them clutching at their throats and trying to scream as their life force was sucked out of them. All of the Jedi present immediately concluded that this was occurring all over the planet.

 

The realization of what was happening struck them like a bolt of lightning. Not only was The Master regaining strength, but he was feeding off of the lives of nearly one trillion people to exponentially increase his power. It was a slow thing, the process of devouring the people of Coruscant. Screams could be heard for several minutes, and then, nothing.

 

A surge of dark side energy then wrapped around the Shara and the Jedi. For a brief moment, there was nothing but darkness. Then it felt as if the ground opened up beneath them and they were falling, only for that sensation to disappear as the blackness vanished, revealing that they were suddenly at the front gates of the Jedi Temple.

 

Shara looked around. None of the people present had even been remotely physically disturbed by the transportation. Indeed, Cilghal hadn’t even been snapped out of her healing trance. But she had little time to wonder what had happened, as a rush of energy rushed into her mind. Only the smallest trance deep inside the presence she was feeling belonged to The Master. He had become something else. He was no longer a monster, he was an abomination. He was a creature of the dark side. She could barely fathom what she was feeling, but she knew one thing.

 

“He’s coming!”

 

 

Commentary--Raising the Stakes:

 

 

When the original concept of this story was being thought over, I needed to give The Master a massive jump in power. Under the new direction I went with, I wanted to raise the stakes for his battle with Luke. Over the course of the story, they've been through several fights, each with varying circumstances behind them. For this final battle, I wanted to bring the threat level up to its highest. I wanted to put Luke face-to-face with the Dark Side itself, I wanted to put him up against a threat unlike any he had faced. And, yes, that includes Abeloth. What I decided was to give The Master the originally planned boost in strength in order to achieve this. As it stands, the entire Jedi Order is now faced with an almost unstoppable manifestation of the Dark Side.

 

Hope you guys enjoy the last few chapters!

 

Edited by Aurbere
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:eek: He ate Coruscant! Awesome stuff Aurbere.

 

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

 

And now for the repercussions of his actions!

 

Chapter 60

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

Shara’s words seemed to fall on deaf ears. The Master was coming; she knew it to be so. They all knew he was coming, but they could not sense him anywhere. He was everywhere and nowhere all at once. He was like the shadow that had been cast over the planet. Shara could feel that shadow wrapping around them like a snake wrapping its coils around its latest victim.

 

There was a flash of red lightning across the blackened sky that lit up the Temple grounds. As if summoned by the flash, hundreds of dark figures appeared on the grounds. Another flash of lightning cast red light on them, and everyone saw what they were. Men in dark cloaks and covered in silver armor. It was as if The Master had used the Force to clone himself. Another flash of lightning and more appeared, this time on the buildings around the Temple.

 

Then, an echo of a voice reached across the planet. “We are legion,” All of the copies said in unison, filling the air with a haunting echo. “For we are many.” Then, they all activated red lightsabers and launched themselves at the Jedi. Descending from buildings, rushing up the Temple stairways, red and black streaks fell upon the Jedi Order in frenzy.

 

The Jedi formed a circle around Cilghal and the injured Luke Skywalker like pack animals defending the infants of the herd. Shara, however, launched into an attack. With all of the speed the Force could give her, she broke into the crowd of clones, her blade cutting a dozen times as she landed in the middle of the crowd. Bolts of lightning shot from her fingertips and reduced six clones to charred husks. She raced into the opening that was created and carved through six more clones.

 

The clones seemed slower than they should be, they didn’t strike or move as quickly as she had expected. She quickly looked around. Clones surrounded her and cut her off from the Jedi. She saw that more clones had appeared from nowhere to replace those that were killed. It seemed never-ending. At the rate they were coming, the sheer numbers would overwhelm them. She snapped back to the present and leapt away from an incoming strike and landed gracefully in the middle of the Jedi group, next to Master Cilghal.

 

“Get him up as quickly as you can!” Shara ordered hastily, motioning at Luke. She gauged the situation again. They were being closed in on by an endless horde. Slowly but surely they would be overwhelmed. “We can’t do this forever.”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

From atop the tallest skyscraper nearest to the Jedi Temple, The Master watched the battle taking place on the Jedi Temple steps with great interest. As much as he wanted to personally enter the battle at this moment, he was still attempting to grasp the new power he had been given. Despite having resurrected nearly one trillion lives simultaneously, moving them about the planet like pieces on a dejarik board, and controlling them all at once, the enormity of what he could accomplish was beyond even nigh-omniscient perception. His consciousness washed over the galaxy. Every bit of energy in every star and planet was felt by him. He could feel every heartbeat, every thought, across the galaxy. He felt as if he could detach himself from his body and transcend the limits of time and space. He felt like an all-powerful deity, one who could hold the galaxy in his hand and mold it to his will. But even with this view, he could not grasp how great his power had become, not yet.

 

He looked down at the battle and felt disgust. Through his new perceptions, he saw the fighting as a meaningless quarrel between insects. Meaningless lives were being thrown away for one meaningless building on one meaningless planet. What was even worse was the futility of their struggle. Should the defenders prove victorious over mere puppets, they would be faced with the puppeteer, a being of unfathomable power. He was not Jedi or Sith. He was not The Master, not anymore. He was a god.

 

Watching the skirmish on the Temple, entertaining as it was, began to bore him. He had attained immense power. It was time for him to show his enemies their folly, and usher in a new age. He wrapped himself in darkness and vanished.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

As the clones closed in around the Jedi, just as they seemed ready to gain victory for their master, they paused and began to fall back. An explosion of energy washed over them and then seemed to rush back to its source followed by a second explosion as the architect of Coruscant’s destruction appeared before them. He was wrapped in darkness inside and out. Whatever light was in him before had been utterly eradicated, leaving nothing but pure darkness. He was madness, chaos, and death.

 

As his darkness washed over the Jedi Temple he grinned and let out a maniacal laugh. As he did, his clones changed, transformed. No, they weren’t clones at all. They were the innocent people of this planet resurrected and mentally enslaved and physically controlled by The Master.

 

The Master’s maniacal laugh simmered and burnt out, but his wide grin remained. Shara stepped out of the crowd of Jedi and made her way to the front to stand before him. “You have done what I foresaw.” She said in horror. “You destroyed this planet, and you won’t stop here.”

 

The Master cocked his head. “Your actions necessitated this response. And I can’t thank you enough!” His voice was hollow and was possessed by a dark and haunting echo that seemed to freeze the air around them.

 

Shara steeled herself. “What are you talking about?”

 

The Master stopped. “Imagine the power I now possess. I have become a god. You are all nothing before me now, even the greatest among you.”

 

“No,” Shara replied. “We are not ‘nothing’ to you. You believe we are fools, contemptible fools to be destroyed.”

 

The Master’s grin faded and his expression soured. “Do you regard an insect as a fool before you crush it? No, you simply crush it under your boot without a second thought. You are nothing but insects to me. I entertain your resistance so as not to bore myself with the chore of remolding the galaxy.”

 

“Enough!” Shara snapped in anger. “You are arrogant and weak, and your time is at an end!” She pointed her lightsaber at him. “I will destroy you!”

 

On her final word, she charged The Master. As she neared him, he raised a hand at her. Just as she swung her blade, The Master tapped her on the forehead with an index finger. Shara stopped as she felt massive amounts of Force energy ripple through her. Blood vessels in her head exploded and sent blood rushing out of her ears, eyes, mouth, and nose. And then she flew back and crashed into the stairway.

 

The Master’s left eye twitched. “You think I’m weak? Perhaps a demonstration of my power is necessary!”

 

He looked upward and waved his hands at the sky in a parting motion. The darkness above dissolved and revealed the space above the planet. Shattered carcasses of Alliance vessels cluttered the space above the planet. All that remained from the battle was The Master’s flagship the Herald of Death, which was slowly collecting the broken ships to break them down into repair materials.

 

“Now!” The Master called out. “Witness but a mere flexing of my power!” He reached out a hand and slowly closed it into a fist. Most of the Jedi present could not see what was happening for they lacked the greater perceptive powers of the Force, but those who could were both awe-struck and horrified. The Master’s flagship was being crushed under the weight of the Force. The mightiest military weapon ever built was insignificant next to him, made all too clear to all of the Jedi as an explosion then annihilated the ship, killing all who were on it.

 

“This is but a taste of the devastation I can unleash.” The Master said as he turned back to his foes. “Now, how shall I kill you all?”

 

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I won't spoil anything, but I will say that the conflict is so much bigger than anything to come to Star Wars. Suffice to say, the battle only gets bigger and bigger and it will have repercussions on a massive scale, galactic and spiritual.

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Unfortunately, due to time constraints on my part, writing and posting chapters weekly is getting difficult. I have decided now to post chapters as they are completed, rather than rushing to maintain a schedule. Apologies, but I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

 

Chapter 61

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

The Master gazed over his enemies. The lesser Jedi kept their heads low in fear or simply shirked under his gaze. The more powerful of his enemies stood defiant, but inside the fear was rising. His shadow was unnaturally long as it reached over them and wrapped them in a cold embrace. The Master’s gaze, though physically limited, washed over the collection of Force-sensitives. He paused and frowned.

 

“No,” he said softly, but the Force amplification in his voice allowed his words to echo across the planet. “Everyone isn’t here.” He reached a hand down to his side; palm faced downward, and ripped a piece of the stone floor out and into his hand. He stared at it thoughtfully and then looked back at his enemies. “You will all wait here, I shall return.” He then released the stone and vanished.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Star Forge 2- Command Deck

 

He appeared on the upper platform of the super factory’s command deck in a flash of anger and hatred. Wisps of tangible darkness shot out from the source of the explosion and shattered computer consoles in fiery explosions. The lights on the station flickered out, devoured by the darkness. A cloud of darkness crawled along the walls and wrapped around the command deck, encasing it in utter blackness. Bolts of red lightning streaked through the cloud, sporadically lightning up the deck with an eerie red glow and breaking the silence with the sound of thunder.

 

The darkness choked out all background noise. All that could be heard was The Master’s shallow breathing and the frightened, shortened breaths of The Soldier, The Guardian, and The Lore-master, all of whom observed from the lower platform. The Master could smell their fear. He had trained them to contain their fear and suppress it, but there was no hope of that. The Master’s presence suppressed their collective wills and intensified the fear that dwelled within. Foolish pride and the fear of being humiliated kept them from cowering before him like frightened children before their abusive father.

 

On the upper platform of the deck, The Brain’s holographic droid intermediary short-circuited and exploded in a ball of fire under the pressure of The Master’s presence. The Master approached the unconscious Brain’s physical form.

 

“Stop!” A voice called out, synthesized through the station’s auditory system. “You can’t think that the loss of a physical form will in any way hinder me?”

 

The Master grinned and cackled. “Oh, but I do.” He put a hand on the body’s chest. “Did you think I would allow you to exist without a means to destroy you? Your ambition was apparent to me from the moment we met, all those centuries ago. If ending the life of this body will not stop you, I will destroy this station.”

 

“You fool!” The Brain’s voice called out again. “If you attempt to undermine me, I will destroy everything!”

 

The Master arched an eyebrow and grinned. “You are referring to the Baradium superweapons, are you not?”

 

“You thought you could hide them from me,” The Brain said with confidence. “But you could not, and now I control them.”

 

The Master scoffed. “Destroy one planet or a hundred, it matters not. My new power will allow me to simply rebuild them.”

 

“Impossible!” The Brain said, his surprise and anger obvious in his voice. “Even you don’t have that kind of power!”

 

The Master laughed and said: “We’ll see.”

 

He firmly placed his palm on The Brain’s chest and let a pulse of energy flow into his body. A moment later, The Brain’s heart stopped. Any normal being would be surprised when nothing happened upon The Brain’s death, but The Master knew. His transcendence had allowed him to see all that would transpire when he chose to peer through the shroud of time’s mysteries.

 

“Disappointing,” The Master remarked. “Then I will simply destroy this station on my leaving.”

 

The Master casually turned on his heel and strode toward the edge of the upper platform and stepped off. At his silent command, the platform tore itself apart to form stairs underneath his feet as he walked. The Master focused intently on his former students as he stepped down the stairs.

 

“Now, then,” he said calmly. “I intend to bring you with me back to Coruscant.” He grinned as they stepped back with each step down the stairs he took. “I know! It must be so difficult to stand when you’re twitching uncontrollably.” On his last word, his feet slammed onto the lower platform.

 

Each of the remaining Watchers desperately tried to speak, but fear choked their words. He was right, of course. Deep down, they were twitching in fear. The Master pointed a finger at a wall and unleashed a single bolt of Force lightning from his fingertip. The red bolt slammed into the wall and dissipated.

 

“What have you done?” The Brain’s panicked voice called out, realizing that the bolt of lightning spread throughout the station like a virus.

 

The Master remained focused on his living students and said: “I have destroyed this station. In moments it will explode in an inferno that will annihilate every iota of this foul creation.” He then lifted a hand to eye-level. “Now, let us go back to Coruscant.”

 

Then he snapped his fingers and they vanished, leaving the station to destroy itself.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Not a moment after The Master had dropped the rock; he had somehow appeared before the Jedi and Shara with the rest of The Watchers. The Soldier, The Lore-master, and The Guardian stood in front of him, grim dread spread over their faces. But The Master only grinned with delight, for all of his enemies had been gathered in this one place at this one moment. The last pieces were on the board, it was time for the final moves. The fate of the universe came down to this final battle. The entire Jedi Order and what remained of The Watchers pitted themselves against The Master, a god possessing the power to reshape the universe at will. Despite their massive numerical advantage, The Master’s power rendered it moot.

 

The Master’s grin only faded when he started to speak: “Now that we are all here, I will kill you all and thus sweep all distractions aside.” His dark tone caused the air across the planet to freeze. A harsh cold enveloped them all, wrapping with the shadow around the planet.

 

But though his presence if unleashed could force them all to commit suicide rather than suffer a slow death, there were some who did not fear, or, to be more precise, whose pride could not allow them to shrink in the shadow of The Master. The Soldier was brave and foolish, and he tossed all caution to the wind as he whirled around with lightsaber flared to life to cut his former Master down.

 

The blade made contact with The Master’s robes, but stopped before it could cut through. The Master appeared so much taller as he seemed to loom over The Soldier, a hateful scowl on his face. Fire burned in his eyes, and his gaze seemed to devour The Soldier’s soul.

 

“You would stand against me as I pass judgment on you?” He asked with great anger. “You are nothing but a mongrel before me!” He raised a hand and grabbed The Soldier’s lightsaber by the blade. “You truly believed that I could be defeated by such an insignificant weapon? You have insulted me, and so I will make your deaths as slow and painful as possible!”

 

Deaths? The Soldier asked himself as he struggled against The Master’s grasp. But The Master was far, far physically stronger than The Soldier now. He ripped the weapon from The Soldier’s hands and threw it aside. Suddenly and without notice, a wave of Force energy erupted from The Master and the three Watchers back. The wave was laced with the most potent of dark side energies, giving it a dark red taint as it ripped into the Watchers. Each of them felt their clothes shred and their skin break under the assault. The energy pounded their bodies and would have reduced them to puddles of messy blood and guts had The Master even put the slightest bit of effort into the attack.

 

The Master’s left eye twitched as he surveyed his opposition with growing hatred. “You have all felt only a small portion of my power, not even a fraction even. What you have seen and felt is but a hair’s width of my full might!” The air crackled around him and the planet began to shake as his anger grew. “I will ensure that you all die as painfully as possible, I will destroy you all entirely, until there is nothing left of your existence! Not even the shelter of the Force will protect you! I will rip you from the Netherworld of the Force and eradicate your spirits entirely!” The darkness grew heavier as The Master’s voice grew louder. The darkness of the entire galaxy converged on Coruscant and flowed into him. He truly had become the Dark Side. He had become death itself, truly and completely.

 

“Enough!” A voice came out from the crowd. Not a moment after, Luke Skywalker himself emerged from the crowd with lightsaber activated and in hand and a determined expression on his face. “You won’t win, even if it costs my life I will ensure that you don’t.” He waved at the crowd of Jedi behind him. “All of us will, because that’s what Jedi do.”

 

The Master snarled. “Come then, Skywalker.” He said calmly. “Let us see what your ‘Jedi’ can do against me.”

 

Luke nodded in agreement, brought his lightsaber up, and charged. The Light Side of the Force followed behind him and the Jedi Order as they charged The Master, prepared to fall upon him in righteous fury. They did not fight because of fear of death. They fought for something greater than that. They fought for one reason: to save the galaxy.

 

“Pathetic!” The Master shouted, his voice now sounding as if it came from another realm entirely. He raised his hands and allowed pure dark side energy to form into a sphere between them. It formed into a dark red manifestation of the destructive power of the dark side. The Master stretched his arms out and opened his hands outward. The dark energy rushed out in a condensed beam of energy far greater than the one he had used against Luke before. It ripped across the Temple Grounds and the ripples of power emanating from the attack opened rifts in space and time across the planet, tearing apart the planet’s skyscrapers with short-lived rifts that devoured anything nearby.

 

Through his Battle Meld with the entire Jedi Order and the Watchers, Luke channeled their power into a massive wall of Force energy. The shimmering wall of light contorted under the pressure of the dark side attack. And then, Luke found clarity in his mind as he felt not only the energy of his allies, but the full power of the Light Side of the Force flow into him. Each cell in his body felt infused by the purest of Force energies. He could not physically contain the energy he was feeling. It was impossible, doing so would destroy his body. He fed the wall of light with all of the energy he had flowing into him. The wall shined brighter and began to cast the darkness back.

 

“Yes!” The Master called out with a mixture of anger and joy. “Suffer under my unending wrath! Resist my power and accept the inevitability of your imminent destruction!” He poured more energy into the attack, causing the beam to darken and grow in size and strength, causing the wall of light to contort further. More energy rippled from the collision. Across the galaxy, stars morphed into singularities as the massive Force energies erupting from their clash washed over the galaxy. “Yes! Be utterly annihilated! Down to the very last iota of your pitiful bodies!”

 

Both sides poured more and more energy into the attack until the Light reached its limit. In the final moments, the wall of light exploded, causing the beam of dark energy to dissipate and the planet to begin to crack under the attack. Smoke clouds gathered over the scene. The battle seemed to have ended, but it was far from over.

 

As the dust cleared, Luke and the Jedi still stood strong. In that final moment of their clash, Luke had realized what he needed to do. Through the Battle Meld, he projected his plan and then stepped forward, alone. This was a battle that he had to fight without the rest of the Jedi. With the full strength of the Light Side of the Force at his back, he would challenge The Master to single combat. Luke felt the full strength of the Light Side—more power than he had ever felt before—flowing through him. He had the Force at his back, and he felt he had transcended into a far greater being than he had ever been even at his strongest. The ultimate incarnation of the Light had finally been pitted against the epitome of darkness. It was the final battle, with the fate of all of existence at stake.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sincerest apologies. I've been extremely busy lately, but the next chapter is done!

 

Chapter 62

 

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

As Luke stepped out of the crowd of Jedi alone, The Master laughed maniacally.

 

“What is this?” He spat out. “You truly think you can stand against me alone?” Lightning crackled in his hands and he scowled. “Fine then! Die!”

 

Lightning exploded from The Master’s fingertips and raced towards Luke like hungry black vipers. Luke raised his hands and summoned a barrier of Force energy. The bolts of lightning slammed against the barrier like spears against a shield. Storm clouds manifested above them and bolts of black lightning streaked from the sky, striking against Luke’s barrier as well. The Force energy rippled across the planet. Lightning rebounded from the barrier and struck skyscrapers, reducing them to ashes.

 

After their clash progressed for several minutes, Luke began to draw in the energy from the lightning bolts into his barrier. The barrier swelled with energy. When Luke believed he had gathered enough energy, he condensed the barrier and unleashed it in The Master’s direction. The massive wave of Force energy ripped across the Temple Grounds. Excess energy exploded off of the wave and tore into nearby buildings, collapsing them or sending them crashing into other nearby buildings.

 

The Master’s left eye twitched and he thrust out a palm, unleashing his own wave of Force energy. Like waves in the ocean, the two opposing waves of energy collided and erupted into a massive explosion. Nearby buildings dissolved into nothingness and the Temple Grounds shook under the oppressive force of the explosion. Dust and smoke clouds erupted from the epicenter of the impact, covering the grounds in a haze.

 

Suddenly and explosion of energy washed over Luke like a gust of wind from a hurricane. A swirling tunnel parted the smoke cloud and a dark shadow raced through. Before Luke could bring his guard up, The Master was in front of him, driving a gauntleted fist into Luke’s jaw. Luke was dazed by the blow for only a moment, but that was all The Master needed to drive his knee into Luke’s chest and then deliver and uppercut to Luke’s chin. Luke quickly stepped back to recover, but The Master gave him no reprieve. He pushed forward and drove his fist against Luke’s jaw.

 

“Die!” The Master shouted. “If you will stand before me alone, then lead the Jedi in death!”

 

The Master threw another punch into Luke’s gut. But a millisecond later, The Master unleashed a blast of energy from his fist, sending Luke skidding away but still on his feet. Finally recovered from The Master’s assault, Luke made an attack of his own. He gathered the Force in his hand and unleashed it in a concentrated blast of energy. The Master was launched off his feet and catapulted to the edge of the Temple Grounds. He was quickly back on his feet. He stretched his arms out to his sides and slowly lifted them up.

 

From nearly a hundred meters away on either side, buildings creaked and moaned against the weight of the Force pulling against them. With little resistance, half a dozen of the buildings tore in half and rose up to the sky. The Master lifted himself up to the air and brought the buildings around him. The buildings floated above him, suspended by his power and pointed towards Luke and the Jedi like spears.

 

A flick of The Master’s wrist sent the buildings hurtling towards Skywalker and the Jedi like massive javelins. Without thinking, Luke raised his hands up and caught the buildings with a cushion of Force energy. Luke felt The Master pushing against his hold with the Force. He wasn’t going to let The Master force him into a tug of war with these buildings. Luke forcefully clenched his hands into fists. The Force rippled across the buildings’ surfaces, cracking them like ice expanding in the ground. Another Force ripple caused the buildings to explode into a million tiny fragments. The fragments flew towards The Master and then stopped, halted by his power. Slowly, The Master parted the fragments to gain a vantage point on his Jedi adversary.

 

An explosion of Force energy scattered the pieces and reduced them to dust. Through the dust burst Master Skywalker. The Master floated backwards to create distance, but he wasn’t fast enough. Luke grabbed hold of The Master’s legs and pulled him closer. He channeled the Force through his body, and then hurled The Master to the ground. The Master impacted the ground in a massive explosion of concrete and steel. Luke landed on the ground a moment after The Master stepped out of the crater left by his impact.

 

Though completely physically unharmed, smoke trailed from The Master’s armor and his robes were tattered. His face was contorted in anger and confusion. “How?” He asked Luke, exasperated. “Where are you drawing all of this power from?” He turned back to look at the Jedi, his left eye twitching in confusion. “It can’t be. Even the entire Jedi Order can’t match me!” The Master glared back at Luke furiously. “Fine! Then I’ll destroy your Jedi Order first!”

 

The Master then vanished in an explosion of black energy, only to reappear a moment later in the midst of the crowd of Jedi. He loomed over them all, as if he stood more than two meters taller than any of them. All of the Jedi broke from their meditation and drew their lightsabers. One Jedi foolishly struck at The Master, only to have his hands snapped off upon striking his blade ineffectually against The Master’s torso. A small ripple of Force energy went through the Jedi’s body, disintegrating him from within.

 

The Master lifted himself into the air until he was nearly ten meters above them all. Luke sensed The Master’s intentions and leapt up towards him, allowing the Force to carry him forward. Only when Luke was inches away did The Master flick his wrist, telekinetically throwing Luke back to the ground.

 

“No.” The Master said simply. “You will watch as I send your Order into oblivion.” He then raised a hand. At his motion all but the most powerful members were lifted up into the air. “This is my galaxy!” The Master shouted. “All of you die!” He closed his hand into a fist. Energy surged through the Force. The suspended Jedi instantly disintegrated, their bodies reduced to ash. Then The Master waved his hand. Rifts in space and time opened where each of the hundreds of Jedi had been. Within those rifts the Jedi’s bodies reformed only to be disintegrated and then reformed again in a never-ending cycle.

 

The Master drifted back to the ground, where he stood over the last remnants of the Jedi Order. Barely a fraction of the Order remained to stand against him. The Master spread his arms out, as if wrapping his enemies in his darkness. Shadow and death had descended upon them all. Death was closing in, but they all knew that their suffering had only just begun.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

An interlude to the combat. Brief as it might be.

 

Chapter 63

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

Coruscant was a ruined world. Skyscrapers were shattered and nearly collapsed in on themselves. Monuments were in ruin. And the planet had been stripped of what little life it had left by its new dark master. Its people had been devoured of life and then revitalized. When The Master came to stand before his foes for the last time, he had cast his puppets aside, transporting them into buildings across the planet where they would wait to be drained of their life force again should The Master have need of them.

 

Above the Jedi Temple hundreds of rifts in space and time had been opened by The Master. The rifts served as eternal cages for the Jedi trapped within. The Jedi trapped inside would be disintegrated, their spirits destroyed, and then reformed physically and spiritually over a dozen times in the blink of an eye. An eternity of constant pain and death. Their screams permeated the Force, tore at the sanity of the Jedi. But The Master was unaffected by it. In fact, he seemed to feed off of the torment of those poor souls. But even this, even this horrifying fate, was not the worst The Master could unleash. Not on those he had saw as his enemies.

 

The Master stood over his enemies, standing tall over them like a dark shadow. His gleeful grin had faded and had been replaced by an angry smile as his glare focused on his former Watchers.

 

“I stood over you fools for over a thousand years!” He shouted in anger at his former students. “I gave you all of your power. I made you strong! You were my allies. We held watch over the galaxy.” His anger continued to rise, and the planet shook in response to his fury. “You betrayed me, you tried to kill me! All whom I trusted have betrayed me. Now and forever, I stand alone!”

 

He raised an arm at the group of Jedi, palm faced outward. “Now, all of you will suffer my wrath!”

 

“Stop!” The voice of Luke Skywalker called out. “This is between you and me. Our fight isn’t over yet!”

 

The Master’s arm lowered back to his side. “Our fight?” The Master questioned mockingly. “Your Force Meld is shattered, your Order is broken, and your power is beginning to fail you. Our fight is over.” The Master raised his hand back up. “Make peace with the Force now, for death has arrived.”

 

A rapid build-up of Force energy gathered within The Master, so massive was the energy coalescing in his hand that those before him knew that he was drawing on the Force far more heavily than he had ever done so before. The attack was meant to obliterate them all in one final blast that none could hope to survive. The Master let a wide grin spread across his face as radiant red energy illuminated them all. Within moments he would obliterate them.

 

But then a pained scream interrupted him. Everyone turned to the source to see The Guardian frozen in pain, with Shara’s blade protruding from her abdomen. Shara removed her lightsaber and let the Togruta fall to the ground, dead. But none could register shock at Shara’s apparent betrayal. The entire planet began to shake, as if resonating with the pain released from The Guardian upon her death. But it was not her pain the planet felt.

 

Everyone returned their gaze to The Master, who was clutching at his skull and screaming in pain. He was hunched over and clawing at his skull, as if his brain had been set on fire. Darkness enveloped him and he vanished.

 

The Soldier quickly whirled around and grabbed Shara by the collar of her cloak. “What have you done!?” He asked with fiery hatred. Everyone wanted an answer, and no one cared if The Soldier took Shara’s head off with his bare hands.

 

Shara did nothing to resist. She stayed calm and said simply: “I’m saving us.”

 

“What are you talking about?” The Soldier responded, his anger building. But before he could press her for more answers, The Lore-master placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

“She is saving us.” The Lore-master said calmly. “The Master was drawing power from our bonds with him. By severing the bonds, she is lessening the power he can draw upon and shattering his mental state.”

 

Shara nodded. “Indeed.”

 

Finally, Luke Skywalker stepped into the conversation. “Are you suggesting that you all must die in order for him to be stopped?”

 

The Soldier finally let Shara go. She straightened herself and responded: “It’s possible, though we may be able to target his allies, rather than kill each other. But we don’t have much time.”

 

Her words were compounded by another tremor and a scream that echoed across the galaxy. An explosive wave of energy rocked the planet and in the distance the group could see the Senate building and all nearby buildings disintegrate in a flash of violet light. The Force washed over the planet, causing even greater tremors. Storms of lightning ripped across the planet, rain showered down upon them, and thunder cracked like tremendous drums of war. An explosion of Force energy signaled The Master’s return to the Jedi Temple.

 

Wisps of black energy and a violet explosion between Luke and his allies heralded The Master’s arrival. Bolts of lightning struck the ground around him, and as the dust cleared they all saw The Master scowling. Gone was the malicious grin. The Master was truly angry now. They had hurt him. His body was unharmed, but his mind and his pride were wounded. Death was all but certain now.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Chapter 64

 

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

As if by some twisted dark side power, The Master now stood more than two meters taller than Luke, Shara, and the others who opposed him. His body had been twisted by dark side magic, increasing his physical size and strength and allowing him to stand over them like some form of dark obelisk. The Master’s darkness swept over Shara, Luke, and the others like a tidal wave that threatened to swallow them whole. All of them clutched at their skulls and fell to their knees, screaming in pain as the fingers of the dark side tore at their minds, all but two fell. The Soldier and The Lore-master stood before The Master, unafraid.

 

The Master cocked his head and regarded them with suspicion. “What is this?” A bolt of lightning struck the ground next to him on his last word.

 

For the first and last time during their battle, The Soldier allowed himself to grin at this very small victory. “The Brain does good work, doesn’t he?” The Soldier said mockingly as he pointed at his shaved skull. “He created nanotechnology that could download the personalities of its host mind and then be used to control the brain if it were compromised.”

 

The Lore-master raised her hands up towards The Master, bolts of lightning crackling at her fingertips. “In short, your tricks don’t work on us!” Blue forks of lightning shot from her fingers and crashed into The Master’s chest.

 

The Soldier joined her with his own lightning. The bolts crashed into The Master’s steel chestplate with the booming sound of the crack of thunder. The Master stood calmly, the bolts of lightning breaking against him and wrapping around him like vipers, striking at his arms and leaving his black cape in tatters. Slowly, The Master took a step forward. The two Watchers poured more power into their attack, but to seemingly no effect as The Master continued to approach them.

 

When he was but five meters away, the pair ceased their attack and activated their lightsabers. Together, they charged him, swinging their blades furiously. Before they could reach him, he stretched out a hand and blew them back with the Force. The attack had been the weakest The Master had unleashed against them, for the two remained on their feet as they skidded backwards.

 

“Did you think I would equip myself with my own lightsaber to meet your petty challenge?” The Master asked them mockingly. “I have no need for such paltry weapons. Not anymore.” The rest of The Master’s foes stumbled back to their feet, having recovered from The Master’s mental assaults. “You are all nothing to me. I have seen enough of your pathetic resistance. It’s time I ended you all once and for all!”

 

Bolts of lightning struck the ground from above, crashing against the ground with tremendous force as The Master gathered himself. Power surged from him in palpable waves, kicking up dust and harshly blowing back Luke and the others. The waves picked up in frequency and intensity. Luke and the others raised their arms up and summon barriers of Force energy to defend themselves from the energy, but the surrounding area was not so fortunate. The ground cracked beneath their feat and the Jedi Temple slowly began to collapse under the weight of The Master’s power.

 

And then, just as The Master reached the apex of his power, he was struck by a massive bolt of plasma. An explosion of dust and shrapnel shot out from the crater formed by the blast. Everyone looked up to see Imperial and Galactic Alliance warships looming in orbit of the planet.

 

As the dust cleared, The Master stood back up straight and looked up to the sky. Contrary to his beliefs, the Alliance fleet had remained intact and had fled the battle. And now it had returned with reinforcements from the Fel Empire.

 

The Master snarled and looked to Luke Skywalker, who was as stunned as the Master was. “You think this will save you?” The Master asked angrily. “I will destroy them all in a single moment as a monument to your legacy.”

 

Luke reached out with the Force, attempting to hold The Master in place. “Stop!” He called. “This is between you and me. No one else has to die!”

 

The Master laughed and then vanished only to reappear behind Luke. Faster than Luke could react, The Master’s right hand was gripped around Luke’s skull and the Luke was sent flying through the air. Luke fell to the ground and quickly sprang back to his feet, at which point The Master had already taken to the air, with turbolaser blasts streaking past him.

 

What power The Master had gathered, he slowly unleashed. A rift in space and time opened as a star near to Coruscant collapsed and formed a black hole. The Master raised his hands and formed pincers with his fingers, forcibly grabbing hold of the Alliance-Imperial fleet. With nothing but sheer force of will, he forced the near three dozen capital ships back towards the rapidly expanding black hole that was fueled by The Master’s dark power. Super Star Destroyer class vessels, anti-fighter platforms, capital class cruisers, and various other warships were broken by the gravitational pull of the singularity and devoured into its utter blackness, never to be seen again. The life force from the deaths caused by destruction exploded into the Force and was soon devoured by The Master to fuel his ever increasing power.

 

The Master slowly descended back to the Temple grounds and landed gracefully. He took great joy in examining the shocked faces that his foes couldn’t hope to conceal. For indeed, who could stop a being of such immeasurable power? Such grand displays of power served The Master’s purpose. True terror was the destruction of all hope, when all possible hope of victory had been destroyed. True terror was when there was no more hope, and The Master saw true terror in the eyes of his enemies. For the first time, Luke and his Jedi felt that death was all but certain. Seeing that made The Master grin.

 

But then his grin faded. Scanning the crowd he could not find one person in particular: Shara. She was gone, nowhere to be found.

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple- Containment Unit

 

Shara rushed through the Jedi Temple with as much speed as the Force could give her. She was running with desperation heightened by The Master’s recent act. An entire fleet annihilated in an instant, and tens of thousands more lives devoured to fuel his power. She was losing hope of victory. She couldn’t fathom such power, and she knew that there was no hope of victory if they fought him like this. She needed to push him farther. She needed to kill the last of his allies.

 

She stepped into the Jedi Temple's containment area and laid eyes on her targets: The Beastmaster and The Seeker, her own son. They were unconscious and had been contained behind blue fields of energy. Shara waved her hand at the cells, draining them of energy and causing them to shut down. She activated her lightsaber and prepared herself to do what no mother should, for the good of the galaxy.

 

Edited by Aurbere
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  • 1 month later...

Apologies for the delay, guys. I was super busy. Hope you enjoy!

 

Chapter 65

 

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

Coruscant’s destruction seemed imminent to those few still living on it. Earthquakes shook across the planet. Storm clouds blanketed over the planet and shot bolts of lightning into buildings, causing even more destruction across the planet. Above the planet the singularity The Master created drew ever closer, its growth and power held back by his power. This was the genius of his plan. In addition to annihilating the Alliance and Imperial fleets, The Master had created a weapon that would devastate Coruscant if he were to ever die. If he died, Luke and his Jedi would perish in the face of The Master’s created black hole.

 

The Master took great pride in having created this conundrum for his foes. He openly mocked their foolishness in daring to stand before him. He fed off their terror, the terror that his foes so desperately tried to hide. He stepped forward, closer to them. His long shadow fell over them like a dark curtain, wrapping them in the cold embrace of death.

 

“You can feel it now, can’t you?” He whispered to them, his words drilling into their skulls. “There is no one left to save you. There is no hope… no more saviors.” He spread his arms in a symbolic act of embracing them. “Feel Death’s embrace and accept your failure.”

 

He let his arms drop and stepped closer. “Terror is all you know.” He whispered to them. “I would give you quick deaths, but I want you to feel my suffering. And I want you to know that when I am done with this galaxy, after I have begun to remake it in my vision, nothing will remain but ashes and dust.” He raised an arm up and pointed it at The Soldier and The Lore-master. “And now, I shall exact my vengeance on those who betrayed me, swiftly and without mercy.”

 

The Master reached out and used the Force to lift his former subjects into the air. With his other arm he used the Force to hold the rest of his foes to the ground, immobilizing them with his dark power. Powerless against him, The Soldier could do nothing but prepare for death. Centuries of his life splashed before his eyes. His childhood in the mines of Kessel, training under The Master, and finally the war. Brief flashes that made him long to be back on Kessel. For the briefest of moments, he wished he had not been brought under The Master’s thumb. It finally dawned on him that the pain and humiliation he suffered for so many centuries did not make the power in his grasp worth it. The Soldier traded glances with The Lore-master.

 

She was prepared for death as well. Unlike The Soldier, she had known all along that this was the only possible conclusion to their lives. Centuries of study into the Force, of watching The Master’s descent into darkness, had made her realize that none of The Watchers would live to see The Master’s vision come to fruition. In truth, she had realized many years earlier that their immortality was a kindness given to them so that they could be tools for his rise to power. That’s what they always were, she believed. Even the kind-hearted man who took her in so many years ago saw her as nothing more than a tool. Even as death was about to claim her, she wondered if The Master had always intended to wrest control of the galaxy from the central galactic power, or if this was simply a product of his slow fall into darkness. But she couldn’t be asked to ponder such matters anymore. She brought her gaze to her former master. Fire burned in his eyes. He had every intention to kill them. There was no hope for them.

 

He began to clench the hand that held them aloft into a fist. The Force began to fold in upon the two Watchers. They could feel their bodies begin to crumple under its weight. Bones fractured in multiple places; skin blistered and broke to leak blood from split open veins. The Soldier would have tried to defend himself, but he knew how useless it was to resist. He could never summon the strength to defend himself, not anymore.

 

But then, suddenly, The Master stopped. The two Watchers fell to the ground in crumpled heaps, their bodies broken too much for them to move properly. But everyone turned their eyes to The Master, who had fallen to his knees with a sullen and confused look on his face. He quickly became angry when he realized something horrible had just happened and then he screamed.

 

An explosion of violet Force energy erupted from him, throwing Luke and the Jedi off their feet and hurling them into the Temple steps. Thousands of shards of stone and durasteel flew everywhere and those buildings near collapse finally fell in on themselves, kicking up massive dust clouds and hurling more durasteel shrapnel. The planet shook more violently than ever before. The storm clouds that wrapped around the planet churned and casted more bolts of lightning to the ground around them.

 

As the dust settled, the group saw The Master standing hunched over. His armor was broken in several places, his dark cape was in tatters, and his face was stained by dirt. He was breathing heavily, seemingly exhausted. But he quickly stood straight.

 

The Master snarled. “I must congratulate you.” He said softly. “I can see how you managed to defend the galaxy for so long. But you have no idea who I am, what I’ve become!” His voice grew louder and louder until it was a booming echo that seemed to rattle the planet. “I stood watch over the galaxy for over a thousand years! I was the true master of all things. I possessed power out of proportion. My claim of the dark side doubled my power. I took mastery of the light and the dark, but even then I was weak.” He held a hand out in front of himself and clenched it forcefully. “But not anymore. Now I am scores more powerful than ever. The energy of this planet has fed my power and transformed me into a being pure and unburdened. I finally have the power to destroy you all and save the galaxy!”

 

He twitched a finger and appearing in the palm of his right hand was a lightsaber, its hilt twice as long as a standard lightsaber. He activated the blade, which extended to over two meters long. “None can match me! And now I will show you just how insignificant you are, by defeating you in lightsaber combat mercilessly and without compromise!”

 

*** *** *** ***

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple- Containment Unit

 

One minute earlier

 

Shara’s son The Seeker and The Beastmaster were unconscious in their containment cells. Approaching the computer console next to her son’s cell showed her that they were kept that way by neural disrupters, which acted to inhibit their ability to draw on the Force and kept their minds from reaching higher functioning. She also noted that the disrupters were modified to ensure that the prisoners remained unconscious, effectively rendering them comatose.

 

A wave of her hand at the control console deactivated the containment cells. Lightsaber in hand, Shara stepped into her son’s cell. Choking back the tears, Shara pointed her lightsaber for her son’s heart. She steeled herself, but before she could push her lightsaber into her son’s chest an invisible force took her off her feet and threw her against the robust computer console. Sparks showered from the console and some of her vertebrae cracked. She looked to the source of the attack. The Beastmaster was hunched over her hands outstretched. Shara quickly looked at the console and saw that she had also deactivated the neural disruptors. That was unexpected.

 

She quickly regained her footing and threw The Beastmaster back with a Force Push. She recovered from the attack quicker than Shara expected. The Beastmaster made simple hand gestures to summon a Sith Spell. The shadows in the room expanded and wrapped around them, enclosing them in a sphere of darkness.

 

The light of Shara’s lightsaber cast an eerie red glow within the sphere of darkness. There was no light save for that blade’s glow. Before Shara could even move to strike, tendrils of the shadows reached out to strike her. Nimbly she dodged one and streaked her blade through the other, its light severing the point from its body and evaporating it. More tendrils struck out for Shara’s body as she nimbly evaded them, pushing her body to its limits and contorting it in ways only a master of the Force could. Subtle Force pushes and grand sweeps of her blades kept the tendrils from striking her body, until she finally closed the distance.

 

Shara stabbed for The Beastmaster with her lightsaber, only to find the blade caught in the Beastmaster’s hand. She ripped the weapon out of Shara’s hands and tossed it aside before driving a boot into Shara’s stomach. A tingling on Shara’s neck alerted her to a tendril driving for her spine. Faster than she had ever moved before, she bent forward as low as she could and rolled away. As she looked up she saw the shadows retreat. She gazed at The Beastmaster, who was looking solemnly at the cavity formed in her abdomen. Overconfident, she had struck herself down with her own attack. And thus, she collapsed to the ground, dead. With barely a moment passing, the Temple shook as if struck by a hammer. It was as if the quake had reached into the very core of the planet. Shara immediately realized that The Master had been made aware of the events that transpired here. Without thinking, she glanced over to the cells and saw that her son was missing. In the chaos of battle, The Seeker had no doubt fled to the aid of his father.

 

She then knew that the final battle would be finished at the steps of the Jedi Temple. And so she raced out of the Temple, heading for what she thought could be certain doom.

 

Edited by Aurbere
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  • 4 weeks later...

Apologies for the huge delay. I had to finish up school. Anyway! We're at the final stretch!

 

Chapter 66

 

 

Coruscant- Jedi Temple Grounds

 

The final battle was beginning to enter the final act. The Jedi were broken and in tatters. Exhausted from the battle and nearly bereft of hope. They fought at the foot of the Jedi Temple to defend all that they held dear, but they were faltering. They stood before The Master, who had brought them to death’s door. Lightsaber in hand and with the full might of the dark side at his fingertips, he was prepared to end their battle once and for all.

 

But something stopped him: his son, whom he thought to be dead. Like a phantom, his son came rushing out of the Jedi Temple and leapt through the air, towards his father. At the apex of his leap, The Master grabbed him out of the air with the Force and dragged him into the waiting grip of his free hand. The Master gripped his son’s throat tightly and glared into his eyes with fury.

 

The Seeker sputtered as he realized what his father was planning. “F-father…” The Seeker choked out. “D-don’t…”

 

The Master snarled. “My enemies will use you as a weapon against me!” He gripped tighter, slowly crushing his son’s throat. “Your death will help save the galaxy.”

 

Oxygen squeezed out of his lungs. Tears of pain and sadness streamed down his face as his life was slowly taken from him. “P-Please…” The Seeker tried to speak. “I can hel-“

 

Before The Seeker could finish his plea, his father snapped his neck and then tossed him aside, leaving to fall to the ground in a crumpled heap. At the top of the stairs, Shara watched in horror as her son’s body hit the ground, carelessly discarded by The Master. Shara took out her own lightsaber and charged, but The Master vanished and reappeared a second later in front of her. Shara swung her lightsaber, but he simply batted it aside with his hand and grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up in the air.

 

He glared into her eyes with such scorn. “This is your fault!” He squeezed her wrist, snapping bones and eliciting a pained scream from her. “You are the cause of my pain!”

 

Luke Skywalker’s voice called out. “Enough! Let her go!” The Master snapped his head and eyed him with rage. Luke’s eyes were filled with a desperation he had never felt before. The battle was taking its toll on him in every way. “We have unfinished business.”

 

The Master’s left eye twitched and he chuckled. “Fine!” He took a tighter grip of Shara’s arm and hurled her into the crowd of Jedi. She hit the ground with a thud. The Master faced down Luke and motioned a challenge. “Let this be the final bout. Marshal your full might against me.”

 

“When this is over, only one of us will walk away.” Luke said as he strode forward.

 

The Master chuckled. “Come forth then.”

 

Luke charged forward, racing up the Temple steps with lightsaber in hand. Invisibly fast, he leapt up the steps and over The Master’s head. The Master spun around and their blades clashed with force that shook the planet. Luke was nearly taken off his feet by The Master’s strength. He stumbled backward and raised his lightsaber up just in time to prevent The Master from splitting him down the middle. Luke deflected the blade away at an angle and spun away to get his footing, but The Master was there before him waiting with a knee driven into Luke’s gut. Luke doubled over in pain and then an uppercut sent him flying into a stone pillar. The Master was already upon him before Luke could fully recover. He brought his blade for an upward stroke, but Luke quickly spun around the pillar and struck at The Master’s left as he came from the other side. With his gloved hand he deflected Luke’s lightsaber and then grabbed him by the face and slammed him against the pillar with enough force to bring it crumbling down.

 

The stone came crumbling down around him, threatening to crush the Jedi Master if not for a hastily risen Force shield. Gritting his teeth, Luke hurled the rubble at The Master, who simply disintegrated the stones with a wave of his hand. Luke then felt the invisible fingers of the Force wrap around his throat. He was taken up into the air and hurled out of the Temple. Luke spun through the air and landed gracefully on his feet.

 

The Master stepped out of the Temple and was surprised to see his enemies recovered and in good health. He quickly searched the group’s thoughts and found the culprit of such foolish acts: the Mon Calamarian Jedi Cilghal. He snarled and lashed out at her with the Force, pulling her through the air and into his open hand. He squeezed tightly around her neck, killing her with not a second thought as the others watched helplessly.

 

The Master let out a sigh. “Now,” He said. “I will not make the mistake of leaving any of you fools alive. Come forth, all of you!” He tossed his lightsaber aside and beckoned his enemies. “Come and suffer the final defeat!” His dark influence fell upon them and compelled them all to obey, their desperation and growing anger turned against them.

 

Shara and the remaining Watchers fell into the Battle Meld with Luke and the rest of the Jedi and the group charged at The Master, lightsabers flaring to life and shields of Force energy wrapping around them as Luke’s higher enlightenment flowed through them. The Master grinned and snarled as dozens of forks of black lightning shot from his fingertips and struck at the group. Ben Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, Corran Horn, and Kyle Katarn and the rest of the weaker members of the Jedi ranks were blown back by the attack while the others caught the bolts on their lightsabers and staggered forward.

 

The Master levitated backwards into the Temple and ripped chunks of stone out from the Temple and hurled it at the group. His enemies nimbly dodged the massive stone debris and continued to follow him into the Temple. The Lore-master leapt up onto a large boulder and propelled herself at The Master, swinging her twin blades furiously as she fell upon him. Dark energy released from his hand and pounded into her chest, sending her flying. Black beams of pure dark side energy fired from The Master’s open palms, striking out at the group. Defenseless against such power, many of the Jedi were sent flying by the blasts and left on the ground, unconscious and near death. Kyp Durron, then Jaina Solo Fel, then Shara, then The Soldier, until all that was left was Luke. The Master clasped the base of his palms together and unleashed his full might upon Skywalker. Luke quickly threw his lightsaber aside and raised his hands, catching the dark power in his palms. The dark energy screeched against his Force defenses, like metal grinding against metal.

 

Luke felt the Force rush through him. Renewed vigor and a surplus of energy bolstered him, as if the power of the cosmos was filling him with its full might. Luke channeled this new power and began to turn back The Master’s energies. The Master roared with rage and poured more power into the assault.

 

“You can’t stop me, you fool!” The Master yelled over the clashing of their energies. “Just die!”

 

The Master screamed with anger and drew the combined energies of their attacks into himself. The energy welled up within him and, with another scream, The Master released that energy in a shockwave that blew the unconscious bodies of the Jedi and Watchers away and disintegrated the whole of the Jedi Temple just as Luke raised a defensive Force shield to protect himself and the bodies of his allies.

 

Luke quickly summoned all of the energy that had filled him and unleashed it upon The Master. The Master raised his hands, but the energy was too much for him. His defenses were breached and his body was sundered. His armor was shattered and his cloak was torn. He fell to his knees, finally beaten. Luke dropped his hands and let out an exhausted breath.

 

The Master coughed and struggled to rise, confusion and anger spread over his face. “I don’t understand.” He said under his breath and then looked up at Luke. “What happened? You changed!”

 

Luke himself did not know exactly what had happened. All he knew was that he felt as if the Force itself had put its weight behind him. “I don’t know.” He responded thoughtfully. “I think even the Force itself was fighting against you through me.”

 

The Master panted heavily and finally rose to his feet. “Impossible! I’m saving the galaxy!” He spat out with disbelief. “In defeating me, you doom the galaxy to the real threat of destruction!”

 

Luke scowled and used the Force to throw The Master back to the ground. “Enough! You would destroy the galaxy! At least now I can work to save it and aid in its reconstruction. You would continue to destroy.” Luke used the Force to call his lightsaber to his hand and turned it on with a snap-hiss. “You have deluded yourself, and it cost the lives of trillions. For the good of the galaxy, you must die.”

 

“No! You can’t do this to me!” The Master screamed out. “I can still fix this!”

 

Luke pointed his lightsaber at The Master’s chest. “It’s too late. It’s time you accepted death.”

 

The Master’s eyes widened as Luke’s lightsaber plunged through his heart. The Master coughed and his eyes rolled back into his head. He fell to the ground, dead. The so-called Master of Death, the manifestation of darkness, and destroyer of the galaxy, was dead. And Luke felt in the Force that The Master had truly been defeated.

 

But Luke quickly realized that The Master’s death heralded Coruscant’s destruction. The planet shook violently under his feet. He saw his allies regain their footing and they all looked up. Bolts of red lightning struck through the sky, buildings crumbled under the tectonic disturbances, and above them hovered the black hole growing to envelop and devour Coruscant as it devoured more and more mass.

 

The planet was fragmenting under their feet, and the black hole above suggested that escape was impossible. But hope was rekindled as Luke heard the roar of starship engines. Descending down upon them came the infamous Millennium Falcon, piloted by the rumored dead Han Solo, and several Alliance shuttles. Above they saw a small fleet of Alliance warships in orbit, just out of range of the black hole’s pull. Wasting no time, Luke and the others rushed aboard as the boarding ramps of the shuttles opened. Luke felt through the Force that all who had stood against The Master in the final battle had made it out safely as the ships rocketed towards the fleet. The planet would be destroyed, Luke knew this to be true, but they would not die with it.

 

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