Part 18:

The End

The story was over.

Kalia left her ship in a sheltered ravine, and walked away. The only remnant of her Sith life she kept was her rotating lightsaber, which she kept, well hidden, and, often, almost forgotten. The people of Kreita soon accepted her, as a survivor of a starship crash; they were more trusting than most people in the Empire. No one knew what she had been, and soon, that former life began to slip away. In a little more than two years, she married a Kreitan man, Merryn Kran, and they had two sons.

They were three and almost two when a transmission arrived from the Jedi Malek, confirming the rumors that Ronin had killed Darth Jared and asking her to return to the galaxy and help them and the Banes. Kalia refused to leave her new life; she had put the rest of the galaxy behind her.

And the years slipped away. Kreita was mercifully far from the reaches of the new Empire; small bits and pieces of rumors slipped in, but the world was small, self-contained, and peaceful. She was happy there. She loved her husband, she loved her children, and the cosmic struggles of the Jedi and the Sith felt long and far away.

But was the story over?

It was the year that Kalia’s elder son Rithon turned twelve that trouble began to brew. Ronin’s Empire began stretching further than any had before, subduing worlds further and further from the Core. Kreita was small and remote, but defenseless; the planet was not a place of war, and Kalia knew it was only a matter of time.

She was right; only months later they heard that a company of stormtroopers would be coming in to establish an Imperial footprint on Kreita. Kalia’s jaw set; and she thought of Ronin, slaughtering Jared Bane, and crushing the resistance of thousands of worlds. Now, the Empire was coming to her, and she could no longer ignore it.

Or could she? Resistance would never end well. She knew it all too well; the Empire would always win, one way or the other. Could they accept the Empire’s rule, submit to it? Should she?

Kalia ran her hands through her son’s prickly blond hair, and thought of what the Empire’s control would mean; her sons, growing up under Empire control, facing that tyranny themselves. They might even be conscripted, shipped off across the galaxy to die as stormtroopers. Could she endure that? She had been fighting this Imperial tyranny for years, since long ago, when she was a teenager on Plangh. Should she bow to it now?

Trust the Force, she remembered. She had always trusted it through action, not passivity.

If the Empire wanted Kreita, it would have to come through her.

--

“Merryn,” she asked, “can you trust me?”

He looked at her sharply, questioningly. “Yes.”

“The Empire’s coming. I have to stop it.”

He blinked. “I don’t want it either, but what are you going to do about it?”

She looked resolutely up at him. “That’s the part you have to trust me for.”

He was silent for a long moment, and his eyes showed some odd emotion, that Kalia couldn’t read. Then he nodded. “So be it.”

--

The local government had closed the spaceport to the Imperial invasion, and as the spaceport had the only anti-air guns anywhere near, the Empire’s transport was landing in a field a few hundred yards outside the city, sending stormtroopers to take over from the ground.

Kalia was waiting. It was a drear, chilly day, with a stiff breeze whipping through her hair. She stood there, alone, watching the transport descend through the atmosphere.

The transport settled to the earth, and Kalia gripped the firm, familiar strength of her lightsaber.

--

Merryn was pacing nervously when she slipped back in the door. He looked at her. “Well?”

“There is nothing left of the Imperial invasion,” she said quietly.

His eyes flickered. Kalia dropped his gaze, and tried to quickly brush past him, but he caught her, and she felt herself suddenly shaking, with the fear and with the cold, and his strong arms holding her tight. “I guess,” she murmured, “I guess you deserve to know.”

He let her continue. “Before I came to Kreita,” she said, “I was Jared Bane’s Sith apprentice. And then I put it all behind me, and came here, but now--it has followed me.”

“Kali,” he said, and his voice was soft and gentle, “before I came here, I was FR-8929, a sniper in the Imperial army. I hated it; I came here for the same reasons you did.”

Merryn paused for a moment and continued: “I was at Plangh when you killed Moff Plarjin. I served under you for a mission on Onderon. I knew who you were.”

And then he paused again, and his voice dropped a little lower. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Kalia turned and looked up into his eyes. “I couldn’t,” she protested. “That was why I left; I was the Sith Apprentice. Everywhere I went, people were afraid of me. I didn’t want to be that. I wanted to be my own self, where people could trust me.”

He looked off into the distance and his eyes sparkled softly. “I remember,” he said, “when I recognized you, who you were, I was a little afraid. I had seen what you could do. But then that night, I saw you; the Sith was gone and you were just a girl, lost in the galaxy, afraid, needing someone to trust. Like me. And after that-- I didn’t care. Sometimes I almost forgot. And… I love you.”

“Mmmmt,” said Kalia. “Hold me.”

“It’s not over, you know,” she said. “They’ll come back.”

--

Imperial Officer Frond entered the command bridge and snapped to attention. “Commander Joplin.”

Joplin turned slowly and frostily acknowledged him. “Officer.”

Frond swallowed. “The endeavor on Karnita is proceeding according to plan. The Empire has full control of the moon.”

“And Kreita?”

“We have lost all communication with the strike force on Kreita, Commander.”

Joplin blinked, registering actual interest for the first time. “Lost all contact?”

Frond nodded. “It is as if the entire force completely disappeared.”

Commander Joplin narrowed her eyes. “Unusual. It is possible--” she broke off. “You are dismissed. I will send a message to Lord Ronin.”

--

Ronin stared musingly out the window of his Star Destroyer. “If our information is anywhere close to being accurate, then there is nothing on Kreita that would have, or could have, done such a thing,” he said. His voice was soft yet harsh, like wet gravel sliding down a hillside. “Thus, it comes from a hidden source, likely independent, surely someone powerful. And unexpected. Perhaps someone missing from the galaxy for many years?”

He laughed, and turned to the hooded boy standing next to him .”Emmett,” he said, “on Kreita, unless I am mistaken, is Kalia Klint, Jared Bane’s former apprentice.”

“Kill her.”

--

Kalia stood on the edge of the canyon, watching the lone ship descend into the planet’s atmosphere. She felt a dark presence strangely growing, rife with power, power that she had not felt in many years, but with an odd familiarity about it. Ronin, she assumed. She knew his name, but never seen or met him.

The ship sped down towards the surface. Kalia watched it descend below the canyon’s edge, speeding towards her and the capital city of Kreita that lay beyond the canyon. The pilot was obviously skilled, but reckless; speeding violently through the sharp twists in the rock. The ship roared around a final bend and she could see it fully now, flying below her.

Kalia leapt far out from the canyon ridge and felt the rushing air in one breathless, soaring moment. Then she grabbed hard onto the Sith ship and clung to it for dear life.

It took her a moment to adjust to the speed of the ship; she pulled herself up to her feet and stood erect on the top of it, ruefully feeling all the years it had been since she had done anything like this, with that same adrenaline rush that had thrilled her younger self so many times.

Kalia ducked under a canyon arch and, taking her lightsaber, began sawing through the top of the cab. She felt the ship jerk, yet the pilot maintained control, swaying dangerously through a narrow space.

The ship slowed somewhat as Kalia cut the hole in the roof. Then, as she finished, the Force-user inside threw the detached piece of hull up and outwards with massive force. Kalia was caught by surprise; she lost her balance and fell, clinging to the ship’s hull.

A black-gloved hand reached out of the cab and gripped the edge. Ripping out her lightsaber, Kalia cut through the ship’s engine lines and leapt free as the ship spiraled out of control.

She landed lightly on the canyon edge. The Sith had gotten free of the ship’s wreckage and was pulling himself up onto the ledge below, about fifteen feet below her.

Kalia leapt down furiously towards him, flying through the air with her lightsaber outstretched. The Sith dodged quickly, and her lightsaber slammed into the ground.

She looked up at her enemy for the first time, and gasped.

The boy looked at her with angry grey eyes, eyes that were familiar, grey under a shock of long black hair, blowing in the wind, eyes that she had seen before, long ago, and she remembered when she had met a boy with the same eyes, and the same hair, and the same darkness in his heart.

They were Jared’s eyes.

“Who….are you?” she breathed.

He rose to his feet and pulled out a lightsaber. “I am Emmett,” he said. “Emmett Bane.”

Kalia stood up cautiously. “You are Jared’s son,” she said. “I was his apprentice.”

Emmett scowled. “I know,” he said. “That is why you must die.”

“What?” she cried. “Who sent you?”

Emmett advanced on her with the lightsaber. “My master, Darth Ronin, the true Lord of the Sith.”

Emmett fought well, but his style was not the calculated precision of years of practice, nor the passionate torrent of his father, but a heavy-handed pressure of raw strength, less sophisticated but ruthlessly effective. Kalia’s unorthodox style was a novelty, undoubtedly new to him, and she could easily remain safe from harm while he learned to adjust to it. This was just as well for her; it had been far too long since she had had to fight anyone of this strength, and her focus was still whirling from the shock. Kalia thought of Darth Jared, and Ronin, who had slain him and taken his son, and she thought of Elizabeth, and what she must bear.

She bounced back, angling herself around, snapping in and out and trying to find a weakness she could exploit in Emmett’s solid defense. There was nothing. Even while adjusting to Kalia’s high-energy whirlwind of a fighting style, he was able to ward her off with seeming ease.

He smiled grimly. “You cannot destroy me.”

She whipped a strand of brown hair out of her face. “And I would not, even if I could.”

“You are weak, just as he was,” said Emmett, and he gripped his lightsaber and launched a furious assault.

Kalia was overwhelmed by the power and the hatred Emmett wielded. She was driven back quickly, before the Sith Apprentice.

“Your father was one of the best men I have ever met,” she said defiantly. “He was not weak.” Emmett was driving her into a corner; she bounced away to safety.

He came right after her, not giving up the offensive. “Ronin took his only son, and then killed him,” he said. “He was pathetic.”

Kalia countered his stroke hard, and thrust out dangerously, throwing him off balance. “And you follow the man who murdered your father.”

She brought down a massive downstroke and Emmett blocked it, their sabers braced against each other. “For now,” he said.

A blaster shot whizzed past Emmett’s head and he jerked away, rolling backwards. Kalia looked up and saw Merryn, blaster in hand, shooting at Emmett. Emmett was back on his feet, using his lightsaber to protect himself, and Kalia knew she had to keep Emmett’s attention on herself. She ran towards him, and Emmett immediately moved to keep her between himself and Merryn.

They clashed in one final confrontation. Merryn stayed back, putting down blaster fire to pressure Emmett when he could, but being smart, which Kalia was glad of; even an able soldier would be no match for Emmett by himself. This fight was on her.

The sky was reddening into the evening, and the battle waged on, the angry bright red of Emmett’s lightsaber mixed with the muted purple-red of hers. Kalia was tiring; Emmett was younger and stronger than she was, and he looked as fresh as when they had begun. He felt it. “Jared trained you well,” he sneered, and the words bit like a whip.

Kalia launched one final assault, delivering a barrage of quick blows hand-over-hand with the spinning lightsaber. Emmett backed slowly, keeping her at bay. Kalia saw Merryn maneuvering to attack Emmett’s unprotected flank, and her heart lifted; this fight was not over yet.

And then with one quick flick of his lightsaber, Emmett parried her stroke, drove her off balance and shattered her lightsaber.

Kalia staggered back in shock, the broken saber falling useless to the ground. Emmett threw her backwards with the Force, and she landed hard.

He strode towards her, lightsaber and eyes blazing. Kalia looked up at him, his dark form blotting out the sunshine. “Emmett,” she said quietly, “your mother loves you.”

Then he thrust the lightsaber through her heart.

The world was a red blur; she saw Merryn’s anguished face, and the red of Emmett’s lightsaber, all through the red of pain, and she heard his voice, Merryn’s voice, faintly, as though far away, and Emmett’s voice, and in his voice she heard Jared’s voice, as the red went dark.

The story was over.

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