Beyond - Legends Legacy of the Force: You Were My Brother - (AU, Caedus - Final Chapter Updated 5/20!)

Part 28​

Caedus watched. Large spherical blossoms of bursting colors, blue. Lightning following. The explosion expanded briefly, fire weaving through the ionized energy. Panels dropped, fell to hit the panels of the ship around it.

A chair near the front, red and simple in design, burst from a craft's cockpit and soared past, a yard between them. It was a familiar chair. He had spent nearly 5 years in that seat. Sleeping, meditating, even testing new abilities in the space around him. Equally-familiar panels tore from one another, were eaten by the fire or crisped by the fluctuating energy.

He felt the vibrations of the small ship's eruption through the deck of the hangar. Like ripples in the Force cascading from a death. Darth Caedus slowly rose from his feet. He had been holding his breath. Why, he asked. He felt no fear. He was fury, a pillar of solidarity wrapped in flame. Why, he asked, was he reacting at all to the loss of his primary form of egress. He was here to kill two men, not to leave the quickly-dying vessel named for his lost brother.

It was nagging him. With time slowed as it seemed to be, he had time to note this. An errant thought logged like a shift clock. He turned back to the aforementioned men. Jedi. Knights of Order, old friends. Kyp Durron. Kyp. Kyle. Luke. Han.

Fond memories, rose, ebbed, threatened to bubble and burst on the surface. They were hushed. They were easy to hush. Breathing deep, he walked slowly, calmly. Caedus closed his eyes, continued forward.

Anger, in it's rawest form, rushed through his lungs. It was thicker than air. More satisfying. Caedus felt his muscles tense, ease, and repeat once more. He rolled his head around his neck several times, remembering the lessons of the pain incurred at the hands of the Vong. It was fulfilling, like a good ale out of reach for years.

It had not driven him mad. At least, he didn't believe it had. Questioning whether he was mad was enough to convince Caedus that he was not. With his sanity apparently in check, it was simple enough to embrace the Force. Summoning it unto himself in zephyrs, the air shook around him in the tide.

Pilots stumbled back from their rush to-and-fro. Most brushed it off as just another level of the madness coalescing around them, but some were awestruck. They did not rise. Caedus noticed them in the Force as his awareness expanded outward. There they were: Jedi. He had touched upon the surfaces of the Jedi Masters Katarn and Durron.

They were clearly aware of his attempted probe, and they had come prepared to defended their consciousnesses. Perhaps he would have easier access during the fight, but it occurred to him that such measures may not even be required. Voices. Soft voices, rippling. Possibly shouts hushed by rushing winds. It was the Jedi. They were attempting to tell Caedus something.

No, Caedus thought, they were attempting to tell Jacen something. The Jedi remained ignorant. To them, Jacen and Caedus were still somehow separate entities. Two people within a single mind, as Tahiri had once been. Darth Caedus was not, nor had he ever been, more than one person. He was simply himself on another stone on the path. They couldn't see the stone, the path, or even the forest.

That were blind, and they would lose.

Caedus was fully aware that this would be his defining moment. In the past, he had wondered if people were often aware of the importance of great moments as they were happening. He now knew.

They continued to shout, and he received their surface emotions: anger, fear, sadness. All the same emotions that supposedly led to his dastardly ways. The righteous Jedi Order, Caedus thought. His smirk transformed into a twitch of the mouth, then his right eye, then ceased.

Caedus became aware of his Lightsaber's hum within his grasp. He had activated it without thought. A lot of his upcoming actions would likely be similar. The bustle of pilots and crew thinned and Caedus finally opened his eyes, looking toward the two Jedi. They were older, though Kyle was the only one who let it show. Kyp appeared the same age, if not younger than the Sith Master. Kyle Katarn seemed to wear every act he had committed on his shoulders, and that he had been carrying them for some time.

They were not righteous men. They still saw the universe in the form of proverbs and smoke. Caedus took a heavier step, and the durasteel gave way beneath his tread. The absolute and unwavering truth the Sith Lord held within him sped the Force further and tighter around him.

Kyle looked as though ready to strike upon a nexu with his bare hands. Master Durron motioned for him to hold, and shouted something more. It was likely a final plea for what they perceived as reason. The words remained meaningless to the Sith Lord's focused mind. Caedus casually looked away from the Jedi and at a small cargo lifter. The single-seat vehicle left the ground with impressive speed and soared at the tan-robed men.

Caedus was still aware of the two Skywalkers many decks above, and of the countless fighters outside. He could see the path to his survival, but it required precise turns at precise paces. Kyp leapt directly up and the lifter tumbled loudly beneath him. Before his feet returned to metal, a focused wave crashed into him. He took the brunt of the blast against his crossed arms, but the momentum sent him into a far bulkhead.

Kyle had simply rolled backwards. His sky blue blade was already ignited and the aging Jedi Master began sprinting toward Caedus. Caedus felt the anger radiating off Katarn like a star. Kyle was throwing away all pretenses that he was still operating as a Jedi. No, the Sith Lord realized with a smile, Kyle was finally being honest: He was here with intent to kill.

Caedus looked down. A bead of sweat fell from his brow. It seemed to fall impossibly slowly. He looked back up, and his path shone brightly, a gracefully winding road of pure red light. Kyle brought his lightsaber down toward Caedus' neck. Caedus ducked beneath the swing, knocked Kyle's arm aside, and brought a right knee into the old Mercenary's midsection. Caedus took the brief moment to inhale deep, sucking in the thick air, and Kyle slammed his forehead into Caedus' own.

Kyle swung heavily back across Caedus' waist, but he leapt back. The Sith lightsaber hilt cut through the air and nestled into his grasp. The red blade was already in motion as it came to life. A series of quick strikes around Kyle's torso pushed him back. The Mercenary was full of hate, but having spent half of his lifetime as a Jedi, it was not honed.

Kyle returned strikes, heavier as before, but Caedus blocked each without extraneous effort. Kyle forced his way forward with each strike. The next swing was stronger than the last. Katarn closed the distance to nearly nothing with a quick strike at Caedus' chest. The Sith Lord looked into Kyle's eyes, searching for the perfect opening, and Master Katarn slammed his boot into the Sith's leg. Caedus growled as bone cracked, but did not give.

The surprise turned to anger, to hate, and then into lightning that erupted from the abrupt ending of Caedus' left arm. Kyle screamed as the energy crawled over and through him. The timeless Jedi robes began to darken and fray. Katarn finally shook himself with enough effort to roll backwards, free of the cracking tendrils. He shook his head, returned to his feet, and assaulted Caedus once more.

The younger man had to admit that with such skill and seemingly endless rage, Katarn might have been an even more powerful Sith than himself, given the right training.

Caedus foresaw a particular strike, and parried Kyle's blade nearly out of his hand. The Sith Lord slashed clean down before Kyle leapt back. A thin trail of ionizing blood turned to vapor. Kyle looked at the gaping crevice of black fringes within his right shoulder apathetically. It didn't seem to slow his defense of Caedus' proceeding assault.

Darth Caedus' strikes were wide and varied, attempting to throw the furious Jedi off-balance. Kyle retreated one slow step at a time, keeping pace with the oncoming crimson blade, but just barely.

Kyle caught one last upward swing and used a combination of momentum to jump backwards once more. His breaths were deep and dry. He looked to his right and saw Kyp finally rolling from under another fighter that had entangled with the cargo vehicle. The younger Jedi stood and shrugged away the frustration. Kyp saw Kyle's wounds, but noted that he didn't seemed phased by it.

Master Katarn turned back to Lord Caedus, spat, and shouted. His words rang well through the frantic hangar.

“So this is what you wanted, brat? Do you think that you're anything special? Caedus, you're just another turn on the same damn wheel! Vader before you, Palpatine before him, and countless others just a while before that. It's a sick pattern, just playing out.”

Kyp began approaching Caedus and joined in. “Master Katarn is more or less correct. We were supposed to offer you a doorway, a sort-of get-out-of-holding-free option to turn around from your dark path.” He ignited his blue 'saber. “However, I don't think that's what Jaina would have wanted.”

Kyp leapt toward Caedus, arm extended. Caedus casually threw a wave at the oncoming Jedi, but it was cast aside. Master Durron spun through the air, casting the outer coat of his Jedi robes toward Caedus. Caedus swung through the oncoming mass of fabric out of reflex, cleaving it to several pieces. In the same moment, Kyp continued to spin around the strikes and brought the back of his heel up and into Caedus' left shoulder. Another crack vibrating through flesh.

The Sith Lord immediately began of flurry of attacks at the quick Jedi. Kyp deflected some, but chose to step back and dance away from the majority. Kyle chose that moment to rush back into the fray. As he picked up pace toward the Sith, Kyle hurled his lightsaber forward. It spun, cutting through the air as though a disc of flashing blue.

Caedus took one last strike at Kyp before spinning back around and directing the spinning blade away with his left wrist. The lightsaber hissed as it bounced against a wall blade-first before soaring straight back into Kyle's waiting hand. His weapon returned to him just as he closed distance with Caedus. Kyle swung upward, than down, around left, left again, and once more. Katarn swung with little grace, more resembling a man swinging a mining tool with fervor. With two hands, Darth Caedus would easily block and parry every swing. As it was, he was beginning to feel the first notes of strain in his right wrist.

Caedus could still see the path to survival, but the wind was eroding it quickly.

Darth Caedus planted his feet and blocked two more swings before focusing on the bulkhead panel beneath Kyle's feet. The metal floor immediately gave way, warped, and shot upward. Master Katarn flipped backward off of the misshapen panel. Caedus brought his lightsaber low and began to rush toward Kyle, appearing to prepare a killing blow to the falling Jedi. Kyp saw his opening and charged the Sith Lord.

Darth Caedus planted his right boot deep into the durasteel. He urned immediately, focused the Force into a downward stroke that slammed Master Durron's lightsaber out of his grasp, then swung through Kyp's chest.

Small strands of robe frayed away, chasing escaping drops of blood. Kyp fell to his knees in the same moment that his lightsaber's kill switch cut the weapon off. He sighed and looked up at the Sith.

“Close your eyes and die, Jedi. Your time has passed and you know it. Do what your kind does and embrace the Force.”

“You're too much-” Kyp began, coughing. “-too much of an ******* for the Force to not find a way to stop you.” The dying man directed his arm toward Caedus, and the fallen lightsaber activated and rose toward Caedus. He rushed to block the lightsaber, and a spear of pain erupted through his right leg. The floating weapon fell once more as Caedus rolled away, causing the pain to spiderweb through his leg.

The Sith Lord turned and immediately knew that Katarn had put a lightsaber straight through the back of his right calf. Caedus allowed the question to run through his mind: how could he be having so much trouble with two lowly Jedi? It infuriated him, the anger renewing and furthering his connection with the Force. It wrapped around his leg and moved it as he willed. If his muscles would not propel his body, then he would make sure that the Force did.

Such control was terribly draining, and Caedus' eyes were quickly shifting from a sickly light yellow to progressively deeper shades of pink, thin hairs of red veins expanding to crimson rivers.

Darth Caedus reached toward the nearest fighter, the newest model of the long-standing X-Wing series. A quick lift and pull, the craft was being propelled toward Master Katarn very much not under its own power. Kyle jumped over the deafening clamor of skidding craft, and streaks of white lighting appeared just behind him. The lighting coursed over the surface before reaching the compressed Tibana gas and turning the X-Wing into a fireball. Kyle felt the back of his robes nearly turn to cinder as he rolled to a stop.

Katarn rose and slowly approached Caedus. Caedus expected more banter or dark witticisms, but none came. Instead, with calm focus, Kyle stepped forward and began a series of far more controlled swings. Perhaps Kyp's final moments had given the Mercenary a moment of clarity, or this was simply another stage of his anger. Kyle maintained the force in his attacks from before, but they were much quicker now. Sets of four strikes on alternating quadrants of his body, to harder crashing swings, back to sets, then a stab bought back around into another heavy strike.

The pain was beginning to build, and Caedus could no longer use the Force to numb himself as he needed to keep his legs working in tandem. Attempting to push the tide of the duel back, Caedus stepped aside and lunged hard with a stab. Kyle easily stepped aside from the attack, but Caedus slammed the remains of his left arm against Kyle's chest and began converting the Force rushing around him into powerful electricity.

The hot lightning's focal point was Caedus' severed wrist. He screamed as Kyle's body shook. The energy continued to dance across the hair, fabric, and flesh of the two men. The crackling finally stopped only when Caedus no longer had enough control to steady his wounded leg. The Sith dropped to a knee.

Jedi Master Kyle Katarn fell to the floor. He had come to rest on his side, Kyle's eyes still staring at the winded Sith. Caedus could feel the rage still combusting from within Katarn. Kyle opened his mouth and coughed weakly, thin smoke and thick blood. Caedus couldn't smile, nor scowl, nor really react in any way. He could simply breathe. The Sith's heart continued to race, knowing that a pause such as this was wasting precious seconds.

“You can kill me.” Kyle said. “You can kill Luke. You can kill young Ben. Kill everyone in your way.” He coughed again, this time less smoke, more blood. “You will on your little throne for a while. Then one day, you will be killed by someone you least expected. You're be remembered, if ever, as just another child who didn't know what to do with the galaxy when he finally got it.”

“Even if your tale holds true,” Caedus said, “You will still be dead, and the Jedi and Sith will return to killing one-another. Your balance is just another form of chaos that would be better-off controlled, and you Jedi know nothing of control.”

“Always an answer, always a way out,” Kyle said. His robes were being dyed quickly.

A tinny voice came from the comm unit within Caedus' robes. With little energy left between them, the two wounded Force-users listened.

“Attention all channels: A Hapan Battle Dragon has entered the edge of engagement range. Strike that- four, six, more Battle Dragons are jumping in.”

Caedus smirked down at Kyle. “I try.”

“The Hapans have opened fire on Alliance cruisers! Their primary target looks to be the Anakin Solo. Issuing fall-back orders to the Fifth Fleet.”

Caedus' smirk slowly fell. Kyle didn't have the energy to grin, or laugh, or spit in the Sith's face. Considering how well Jaina and Tenel-Ka had known each other as children, he was surprised the Hapans had taken this long.

 

Caedus watched. Large spherical blossoms of bursting colors, blue. Lightning following. The explosion expanded briefly, fire weaving through the ionized energy. Panels dropped, fell to hit the panels of the ship around it.

A chair near the front, red and simple in design, burst from a craft's cockpit and soared past, a yard between them. It was a familiar chair. He had spent nearly 5 years in that seat. Sleeping, meditating, even testing new abilities in the space around him. Equally-familiar panels tore from one another, were eaten by the fire or crisped by the fluctuating energy.

He felt the vibrations of the small ship's eruption through the deck of the hangar. Like ripples in the Force cascading from a death. Darth Caedus slowly rose from his feet. He had been holding his breath. Why, he asked. He felt no fear. He was fury, a pillar of solidarity wrapped in flame. Why, he asked, was he reacting at all to the loss of his primary form of egress. He was here to kill two men, not to leave the quickly-dying vessel named for his lost brother.

It was nagging him. With time slowed as it seemed to be, he had time to note this. An errant thought logged like a shift clock. He turned back to the aforementioned men. Jedi. Knights of Order, old friends. Kyp Durron. Kyp. Kyle. Luke. Han.

Fond memories, rose, ebbed, threatened to bubble and burst on the surface. They were hushed. They were easy to hush. Breathing deep, he walked slowly, calmly. Caedus closed his eyes, continued forward.

Anger, in it's rawest form, rushed through his lungs. It was thicker than air. More satisfying. Caedus felt his muscles tense, ease, and repeat once more. He rolled his head around his neck several times, remembering the lessons of the pain incurred at the hands of the Vong. It was fulfilling, like a good ale out of reach for years.

I always loved your descriptions, but in this chapter they were even more brilliant than ever.



“Close your eyes and die, Jedi. Your time has passed and you know it. Do what your kind does and embrace the Force.”

“You're too much-” Kyp began, coughing. “-too much of an ******* for the Force to not find a way to stop you.” The dying man directed his arm toward Caedus, and the fallen lightsaber activated and rose toward Caedus. He rushed to block the lightsaber, and a spear of pain erupted through his right leg. The floating weapon fell once more as Caedus rolled away, causing the pain to spiderweb through his leg.

And your dialogues are so rich, vibrant and deep to the core once more!!!

Waiting so long for this update was worth my time.

 

Exciting update. And please let Kyle be safe. He is a nice and interesting character

 

That was exciting! I do like to read about dark side force users channeling to force.

But I hope Kyp isn't really dead! Noooooooo!

 

Wow. Jaina told Tenel Ka that she '...had the emotional depth of a ronto...', so I'm not sure the two were all that close. I think TK just didn't want to be involved with a Sith.

I'd love to see a way out of this, but I'm pretty sure that's not an option. At least there is some Jacen left.

 

Thank you all so much for your comments. It's awesome to see people still interested in this story after I couldn't update it for so long. That aside, enjoy!
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Part 29

“The Hapans have opened fire on Alliance cruisers! Their primary target looks to be the Anakin Solo. Issuing fall-back orders to the Fifth Fleet.”

A full fleet of Hapan Battle Dragons had just warped into space relatively above the conflict and immediately opened fire on all Alliance craft. From their speed and formation, it was clear to all observers that the Dragons were soaring straight for the Anakin Solo. With this action, the Hapans had declared war on the entirety of the Galactic Alliance. Sixty three planets and tens of billions of women and men had just returned the Jedi-led resistance to a force more than capable of a full-scale Civil War. The involvement of the Hapans had potentially just extended the Second Galactic Civil War by several years.

Every single one of these vital facts faded to so much noise around the Sith Lord's crashing mind. Caedus' list of mental priorities began with his daughter Allana, immediately followed by his beloved Tenel Ka, and was two columns deep. At the age of five, Allana certainly could not be held responsible for this. That meant that exactly half of everything he cared about in this galaxy of empty space no longer wanted him alive.

Darth Caedus was still weakened by the battle with Jedi Masters Durron and Katarn. Kyp Durron's body laid motionless a couple of meters away. Kyp's spirit was likely on the way to the Valley of the Jedi.

Then the thought struck the winded Sith with gusto: The Valley.

The Valley of the Jedi was an enormous focal point of the Force's power. From what little he had gleaned, the Valley was originally the spot of a great battle between Jedi and Sith thousands of years ago. The spot was now rife in the Force, and the live-giving energy flowed through it like an infinite river cycling collecting at a small drain before flowing forth once more. After fighting several Dark Jedi to prevent the massive power source falling into other hands, Kyle and his now-wife Jan Ors spent several years backtracking and erasing all remaining clues and hints left of the Valley's location. Not even Grand Master Skywalker himself knew where the powerful nexus lay. Like the Head Jedi Archivists of old, Kyle had taken it upon himself to be the only Jedi in the galaxy that could still tell you where to drink directly from the well of life itself.

Darth Caedus had written off ever attaining the Valley as a project to be undertaken years after his reign was secure. However, here lay before him the Valley's lone ferryman. It was, perhaps, a subconscious effort to not immediately have to deal with Tenel Ka's betrayal.

Kyle would not be a difficult hull to breach. The old Mercenary was laying on the torn durasteel of the hangar floor, every one of the ship's vibrations rippling through the bloodied mess of flesh and wool robes. He was certainly still alive, and if he entered a Jedi trance soon, could likely stay alive for some time without medical treatment. However, he was in absolutely no state to stand up to the Sith Lord's power, neither in the physical nor mental realms.

The Sith Lord rose to his feet slowly. His right knee trembled and threatened to buckle. Again, Caedus warped the Force into a numbing splint around the limb, allowing him to use it. With how much concentrated Force Caedus had called into his damaged extremity, it was entirely possible that the leg would be a warped, fried, and useless mess by the time this was all done. Until that moment, Caedus thought, he would do whatever was necessary to continue forward. If he could obtain knowledge of the Valley of the Jedi, his path to survival would instantly expand into a wide road paved with just rule and no end in view.

Kyle coughed and his eyes slowly opened. He looked up at Darth Caedus, and Caedus returned the gaze. Katarn's previous fury still burned, but it was beginning to be snuffed by the increasing return of reason. Kyle spoke, and his voice was thick and haggard.

“I know what you're thinking, Sith.”

“Oh?” Caedus asked with mock interest, but the syllable was warped by a pained grunt as he took another step on his crippled leg.

“Yeah.”

Master Katarn spat more blood, a few drops splattering against the toes of Caedus' military-issue boots. The Jedi Master coughed out a chuckle and managed a weak smile at the Sith.

“You're thinking of the Valley,” Kyle continued. “There he is, the only bastard in the galaxy with the keys to the treasure room, lying helpless on the floor. It's a pretty easy sell.” He paused once more to cough. “Yeah, if I were in your shoes, I would definitely use this moment to finally find out where that elusive little gem was.”

Darth Caedus smiled curtly at the blood on his boots and the dying old man before him.

“Well done,” Caedus said. “You know that I can walk on worlds long-since destroyed by time. I can crush entire squadrons from an armchair. Plucking the Valley's location from your dying mind would be a trifle. Despite what your order believes, my goals are righteous, and what I glean from the Valley will be used to maintain peace.”

Kyle hacked up another laugh before responding, “Yeah, it won't be hard to maintain peace when everyone is brainblown and in chains.”

More misguided scoffing. More ignorant blather. More impudent asides born of preposterous dogma. The sheer gall of Katarn to mock the Sith Lord after defeat continued to enrage Caedus, despite all Jedi he had fought previously showing similar conviction. Darth Caedus took a quick, furious breath and swiftly guided the end of his crimson blade to mere centimeters from Master Katarn's neck.

“You have lost,” Caedus shouted. “Why can none of those in your foolish order accept defeat graciously? At the feet of a superior power, life escaping you, you all still spit childish defiance to your dying breath!”

Kyle said “Listen to yourself. Just listen. There is nothing smart or kind in your words. It's just... want and need and hate. You're no leader.” Another cough, more strands of deep red stretching across the durasteel. “You're right, I'm dying. But I go knowing that every step you take will be more painful than the last, and if you manage to scurry away from this like the coward I know you are, you'll be doing it without the location of the Valley, and without your wife and child.”

A choice selection of words. An attack for which there was little defense. Darth Caedus remained there, towering above Master Katarn, the lightsaber wavering at the bottom of Kyle's vision. Caedus' face twitched and contorted more with each breath. It was clear that the Sith Lord was not debating killing Master Katarn, but instead questioning something far more personal to the fallen Jedi.

Caedus slowly tilted his head back, his line of sight now ending upon an unremarkable patch of the hangar's far wall. He was finally noticing the presence of Tenel Ka somewhere in the battle. He could hear her voice. It was not a mere memory of his wife, but indeed Tenel Ka calling out to Caedus through the Force. The communication was simple, told in basic concepts and emotions like the limited palette of a simplistic painting. He had barely received the first hints of her deep sadness when he began to reply with assurances of his wisdom and insistent reminders of his love for her.

She was unmoved, her sadness now plainly more complex than he once thought. It was not just loss, but a lock of understanding. Images flashed in his mind. They were faces contorted in pain. The faces belonged to Jaina and Zekk. Then Tahiri. Then Kyp. These last few images were supplied by Caedus' own mind. He had no idea how to respond. It would take hours of warped truths to even begin to win back Tenel Ka. He tried anyway, but was immediately met with a seemingly solid wall of decisiveness. Tenel Ka would love him to her dying days, but she would not allow herself to be manipulated again.

He lashed out at her, projecting guilt. His messages were countered with swelling determination and pride. She was not just a Jedi, nor simply a wife and mother. Tenel Ka was the leader of the Hapans, and she was making it as clear as possible that her people refused to live in a Sith-controlled galaxy.

Many options came to mind. A particular petty stray thought would have consisted of him sending her the sensations of him bedding Tahiri after making her a full-time Sith. Another option would have him bringing up Allana and their mutual love. Something told him though that this would not have any success either. Tenel Ka had chosen.

He had lost her. Caedus fell to his knees. Pain rocketed up and exploded along his right leg, but he scarcely noticed it.

Oft was the night that Caedus would lay back in a simple chair in the observation deck above. He would observe the stars, finding connections between them such as loving families spread across worlds. Before, he was often unable to stop watching a horrific prophecy of the galaxy falling into endless war brought on by far less righteous Sith than himself. However, since his rise to power had begun, Caedus started to see the galaxy as a potential utopia. He was absolutely convinced that this galaxy, in the right hands, could be saved from itself. This image was always completed with the image of himself, Tenel Ka, and their beautiful daughter Allana eclipsed by the new star of a safe galaxy.

The star had now faded, and Caedus was quickly realizing that without his wife and child, his future reign wasn't any kind of utopia. His anger became almost entirely shapeless. Fury without form, a swiftly-shifting amoeba of fog and coalescing flame. Caedus could think of nothing but the vast amounts he had sacrificed for the masses of the stars he had once envisioned as a paradise.

It wasn't long before the swirling mass of impending violence had a target. The turbolift containing Luke and Ben had just reached the hangar's floor. Caedus turned toward the opening lift doors. Luke and Ben stepped out. The prodigal son of the Chosen One, and the heir to the Skywalker mantle. Caedus looked at Ben and saw that the boy was no longer a boy. The tears had come, the tears had gone, and Ben's childhood had ended with Tahiri's last breath.

Caedus accepted that. At this point, he accepted everything he saw. In his singular moment of purity within the dark focus of the Force, the universe had become a far simpler machine. It was all a series of problems, and it was long since time he should have begun addressing them with absolute authority.

The Sith Lord casually extended his left arm toward Luke and Ben. A point of light formed in the air where his hand would have once been. The light began red, but burned hot and shifted to a pure white. It soared through the hangar like a pulse. Luke and Ben dove simultaneously in opposite directions and rolled away. The point of light passed between them and struck the wall behind. The wall rippled like water, filled with the light of the Force projection, and flashed into the finest of dust.

Luke looked into Caedus. No longer did Luke see Jacen, nor did he see Darth Caedus. Caedus was a man. Powerful, but still a man. The thing that he saw at the other end of the hangar was inhuman in some way, monstrous. Luke could also see, just beyond the apparition of the Dark Side, Master Katarn struggling to his feet and attempting to move away. Caedus caught Luke's eye and turned to see Kyle alternating crawling and stumbling away. He brought his lightsaber down in a powerful killing strike. Katarn struggled to reactivate his lightsaber and bring it to bear in time. Kyle blocked the oncoming crimson light, but he groaned loudly under the strain.

Darth Caedus reached his left arm forward and Master Katarn went tumbling backwards into an unforgiving munitions crate. Luke turned to Ben with wide eyes and a torqued jaw and shouted for Ben to run. Ben looked to Caedus for only a second before rushing off to another corner of the vast hangar.

Then Luke looked back to Caedus. There was something in the weathered Master's eyes. It was a basic emotion, and Caedus could easily feel it. Fear. It was, however, surprising to sense it from the most legendary of modern Jedi.

“I am not afraid of you,” Luke said, clearly able to sense Caedus' awareness. Luke's words were hollow, haunted, determination on the verge of losing all hope. “You're just a man sensitive in the Force. But in all the years I have fought, all the people I have watched fall...” He trailed off.

Caedus began to approach Luke, his lightsaber blade casually hanging low. Luke found his voice again.

“You represent the absolute lack of hope. To watch you so eager to continue the cycle of Sith rule and destruction is the first thing to test my faith in the Force since the Vong arrived. But then I remember, you and I have both lost much, and I have felt the power of the dark side. Yet here I stand, still a Jedi.”

Lord Caedus slowly shook his head, still walking towards Luke, and said, “Your distinctions of Light and Dark are meaningless to me.”

Caedus reached out and lightning filled the gap between them.

 

Caedus sure is evil here.
And with kyle still alive

 

Oft was the night that Caedus would lay back in a simple chair in the observation deck above. He would observe the stars, finding connections between them such as loving families spread across worlds. Before, he was often unable to stop watching a horrific prophecy of the galaxy falling into endless war brought on by far less righteous Sith than himself. However, since his rise to power had begun, Caedus started to see the galaxy as a potential utopia. He was absolutely convinced that this galaxy, in the right hands, could be saved from itself. This image was always completed with the image of himself, Tenel Ka, and their beautiful daughter Allana eclipsed by the new star of a safe galaxy.

The star had now faded, and Caedus was quickly realizing that without his wife and child, his future reign wasn't any kind of utopia. His anger became almost entirely shapeless. Fury without form, a swiftly-shifting amoeba of fog and coalescing flame. Caedus could think of nothing but the vast amounts he had sacrificed for the masses of the stars he had once envisioned as a paradise.

It wasn't long before the swirling mass of impending violence had a target. The turbolift containing Luke and Ben had just reached the hangar's floor. Caedus turned toward the opening lift doors. Luke and Ben stepped out. The prodigal son of the Chosen One, and the heir to the Skywalker mantle. Caedus looked at Ben and saw that the boy was no longer a boy. The tears had come, the tears had gone, and Ben's childhood had ended with Tahiri's last breath.

To yield great power means to be alone...

Wow this is going to be an epic fight here.

 

Part 30 – The Last Command

Luke guided the oncoming lightning into the green blade of his lightsaber. The clash was luminous and the crackles echoed in the shaking hangar. Luke began stepping to his left, moving in a wide circle, his eyes constantly on Caedus. The Sith continued the output of ionized rage as long as he could sustain it, millimeters of cloth along his left arm slowly vaporizing. Luke continued his circle around Caedus, nearly to the same side as the wounded Jedi master Kyle Katarn.

Through the constant blue bloom of lightning, Luke caught a glimpse of Master Durron's body. Again, the temptation rose. It was familiar, but because it was so familiar, Luke did not find it very threatening. He knew exactly what the Dark Side looked like, and it would not take him again. It wouldn't, he promised himself.

The lightning stopped.

Luke kept his lightsaber up in a defensive posture as he slowly continued around toward Kyle. He couldn't tell what Caedus was doing. The Sith continued to stare at Luke, his face seemingly frozen. Then Luke felt it as well: a message in the Force. A plea. It was emphatic, but loving. It was unmistakably Tenel Ka.

Luke could tell it was intended for Jacen, but that Tenel Ka fully intended those around him, those that could, to hear it as well. One last request. He could feel her demeanor in the Force: torn between a deep-seated love and a more practical duty. It was a story told too many times to number, especially among Jedi. Luke himself had found himself on that particular rickety bridge more than once.

Jacen was responding, but Luke couldn't begin to feel his meanings through the Force. His nephew's abilities of stealth had been the first things to put Luke at unrest, but his love for Jacen hushed his concerns. Now, he was almost certain that the Sith Lord could disappear entirely while standing mere meters away. Skywalker had to remind himself again that regrets lead to despair, but the regrets seemed to be piling quite high over the last couple of years.

Caedus was actually responding well to Tenel Ka's plea, and for a glorious moment, she began to think that he would lay down his arms. She had conveyed an image of their daughter, then another of a tender moment of the two Jedi lovers sneaking out to watch the Hapan night sky. The Mother of the Hapans was not about to fall under the shadow of a Sith-ruled galaxy, but she was going to do everything in her power for this time to end with Jacen alive.

For that brief moment, she thought she had succeeded.

“Listen to her,” Luke said, lowering his lightsaber.

Caedus twitched and blinked. Despite his gaze never leaving Master Skywalker, it seemed like this was the first time he had actually noticed the Jedi Master. Darth Caedus' robes, tattered and burned, shifted with each heavy breath. Luke felt the large wake Caedus left in the Force shrink. He looked into Caedus' eyes and saw thought returning.

Caedus hadn't written her off. He couldn't. With each touch in the Force from Tenel Ka, his anger was softening. Without the rage, his right leg gave out. The Sith Lord fell to his knee and the pain was impossible to quiet. The pain took audible form, and Caedus' scream bounced well in the hangar. Slowly leaning forward, he rested his ruined left arm on the floor and brought his face close to the floor. He screamed again.

Luke almost doubted his own sight. This was what they had all been hoping for. Caedus was crumbling, and Jacen was finally able to see that first piercing ray of perspective.

“No!” the Sith Lord shouted into the metal bulkhead. He slammed his lightsaber pommel into the floor, but the weapon did not give.

The Jedi Master believed that this was his moment, that the Force had placed him here to speak to Jacen. Luke deactivated his lightsaber.

“Jacen, you have not lost her yet. If she no longer loved you, she wouldn't speak out to you. She might not even be here. As you can see, that is not the case. There are people in this world who still love you.”

Luke stepped closer as he continued, “As a child, you saved my life. In war, I saved yours. As a child, I wanted to protect you like a son. In war,” Luke paused, feeling something from Jacen. It was faint, a distant echo. “In war, you were my brother.”

Jacen looked up at Luke, his vision clouding. The Solo shook his head and looked into Luke through the Force. He didn't know what he was searching for. A vibrant memory flashed. It was close to the surface and speaking volumes to Luke at this very moment. Jacen caught only a glimpse of the image, but a glimpse was all that he needed. It was the funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker. They had both attended that procession. To Caedus, there was only one reason that Luke would be recalling such a memory right now: The Jedi had no intention of forgiving him.

They just wanted him stopped. They wanted to take back everything he had worked so hard to earn.

“No,” Caedus repeated, this time calmer. He stood. “This isn't about forgiveness. This isn't about redemption. You believe that I'm evil, and that I must be stopped by any means. If that includes using my family, then so be it.”

Luke stopped his progress toward Caedus and rose the hilt of his lightsaber once more.

Caedus went on, “This future that you all claim to be sure of, where I represent an endless series of conquerors: It could be very real. I could fall and the galaxy would just continue to destroy itself over and over again. However, that future will be brought about by you winning here, not me. With the right control, I would be the last leader the galaxy would need. No more war. No more senseless violence. With a single galaxy, a single military, and a single Force, I would be the last command.”

Luke had lost him. Jacen was simply too afraid to lose control. Letting go was simply a canyon far too intimidating for him to leap.

Darth Caedus finally shrugged away his coat. He was now down to his basic black Jedi tunic. He tightened the grip in his lightsaber and felt his leg threatening to betray him again. Caedus tried to call upon the raw anger that had fueled him thus far, but he couldn't find it again. Something had changed. It was basic, yet imperceptible. Whatever this invisible disconnection was, it prevented Caedus from completely tapping into the Dark Side's true potential. He had lost the delicate balance of logic and fury.

Darth Caedus decided that it would not matter. He would survive. Whatever it took, he would not die here.

Attempting to seize the moment, Caedus activated his lightsaber and threw another ball of intense light toward Skywalker. Luke rolled right and the orb detonated dangerously close to the hangar's atmospheric shields. The Force technique's explosion was unsettling, instantly vaporizing a large sphere of anything without a sound. Kyle had described the Dark Jedi Jarec using such a technique during their race to the Valley of the Jedi. The Jedi Archives revealed that it was called, simply enough, “Destruction”. Only those who had accepted what was known as the Dark Side completely could wield it, as it represented the pure antithesis to life.

Another collection of crackling blue energy shot towards him. Luke caught the lightning with his lightsaber and directed the beams into the ground. The Jedi Master rushed forward and sent a powerful Force wave towards Caedus. The Sith returned in kind and the Force collided upon itself, creating a transparent ripple in the air around the oncoming Jedi. Luke struck lightly with a continuous series of steady swings. His movements were textbook, a perfect form from which much could be learned.

Caedus was nearly relieved at the predictability. The attacks were very good, but without the emotion of Zekk or Kyle, the Sith Lord was sure he could handle Luke. He could handle him in good health, at least. As it stood, Caedus had been in desperate need of a bacta bath, not to mention a new hand, for some time now. Even Luke's telegraphed strikes were proving a challenge.

Luke's next strike was blocked close, and he felt his lightsaber forced upwards before Caedus' left arm was swiftly under the crossed blades. An invisible explosion slammed into Master Skywalker's lower sternum and knocked him back a couple of meters. As he tumbled to a standing knee, Luke noted that it hadn't been the “Destruction” technique. The Jedi Master was certain that Caedus didn't have the strength to muster the unique attack again any time soon.

What the Sith Lord could muster, Luke suddenly realized, was a fierce dagger into his mind. The Jedi Master steadied himself, planting his feet. He could feel Caedus probing further into his mind, forcing Luke to recall various sounds and images. Most of it was garbage, white noise, meaningless flashes too brief to be of significance. Every few pages as it were, Caedus would find a lithograph that instantly transported the Jedi to that moment. It was all there to see, nothing Caedus didn't already know.

Master Skywalker closed his eyes and breathed deep, asking the Force to assist in returning calm to his mind. The images slowed, and the focus to defend his mind returned. Caedus was quickly forced out of Luke's head. He realized that the invisible counter attack was too easy as Lord Caedus brought his lightsaber around in a wide slash. Luke brought his weapon up and reflexively spinning away. The Force guided his movements and Luke retained all of his limbs and organs, though there was a sizable and smoldering gash in his right shoulder.

The pain was fierce, but with the Force already coursing around him, it was easy enough to push the pain aside. Luke realized that he needed to get some distance between himself and the pulsing hangar shield behind him. The Jedi Master caught sight of Katarn again and rushed to his side. The Mercenary Jedi was in a bad way, pain radiating off of him through the Force like a generator.

Luke's words were quick, with the Sith Lord approaching. “Ben is in the opposite corner. Get to him and get off of this ship.”

Master Katarn rose, grunting. Luke could sense Katarn using the Force heavily to keep himself mobile, but there was something to his presence. A shadow in the Force, an oil slick left in a ship's wake.

Kyle said, “Luke, we have to stop him now. You have a better chance with me here.”

He noted something in Kyle's words. Luke knew that Kyle wanted truly wanted to fight at his side and stop Caedus, but his sentiment was growing dangerously personal. Luke grasped Kyle's shoulder and stared at him. Katarn saw that familiar flash in Skywalker's eyes. It told Kyle that Luke would not be convinced otherwise.

For all intents and purposes, Kyle Katarn was stronger than Luke. He had proven multiple times to be the better swordsman and more powerful in the physical aspects of the Force. To Kyle, however, there were always moments that revealed the leader and warrior that toppled endless Imperials and Vong beneath the dusty linen robes of the soft-spoken old moisture farmer. People often did not see nor expect this side to Luke, despite knowing of his very public accomplishments.

“Go, Kyle.”

Katarn coughed and replied, “Luke, make sure it ends.”

It was difficult for Luke to resist agreeing to the aggressive sentiment. Too many had been lost. Master Katarn used the last of his focus in the Force to run inhumanly quickly to the remaining ships and containers on the other side of the hangar. As Caedus turned to watch Kyle and Ben slip into the primary hall, the walls around him shook and roared. Everything jerked to a slight angle and did not right itself. The hangar's shield flickered but remained active.

A frantic voice came over the ship's comms. “Secondary drive systems are down! I repeat, secondary drive systems are down! The Anakin Solo will be entering Coruscant's atmosphere in approximately ten minutes. All remaining crew, abandon the ship immediately!”

Both Caedus and Skywalker reflexively turned to see the speckled bronze glow of Coruscant through the open hangar. The Force didn't warn Luke in time, and the large container beside him was suddenly against him, pushing him through the air toward the large red wall of translucent energy. Skywalker pushed himself downwards into the unforgiving durasteel bulkhead. The container soared overhead and slammed into the shield, glowing and sparking crimson before shattering entirely. The contents, several racks of concussion missiles, fortunately had not been fueled nor armed.

Luke stood and readied his blade once more. He walked toward Caedus at a steady pace. The Sith Lord lacked the patience and, with his lightsaber across his chest and ready to strike, rushed the Jedi Master. Green energy clashed continuously with red. Multicolored smoke rose where their blades clashed, creating a trail as the two stepped this way and that, ever-attacking, ever-responding.

It was not a dance. Between Caedus' furious slashes and Luke's unwavering form, the conflict more resembled a violent storm. It was unlike any storm one would see on an inhabitable planet. This was the type of electromagnetic chaos that could only be created in the most complex of semi-stable planets, stars in the throes of metamorphosis, and two exceedingly powerful Force-users. Neither of them seemed to gain any ground with pure strength. Luke's strikes were heavy for their speed, but Caedus was easily turning their momentum into equally weighty attacks.

The gap between them closed. Each swing was shorter and much, much louder. Everything was seemingly caught in the haze of ionization. Caedus allowed one of Luke's swings to come dangerously close to his chest before blocking it. The Sith stepped around the two blades and brought his left elbow sharply into the side of Luke's head. Handing further control to the Force, Luke's body fell gracefully below Caedus' oncoming blade.

Skywalker rolled back and stood, shaking the pulsing tones from his ears. He rolled his shoulders back as Lord Caedus again rushed his uncle. Luke reached out and launched a tightly-honed pulse of the Force at the Sith's oncoming shoulder. Caedus stopped unsteadily before another focused blast struck his right arm. He turned to respond with a blast of Lightning, but a third invisible hammer crashed into his temple.

Caedus fell back, catching himself at the last second on his elbows. Luke stepped quickly toward the Sith. His nephew rolled right and leapt to his feet. Caedus immediately blocked Luke's swing and allowed the momentum to carry both blades down. They stayed locked for less than a second before Caedus reached in with his handless arm and shot electricity straight into Luke's wrists. Skywalker's lightsaber fell from his hands as he dove backwards, ending the fire in his veins.

Still on his back, Luke shook feeling back into his hands just in time to gasp the hilt of the oncoming lightsaber. Caedus stood above Luke, four hands wrestling for control of the blade burning the air centimeters from the Jedi Master's face. Caedus seemed to focus on the struggle, pushing fiercely, determined to win the simple contest of strength. Luke took a deep breath, drew the Force into his hands, and crushed the center of the lightsaber hilt. With an unsettling whine, the weapon lost power and the blade of red light vanished.

The momentum of Caedus brought him toward Luke. With the remaining Force-granted strength in his hands, he punched the Sith Lord across his jaw. Lord Caedus rolled right and pointed his left arm at Luke. Luke grabbed the arm and directed it upward just as lightning erupted from the open wrist. Caedus brought his knee up into Luke's stomach, forcing the Jedi to cough and release his arm. The Sith swiftly repeated the knee strike before rolling backwards. He quickly spotted Luke's lightsaber and summoned the hilt toward his outstretched arm.

Halfway to Caedus' awaiting open hand, the lightsaber's green blade reignited and picked up speed. In his attempt to grab it, the hilt passed through his grasp and his right hand filled with white hot fire. Screaming, the Sith Lord pulled his smoking hand away and turned to watch the lightsaber land firmly in a standing Skywalker's hands. Luke reached out and Caedus was hit hard by a Force wave, sending him to the floor once more.

The Jedi Master allowed himself a second to breathe before hustling over to the unsteady Sith. Luke directed his lightsaber's blade straight at the center of Caedus' chest, holding it centimeters away. Darth Caedus, unarmed, smoking and bleeding, stared at the green glow and caught his breath. Luke could feel Caedus' in the Force, sensing a conflict of control and fear. Caedus turned from the lightsaber blade to the hangar bay shield. Through it, he watched glowing circles and lines become enormous clusters of smaller circles and lines. They were approaching Coruscant.

Finally Darth Caedus turned to Luke. Luke saw countless emotions fighting behind his tired nephew's face. His hatred for those that stood in his way, his need to be proven right, and an increasing loneliness spun within the wounded Sith.

“I've won, you know,” Caedus said with unsteady breath.

Luke did not question the statement, nor did he say anything in response other than to keep his lightsaber a breathe away from his nephew's sternum.

Caedus continued, “There are millions of people watching the skies right now. They're staring in horror at the explosions and death just beyond the clouds. Enormous chunks of spaceship are cratering in front lawns and schools. They will ask themselves, “Who brought all this destruction to our home?”, and they will immediately know the answer: the Jedi and the Hapans.”

The Jedi Master kept the Sith a blade-length, but he had trouble denying the words in his mind.

“You fought a fraction of the Alliance Navy, and the rest are on their way. With me dead, the galaxy will never know of the Sith title I took on. I will be remembered as having been the wall that held just long enough for the flanking cavalry to arrive.” Caedus' jaw shook as he finished. “Thank you, Uncle.”

Luke noticed that those last words didn't have the arrogance he expected. They sounded more honest than anything. The metal beneath Luke shook violently before tearing free of the hangar's frame and taking him off his feet. As he landed, Caedus fired a stream of lightning at the Jedi. The tendrils of energy crawled across Luke before a pulse sent him flying. Skywalker's shoulder blades were the first to hit the side of the parked gunship, immediately followed by his head. The tones returned tenfold and his vision became a misshapen watercolor painting.

Darth Caedus turned and rushed toward one of the remaining craft in the hangar, a standard-issue XJ5 X-Wing. He reached out to the ship in Force, finding and beginning the activation sequence. The canopy whined open. Caedus stumbled as his right leg gave out, but he willed the limb continue. With one last effort in the Force, the Sith Lord jumped into the open cockpit and took control of the fighter. The shields crackled to life, Caedus disengaged the ship's magnetic lock and was violently shaken as the X-Wing lifted up into the ceiling of the descending hangar. The craft's shield bounced it free and Caedus flew through the hangar's light field at full-throttle just as his canopy finished its air seal.

The sudden openness of his surroundings threatened to overwhelm him. Until this moment, he didn't quite have a grasp on the resulting chaos of this most recent battle over Coruscant. Looking back at the dying flagship named for his passed brother, he guessed that it had two minutes at most before it became a cluster of enormous fireballs.

Back on the Anakin, Luke was almost tempted to allow himself to burn in the atmosphere with the ship. He had failed, and it was entirely possible that Caedus' predictions were true. He felt a voice calling for him in the Force. It was his son. There were still reasons for Luke to live, so he called upon the Force to clear his head and steady his legs. An X-Wing was laying on the deck at an angle, only one of its landing struts still deployed. Its magnetic locking system was about to fail. He rushed to the ship and hurriedly span up its systems.

Luke could feel the heat of the outer atmosphere's friction with the larger ship around him. He shoved the throttle to its limit and ducked out of the hangar, immediately pulling up and around, allowing the glowing Star Destroyer to pass over his cockpit. The X-Wing's shields glowed from the intense heat. Luke guided the fighter further away from the planet and back into the enormous collection of debris that had been the battle. A quick scan of his radar revealed that there was another active X-Wing fighter near-by. Luke steered toward the blip and caught sight of Caedus' X-Wing just as it extended infinitely toward a point and entering hyperspace. He was gone.

Lacking any other ideas, Luke called out to Ben in the Force. His son responded with the image of a solar system with a familiar white and gray planet in the foreground. Luke shut off the fighter's Alliance tracking systems, punched in the hyperspace coordinates for the Hoth system, and was wrapped in tumbling blue light.

*~*~*

 

And that's it. I started this fic over two years ago, and it has now reached novel-length. Thank you everyone who has taken the time to stay with this story. Now that it's complete, I hope that some could tell others about this story before it disappears into the archives.

One last thing: There will be an epilogue to tie everything up.

 

This last scene was the most exciting so far! What great read.

 

A great spectacular scene and wanting to know more.
What will happen to Caedus, Luke, Ben and Kyle?

 

It would have been so nice to see more of this. Brilliant writing. Perhaps you could tie things up in a sequel instead of a tiny-tiny epilogue? I've never thought it would end so suddenly.

 

Thank you so much for your kind words! The epilogue will not be a post-script. It should be long enough to hopefully satisfy everyone.

And yes, I do have ideas for a potential sequel that I will likely work on in the future. In the meantime, however, I have several writing "projects" that need my attention.

 

I like the way that Tenel Ka and Luke still held out hope that they could save Jacen from himself. I also like the way you made Jacen much more politically capable then his profic counterpart. Nice!

 

I hope you go on with your brilliant story telling. You captivated me with this fic here. It hurts that it ends now. What a cliffhanger! I hope you write on something else in future and post it on these forums again.

 

i read this story and i gotta admit the Luke/Caedus Showdown was just awesome. especially when Caedus was using the force to get Luke's Lightsaber and it went right through his hand. that was just awesome that was how Legacy of the Force should have ended and i wish you would do a sequel to this.

 

Whelp, to help me hone my writing for a current original project, I have started working on a sequel to this. Just a heads-up.

 

Yeah! That is fantastic news!

 

I just ran into this, and I love what I see! Hope to see something of the sequel soon

 

Will there be a sequel or epilogue this was excellent!

 

Thank you so much for reading this and enjoying it!. I'll be honest, this is a very old story, and if I were to do anything, it would be a full re-write. If you're interested, my most current story (which is much better, in my opinion) is here. Lots of dark intrigue and X-Wing action. It could really use some feedback, to be frank.