Beyond - Legends Beyond Light and Dark

Title: Beyond Light and Dark
Author: Anedon
Timeframe: around 15 ABY
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Characters: Kay Dervan and other OCs

Summary: When the civil war in the distant Sicarus Sector draws near its end, Kay Dervan is confronted with his own past and has decide what lies in his future.

Notes: This story takes place in my fanon Sicarus Sector, in the galactic North, featuring some old OC characters of mine that I haven´t really used on the boards before.

Its an entry for the OC Fight challenge.

Also thanks to @Adalia-Durron for her help and support.



One

Blaster fire came towards him, the screeching sound of the weapons echoing in his ear, where they were joined by the screams of soldiers, the thunder of artillery and the roaring of fighter engines above. It was the sound of battle, a sound Kay had heard many times before in his life, but never on this intensity, on this volume.

Without even needing to properly think about it he raised his blades to deflect the attacks as he and his squad advanced further through the ruined administration district.

Just as the sound in his ears gave him the feeling of battle, the sight of his eyes did the same. The broken buildings, the raging fires, the sight of people ducking for cover, the flashes of light coming from all directions. And of course the enemy ahead, reaching the Imperial unit his blades made short work of the white armored soldiers, cutting down those who had escaped the shoots from his companions.

Then he felt it, the Force warning him a seconds before his eyes ever could have.

"Take cover," he yelled and the Rebels took shelter amidst the Imperial position they had just taken.

Not a second to early before the fire of two e-webs turned the ruin into a death zone. His swords where useless here, he couldn't deflect this many shots, but the large blocks of ferrocrete provided decent enough protection, at least for a moment. Their advance was halted, for simple infantry like them advancing on repeater blasters was a dead sentence.

Luckily their force didn't just consist of simple infantry.

It took a few seconds but then the fighters on the ground heard the characteristic sound of wings and the a yell coming from a dozen of avian beaks. The e-web fire stopped, to be replaced by screams above.

Giving his fellow soldiers a sign Kay jumped over the cover he had hid behind and sprinted towards the enemy position, so they could aid their comrades. But when he reached the e-web position it was already over. The bodies of the enemies littering the ground, while several huge Lorean stood atop their corpses, knives and blasters in hand.

"Did you have a nice little rest while you waited for the most dramatic moment to show up?" Kay asked the units Commander. Turning around the Avian gave his Commander a mocking salute with his clawed hand.

"Thought we would give you ground walkers a head start."

Kay gave him a grin, "How nice of you, I really appreciate it Cray."

If he had lips instead of a beak the Lorean might have smiled, but his words where serious. "They are still fighting, I can't believe it. Shouldn't they have realized by now there is no hope of winning this battle?"

Kay sadly shook his head as he examined the bodies, they where all stormtroopers. Not the regular army troopers and militia forces they had encountered at the start of the battle.

"These are the governors personal guard, they have been brainwashed by the Empire their entire lives. They will fight to the death rather than surrender to people like us."

He gave a gesture to the assembled soldiers, like him several where human, but in addition to the Lorean, two Twi'lek sisters, three Kage and a Grak made up this strike team. The Empires hatred and contempt for non humans had been even stronger in the Sicarus Sector than in other parts of the galaxy and during his time as a cadet Kay himself had experienced the type of brainwashing the Empire forced onto their recruits...

Another thunder blast from the artillery called him back into the present. He looked up, up to the spire of the governors tower, which in contrast to the buildings surrounding it was still undamaged by artillery as it was protected by a strong energy field. Closing his eyes Kay reached out with his mind once more.

They were still there, waiting, doing nothing to contribute to the battle. He didn't understand, he had assumed they would have long since joined the fighting by now. But it appeared as if they didn't care that their base of power was destroyed and if all that was to do for them was to wait. Wait for him to come to them.

The spire was only about a klick away, if they were lucky enough they could be there in an hour, and then... Well it would be up to him. Taking a deep breath he relaxed his muscles for a moment before he gave the soldiers a nod and continued towards the spire. His lightsabers blazing once more.

New blaster fire filled the air but the two blades, the blue and the red created a nearly impenetrable web in front of him and his unit as they advanced. Using the force to pull enemies from their save position amidst windows and hastily constructed bunkers Kay, not for the first time in his life wished his connection to the force was stronger that he would be able to use it with the same kind of strength the other followers of the emperor were able to.

Reaching another bunker Kay struck down the two soldiers at the entrance before they where even able to react to his presence. Entering he dodged below the first blaster shots then unleashed the furry of his blades, cutting down soldiers in seconds as the force told him their positions in the dark building.

It was over in seconds and for a moment Kay lowered his head in regret. He was glad the dead all wore their helmets because he knew behind every visor he might see the face of someone he had known back in his youth. This might have been very well his own fate he knew, if the Imperials hadn't discovered his force sensitivity, if he hadn´t been taken to...

He ignored the upcoming thought, he felt sad having to kill these soldiers but if they failed here and now then millions more would soon join them in their graves. This bloodshed, it needed to end and if they were successful today than they would take a huge step towards that goal.

Leaving the now secured bunker again he reunited with his squad as they continued their advance. The Lorean using their wings to attack the imperials in ways usually only forces equipped with jump packs could. They moved forward, made progress but it didn't came without a cost, one of the Twi'leks, a Kage and a human soldiers had fallen as they finally reached the bottom of the colossal tower. This was it, they were finally here, after years and years of war, of struggle and losses he stood here, at the doorstep to the Rancors den itself.

But just as he had changed from a broken man crying over the corpses of his family into the leader of a Rebellion, his group of poorly trained civilians and deserted Imperial soldiers had become an army, a ray of light in a forlorn and suffering sector. It gave him a little bit of satisfaction that it was him who was now standing here, not the butcher Silverton nor the maniac Skerrak, not the professional soldiers, nor the bootlickers of the New Republic, but the people of Sicarus herself.

Lorean, Grak, Humans and Aliens, former imperials, colonists, collaborators or slaves. They all stood behind him behind his ideals of a Sicarus Sector for all of them.

As the two remaining Kage began placing explosives on the walls of the tower to give them an entry point, Kay and the Lorean, as well as some of the other humans knelt down and began to speak a prayer to the gods. It was the religion of his childhood, that the Empire had, for a decade burnt away from his mind, but that he had returned to as he had to his old identity.

He didn't flinch as the explosives went of, and as he looked up he could see the determination in the faces of the soldiers surrounding him as they all looked through the hole and into the tower.

"Governor Starbreaker," Kay muttered so only his companions could hear him. "The people of Sicarus have come, and they demand justice."

 

Lovely scene and great action. You could follow what was happening so easily because it just flowed seamlessly. Awesome stuff.

This line made me smile. What a great line to end on!

 

love your OC's

 

Superb action and Kay is a compelling OC I get a sense his back story is fascinating.

 

Thanks, was inthially thinking giving a bit more exposition early on but it seems starting right in the action and adding exposition gradually works better.

Glad you liked that bit.

Nice to see you enjoy them.

Thanks, glad Kay works for you, there quite a bit of backstory to him which we´ll go into as the story goes on.




Two

When Kay had been a child the Sicarus Sector had been ruled by Governor Geran Starbreaker, whose picture had been displayed right next to that of the Emperor in many places from classrooms to public plazas. A cunning and intelligent man the elder Starbreaker had been able to keep the Sector stable, by playing the various Rebel groups against each other and by giving the Lorean and other collaborators enough freedoms to keep them satisfied.

To this day no one in the sector knew what had caused the elder Starbreaker's death, some said it had been stress, others despair over the destruction of the Empire, some believed one of the rebel groups had finally gotten to him, while other believed that his son had murdered him to seize power for himself. But whatever the truth his son Toran had nothing of his father's pragmatism and smarts.

Once he had taken over as governor a year after the battle of Endor the Imperial cruelties had increased in scope by tenfold, workers were forced to work ever higher quotas, the slaves were worked even harder, while the military was tasked to outright slaughter "troublesome" non human populations.

Soon the sector had been in open revolt a civil war, that had now been going for ten years.

While moving through the lower levels of the tower Kay was both surprised and puzzled by what awaited them. Most of the corridors where empty, many filled with dust, as if no one had been cleaning, or even using them in months. It didn't look at all like the busy headquarters of a people fighting a civil war, but instead more as if it had been abandoned altogether.

"Did the schutta flee?" Diana, the surviving Twi'lek woman muttered, and Kay felt the anger inside her, the anger over the loss of a sister but also all the others the people of Sicarus had suffered in the last decade.

The civil war had been chaotic as not just slaves and locals had revolted but parts of the imperial military had also turned against the governor. And in time the losses suffered on all sides would further escalate the violence. Not only the Imperials had committed crimes against civilians, as the war went on Rebels and former slaves had taken bloody vengeance on anyone they deemed aligned with the Empire, in some cases humans in general had become the target as all decency was abandoned in the face of suffering.

They came across a staircase leading both upwards to the quarters of the ruling members and down. From his previous visits to the place Kay remembered that down there the cells for high value prisoners where located.

"We should check the cell block first, maybe there is someone alive down there," Kay said and his followers nodded. Saving innocent lives being more important that punishing guilty ones, had become a maxim to him and his followers, as they tried to be a light in a sector filled with hatred.

He chose Diana, Cray and a two of the humans to come down with him, while the others where to secure the staircase against anyone coming down from up there.

As the war had progressed the mutual hatred and fear between the people of the sector had only grown, where Humans and Lorean had once lived mostly in harmony with each even beginning to take in some elements of the other culture, now there was oftentimes nothing left but fear and hatred. A circle of violence that in the end had claimed countless lives.

After the death of the Emperor he had ignored the summon to the deep core he had received, but instead thrown away his oaths of loyalty to the Empire. Seeing the nation he had believed in die, it had broken something inside of him, as he had realized that the things he had done, the blood on his hands, the Jedi he had hunted down, it had all been for nothing.

As they entered the cellblock Kay's Force senses told him that there were indeed people alive down there. The man in the first cell wore a tattered Imperial uniform. Kay didn't know him but he seemed to be young civil servant. The young man began to scream as he saw them but then suddenly stopped as he noticed Diana and the other non humans.

"You... you aren't one of them?"

"We don't belong to Governor Starbreaker if that is what you mean." Kay said, keeping his voice friendly.

The man gave a dry laugh, "Starbreaker? Haven't seen him in years... His advisors run this place now." Kay began to shiver as he knew who the young man was referring to, he had felt their presence as they had approached the tower and now his suspicions where confirmed.

"You are Rebels?" The young man asked and Kay felt how some fear returned to him.

"We are the people of Sicarus, nothing more, nothing less." Diana said. "You have been part of Starbreakers administration?"

The young man's eyes wandered from one of them to the other. Then taking a deep breath he did the right thing by being honest, "yes..." he began to shake his head, "yes I served there, did what I was told. Until they went completely insane."

Kay and the others exchanged a glance. Then Kay said, having felt no actual malice in the young man, "well several of us served the Empire as well. If you are willing to help us fix this mess than your past doesn't matter."

"You seek to end the civil war?" The young man asked.

"I seek to create a Sicarus Sector for all of us," Kay responded. "A place where Humans, Lorean, Grak and others can live in peace as free people. Where past grudges are buried and we move towards a better future, together."

The young man looked at him with surprise but also respect. "I... I will help you then."

Kay gave the young man a smile as he unlocked his cell door. "What's your name?"

"Marius, Marius Caelon."

"Then welcome, Marius, I'm Kay Dervan and I am leading the Children of Sicarus." Kay quickly gave orders to his men to check the other cells and see if the people in there could be persuaded to help as well.

Kay knew some of these prisoners where probably complicit in some of Starbreakers crimes, but with the blood on his hands he was willing to forgive those willing to redeem themselves so they could break the circle of violence, the circle that had consumed his own family. As he had turned his back on the Empire there had only been one place where he had been able to go, back to his family. Back to the people the Empire had torn him away from.

But he had come too late... like him his sister had been forced into an Imperial youth group, and for a group of former slaves that had been enough to consider them all Imperial loyalists.

Kay remembered how he had broken down over their corpses how he had remained there for hours, maybe even days, unable to process that he would never see them again. Unable to understand how his family who had lived in the sector even before the Empire came, who had adopted much of the Lorean culture for themselves could have become a target of this circle. He wasn't sure how long he had stayed in their destroyed village, crying over the people he had lost. He had buried them, as he had their neighbors.

And in the end he had made a decision.

He could have gone and sought revenge on those who killed his family, he could have embraced the dark side. But he hadn't, instead he had vowed to fight for a better future, to break the circle of hatred and bring the people of Sicarus together once more. On that day his fight had begun, a fight against both the imperials as well as the revenge seeking Rebels.

"Kay!" Diana called out to him and he headed over to her to the cell at the furthest end of the cell block, Marius followed him.

"Verinas blood," Kay muttered as he saw what she pointed at. In the last cell he saw a middle aged human.

Dressed in the tattered remains of a exquisite robe. His hair and beard where long and unkempt, and he himself seemed to be in a state of complete squalor, despite that Marius recognized him instantly.

"Governor Starbreaker? He was here the whole time?"

Now Kay saw it as well.

This wasn't the good looking young governor whose face looked down from a million propaganda holos through the sector. As he reached out with the Force Kay briefly touched the mind of the governor and instantly moved back. It was a flickering, broken soul, like a terminal that only got periodic bursts of energy and even during those showed nothing but white noise.

Opening the cell Kay approached the man who had been his enemy for so long. He saw markings on his skin, markings he recognized as having been left by extensive Force lighting.

"Must kill them all, kill them, none of them is innocent, the Emperor wants them dead. Higher quotas, we need to fulfill higher quotas, need to work more, send their kids, why do they even need schooling... schooling. Shut that all down. Must kill them all, the Emperor demands..." the former governor muttered, not even realizing Kay's presence.

"What have they done to him?" Diana asked staring utterly horrified at the former tyrant.

"His mind is broken," Kay said slowly. "They must have tortured him, with the Force, probably for years."

They had planned to put Starbreaker on trial, if they managed to capture him alive, once the war was over.

But looking at the shambling wreck of the man Kay knew that it could never come to that. He had expected to face an Imperial fanatic who would try to fight to the last but instead this was a thing to whom it didn't occur to fight anymore. There was only one thing he could do. Guided by a mix of pity and hatred his blades cut the governors neck and severed his head from the body.

Then he turned away back to his soldiers and the freed captives.

"It's time we head up there and confront the puppet masters, before they destroy even more lives."

 

Excllent meeting Marius and the continued resolve to not seek vengeance but to actually create a better situation for the people at large

 

Marius will be of help to create a better Sicarus

 

I really feel like I've been away from fanfic for a billion years, but here goes with a review because I noticed things...

Kay gave him a grin, "How nice of you, I really appreciate it Cray."

Corrected: "How nice of you. I really appreciate it, Cray." (This is two sentences, not one.)

Then he felt it, the Force warning him a seconds before his eyes ever could have.

Was it one second or multiple? "a second" or "seconds"

When Kay had been a child the Sicarus Sector had been ruled by Governor Geran Starbreaker, whose picture had been displayed right next to that of the Emperor in many places from classrooms to public plazas.

Corrected: "When Kay had been a child, the Sicarus Sector" (you needed a comma there)


Overall, I was drawn in and loved these two posts, and I have no idea who your characters are, but find them interesting. Well done.

 

Thanks, yeah that´s pretty much Kay´s idea going foreward.

He will be.




Three

Climbing up the stairs, checking level by level of the tower the silence became almost painful for them to endure. The first few levels above ground where empty, as if the clerks working there had simply left a few days ago, then as they had come up higher and higher they had found the bodies.

Most of them several days if not weeks dead, most still wearing their Imperial uniforms. Marius who knew most of them at least from view had broken down over this senseless slaughter and so they had eventually offered to leave him behind so he didn't have to endure more of it, but he had insisted on coming with them. Above the offices for bureaucrats they found the barracks of the soldiers, once more empty as what remained of the governors elite guard now fought in the streets below. Kay wondered if the soldiers knew the fate of the administrators, or if they even still cared. Strange markings had been carved into the walls of the barrack levels, runes that seemed to utterly contrast the usual Imperial simplicity. Some of the runes where covered with what looked like blood.

"What madness is this?" Diana asked, in the long civil war she, like the others had seen many horrors of the battlefield but this? It seemed to have no sense to it, no logic, it seemed utterly insane.

"I think it is something the new rulers of this place have brought in," Cray muttered as he inspected one of the runes a bit deeper.

"Not sure what the reason is though, a ritual?" He couldn´t think of any logical reason behind this.

"They are losing their minds. I have seen things like these before," Kay said quietly. "These are ancient Sith runes, they had carved them into their tombs and fortresses."

He looked up to the next set of stairs. "From here on, I'm going alone."

The others stared at him, worried.

"Kay, is that a good idea?" Diana asked him.

"Possibly not," Kay admitted, "but wha's up there, blasters won't help, and I can't protect all of you."

Cray placed a claw on his friends shoulder, "this is most certainly a trap."

Kay let out a sigh, "of course it is. But it's a trap for me, and if we want to end this battle I have no choice than to play along."

"Just wait until the shields fall and we reduce this tower to rubble with our artillery," Cray continued to try and stop him. "Until then they might have escaped and it would prolong the battle for hours, result in many more deaths. I will not let that happen."

There was another reason, one that he had kept from even his closest friends, something that even know he felt unsure about.

"Please," he said, "you have to trust me."

He looked each of them in the eye and was glad none was averting their gaze.

Then he took a deep breath and began climbing up the stairs, but before he made a too high he turned around to them for a final time.

"If someone's coming down, and it isn´t me than don´t let it get out of here alive."

The next levels where as empty but somehow even more disturbing than the barracks. The smell of death surrounded them and Kay knew that if he would looked into the various rooms he would find the respective images to it as well. Starbreakers's family had lived here, as had their personal servants and bodyguards. But now they were gone, all these men, women and children where nothing more than corpses rotting in what had once been their home.

Despite them having been his enemies Kay felt pity for them, they hadn't deserved this. Those responsible awaited him in the audience chamber, at the very top of the spire. In a way it reminded Kay of the pictures he had once seen of the chamber of the Jedi High Council, but this room was larger and the windows had been dimmed so much that the room was drenched into a weak twilight.

Two beings awaited him. Both wore the back uniforms of imperial Inquisitors. The male Umbaran looked even more like a corpse than many of his people, but it was the female, a human who turned to Kay first.

"Hello big brother, its lovely you finally join us." Kay looked into her face, with her yellow eyes and the cruel grin he could barely make out the nice and sweet girl she had once been.

"Tia, so it is true," he said as he walked further into the room.

When he had first returned to the sector and found the corpses of his family he had assumed his sister was dead, but later he had found out the truth. Like him she was force sensitive, and had been eventually taken in by the empire.

"I´m wondering though, did you place that unrecognizable corpse into our home? Or was it a coincidence?"

His sister gave him a cold shrug, "I certainly didn't. But I heard they adopted another child after losing both of us. They found a replacement, so don't feel bad about them." She played casually with a strain of her hair as if they were having a normal conversation.

"They were our parents!" Kay shot back and again Tia shrugged.

"They birthed us, I don't think that this should earn them any loyalty."

"What have they done to you?" Kay became more and more upset at seeing his sister. His little sister talking and acting like this.

"They opened my eyes to the truth, thought they had done the same for you. But guess it at least explained why they kept us away from each other." Again she shrugged without any emotions in her glance.

"The truth? Do you even listen to yourself? Do you even realize what you have done down there?"

The Umbaran was staying silent, his eyes dating back from one sibling to the other, his face being a mask, utterly devoid of any emotions.

Meanwhile a smirk appeared on Tia's face. "That I killed a few pathetic nobles? They where Imperials, no need to feel bad for them." She chuckled a bit, "still trying to play the hero aren't you? Still pretending to be a savior? Kinda rich coming from a man who probably killed far more Imperials in the last months and years than I did. But that's the point isn't it? You act all moral, like you are so clever, so wise, all to fool people into trusting you. And what for? For the light?" She said the last bit in a mocking child's voice.

"I'm no servant of the light." Kay said firmly as he took another step towards his sister.

"No?" For the first time Tia seemed surprised. "So you won't tearfully beg me to return to you? Not offer me unconditional forgiveness for what I did? I must say I was looking forward to seeing you try." She chuckled again. "So you are one of those grey Jedi? Those who are too cowardly to stand on either side."

Kay shook his head, "no. I'm going my own path. Find my own answers. Light, dark, shadow. The answers lies within the synthesis."

Tia raised an eyebrow. "So a philosopher huh? Probably doesn't pay all too well, so let me make you an offer. As the Queen of Sicarus I have an opening for a fool..." Then her voice became serious again. "In respect to whatever biological connection there is between us, I offer you this one chance. Submit to me and I will allow you to live, to serve to the best of your abilities."

Kay said nothing for a moment as his glanced crossed the still utterly silent Umbaran. Then he turned his gaze back to his sister,

"If one were to look at both of us right now. Who is the greater fool? The rat covering in the corner? Clutching herself to a futile believe of superiority. To the shadow of a dead Emperor?"

"Well, I for one didn't come here alone, I didn't leave my 'friends' behind because I was too afraid they would see what has become of my sister. I wouldn't have sacrificed everything to protect that dirty little secret of mine."

The smugness in her voice was only matched by the grin on her face and for a moment he Kay allowed her to wallow in it.

Then he said, "you know dear sister. There is one thing you don't understand about friends, or friendship. You don't have any secrets before each other. My soldiers know who you are and what you did. Besides, who said I was the one to be alone?"

In that second the Umbaran activated his blade, but instead of attacking Kay he placed it on the back Tia's neck. The moment she looked at her supposed servant in utter shock was enough for her brother to cross the remaining distance and places his two blades at her throat.

"Tia Dervan, I hereby arrest you for your crimes against the people of Sicarus. Hand over your weapon and kneel down."

Looking from one man to the other something else appeared on Tia's face, fear. "How is this possible?" She asked, her voice shaking.

"Kay and I share a blood oath," Illios, the Umbaran said.

"Really sister," Kay said, now with a grin on his face. "Do you think I would come here unprepared. Don't you think I would have thought of thinking a spy into your 'court' as you call it. Have you never questioned why he came to serve you so willingly?"

His sister spat at him, but Kay didn't even flinch.

"Do as you are told, or we end it right here." Shaking, yet trying to control herself Tia slowly moved her hand towards her lightsaber and unhooked it from her belt. Then after a moment of consideration she handed it to Illios.

"So that's the reason you came here alone?" she said as she slowly kneeled down. "So I would let my guard down?"

"That was the idea," Kay said, he felt little joy in this victory but was relieved that at least this fight was over. "Now take your com and order any soldier still fighting down there to lay down their arms and surrender."

Slowly and with three lightsabers still pointed at her Tia did as told, while her brother watched her carefully, ready to react to any attempt to fight. But he knew it wouldn't happen. For the followers of the dark side self preservation stood over everything. And in this moment the only thing keeping her alive was doing what she was told. After she had done it Kay pulled out a pair of energy handcuffs to secure his sister before finally whipping his face clean.

Then he took out his own comlink. "It's done, my sister won't hurt anyone, anymore."

 

Excellently written contest of wits and wills and words! Kay bested Tia in more than one way.

 

Thanks.
Yeah that´s pretty much the way Kay fights, he is letting his enemies think they have won, that he did something foolish, while in secret he is the one who holds all the cards...



Four

"You know, this suits you better than the inquisitor outfit. Kinda harmonizes with your eyes," Kay said.

Tia, dressed in a striped prison jumpsuit growled as she looked up to her brother who stood on the other side of the transparisteel door.

"Have you come to gloat? Is it that why you spared my life? So you could torment me?" She didn't bother standing up from her simple bed.

Kay let out a sigh. "I spared you because I wanted to bring you to justice for your crimes."

"Is that all? Then you could have just killed me and been done with it. Not waste money on keeping me feed and clothed down here."

"That's revenge, not justice Tia. I don't kill people if I don´t have to. I think even someone like you deserves a fair trial."

Slowly she sat up from her bed but still refused to look at him. "Doesn't matter in the long run away, your 'trial' will sentence me to death anyway. I suspect judges and persecutors are one and the same? So it's about making a statement? To present me to the cameras, so the people see me struggle? Will you broadcast the whole thing? Including my execution?"

Kay looked at his sister and sadness overcame him, sadness and pity. "The trial will be conducted without you, if you don't want to. And they won't sentence you to death."

For the first time his sister looked up to him, "not? So you want to redeem me after all?" She chuckled slightly.

"I can't redeem you Tia, the only person who can do that is you, yourself." He made a pause. "In acknowledgment that you have been a victim of the Empire as so many others I asked for mercy and thus can offer you this deal. If you cooperate and help us undo as much of what you did as we can, your sentence will be life imprisonment. With an option of an eventual release if we determine you have served your penance and are no longer a threat."

"So it's a life here, with a slight chance of a release in my old age?" Tia said, shaking her head. "Sorry brother, but I think in that case I chose the firing squad or whatever else you would come up with."

Kay lowered his head. "Not here, maybe for a time, but locked in here you are of no use. If you want to take this chance, we would have you serve the people of Sicarus. Help heal the wounds you caused."

Tia looked back him, "so I would be their slave?"

Kay rolled his eyes. "If you want to see it as such. But in truth it's something else, a chance for a fresh start, for a new life. Or shall I rather say a chance to go back to what was?"

"So that's it? You want that weak little girl back that I used to be?" Again Tia shook her head.

"She wasn't weak, she was so much stronger than her older brother in many ways." Kay muttered, in a way more to himself rather than Tia. "We used to be a family didn't we? Do you really want the empire to have destroyed that as well?"

Tia looked away, seemingly unwilling to look directly at him.

For a moment the siblings fell silent, but Kay felt Tia was waging her options. He knew how she would decide and wasn't surprised when she said.

"Alright then, I will cooperate if it keeps me alive."

"Thanks Tia," Kay said quietly, as he left the cell block.

Diana awaited him at the top of the stairs of the shining Spire were they had now set up their headquarters.

"You think it was smart to keep her alive? To give her this chance at redemption? Does she deserve it?"

"I'm not sure," Kay admitted to her. "But she is my sister, for better or worse I still love her. But it is more than that, if we can succeed, if we can redeem her, we can show the people that reconciliation is still possible. That our way is the right one."

Diana thought about this for a moment and Kay knew she was thinking about her own sister. So he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Athena's death pains me greatly, but is revenge the way to go forward?"

Diana considered it for a while, but then she shook her head. "No, I won't get my sister back if I kill yours. I would just create more pain. For your sake, for our sake she may life. But watching over her, deciding when we can trust her, that's a huge responsibility..."

"That's why I give it to you." Kay responded.

"Me?"

Kay felt her surprise. "You have suffered a lot under the imperial rule of the sector and under my sisters actions. More than most people have. If I would do it, I fear my love for Tia would keep me from being impartial. I might go to lightly on her, allowing her to abuse my wish to help her. But you, she won't be able to fool you."

She nodded after a moment. "Then I will do it." She made a pause. "You have taught me so much, you know. My sister and me came to this sector in chains, sold into slavery by our own family. Made to 'entertain' the Imperial officers. But now? I'm a leading member in the Rebellion, standing next to former Imperials, slaves, collaborators, civilians. Fighting side by side for a better future, a future for all of us. I've gained a new family, a real one."

She stepped forward and hugged him. "Just wish Athena was here to see it," she lowered her head on his shoulder.

"We will never forget her," Kay assured her. "Nor the others who gave their lives to our cause, the future we fight for." For a moment the two of them just stood there, clutching themselves to the other. Then Diana raised her head and gave Kay a small kiss on the cheek. "Remember the promise you've made. For when the war is over?"

He and Diana had been flirting a bit for some time now, first both of them had been hesitant to act on the attraction between them. As an imperial agent seduction had just been another tool in his arsenal to get what he needed, and Diana, her experiences with love and intimacy in the past hadn´t been positive either. So they had both been unsure if it could even work out.

But eventually they had decided to give it a try, once the war was over.

"I do, I always will," Kay assured her. "But the war isn't over yet. The imperial loyalists are defeated, but Silverton and his militarists and the Claws of Justice? They are still out there, still pose a threat to the people of Sicarus." He felt disappointment in Diana's mind. So he reassured her.

"We have done a big step, now things will get easier. The people are seeing that we can protect them, more and more will join our side. They reluctantly gave up their hug as they heard steps approaching.

Illios approached them, he and Kay had been trainees in the imperial Inquisitors at the same time and since then stuck together, eventually swearing the blood oath. The Umbaran pointed down the stairs towards the cell block.

"How did she react?"

"She has accepted to work with us, for now. But I think at this point her main motivation is to hope and find a way to escape. I don´t think she is interested in redeeming herself or even think about what she has done." His gaze became sad. "But at least she is willing to make a step in our direction, if for purely selfish reasons. I think if we play our cards right, we may yet still save her."

He glanced at Diana.

After the battle he had a lengthy conversation with Illios and realized just how sever the damage was that the imperials had caused to his sister, as well as her own insanity truly were.

Then Kay noticed the Datapad in his friends hand. "What is this?"

"We have gotten a message, an invitation to parley."

Kay raised an eyebrow, he hadn't expected that. "By whom?"

"General Nicolas Silverton." Illios responded.

The three of them exchanged a glance. Nicolas Silverton had been the imperial military commander of the Sicarus Sector, but when the younger Starbreaker had taken over and everything had collapsed Silverton had lead this soldiers into a rebellion against the new Governor. He mostly focused on protecting the Imperial colonists but so far had treated Kay and his followers as little more than pirates to put down.

"So he now wants to bargain," Kay muttered slowly and a smile appeared on his face. "It seems the war might truly moving towards the end."



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Here we end this saga, for the moment.
Thanks to all who read this story. Kay is one of my older OCs though the character has gone through quite a few changes over the years. Added a few bits in this story now as well. Of course the story continues, and there are still many stories to tell. Which I why I decided to make this chapter four instead of an epilogue....

 

Superb continued tension and complexity between Kay and Tia. It was a wise choice having Diana be in charge of determining whether Tia has reformed.

 

Great job! It starts out as a very physical fight between the different armed groups and then develops into a much more emotional fight between Kay and Tia. Though they had a shared childhood as siblings, they've diverged and become very different people. Along those same lines, Kay is fighting for something much larger than himself, while Tia seems to be fighting for only herself. Great work!

 

Thanks. Yeah he gives it to Diana because he can´t trust himself to be impartial and fair with his sister.

The two of them developed differently, yeah. Yet Kai still cares for Tia and she, in some way at least, cares for him.