Shadie glanced from Fane to the direction where Lian and Relsor had gone.  Knarf and Perce were exchanging insults as they fought.
            ‘Fane!’ cried Shadie.  ‘What can you sense?’
            Fane was clutching his head.  ‘It’s another massive headache, and Lian’s in trouble, real trouble.  Relsor is using his full might and I fear for Lian’s life.’
            ‘That’s because your friend is about to meet his end!’ said Perce.
            ‘Not if I have anything to say about it?’  Shadie said defiantly.  She reached out to the Sphere and felt it was close and quickly approaching.
            ‘I’m surprised a pretender like you is still riding on someone else’s fame,’ said Usharr.  ‘A mere shadow of what your peers are capable of being.’
            ‘And he can’t even slice anything to keep me out,’ said Knarf.  ‘He’s a failed slicer and a failed Sith.’
            ‘Now seeing what you’ve become, Perce,’ said Usharr, ‘I realise I did well to kick you out of the academy!  The Sith Empire deserves better than a disgrace such as you.’
            ‘Shut up, Usharr!’
            Usharr opened his mouth to rebuttal something more but instead cried out in warning, lifting a hand up as Brenum and Trylia came flying towards them.  Shadie joined Usharr and cushioned their fall.
            ‘Let me guess: Relsor?’ she said.
            ‘He’s going to kill Lian, and I promised Lian I’d keep him alive,’ said Brenum, ‘and there we were flying around fighting starfighters when we should have been with him the whole time.’
            ‘Brenum, whatever happens, it’s not your fault,’ said Shadie, reassuring him.
            ‘You don’t understand, Shadie,’ her friend protested, ‘Lian knew, Lian felt it in the Force.  He’s going to die!  We have to do whatever we can to prevent that from happening.’
            As though on cue, the Sphere finally arrived and dropped down close to them.  Perce looked up and jumped into the air and disappeared from view; Shadie assumed he might have landed atop the Sphere.  It didn’t matter.
            ‘Come on, everyone!’ shouted Shadie.
            Fane, clutching his head, followed her in, the others all running behind him.
            When they entered the Sphere, they were met by an interesting figure: a tall and fully armoured Mandalorian.
            ‘Oh, hi there,’ he said, mildly waving his hand. He took his helmet off, holding it under his arm.
            Talyc shook his head in disbelief, yet he had a broad smile on his face.  ‘How in the kark?’
            The Mandalorian shrugged.  ‘One minute I was about to be spaced, wasn’t too sure how long I’d last out in space in this armour, then this Sphere thing appeared and swallowed me up.’
            ‘Wait, are you Mildred?’ said Knarf.
            ‘The very man himself,’ replied the clan leader.  He turned to Shadie.  ‘I suppose I have you to thank?’ 
            Shadie smiled but shook her head. ‘The Sphere was out of touch for a portion of the fight, it acted of its own volition, probably when Relsor’s illusion ended.’
            ‘Right place, right time for the Sphere, then, I guess, and for me. Makes me the lucky one all the same,’ said Mildred.
            ‘Emerick is going to be over the moon to hear you survived,’ said Talyc, exchanging a handclasp and shake with Mildred, who also shook hands with Knarf, in a more formal manner.
            ‘I wish I could say the others survived, but very few were left,’ said Mildred.  ‘All who could get to escape pods, did.  It was brutal.’
            ‘I know what Relsor is capable of,’ said Talyc, ‘I can imagine what his Sith did to you all.’
            ‘No,’ said Mildred, ‘there were very few Sith leading the assault.  Most of them were Imperial Officers.’
            ‘Imperial!’ said Brenum.  ‘I don’t know if that helps us or not.  Relsor was willing to sacrifice the Imps.’ 
            ‘Yeah, I don’t think they estimated their failure,’ said Mildred. ‘A lot that transpired wasn’t planned, good and bad.’
            As the Mandalorians kept on talking, Brenum and Trylia turned to Shadie, Usharr and Fane.
            ‘We have the recording, Usharr, it worked,’ said Trylia.  ‘Shadie, we recorded Usharr confronting Relsor regarding his alliance with the Empire.  Knarf can slice a broadcast across the entire galaxy to expose Relsor’s plans.’
            Shadie nodded.  She didn’t know the extent of whatever plan her friends had devised, but she trusted that it would help their cause and knew she would soon find out anyway.
            The Sphere arrived at Relsor and Lian’s location and opened up to let everyone out.  Perce jumped down from atop the Sphere, landing before them, and right away sent lightning to block their path.
            ‘My ship?’ cried Brenum.  ‘Where is it?’
            Relsor laughed.  ‘Autopilot!’
            Brenum scowled.  ‘You!’  Brenum jumped into the fray, leaping over Perce and his lightning.  Trylia joined him and they landed next to Relsor.
            Relsor smiled at them.  ‘We have an audience, Lian, many who’ve come to see your demise, and my victory.’

Continue Reading Chapter Ten

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Fane could barely feel his fingertips; they tingled as though they’d been asleep for ages.  He managed to lift himself up on his hands and knees.  Talyc was moaning, Lian was bobbing this way and that, rocking himself, Shadie was reflecting energy back at Relsor, and Usharr looked focused, taking in all the dark side energy, as though ready to burst.
            ‘You going to explode the dark side at Relsor?’ Fane asked, crawling towards where Usharr and Talyc lay.
            Talyc reached a hand towards Fane.  Fane took Talyc’s helmet off.  ‘Are you all right?’
            Talyc looked up at him, his face wet with tears, and Fane felt a pang.  This ordeal must have been causing so many flashbacks for Talyc.
            Lian finally stopped rocking, after taking a loud deep breath, and lay motionless. He looked calm, his eyes focused on Relsor, and Fane saw the dark side energy orb diminish and shrink.  He understood that Lian was healing the Force.  Fane felt a little ill, but he figured that was normal, given the circumstances.
            ‘We need to take him by surprise,’ said Lian in a low voice.  ‘Usharr, can you send him one of your attacks soon?  I will attempt to connect Fane to Relsor’s mind.’
            Usharr looked at Lian and nodded, still looking focused.  Then, on Lian’s mark, Usharr sent Relsor an immense attack of dark side energy that made Relsor stagger back.  Fane focused and he could feel Lian guiding him.  They connected within the Force and connected to Relsor’s malady.  Fane pushed as hard as he could, but he could feel the True Sith fighting back.  He was in, and Relsor stood as Fane made him stand, then he was back out again.  He pushed again and was back in, then was kicked right back out.  He pushed again and felt Relsor push back.
            Relsor screamed extremely loudly.  ‘Aaargh!  Get out of my head!’
            Relsor lifted his hands high and everyone was lifted into the air.  Suddenly Fane could no longer move.  He focused on the Force around him, trying to move his limbs.  He didn’t understand.
            Relsor laughed.  ‘You thought you could resist my paralysing stasis, didn’t you, Fane?  Just because you can connect to my mind, doesn’t mean you can resist my powers.  You are still too weak to defeat me, which will make it all the easier to destroy you.’
            Fane felt panic; he was supposed to be able to defeat Relsor.  He looked at the others.  Talyc’s jaw was clenched tightly, Usharr seemed to relax in the position and circumstance in which he found himself, Shadie looked defiant, while Lian kept his eyes closed and looked meditative.  The Twi’lek opened his eyes again and looked at Fane. 
            ‘We have to try again!’ he called out.
            ‘I’m trying, but it’s not working!’ cried Fane.  ‘He’s found a way to resist us.’
            Fane saw Lian try to move.  The Jedi healer seemed to be healing the Force around him, for he could move his arms and legs in slow extended movements, but when Relsor looked at him, he became as motionless as the others.
            ‘We need to try something!’ cried Shadie. 
            ‘We need to embrace it,’ said Usharr.  ‘Work with it.’
            And then Fane saw something he never thought he would, and the Force was ever more wondrous to him: Relsor sent lightning towards Usharr but it stilled in the air, motionless, and never reached its target.
            ‘Just like that,’ said Usharr. 
            ‘Urrgh, stupid Sith!’ growled Relsor.  The Chiss tried again, this time with dark side energy, and he sent it towards all of them, but that too was stilled and paused in mid-air before it could reach any of them.
            That’s when Fane understood: as long as Relsor held them in stasis like this, his Force powers would not hurt them.
            ‘The dark side is a wondrous tool, if you know how to utilise every one of its aspects,’ said Usharr, a faint proud smile on the corner of his mouth.  ‘Something our enemy never learnt.’
            Fane couldn’t help but smile.  Usharr was the only Sith among them and he could truly use the Force in ways they could not.  For once, Fane was glad a Sith was among them.
            Relsor looked at them for a moment and sat on the ground, legs crossed, and closed his eyes in meditation.  At least while Relsor was busy trying to figure out his next move, even if they were still in stasis, floating above the ground, they were unharmed, for now.

Continue Reading Chapter Nine

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Lightsabers sizzled as they clashed against each other, red against green, against aqua, against white.  Talyc threw his vibroblade up in the air towards a somersaulting Relsor.  Lian used the Force to guide it somewhat, but the Chiss Sith diverted the blade and it came rushing back towards Talyc.  Lian slowed it with the Force and the Mandalorian was able to catch it.  He looked Lian’s way and nodded his helmeted head, allowing Lian to know his gratitude.
            He had come a long way, Lian thought; after everything he’d suffered at the hands of Relsor, for here he was in the fray, fighting him with the others.  Relsor was right about one thing he kept repeating: it was a shame Talyc didn’t have the Force.
            The Krayt Dragon flew quickly back to the group of Jedi and hovered low.  A few shots fired, enough to distract Relsor as an old Force-user Lian assumed was Usharr jumped out of the ship.  Relsor looked as though his attention was on the viewport, and Lian noticed he was staring right into it at Trylia, who stared back at him.  Lian saw her shake her head, her eyes seemed to be pleading.  Relsor shook his head in response and looked down.
            The group of Jedi took advantage of the distraction to regroup. The ship remained in a hovering position, but Brenum and Trylia remained within the ship.  Usharr walked right up to Relsor and tapped him on the shoulder, bringing the True Sith’s attention back to the fight.  Relsor reacted in surprise and struck a blow at Usharr, who ignited his magenta lightsaber and blocked Relsor.  They exchanged a few cuts and parries, and every time, Usharr blocked with precision and eloquence.
            Relsor made to shove him aside and run towards Lian, who stood next to Fane, allowing the fight to go on, but Lian sensed Usharr had something in mind.  The old Sith used the Force to propel Relsor back in place, which surprised all of them.
            ‘Out of my way, old man!’ said Relsor.
            ‘If you’d taken the time to speak to me earlier, you would know that there is no need to fight me,’ said Usharr.
            ‘Why?  Because you’re too old to be worth the glory?’
            Usharr replied with a flurry and lifted a hand in the air.  Lightning struck Relsor from all around, as though a storm hit him.  The irony of such immense dark side powers hitting Relsor back the way he would attack the Jedi was of an energetic beauty that Lian somehow appreciated.
            ‘I’ve met very few people who could perform this ability,’ said Relsor, ‘other than me, of course.  Who are you?’
            ‘My name is Master Usharr, former Dark Council member of the Sith Empire, former High Master of the Sith Academy.’
            ‘Ah, I see.’  Relsor took a few steps back and sized him up and down in a condescending way.
            The fight had finally stilled. 
            ‘We are allies, if I understand correctly,’ said Usharr.
            ‘Yet you fight with the Jedi,’ said Relsor.
            ‘Who’s to say I was not brought here against my will?’
            Relsor laughed.  ‘Not with those powers, you weren’t.  What’s your game?’
            ‘My game?’  Usharr shook his head.  ‘Your game!  You have squandered the lives of the Sith whom you recruited from the Empire.  You have been treating us like fodder.’
            ‘That’s because you are fodder!’ Relsor snapped.  ‘Do you truly think your Sith are more powerful than me?’
            ‘Who taught you your abilities?’ asked Usharr.
            ‘Darth Gourd, my uncle.’
            ‘Who taught him some of these special techniques in lightning abilities?’
            ‘Darth Kromus.  What’s your point old Sith?’
            ‘Who taught Kromus?’
            ‘How should I know!’
            Usharr spread his arms out.  ‘You’re looking at the man himself.’  Understanding seemed to come to Relsor’s face.  ‘There is nothing you know that I have not already taught.  I am a Master of the dark side.  You are still young, much younger than me anyway.  Your technique is raw, unrefined.  True Sith, my eye.  The Sith Empire is the only place where you will find true Sith.’
            ‘The Sith Empire is weak,’ snapped Relsor.  ‘Have you come to try to reclaim your glory?  It looks like it is far behind you, human.  I am a True Sith, far more powerful than all your academy of Sith put together.  I could crush them all at once by a single thought and sheer will.’
            ‘Is that what you plan on doing then?’
            Relsor’s lip curled up in one corner.  ‘What I plan on doing with the Sith Empire is none of your business, but rest assured, you won’t be alive to see it come to fruition.  The Empire is mine, as the Republic will soon be.  I will control everything.’
            ‘You won’t kill me,’ said Usharr, taking a defensive stance.  ‘And I will never obey you.’
            ‘Anyone who does not obey my command will perish with the malady that I am,’ said Relsor.  ‘I demand compliance, and anyone who refuses to oblige will die.’

Continue Reading Chapter Eight

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The Krayt Dragon entered realspace and was met by an onslaught of incoming fire.  Brenum cursed and pressed a few keys.
            ‘Hey, it’s the Krayt Dragon.  Mandalorian blockade, we’re Jedi, we’re on your side!’
            The response that came was a volley of laser fire from several starfighters; they were of Chiss design.
            ‘That’s not good,’ said Brenum. He veered the ship, dodging more fire.  The ship bucked as Brenum adjusted his vector.
            Trylia swivelled in her chair and tried to raise the Mandalorian flagship.
            ‘Well the Republic’s here,’ said Lian, pointing at one of the dreadnaughts.
            ‘Krayt Dragon,’ came a voice through a lot of static.  ‘We apologise, many ships have been compromised by the enemy…  Relsor… superlasers…’
            ‘Wait, can you repeat that?’ said Trylia.  ‘There’s a lot of interference coming through.’
            ‘…superlasers…Mandalorian ships…compromised…’
            Brenum pulled on the throttle and let the ship do a few rolls to ease his way through some of the blockade ships, while Trylia fired on several of the starfighters.  His stomach lurched, though not from the manoeuvre, but rather from the fact that there were superlasers on Mandalorian ships.
            ‘I think I can help,’ said Lian.
            He closed his eyes and seemed to drift into meditation, but it was brief.  When he opened his eyes, he began pointing at various Mandalorian ships.
            ‘This one.  That one.  Over there,’ he said.
            Brenum understood right away what he’d done.  ‘We need a way to mark them so that the other Mando ships and Republic ships can recognise them.’
            ‘Mandalorian Blockade,’ said Trylia, ‘Jedi Lian has identified some of the ships that have the Force signature of Relsor’s malady and are most likely ones with the superlasers.’
            ‘Is anyone on those ships still alive?’ said Lian.
            ‘Scans show an incredibly high amount of deceased on the ships,’ said the Mando on the other side of the line.  ‘It’s likely some are…but we cannot confirm…we must destroy those ships and those superlasers.’
            ‘Have any escape pods left?’ asked Trylia.  ‘If Mandos can reclaim their ships and keep the superlasers, we can counter the enemy with his own weapons.’
            ‘Risky, but… try.’
            Brenum flew past more of the ships Lian was pointing at, every time scanning them.
            ‘Here, send these scan reports to the Blockade leader,’ Brenum said.  ‘He’ll know which ships are dangerous now.’
            In no time, ships were turning towards one of the Mandalorian juggernauts Lian had identified, and began shooting it down.  It retaliated with a shot from the superlasers and destroyed one of the Republic’s ships with one beam.  A bright light flashed in the viewport and then the Republic ship was gone, disintegrated.
            ‘Sithspawn!’ Brenum cursed.  He stared at the empty space before him.
            ‘Brenum,’ he heard Trylia say, ‘we need to land and help planetside.’
            He nodded.  He wished he could help the fight out here in space.

Continue Reading Chapter Seven

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