Destiny Eclipse

Xander Vos

Chapter Sixteen – Finale Part 4

**86 ABY**

Bakura – Atmosphere

Sith

Darth Acheron flicked his wrist, sending his TIE Phantom into a spin, away from the oncoming fire from the Jedi craft. Their X-Wings were high-tech, the latest off the production line, and almost a Phantom’s equal in combat. Almost. Depressing a button, he primed his concussion missiles. As he came around for a pass on the X-Wings as they too separated by pair, he fired, holding his finger over the detonation button the new concussion missiles had been fitted with – the recent miniature war with the Vong had made Sienar rather jumpy – he pressed it as it flew between two star fighters, blowing one completely apart, and buffering the other, sending it spinning out of control until it ended its spin in a fiery explosion against a Star Defender.

“Tighten up wing,” Acheron snapped, and the TIE Defender to his right flew slightly closer to him, mirroring his moves as only those connected through the Force could. An X-Wing wheeled around, its partner matching its movement as smoothly as Acheron’s wingman had. The X-Wing came at him, its lasers blazing as it sped towards him. His shields slowly drained of power, but Acheron took it. In the instant before the X-Wing hit him, he side-slipped, firing another concussion missile, blowing the X-Wing away in a bright flash that would have blinded Acheron if his view port hadn’t tinted to cope wit the added light.

The pilot had clearly been a rookie, Acheron decided. Most pilots wouldn’t fly straight for him in such a basic attempt to blow him out of the sky. He would have to be far better if he were to take out any other fighters, and now with his shields at only fifteen percent, he would be at quite a disadvantage.

Jedi

Lyn swore as the TIE Phantoms blew chunks into his squadron. They were suddenly on level playing fields, as they levelled out at nine remaining fighters each.

“Careful Sil Squadron!” He stressed, “No more heroics. We take them out together, and we take them out now!”

Flipping into a turn, he avoided a rough explosion from a concussion missile, and locked on to a stray Phantom, sending several full strength bursts into it. Its shields drained, and it spun away, in an attempt to break the lock. Following through, he finished with a quad laser burst that shattered the cockpit, blowing the craft apart.

Lyn grinned, but his happiness was short lived as his craft coursed with an alarm – someone had a lock on him. Veering to the side, a bead of sweat formed on his forehead as the first lasers hit his craft, jerking him forwards in his seat. “Wing, a little help here.”

“I’m coming lead, wait, hang on-” the rest of the transmission was cut off, punctuated by a fiery explosion off to Lyn’s right. The experience over Naboo flashed through Lyn’s mind, and he lost control, screaming in rage as the lasers continued to chip into his shields. Reaching out with the Force, he felt the presence behind him and flung it into the cockpit of its craft. The body shattered through, sending the TIE out of control, tumbling forwards. It smashed into the back of Lyn’s X-Wing, sending warning alarms coursing through it.

“I’m hit, going planet side,” Lyn said, as his star fighter tumbled out of control down towards Bakura. If luck was with him, he’d be able to eject and land on the roof of the Temple, and help Xander out. He could do no more in space. The star fighters would either destroy the TIEs, or be destroyed, and either way it would do little for the battle taking place on the ground.

The planet swallowed up Lyn’s vision, and he hit the ejector button. He was thrown back in his seat as it shot out of his X-Wing. Navigating his way, he managed to determine where he was in relation to the Temple. He began a slow drift down as he headed towards it.

Jedi Temples – Outer Grounds

Sith

Darth Vexen stalked forwards. Finally, for the first time in his life, he was participating in a true land battle. No walkers to dishonour Sith who were better in hand-to-hand combat, no hidden advantages. A Sith army against a Jedi one. Many of his men were Sith, as their’s were Jedi. Others were normal officers, and so the fight was purely even, and would prove to all who witnessed his true power in the Force.

As the Temple came into sight, he let a roar escape his lips, echoed throughout the ranks as they marched forwards, on and on, towards the Jedi. In the distance, pinpricks of light ignited in the darkness; some blue, some green, some purple. Vexen drew his own blade, the ruby blade lighting up the path to the Temple; the sulphur and ruby blades behind him creating a beacon of light, casting a bloody glow over the plains, an ominous prediction of the battlefield as it would become.

As they closed the gap between the Jedi, many Sith began to break ranks and sprint. Vexen just remained walking, knowing the Jedi were not going anywhere, and with the full brunt of the Sith at his back, he would have nothing to fear.

Jedi

The Sith were here. Dakoth brought his emerald blade up into position, as others around him followed suit. They stood, impassive as the Sith begun to charge. Many Sith broke ranks and sprinted for the Jedi; some Jedi ran to meet them, engaging in battles between the two armies. Even as he watched, some Sith were felled, as were some Jedi.

He held up his hand, and as the Sith closed within range, dropped it. Arrayed above and behind them, soldiers carrying PLX Launchers fired them into the Sith ranks. The night conditions however made them inaccurate, the rockets hitting several ranks back, within the normal ranks, taking out scores of men all the same.

The Sith, suddenly cautious, ran the final stretch, and Dakoth flipped to the side, engaging a Sith in a duel. The Sith, wielding a sulphur lightsaber snarled at him, swinging wildly and harshly – clearly a junior ranked member of the Sith Army.

Still, a wild swing could still be the end of him, so Dakoth remained focussed, swinging cautiously and reserved, blocking each strike as it came, diverting the energy back on the man. Finally, sensing an opening, he swung, feinting, and took off the man’s legs in a clean sweep. Finishing the fight with a plunge into his chest, Dakoth sprung away, into a group of Non-Force Sensitives, blowing them away with the Force, and battling through the ranks.

If they could stop the Sith here, it would mean so much. The Jedi could fight off the Sith, they could make it into space, fight back the Sith, and even possibly win. Dakoth didn’t like pressure on his shoulders, but he understood he was partaking in the most important battle of all.

As he fought on, around him several of the senior Jedi began to cluster towards him, as the Jedi ranks began to drop. What had begun as fifty Jedi was quickly dropping to thirty, maybe less, though the Sith ranks – Dakoth estimated at most forty actual Sith – were dropping in tandem, and really, the soldiers the Sith had brought were nulled by the presence of the Jedi’s own soldiers.

As he fought, a bright line shone in the night sky briefly, then burnt out, as suddenly as it had begun. Dakoth glanced up, and stretched out in the Force, feeling a familiar presence within the craft hurtling towards the Temple. Lyn seemed to have managed to eject, but his fighter was still hurtling towards them. Judging where it was falling, Dakoth shouted an order, and the Jedi leapt back, falling back into the Temple.

Several ranks of Sith followed them, but the rest were too slow. Like a bomb hitting the planet, the X-Wing hit, going up in a huge ball of fire. Dakoth raised his hand, compressing the shattered X-Wing, causing the torpedoes within to detonate, taking out the remaining Sith in a large explosion, and forcing the rest of their soldiers to retreat to a safe distance as the Temple’s roof caved in.

Dakoth grinned, despite himself. This was suddenly a lot easier.

Sith

Vexen was blown forwards by the force of the explosion, and quickly stretched out with the Force. The rest of his force was gone… just gone… blown away. He growled in rage, in no mood for fights anymore. This was beyond that. He had been given orders, he would carry them out. In only a short time Minious and Mauv would be at the Council Chambers. They’d been given plans, they knew how far away it was, if he didn’t arrive there at roughly the same time with his force, Minious and Mauv could easily be killed by the Council Members gathered there.

Pushing forwards, he let off a barrage of Force Lightening, catching his opponent unawares, blowing him away, pushing him into several other Jedi, throwing them off balance too, allowing their opponents to finish them off. One Jedi in particular was doing extremely well, and so Vexen attempted to avoid him, pushing other sections of the Jedi back. His theory that this Jedi would back away with his forces was proved correct, as they pushed them back through hall after hall, the small corridors meaning numbers became meaningless.

Vexen began to fall back amongst the ranks as they pushed forwards, and he surged his men with confidence, as the presences of Minious and Mauv lit up like beacons. He knew they were drawing close. He could almost… taste it.

Jedi Temple – Council Chambers

Jedi

The sound of combat filled Xander’s ears, and he spun towards the corridor stretching off to the left. Flickers of light began to fill it, and men began to back through, and fill out the much wider corridor. They glanced at Xander, caught unawares that he was at their backs, and then turned their attention back to the fight.

As the Sith began to file in, Xander tensed, this fight was meant to be far from here. With numbers like this the Sith could easily blow open the doors. Abba was exuding her presence stronger than ever, trying to draw the Sith in like their plan, but even she must know by now something was wrong, something had gone wrong in the plan.

As the Sith began to spread out, Xander leapt into the fray, drawing several Sith to himself. They began attacking him with a synchronised skill that Xander quickly realised he wouldn’t be able to deal with. His hesitation in dealing with them drew them a lot closer to his skill level, and Xander knew it was that compassion for these Sith that was his undoing. He hadn’t fought a Sith in close-combat since that fateful duel with Jysek all those years ago on Reldar, and since then he had believed he could never again view them in the same way.

Another Jedi met him however, his emerald blade matching Xander’s own. “What happened? What went wrong?” Xander asked Dakoth, as they continued to fight.

“Lyn’s fighter crashed, drew them inside, nothing we could do,” Dakoth said, pivoting, and spearing one of the Sith in the chest.

Xander spun, lopping off the head of the other, “We need to draw them away, this is too dangerous.”

“Agreed,” Dakoth said, pausing to think, “I’ll draw them away to the main reactor, if we fight there, then it will be a lot easier to control in the large space. If I take on their leader and force him there, they’ll be bound to follow.”

Xander nodded, “Very well, may the Force be with you my friend. I’ve known you for a long time, and I want you to know I have valued your support in everything I have done-”

“Save it for the eulogy,” Dakoth said, saluting with his lightsaber, and charging back into the fray, targeting a Sith Xander recognised as Darth Vexen, taking the man aback with his sudden pace. The two seemed evenly matched, and Dakoth’s pace allowed him to control the direction of the duel. The two disappeared down a much larger corridor, and the Jedi forces followed, pushing the much smaller Sith force back with them.

Xander turned, and heard boots clunk to the ground behind him. Spinning, lightsaber raised, he grinned into the familiar face of Lyn Korak. The grin faded as quickly as it came. He shouted a warning and Lyn spun, barely bringing up his lightsaber to block a strike from none other than Darth Minious.

_________________

Time to start again.

Xander Vos

Chapter Seventeen – Finale Part 5

**86 ABY**

Jedi Temple - Council Chambers

The blue blade met the red in a shower of sparks. Lyn moved away, blocking a high strike, then a low strike, locking the two blades together to buy time as he recovered from the surprise Minious had given him. Leaping back, he drew level with Xander, the pair holding their lightsabers level, as Mauv and Minious stood facing them, glaring at the pair. The gazes were held and met by Xander and Lyn, who felt no fright in this moment between life and death.

Xander leapt forwards, striking at Minious, working his way through a set of manoeuvres, as he pushed the older man backwards. Lyn struck at Mauv, his opposite number meeting the strike easily and pushing Lyn backwards. Lyn moved with the motion, flipping back, connecting his foot with Mauv’s jaw, sending him reeling backwards.

Xander slashed at Minious, a move that was parried easily on one of the man’s wrist blades. The other set moved up in an attempt to decapitate Xander, and Xander flipped his blade to meet that one. Growling in frustration at being on the back foot against Minious for having only one blade, Xander moved forwards, pressing the advantage, swinging wildly with deadly accuracy, forcing Minious to use both sets of blades incredibly quickly to parry each strike as it came.

Lyn recovered his footing and leapt up, as Mauv moved forwards as well, the pair meeting in a boom of noise and sparks, the pure strength the two exerted pushing their blades together and fixing them in place.

As Xander pressed Minious up the corridor, he trod on one of the dead bodies around him, and realised his folly. The corridor was littered with dead bodies and lightsabers. Kicking Minious in the stomach and forcing him back another step, Xander paused, summoning a lightsaber into his left hand, and igniting the violet blade. He grinned, Minious’ advantage was gone.

Growling, Minious stepped forwards, faster and harder now than before, and Xander’s fast manoeuvres suddenly counted for nothing as the pair drew even. Xander’s mishandling of double-lightsaber combat costing him the precious advantage it could have given him.

The pair locked blades, and Xander had the chance to growl out, “You killed my parents.”

“They begged me for the sweet release only death could bring,” the Sith replied, spitting in the Jedi’s face, and spinning away, disengaging their blades.

Roaring in rage, Xander ran at Minious, careening his lightsabers around, unleashing his fury at the man who had taken away his parents. Minious was thrown aback by this wild abandon, and was forced into his techniques known as Trakata, disengaging blades at random, reactivating them, and hoping to throw Xander off. Quickly this became a folly, as Xander’s strikes came close to decapitating him unless he reignited his blades quickly.

Sweat beaded on Minious’ forehead as he pushed forwards, trying to throw Xander off-balance. The pair battled on, with Xander ignoring all else but landing the next blow, and throwing Minious further off-guard. No thoughts entered his mind, all earlier belief that Sith were creatures of flesh and blood as much as any Jedi, were long abandoned as all he saw before him was a monster of pure evil. Minious, to his credit, managed to hold Xander’s attack back, but as Minious moved in for another attack, the error was made. Stepping forwards, his foot made contact with a lightsaber, slipping his balance side-ways. Xander pivoted, and brought his emerald blade around, slicing off one of Minious’ hands, taking with it two of his blades.

Howling in rage and pain, Minious stumbled backwards, one hand and two blades remaining. Xander pressed, favouring his attacks to the right, the side Minious was now lacking in. Finally in an unexpected move, Xander sliced cleanly through, then reversed, as Minious brought his hand down, moving the blade cleanly through the second hand, leaving Minious defenceless.

The tyrant of millennia, the Founding Father of the Eternal Empire of the Stars, sunk to his knees. Xander brought his blades together, in a scissor across his neck. Minious to his credit showed no fear at the end, his eyes just gazing coldly into Xander’s.

“You shall remember me for the rest of your life. This day shall be remembered, as the day you fell to the Dark Side.” Minious said.

Xander paused, drawing his emerald blade away, drawing a smirk from Minious’ face. As the blood lust left him, Xander for a moment felt hesitation, an emotion that Minious drew in, like a life essence, breathing it as if it were his first breath after an eternity without one. Jysek’s fall had taught him so much about these creatures, and yet, looking into those pure black pits of evil, Xander knew that this man was different. This man was no Jysek.

“Pity this will be the last day I remember,” he said, pulling his violet blade across, ending the Sith Lord’s life.

Jedi Temple - Core Generator

The green blade met the red in a shower of sparks. Dakoth struck out at Vexen, then backed off, drawing the Sith Lord to him. The other Jedi watched from a safe distance, as the pair continued to fight. The last of the Sith soldiers had been dispatched, and now it was up to their leader to finish the last one. Any one of them entering the fray could break his concentration and wind up getting him killed.

As they battled, the generator hummed behind them in its might. The Jedi and the Sith continued regardless. The fight that had begun half an hour before on the steps of the Jedi Temple was reaching its crescendo, and Dakoth was reaching the end of his energy. He’d been drawing on the Force the other Jedi were feeding him, but even that was not enough, he was beginning to struggle to keep fighting, to keep Vexen from striking him with the final blow.

Backing up a step again, he shouted out, “Leave, or you shall be killed with us!” As Vexen struck at him, Dakoth bringing up his blade in a lethargic attempt at a block.

The Jedi paused, uncertain, then begun to back out of the room, knowing that Dakoth would not order such a move unless he had a plan. The Jedi knew that they were unable to fight in this fight, this battle between a Lord and a Master. The space battle was continuing at a furious pace, and they knew where they were more worthwhile.

“It comes down to the here and now, Sith,” Dakoth grinned, licking his upper lip clean of sweat, as it beaded down to gather there.

“So it does, Jedi,” Vexen said, inclining his head. Vexen as well was sweating, the pair of them past the prime of their life, and in so unable to continue fighting much longer.

Dakoth flipped backwards, kicking out, and Vexen lashed out, his lightsaber melting through Dakoth’s foot, forcing a screech of pain from Dakoth’s mouth.

“I quite liked that toe,” he moaned as he landed, gingerly however, on his injured foot.

“Enough humour,” growled Vexen, moving forwards quickly, he exchanged parries with Dakoth, pushing the advantage he had gained from injuring the man’s toe. Dakoth flung up his blade, and Vexen battered it aside, forcing Dakoth to leap back another step.

“Wait,” Dakoth said, straightening his blade so that for Vexen to move forwards he would be impaled.

Vexen looked curious, but he quickly threw the expression from his face, one of fury returning. He growled in impatience, and battered Dakoth’s blade aside, moving forwards again.

“I’ve had enough of waiting, Jedi, it ends now, not when you say it does,” Vexen said, leaping towards Dakoth.

“Oh I say it ends here,” Dakoth said, throwing his arm out to the side, blowing a hole in the generator. As he leapt away from the Sith, he pushed against the man, using the Force to blow the man into the generator, and garner enough power to blow him over the pit in the floor, and back through the door.

In that split second, Vexen knew what was about to happen, and knew he had no chance for survival. Did he whimper? Did he cry for his long gone mother, or father? Did he let a brief sob escape his mouth at the hopeless situation he found himself in? Of course not, for he was a Sith Lord.

As Dakoth reached the door, the generator reached critical, ending the Sith Lord’s life.

Jedi Temple – Council Chambers

Mauv was more than a match for Lyn, he was his superior. The Sith Lord moved with a grace of man half his years, and his eyes glinted feral as he moved in to strike again. Lyn parried the blow, appearing confident with his strike, but taking a lot of the force on his arms, and not on his chest, as he had hoped.

Pushing Mauv with the Force, Lyn leaped forwards, slashing hard at the man. Mauv brought up his blade, catching the strike, then rolled his wrist, flicking Lyn’s lightsaber aside. Lyn kicked out at the man, hitting Mauv in an area no man liked to be hit.

Moaning in pain, Mauv crunched into the wall, sliding to the ground. Lyn regathered himself, and drew his lightsaber back into his hand, as Xander struggled back into the main corridor. The distraction caused Lyn to turn his head, and Mauv leapt at him. Bending over backwards, Lyn executed a perfect back flip, kicking up at Mauv as he past overhead, sending him flying into another wall, and from that Lyn could definitely hear a loud crunch.

Groaning in pain, Mauv struggled to his feet, and grimaced, “You shall pay for that strike Jedi, your death will be felt by all Jedi, your disappearance in the Force will reach out to hundreds of people in the surrounding area, they shall collapse under the weight of it. And I shall kill them too.” He said, spelling each word out.

“I don’t think so, Jysek,” Xander said, leaping forwards, and joining the fight. Mauv locked his blade with Xander, growling in anger at the man. He spat on Xander’s face.

“I am no such person, as I told you last time you fought me, you weak, pathetic fool,” he growled. Lyn launched himself forwards, and the time for words was past, as the three engaged in a duel which made the duels of the past hours seem like children waving sticks around in a clumsy randomness.

Xander backed up Lyn’s strikes fluidly, the two working in such perfect tandem that only years of practice could bring. Mauv, to his credit however, was not giving them an inch, fighting them as if he himself were two men, trapped within one, demonic body, possessed with a spirit that did not allow him to surrender, to retreat, and at that moment Xander knew. The look in the man’s eyes, the way he fought, and most of all, the jagged scars that the man war with such pride, were nothing like Jysek. This man wasn’t Jysek at all. This truly was Darth Mauv, Lord of the Sith.

And with that Xander was... liberated. He swung with new vigour, breaking his pattern with Lyn, and going for his strikes with all his power, attacking Jysek from his opposite side so as to stretch the man’s capabilities even further.

The end came quick, and painlessly. He stepped forwards, aiming high for the man’s head, but was met quickly by a spin and pivot. He grunted in pain as a lightsaber protruded from his stomach. All sound was lost to him as he stumbled away from the fight, collapsing to the ground in pain.

He lay there for a few seconds, as darkness seeped into his vision, and, as though his eyes were playing tricks on him, visions begun to appear before him, of Masters long lost to the neverrealms of the Force, coaxing him upwards, away from his body, away from this devishly heavy world of matter and gravity. And then he felt nothing but a floating, and he was gone. With a quick and ruthless strike, Mauv ended the Jedi Master’s life.
_________________

Time to start again.

Xander Vos

The End

Xander screamed in outrage as Lyn collapsed to the ground. His friend of nearly a century gasping his last breath as the lightsaber hole in his stomach burned away at his organs, sending him into shock, and finally, into the embrace of death.

Xander turned, his chest heaving, to face Mauv one last time. His teeth clenched, and he growled. No words were needed, and Xander knew he would never speak again. This was the end. This was what he was meant to do. End this menace to all life everywhere; this Sith, who assumed that life was there to be crushed and mastered, not loved and cherished.

Thoughts of his children flashed through his mind as emerald blade crossed ruby blade, his temporary violet blade lying forgotten amongst the bodies of the dead, left behind, but not forgotten, thrown away in a blind rage. Xander’s tears burned tracks down his face as he faced his friend of ten years, his best friend for the first ten years of his life. Moments before this man, Jysek Talore, Darth Mauv, Lord of Darkness, however he was now known, this stranger to him now, had slain his best friend of the last eighty years, Lyn Korak. The man who had as a boy shown him the Temple for the first time, the man who had fought beside him in his final test as a Padawan, who had become a Jedi Knight at the same moment as himself.

The duel itself was of little importance to Xander now, but each strike he made rang true, each foot he placed, stepped right, drawing Mauv back, and Xander knew the Force was guiding him, knew that this was how it was supposed to happen. The man was wounded, as was Xander, but Mauv’s were superficial, Xander’s ran far deeper, far closer to his heart.

Sound came rushing back to him, as Mauv screamed in rage, driving Xander back a step as he unleashed a barrage of strikes upon Xander, who moved his arms almost robotically, the Force coursing through him now, nothing able to get through his shield. Mauv struck out with Force Lightning, the blue electricity coursing through the air, some deflected by Xander’s blades, some strands striking him, and for the first time Xander made a sound, gasping in pain, and stepping back again.

Mauv pressed in, and Xander, in a flash, understood how it would end, what he must do. Mauv roared, and charged at Xander, his blade out as a spear. Instead of blocking it to the side, prolonging the duel, Xander mirrored the move, pointing his lightsaber out, and leaping at Mauv.

Startled by the move, the Sith Lord’s eyes widened in surprise, the look frozen on his face, as the lightsaber pierced first the Sith Lord’s fleshy exterior, and then his hard, frozen innards, slicing cleanly through, and heating them, if only for a moment, with the fire of the Sword of Light. And then, in an instant, the Dagger of Darkness was dead, the light gone from his eyes, and nothing but a roaring sensation through the Force.

As the Sword of Light entered the Dagger of Darkness, so to did it enter him, and with it a sense of anger, hurt, and betrayal. The dark tried to grip him, to consume him, in its death throes, but the Sword of Light, in his final moments, stood true, beating back the last traces of darkness.

The trials he had faced throughout his life, the tests of the flesh, the tests of the mind, the tests of the heart, and the tests of the unknown, all had drawn him close, closer than any had been to the Dark, and yet he had resisted, as only the true Sword of Light could.

And, as he passed from the world of gravity, the world of emotion, the world of broken friendships, and new found ones, the world of love, the world of betrayal, the world of war, the world of peace, he was surrounded by a blinding white fire. The Temple in which he lay was lit ablaze from the heavens, as beams of blinding light struck down, igniting all in their path, leaving nothing behind.

As the fire of the heavens ceased, and paused, the sound of crashing thunders reverberating throughout the valley fell silent. Creatures, both small and large, cautiously poked their heads from small warrens in which they had hidden. The large, solid, impenetrable Temple that had stood for eternity, the Temple that had offered peace and unity, strength and courage; the Temple that had been a constant in the lives of hundreds of thousands, of millions, was gone. Then, the fires began again.

The End

_________________

Time to start again.

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