CHAPTER ELEVEN
-Rhen Var-
"This is suicide, Soos..."
"I told you it would be, Kral."
The X-wing fighters of Rogue Squadron narrowly moved through enemy lines, Glorian fighters hot on their tail. Through her comlink, Jaina heard R2-D2 squeal in terror as they just barely avoided a suicide fighter.
Soos' plan, as crazy as it was, appeared to be working. By slipping through the Glorian fleet, they were getting the fighters to follow them and perform their suicidal maneuvers. By executing a few just-as-crazy moves, they would be able to reduce the Glorians' numbers and, hopefully, not get killed in the process.
Easier said than done, Jaina thought as she watched an A-wing interceptor dive straight into a Glorian warship....
* * *
In all his life, Admiral Chaar never thought he would witness a miracle.
One moment, his ship was on the brink of destruction, hounded by Glorian attacks. The next, said fighters had went off to pursue Rogue Squadron while the Imperial Star Destroyer Harbinger came to Chaar's aid.
"Hang in there, Jan Dodonna," said the Harbinger's Coruscanti-accented captain Trebor Horan. "We'll escort you to safety."
Chaar sighed in relief. "Many thanks, captain."
With that, the Vurk admiral collapsed into his command chair and, through tiered eyes, watched as the tide of the battle turned for the greater good.
* * *
"This is Gold Leader to Major Rolav; the citadel is under Alliance control. All Glorian ground forces are retreating. I repeat, all Glorian ground forces are retreating."
Sakul smiled as he reclined in his seat. "Good work, you guys. Now get back up there and help Admiral Chaar's forces."
"You got it, major."
As the comm channel went silent, Sakul gazed out at the harbor, where his and Ivan's troopers were rounding up the remaining Glorians, who were pleading and begging to be executed. Of course, they wouldn't be given the satisfaction; they didn't deserve it.
"A job well done, I'd say," said Commander Ivan as he came up beside Sakul. He had removed his helmet, revealing a middle-aged face with a pointed goatee.
"I must say," he said, "we make a pretty good team."
Sakul chuckled. "That we do, commander."
He moved his gaze to the corpse of what appeared to be a Glorian general, judging by their more polished and silvery armor. It looked as if he or she had been bisected. Going by the lack of blood, it couldn't have been done with an ordinary blade.
Sakul shrugged any further though on it off. Whoever did this to them was obviously long gone and were most likely working against the Glorians.
Turning back to Ivan, he raised up a bottle of Corellian beverage and two small goblets. "Care for a drink?"
Ivan laughed. "Don't mind if I do."
* * *
It was finally over.
Jaina relaxed her shoulders as she watched the Glorian fleet retreat into hyperspace. Their forces seemed to be moving in disarray as they did so, some of the remaining fighters crashing into each other as they scurried for their respective flagship's hangar bay.
Once they had all fled, once Jaina was certain that they wouldn't return for an unexpected ambush, she said to her fellow Rogues, "All right, guys, let's return to the Jan Dodonna. We've won."
* * *
"Wow," Sev Nep murmured as he slumped into a chair. The rest of the Alliance and Imperial forces were gathered around a table set up within a fortress in the Rhen Var Harbor. Anakin sat down next to him and Jast Kyjar as food and refreshments were passed around the table.
"Wow," the Sullustan repeated. "I never thought I would...would...."
"See a battle to the end?" Anakin asked as he bit into a biscuit.
"Yeah, and win!" Sev accepted a bottle of water and quickly drained it down. "I guess all of that military training which I thought was pointless paid off."
"Speaking of training," Jast said, "I oughta learn how to drive one of those hovertanks. Lumpy's good enough with the turret. I think we make a good team, don't you?"
The Wookiee growled in response.
Jast sighed. "I should also learn how to speak Wookiee."
"I'm sure my dad could give you a few pointers," Anakin said. "Or maybe Lysira could-"
He paused, his eyes scanning the room and the table. He saw Kalvin, Tesara, and Vex speaking with their fellow stormtroopers. Animus, back in his human form, was speaking with Lieutenant Eshka, while everyone else was talking and laughing.
But there was still no sign of Lysira Naris.
Anakin got up from his seat. Sev, Jast, and Lumpy stared at him in confusion.
"Where are you going?" Sev asked.
"I'll be right back," Anakin said hastily. "Just need some fresh air."
* * *
Much to his surprise, it didn't take long for him to find Lysira. She was standing not far from the harbor, staring out at Rhen Var's setting sin. What surprised him even more was what she said to him when he finally reached her.
"I'm leaving, Anakin."
He stopped, staring at her in disbelief. "Why?"
She turned to face him and he saw that she was dressed in the same outfit worn by the Revanchists on Dantooine and Tatooine.
"I can't bear to live among you and your friends, knowing that I will be regarded with contempt for my use of the dark side." She returned her attention to the setting sun. "I'll be returning to my own kind...where I belong."
"Lysira," Anakin said softly. "You don't have to do this."
She smiled at him. "I do, Anakin. It's for the greater good."
On a device wrapped on her wrist, she pressed a button. Suddenly, a small starfighter of an undetermined model broke through the clouds, gracefully landing before Lysira.
As she began to climb into the ship, she looked at Anakin one last time, smiling sadly.
"Don't worry," she said. "Our paths will cross again one day. I promise."
Anakin simply stood where he remained and watched as her ship rose off the icy ground and blasted off into the sky, vanishing behind the gray clouds.
EPILOGUE
-Mandalore-
Atinar Cabur blinked, startled by what had just happened.
The two Jedi were gone. How and why, he did not know.
Nor do you care.
He twitched at the voice in his head. Right, he thought. I don't care. They're Jedi; they probably escaped somehow. I'll catch them eventually.
Without saying a word to any of the other Mandalorians, who were just as baffled as he had been, he strode out of his home, thinking about visiting the Oyu'baat cantina for a drink.
-Kuna's Tail system-
As the desert world of Sarafur fell behind him, Shadow sat in contemplation at his ship's controls, staring at his collection of Sith artifacts, which he had built up over the years.
Some of them had turned out to be forgeries. The Sith sword which the Snivvian con artist Remulus Horne got from Ord Radama, for example, was such a counterfeit. The glove of Darth Vader, also from the Snivvian, was likely a forgery as well; Lord Kaan had plenty of Sith amulets, and there was also an abundance of Mandalorian crushgaunts in the galaxy. Remulus could have easily found the two and claim it to be Lord Vader's glove.
Shadow sighed. Did he really need all of these novelty items? With his mission finished, for the time being, he no longer needed these to track Lumiya.
True, he had originally intended to destroy them after finding each and every last one of them. But he had then taken an interest in the Sith and their lore. But was it nothing more but a mere distraction?
He did not wish to think any further on the subject. Gathering up his 'collection' and putting it back into his travel pouch, he headed for the ship's cargo hold. Soon, the ancient relics and artifacts of the long-lasting Lords of the Sith would be nothing but debris in space....
-Elsewhere-
The storm was approaching. It had been doing so for quite some time. Only now, it was a matter of time before it struck.
True, the Glorains had lost Rhen Var. But it was lesser, uninhabited world, and thus not essential to the Reunification. The loss at Rhen Var had done nothing to disrupt the reconstruction.
And with Jaden Korr under his direction, he could not only watch the events of the galaxy unfold, but actually affect them as they did.
The Watcher smiled to himself. The storm was indeed approaching. And the galaxy could do nothing to stop it.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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