Empire Reborn: Ch 7, Part I

Empire Reborn:
Chapter 7: Jedi Trials

Coruscant, located among the Core worlds. Once the seat of the Galactic Empire.

One week later.

The vast metropolis that was now the capital of the New Republic sprawled out underneath them as they entered the atmosphere, a blanket of buildings and lights that covered every available inch of the planet's surface. The Jedi Master's ship was a Feladornian transport; not too large, but compact and conservative in its spaces. It would accommodate four people comfortably for a long trip.

"We're not likely to be welcome here," Talos said, as they sped toward the Jedi temple. It looked fine from a distance, but Kaven knew that its appearance was deceiving. During the reign of the Empire, the temple had been kept in its ruined state as a sort of trophy, a monument to the Jedi's destruction. Although Coruscant had been retaken by the Republic, the Jedi order had not relocated, and the temple remained uninhabited. "There were imperial guards here before the Republic reclaimed the planet. Now it's under Republic authority."

"Would they be willing to let us in?" Kaven asked doubtfully. "A Jedi Master and his padawan, after all." The imperial officer was sitting in the passenger's seat next to the Chiss, watching the temple grow closer. He wore the loose brown robes that were traditional for Jedi, as well as a light brown tunic and a high-collared black shirt that fit him like a second skin beneath that.

"There is a chance that we could convince the guards to let us in." They were hovering over the landing pad now, and Kaven could see the figures of Republic soldiers approaching. "In the worst-case scenario, we will fight our way in."

"But if they're not willing, a mind-trick would be a better alternative."

"In this case, I am inclined to agree."

The ship landed, and the two disembarked. There was a group of six soldiers there, all heavily armed and waiting for them. As they stepped off the gangplank a sergeant held up his hand and said, "This area is off-limits to the public. I'm afraid I must ask you to leave."

"To the public, but not to the Jedi," Talos said. "I have come here on a training mission with my padawan. We must enter the temple."

The soldier looked from Talos to Kaven, and his gaze travelled down to the lightsabers at their belts. "I understand," he said, "but I have my orders. No one is to enter the temple without the proper authority. May I see your identification, sir?"

"You don't need to see my identification," the Chiss said, with a little wave of his hand. "I am a member of the Jedi order."

"I don't need to see your identification. You are a member of the Jedi order. ...My apologies, sir. You may enter."

The man stepped aside and the two went to the entrance, taking care not to hurry. Talos glanced back at the Republic troops, who were taking up their usual guard positions again. "Go to the basement of the temple," he said in a low voice. "Your trial will be there. May the Force be with you."

"And with you." Kaven disappeared into the shadows, and the Chiss turned back to the soldiers.

***

The officer passed beneath the shadows of the pillars, and then entered the temple proper. A short corridor led to a great hall lined with broken statues on either side. The roof had fallen in on the far side, and debris blocked the doors there. Republic soldiers were patrolling, and as Kaven walked in his heart began to beat faster. He tried to walk casually, as though his presence there were meant to be, but Jedi or not, he was still wanted. He was very aware that the men were looking at him.

A cry of "Halt!" caused him to stop dead in his tracks, and he turned to see a soldier jogging toward him. Casual, Erril, he reminded himself.

"How did you get in here?" the man asked, stopping before him.

"The sergeant outside gave us clearance. My master is waiting outside for me--we're here on Jedi business."

The soldier gave him a scrutinizing look, and then nodded, to his relief. "I see. Pardon me, sir. Go ahead."

As he climbed up the stairs on the right side, Kaven caught a glimpse of the man he had spoken to talking to another soldier.

***

The young officer climbed over the rubble and followed the corridors to a smallish room, where smashed pillars lay amid pieces of broken statues.

The battle against the Jedi thirty years before must have been chaos. The interior had been damaged both by explosives and by the Force. Kaven could only imagine the battle between the Clone Troopers and the Jedi defending the temple.

A cold feeling stole into his mind, and he shivered at something he couldn't see. There was a presence growing as he made his way downward. Was the temple haunted? Were there Force ghosts here, spirits of fallen Jedi?

Afraid of the dark side?

He stopped at the entrance to a long room that was lined with statues of cowled figures, all of them damaged.

"Is someone there?" he called. The only answer was his own voice echoing back at him.

There was definitely something there, but whether it was a person or not was hard to say. Kaven stepped into the room. Quite aside from that something, the temple had a presence to it, a weight of ages. The Jedi Knights had served the Old Republic for thousands of years. The temple had seen countless generations of Jedi pass through its halls.

The Jedi had a tradition of testing the infants born on Republic worlds for Force sensitivity. Had the Old Republic not fallen, Kaven could well have been one of those younglings raised in the temple, along with his brothers. He wondered how different his life could have been, how different he would be, if he had been raised as a Jedi and not an officer.

A weird whispering started up. The pilot strained to hear, but in the few seconds that it lasted he could not make out any more than, "...it tempt you. Turn back!"

"Talos, if you're trying to scare me, I am not amused," Kaven said, but he could not feel the Chiss anywhere near him. His teacher was likely still at the landing pad with the soldiers.

He could feel someone else, though, and when he turned to face the dais at the far end of the chamber, he saw them. It was a man, slim and with dark blonde hair, sitting with his back to him, on the cracked and broken torso of a statue.

He had a bad feeling about this.

It can't be, he thought, approaching the dais. The man, clad in the uniform of an imperial naval officer, rose and turned to face the pilot.

"Lucian," Kaven said.

"Erril," said his brother. He looked as Kaven remembered him; handsome, twenty-five years old, in the prime of his career in the imperial navy. He never did see his twenty-sixth year.

"I..." He didn't know what to say.

"You've become a Jedi," Lucian said. "You've betrayed the Empire?"

"I didn't!"

"How could you? After what happened at Yavin...after what happened to me...how could you join our enemies?"

"I never did! I, I'm still with the Empire!"

"You're a Jedi traitor." There was a flash of red as a lightsaber appeared in Lucian's hand. It had an unusually long handle, and Kaven saw why the moment the second blade ignited. It was a double-ended lightsaber. "And you know the price for treason."

Kaven's lightsaber was in his hand and ignited within a second. "You're not Lucian! Who are you really!?"

The apparition laughed, and the Force illusion melted away to reveal a Theelin woman with greyish skin and cold yellow eyes. "When Sith have nightmares, I am the face they see," she said, and spun the saberstaff.

Kaven's heart skipped a beat, but he reminded himself that Talos would not have sent him into a situation that would kill him so easily. He moved into the opening low guard of Makashi. "That's a pretty proud boast," he said, "to give a Sith nightmares."

"You do not know what nightmares are. I am Darth Phobos; I am fear incarnate. Everything you fear is open to me, all of your terrors are at my command."

The woman was a Sith Lord. Kaven felt a cold prickle run up his spine. Was it possible that Talos was unaware of what lay in the temple?

She began to advance on him. "I have looked into the deepest part of you and know what it is you fear."

She swung, and their sabres clashed, with a flash and crackle. Darth Phobos' expression was one of jubilance, as though she were enjoying the taste of what she had found. "And there it is," she said.

"No! Get out of my head!"

Kaven began to attack in earnest, trying to drive the Sith Lord back, but Darth Phobos only laughed and turned aside his attacks as though he were nothing more than an overenthusiastic youngling. She waved a hand, and the officer felt the air around him turn hard and forcibly slam into him. The breath rushed out of him at the impact, and he flew backwards. He hit the wall with bone-crunching force and hung there, suspended by the Theelin's power. He gasped for breath.

"The Empire is crumbling." She struck him again. "Its power is being eclipsed by the Jedi and the Republic. And you can do nothing about it."

"That's--a lie--"

"You are a weak fool of a Jedi. You fear the dark side and its power when you should embrace it." She waved her hand, throwing him back across the room. He struck a statue and broke through it, hitting the opposite wall. As he fell to the floor the Sith Lord said, "Without it your precious Empire will fall."

Kaven got shakily to his feet. "The dark side...is hollow," he said, extending a hand and using the Force to pull his lightsaber toward himself. He ignited it and stood in the opening guard of Soresu. "The dark side doesn't give. It only takes away."

"You don't believe those Jedi lies," Darth Phobos teased, brandishing her double sabre as she started across the room. In a flash she was Lucian again, and his boots clicked on the stone floor as he came. "Once you taste of its power, you will know."

"Stop changing, witch!" The pilot screamed at her, feeling a hot surge of anger rising in him. "He's dead, let him rest!"

"Yes! Use your anger as fuel! Give in to the dark side and strike me down, if you think you are able!"

They circled each other. There was a gleam of exultation in Darth Phobos' eye, and it looked sick and wrong on Lucian's face. Kaven felt his fury rising, and he wanted very badly to just let himself go and unleash all the force he had, just this once, but abyss called abyss and he knew that he would never stop at just once. He began to recount the Jedi code, silently.

It seemed Darth Phobos really could read his mind, for she said, "Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. This is the code of the Sith. See the truth of it."

Their lightsabers came together again, and sparks flew as the two clashed. Kaven's reflexes and skills were stretched to their limits, but it was nothing more than a warm-up exercise to the Sith, who responded to his most ardent strikes with fluid ease. He was woefully outmatched, yet not dead. With the hits he had taken, he should have been hurting more than he was.

It occurred to him at that that this was not a trial of flesh or skill, but the trial of spirit. Darth Phobos was not real. She could injure him, but not physically.

"Release your anger. Embrace your hatred," the Theelin said. "Only then will you have the power to avenge your dear Lucian and crush the Republic." When the officer did not respond to her goading, she let out a cruel laugh and said, "Well, if you won't give in to the dark side, perhaps--" she flickered and changed, "--he will," Jan finished.

Before he could stop himself Kaven let out a gust of Force, and Darth Phobos leapt back, an evil grin flickering across Jan's face. "You leave him out of this," the pilot snapped. "You won't tempt me to the dark side, witch--no matter how hard you try, no matter whose forms you take."

The grin faded. "You will watch the Empire crumble," said the Sith Lord, "and you will never be satisfied. You will see everything you care for be destroyed."

The padawan turned his back on her, extinguishing his lightsaber. "Go back to your holocron," he said bitterly.

Behind him Jan let out a feminine snarl of anger, and Kaven felt a burning pain in his back. He looked down, and saw a glowing red blade emerge from his chest. It withdrew, and he managed to stay on his feet for another second before his knees collapsed underneath him.

***

An hour had passed since he had regained consciousness, after the fight with Darth Phobos, and now the pilot sat at the base of the statue the vicious Sith Lord had been sitting on in the guise of his brother when he had entered the room. He was curled up, with his arms wrapped around his knees, and he had seldom felt so lonely in his life as he did now.

He had been fourteen when the news had reached home, that the Death Star had been destroyed. He had been with Jan when their parents had received the holo. Jan, there's something wrong, he had said to him, and the two boys had gone to find their parents. When they had come in, they had found their mother sobbing on their father's shoulder. When their father had raised his head to look at them, a cold hand had seized Kaven's chest. He had never seen that look on his face before.

"Erril, Jan, you had better sit down," their father had said. Kaven had shaken his head, already knowing and not wanting to believe it, and then his father had told them the news. Just four words, but they had changed Kaven's life. "Your brother...is dead."

He hadn't said anything. He had turned and fled the room.

Much later, his mother had come to him and explained what had happened. The Death Star had been attacked and destroyed by the Rebel Alliance.

In the aftermath of Lucian's death Kaven had gone through a bout of severe depression, which had eased after a few long months. He had then decided to join the Imperial Starfighter Corps, and he had devoted all of his energies toward that goal. He had been accepted into the officers' academy on Corulag, had gone on to flight school. Into his training he had poured all of his grief and anger, and he had come out at the top of his class. He was a natural, they said--his reflexes were lightning fast and he had an instinct for dogfighting.

Throughout his piloting career he had been tapping not only into the Force, but into the dark side of the Force. There were a few battles that he remembered in which he had done so, and he remembered them because they had been...different. At the Battle of Salamand they had been surrounded by enemy ships, and in danger of losing one of their Star Destroyers; TIEs had been getting blown up all across the field, and at the time Kaven had fancied that he could feel the deaths of the pilots. He had gotten angrier and angrier, and his kills had grown to a phenomenal eighteen ships--by himself. He had frightened Roon, and later on, even the normally stoic Kore had admitted that their lieutenant had become just scary. The dark side had leaked to them in that battle as well; Roon's adventurous glee had become actual bloodthirstiness, and Kore's quiet intensity had grown to all and out fury.

It was the battle that had made him a captain. He had never hit that record again, had never even come close. He had never channelled the dark side quite so strongly again, though there were some battles in which he had become tainted with it. Again the dark side had leaked to his companions.

Kaven thought of Darth Phobos and her urgings. The trial of spirit was done, but he wasn't sure how it went. I think I won, but I feel like I lost, he thought, getting up. He started despondently for the exit, and stopped when he felt a disturbance in the Force.

Erril! He had the impression of his name being called. It had to be Talos; no other Force-user but Jan was close enough to him to do this. The mental shout was filled with an urgency that he had rarely heard from the stoic Chiss. Back to the ship now!

A voice called, "He went this way. Hasn't come out--probably still in there."

Kaven turned on his heel and saw a Republic soldier enter the corridor from the far side. "There he is!" the man shouted, and raised his blaster rifle. "Surrender, hands above your head!"

Instead of surrendering, the imperial officer's lightsaber hissed out, glowing an electric blue in the gloom. Levelling it before him, he began to advance. Something in his face and stance made the young soldier blanch, and out of nerves he fired on him. Kaven deflected the shot back at him, and two more Republic troopers came in just in time to see the first hit the ground.

They didn't bother much with formalities. "Imperial scum!" one of them exclaimed, as they both opened fire. Using the defensive motions of Soresu, the officer deflected their shots as he had the first, sending the blaster bolts back over their heads to strike the wall behind them. With a twitch of the Force he sent them both flying back, and they hit the wall as one, falling into a dazed heap.

All three were still alive. The first shot had been partially absorbed by the first soldier's armour, and he would pull through. The other two were barely conscious. Talos had taught him to take a life only when necessary. It was not necessary now.

Speeding up, the officer ran down the corridors that led to the great hall, leapt inside, and once he had landed he slipped into a Force-aided run, blazing through fast enough to avoid the blaster fire from the soldiers stationed there.

Eventually he emerged on the landing pad, where he saw Talos dealing with three of the six soldiers they had met upon touching down. A spectacular leap took him to the Jedi Master's side, where they immediately took up a back-to-back position.

"You called?"

"So glad you could make it," Talos said, holding his lightsaber before him protectively. "It seems you were recognized as part of the imperial military. Friends of yours?"

Kaven turned aside a shot from one of the soldiers. "I don't think I'll be inviting them over for tea. Shall we?"

"We shall." The Chiss hit the trio of humans with a ripple of Force that sent them skidding across the landing pad on their backs. Kaven turned back to the ship, noted a subtle little device that hadn't been there before, and deftly cut it off with a swing of his lightsaber. The halves of the homing device crunched under his boots as they ran back into Talos' ship. Within seconds they were lifting up, amid blaster fire from the soldiers that had been in the great hall, and within moments they had entered space and were preparing for the first of many hyperspace jumps.

"Tell me what happened," said Talos, as the stars became streaks. Kaven told him of the trial, of the forms that Darth Phobos had taken and what she had said to him, and how the duel had ended. "Hmm, yes, I see," he said, once his padawan had finished.

"Did I pass?"

Talos waved a hand. "I will consider it in the Chiss fashion."

Kaven sighed and settled back, putting his feet up and watching the blue swirls pass by.

***

As the Jedi Master and his padawan touched down on the dusty plains of Feladorn, across the galaxy a Twi'lek bounty hunter pushed aside the curtain that separated the two sides of the Frozen Nebula, and went back to her temporary partner.

"Bribery's not an option," said Madeen, sitting down across from him. "Mira liked Erril, and he was a customer. She never rats out a customer."

"What about the ones he left with?" Lieutenant Verdan prompted. "Does she know where they are?"

The Twi'lek shook her head. "She probably knows, but Argent's one of her favourites. They go way back--she'd never give him away on anything."

The imperial officer sighed. "And not one of your contacts knows anything." They had been moving from planet to planet, meeting with Madeen's contacts and trying to ascertain where the pilot had gone. They had been around the Core planets as well as Mid-Rim territory, and the human had swapped his uniform for ordinary black clothing. To the galaxy at large they looked like a pair of bounty hunters, and Verdan made a surprisingly convincing one.

"It's like he disappeared." Madeen drew a datapad from her utility belt and gazed down at it. "His bounty's over one mill now and rising; give it another couple of months and it'll be two." She sighed forlornly. "I can feel it slipping between my fingers."

Verdan sat back and watched a man walk into the back area where the Hutt generally stayed, pondering over their course of action. Madeen was still staring down at her datapad with a sorrowful look, so he checked his own. His mission objectives remained the same, but the bounty the Empire had put on Kaven's head had risen. It was substantial, but only if the pilot was brought in alive. According to Madeen the New Republic still had its bounty on the man, but it wasn't open to the Bounty Hunters' Guild, and the price was no longer available to her. After her 'double-cross' at the warehouse, Lieutenant Sutler had apparently crossed her off his contacts list.

After a while a shadow fell over them, and Diva set down a couple of glasses. "As far as you're concerned, it's on the house," the Theelin hybrid said. "That fellow over there's buying a round. Mira was generous with him, I guess."

Madeen looked up, saw the man that had bought them drinks, and brightened. "He's military." She waved cheerfully. "Hey, thanks! Come sit with us!"

Her partner frowned a little as he looked the man over, noting the New Republic uniform. The man was freshly on leave and hadn't bothered to hide his affiliations. The soldier came over and sat down next to the Twi'lek. Verdan's expression became stony.

"I guess you had a little something for Mira, am I right?" she asked, and they clinked glasses.

"It turned out she liked it better than I thought," the soldier returned, cheerfully. Then he looked at the imperial officer sitting across from him. "I'm not interrupting a date or anything, am I?"

Before Verdan could reply Madeen flapped a hand and said, "Oh, no, 's not like that. We're not those kind of partners. So! What kind of tidbit did you have for Mira?"

"Nothing too special. A rumour and a bit of recent news, neither one public, neither one state secrets." The human took a drink from his glass. "There was an incident at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. A couple of fake Jedi snuck in, looking like master and apprentice. The apprentice was probably trying to get at whatever records are left there now, but we chased him off before he could do much."

"Ooh, that sounds exciting." Madeen leaned on her elbows. "Were you there? Did you fight him?"

"Oh, I was there, all right," the soldier said, inflating a little at the attention she was giving him, and ignored Verdan's disapproving look. "I even got a look at the guy. He was dressed like a Jedi, but they said he was an imp officer."

"Was that the rumour?" Madeen asked, genuinely interested now. Her devious little mind was visibly working things out.

"Nah. The rumour is that the Empire's got a few Jedi working for them these days, and I guess we caught a glimpse of a few. There was that guy, and a Chiss, too. They were the real deal; they had lightsabers and everything. Not real Jedi, but imperial agents of some sort." He took another swallow of his drink. "Blasted imperials don't know when to quit. The galaxy belongs to the New Republic now."

Lieutenant Verdan frowned, and the bounty hunter asked, "What did they look like, the false Jedi? Imperial spies on Coruscant--this is so exciting!"

The soldier leaned back. "Well, the young guy had brown hair; he was sort of tall, maybe in his mid-twenties. Not bad looking, for an imperial officer. The other one was a Chiss wearing a white coat. He was probably in his early thirties. I didn't get much of a look at him--he knocked me flat before I could do anything about it." He paused. "But I was right up and after them in a second, let me tell you," he added, carefully preserving his ego.

Madeen patted his hand. "You'll get 'em next time," she said. "So then what happened?"

"They got into their ship and took off. Security's tightened around the temple now."

From there the topic wandered, and although the Twi'lek tried to get what details she could from the man, the soldier didn't know any more than what he had already told her. Keeping alert for any more leads, she kept him talking. Lieutenant Verdan listened to the conversation, but didn't contribute more than the occasional comment, and his demeanour remained unfriendly. When the Republic soldier had finally left, he said, "Erril Kaven."

The bounty hunter nodded. "Looks like he's got someone showing him the ropes now. It's gonna be a tough capture."

"Yes. A Chiss Jedi--perhaps Mira would be willing to supply a name, if not a planet." The scar-faced officer considered that, and then shook his head. "Not likely. She would know that would lead to Kaven's capture--Chiss aren't common."

"It can't be that he's joined up with the Republic," Madeen commented. "He likes it about as much as you. And unless he's changed drastically, that Chiss master of his probably isn't a Dark Jedi." She rubbed her chin. "Now, the Empire doesn't work with Jedi...but they do work with Dark Jedi, and if the Chiss looked like an imperial Jedi to those men...then he must be politically neutral. So the best place for him would be out of the reach of both sides."

"Wild Space?" the lieutenant asked.

"Maybe. But maybe not. There are plenty of neutral worlds on the Outer Rim. Since our pilot friend seems to attract trouble, that would be the safest place for him." The Twi'lek toyed with one of her lekku as she thought about it, and then said, "I'm going to see what I can get from Mira, and then we ought to head back to Coruscant. With a little research, I might be able to get us back on track."