Finally finishing this lol what y'all think

STAR WARS
THE DARK TIDINGS


By: Desmond Robertson






































Dedicate this book to:




My Little Brother Daniel, who’s a big fan of Star Wars like me and has been my trusty sidekick everywhere,

To my momma, who’s encouraged me to keep on keeping on!

To my pops, who’s been cool all the way!

And to all my family, friends, admirers, and people!









Prologue: Stowaway

One by one the Jedi fell. The glorious statues of all the great Jedi were toppled, records were destroyed, and even Masters were being defeated. One Jedi ducking, deflecting, and dodging blasts from the clones was trying to find his younger brother and other Jedi in the destruction to help them escape. Taking one clone after another, he didn't stop although he was breathing heavily. Using everything as his disposal, he rushed to the rooms the younglings were in, hoping to save the innocent lives. He was the nephew of the now deceased Mace Windu. He’s tall, dark skinned boy with short cut black hair. In his eyes, mind and soul the fire of determination flared. He was focused on saving the only family he had left.

But every room was bloody with the bodies of young children lying on the floor. He feared the worse for his brother. He heard lightsaber and blaster sounds coming from the room down the destroyed hallway. Leaping over a fallen pillar, he rushed into the last room to see not only his brother but also a battalion of troopers firing.

“Kill them all!” the clone commander demanded.

“My name is Kael Windu, the only one who’s going to die... are you!”

As the clones fired, Kael leaped in the air. He preformed the flying leaf on one, turned sweeping one clone off his feet. The anxious troopers started to ease back some as they continuously fired. Two more clones beheaded, the furious Kael was far from done. Stabbing his lightsaber into the ground, the Force quickly blew every clone forcibly into the wall. That was the end, the clone commander stood there with his blaster ready. The young Jedi, Kael Windu, quickly destroyed the weapon and brought the commander to his knees. Kael was furious at the death of so many Jedi and was about to strike the commander down when his brother Desra Windu finally stepped in and blocked his attack.

“We aren't going to go on their level Kael.”

Kael grits his teeth and withdrew his lightsaber, “...after all the death they have caused... after all we did to protect the Republic... THEY TURN ON US!”

Desra Windu hugged his brother and turned to the commander. Desra was also seething in anger but did not strike the commander down but instead put him into a deep sleep using the Force. He turned to the other young Jedi. He was shaking, in shock of so many deaths he felt through the Force.

The brave young Jedi quickly made their way through the halls, looking for the exit until they came into the Great Hall of Jedi. There Desra saw the love of his life fighting off battalions of clones.


“JADE!”

“DESRA!” she said glancing back at him, “I can’t hold them off!”

The Clone Captain shot her in the arm, she started to lose ground. Desra was about to charge into the fray. Jade was shot again in the leg. She fell, lightsaber fell on the floor. Tears flowed down her tan face. The Clone Captain shot her once more and she fell to the ground face first as Anakin walked slowly into the Hall, grinning evilly.

Kael grabbed his brother’s hand, telling him to run. They were no match for the newly crowned Sith Lord.

They rushed through the bloodied, destroyed rooms till they found an air speeder. Desra made sure the area was clear, the young padawans jumped into the back of the speeder but the older Jedi Knight turned around with his lightsaber at hand.

“Desra, what the heck are you doing?” Kael exclaimed.

“I have to go back, SHE MIGHT BE ALIVE!”

Kael grabbed his shoulder, “She can handle herself... believe in her! We gotta plan our next move... those clones are on our heels, we can’t risk anymore.”

Reluctantly, Desra got into the air speeder and flew off to find some way of escape. Their escape was reported to the Republic Security Forces. They flew high above the city, trying to figure out a possible way of escape.

“S-she’s dead...”

Kael looked at his brother; he had never seen his brother hurt this deeply before. Tears came heavily down Desra’s face. The younger brother was crying, he had lost all of his friends he had grown up with. Desra wiped his tears away, refocused his mind. He had to get his little brother out of harm’s way. They came across a star port. They landed outside of the port, ran into the cargo bay of a freighter ship, and hid amongst the containers waiting for departure. Two security guards came to do a check on the cargo before it was to leave for the planet of Cotellier.

One of the clones went over to a pile of metal containers and slowly scanned the area and found nothing. The two clones left and the ship took off, the Jedi were relieved to be away from the dangers below and now pondered on where their journey will take them. Desra, the oldest, was a Jedi Knight before the onslaught began and Kael was a padawan just learning of the ways of a Jedi Sentinel to one day become a Jedi Watchman. Kael looked out the window and saw the dark red planet Cotellier and the freighter landed on one of the landing pads at the station built on the red desert world.

After a few weeks, they arrived at their destination. Once they had landed, the pilot got off and was talking to one of the station workers there. Desra walked over to the ships controls. Although he did not wish to steal the pilot’s ship but he had to find out if any other Jedi were still alive, so he looked at all the triggers, buttons, and levers. He figured out how to take off and the ship started to take off. The pilot looked back in disbelief.

“HEY!!!” he yelled, “Come back with my ship!!!”

But the ship was already leaving the planet and they plotted their course back to Coruscant to see what remained of the Jedi temple. Kael walked into the cargo room and took out his training lightsaber and practiced with some crates. Focusing the Force on one of the crates, he lifted it up into the air then took his lightsaber and flung it at the crate splitting in two. Desra let the ship go on auto pilot and went into the cargo room with Kael.

“Well… you seem to be improving little bro.” Desra said smiling.

Kael took two more crates and tosses them into the air, taking his lightsaber he jumped up and broke both crates leaving nothing left but splinters. He deactivated his lightsaber and put it back in his robe.

“I can’t believe what happened there…” Kael said staring at nothing, “Anakin came into the room… we didn’t think he’d turn on us but he killed my friends…”

Desra put his hand on Kael’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, Anakin will be brought to justice.”
Kael cried, “But that doesn’t bring them back does it??”

“Our Uncle... the revered Mace Windu… was slain because the ‘Chosen One’ turned his back on us for… for that thing…” Desra replied, “I know that and that’s what makes me try harder at controlling myself because these feelings can turn us into something just like Anakin… remember what Master Luminara Unduli said.”

Kael turned to his brother and smiled, “Yeah I know…but still…”

Desra left the room saying, “Don’t worry little bro, you’ll learn in good time.”

Kael glanced at his lightsaber thinking about his friends that fell that horrendous day. He shook his head and promised himself that they would be avenged. But it was no easier for Desra either considering his uncle, who was like a father figure, was slain, friends murdered and the girl he cared about was most likely slain as well by Anakin or his clone troopers. He laid on one of the bunks in the crew quarters resting as the ship piloted itself to Corusant. As soon as he fell asleep he had a dream about the events the transpired.

The two Jedi were of the famed Ghôsh Windu family. They had come to the Jedi Temple at different times but eventually were reunited by Yoda. The Grand Master had sensed the family blood and the Force Bond between them. Desra had chosen the path of the Knight while his younger brother was that of a Sentinel.

During that time of training, Desra had met fellow Jedi Knight Jade Sunstrider. Jade was a fiery, young Chalactan woman who, at first, couldn’t stand Desra. She constantly battled him, in hopes of defeating him one on one. It wasn’t till their last fight did she begin to change her mind. It was through their exchange that they began to feel love for one another.

As time went on, she joined the brothers in every mission they went on. They were one dynamic trio. The Dark Side had no hold on them as they would help carry each other’s burdens. Things would begin to change as the war was nearing an end.

He was walking down the Hall of the Great Jedi Masters with the girl he cared about most, Jedi Knight Jade Sunstrider. They came outside onto the balcony, where she ran over to the side to view the magnificent city. Like most Jedi, their relationship was kept under wraps. In the Order, love led many to their fall as Jedi, thus relationships were not permitted for any Jedi.

“I’ll meet you here later, have to go check on Kael, he wanted me to check out his new abilities he learned.”

Jade smiled at Desra, kissing him goodbye. She stayed at the balcony, feeling at peace as she looked out onto the city. Desra walked around for a minute, he had thought about marrying her. He was planning on leaving the Order with Jade, living peacefully on some far off planet that was warm, peaceful much like Naboo was before the war. He came into the hallway leading to the library. He felt a rumble... he couldn’t possibly conceive of what it truly was.

That is when he heard shooting. He rushed to the upper balcony of the library and saw below Anakin and his clone troopers slaughtering every Jedi they saw. He quickly ran to where his little brother was training at to get him out of there. When he had gotten there, the clone troopers were already killing the young Jedi and Kael was in there yelling for help.
Desra ignited his emerald green lightsaber and rushed in to save his brother. The troopers were taken by surprise as the Jedi knight started taking them down. Kael knelt at the bodies of his lifeless comrades and Desra was finishing off one of the clone troopers. One of the young Jedi was barely alive looking up at Kael, and then the little Jedi passed on and joined the Force. The two brothers rushed to get out of there but Desra stopped for a moment and looked around for Jade but she was nowhere to be seen. Kael yelled for his brother to get out of there and they left then Desra woke up.

Kael was there standing over him, “We’re here at Coruscant… let’s go see what we can find.”

“Hmm…we can’t be discovered by the clones…” Desra said, “Come on, we’ll figure out something when we get out there.”

They left the ship and headed toward the temple, the temple was still in smoke but the conflict had obviously been over with. They went behind a ruined Jedi statue and peered out from behind it. There were some clones patrolling the temple, they ran past them and went inside. Inside was beyond belief, everything was totaled, and the entrance was littered with debris. The once awe inspiring statues of great Jedi were brought down and destroyed. Desra and Kael were saddened by the destruction of the place they spent most of their lives in.

They journeyed further in to see what there was to discover. Desra looked at the destroyed library on his right and walked in there. He saw a broken protocol droid and he found there was a recording of some of the events that it saw at the time. Kael came over and his brother played the recording. Desra looked in disgust as the Jedi were being slain over false accusations of betraying the Republic.

Desra turned off the recording and looked around. They heard some footsteps and hid behind a still standing bookcase. It was a patrol of clone troopers; they obviously expected someone to come among the ruins of the Jedi to see what remained. One pulled out a scanner and scanned the surrounding area, and then he spotted what looked like two humans.

“They spotted us…” Desra whispered.

“What do we do?” Kael asked.

One of the clones was ordered to see what was over there and so the clone came over slowly and looked around. His head was quickly taken off and Kael ran as his brother told him to as he held the clones off for as long as he could. The clone squad leader order his clones to ignore Desra and get the fleeing child, the Emperor wanted him alive. Desra was confused on why they did not focus on him but tried his best to slow them down. Then a hooded figure walked into the room and held his hand out. Desra only took a glance and was knocked through two bookcases and knocked out. Meanwhile, the clone troopers chased Kael down a corridor then lost him. They contacted their squad leader saying the intruder escaped. Actually, Kael hid in a room; he looked around and realized this room was where he and his friends trained in often. He looked on the ground and picked up an insignia of the Jedi Order. He placed it in his pocket and slowly opened the door to see if the clones had gone away.

There were no signs of them; he knew something had happened to his brother so he ran back into the library. He looked around for any sign of his brother but found nothing until he looked over to some fallen bookcases and saw his brother’s cloak. They had taken him he realized and had to figure out where he had gone. So he left the temple and hit the streets of Coruscant for answers. Being somewhat trained in the Force and by some masters of the Jedi, he was quite wise for a young child. He was the youngest Jedi Consular at the age of twelve at the time.

But he was unfamiliar with the area and did not know of where to search first. Aliens, humans, vehicles all were roaming the city. So many faces… he could feel the currents of the Force flow through this place so… rampantly. He was frustrated and worried about what happened to Desra, he walked about the streets aimlessly hoping to hear about his brother.

At the military base of the Old Republic on Coruscant, now called the Galactic Empire, Desra was held captive. He awoke from his unconscious state and realized what had happened. A service droid entered his cell with some food… at least that’s what the droid called it. The furious knight looked at it with disgust and yelled, “Hey! Let me out of here!”

What good that did, a guard came in and told him to quiet down or he would get the torture droids to work him over. Desra remembered something that one of the masters, Nejaa Halcyon, taught him how to reach out to willing minds using the Force. He tried to reach Kael with no success due to his lack of skill in the technique.

Just then, two guards came in and seized Desra from his cell and took him to Emperor Palpatine to receive punishment. He knew nothing good could come of this and prepared for the worst. They came into the throne room of the new Emperor of the galaxy and Palpatine slowly turned to the Jedi Knight. Desra looked at him with anger; this was the man that helped kill his uncle Mace.

“I sense deep anger within you, young one.” The evil emperor said.

Desra exclaimed, “You murderer!”

“Killing innocents in your quest for total domination and the Sith’s return”

“You think that the Jedi were innocent?” the emperor said, “They’ve brought harm on this galaxy for generations… I just ended future… incidents.”

Desra looked at him for a moment and yelled out some more, “You killed the only family I had! You deserve nothing but the worse possible death I could inflict on you!!”

The emperor smiled, “I sense much hatred in you… you could learn to use the Dark Side to kill me… end what you hate the most… what you see as a threat.”

Desra remembered the words of Master Luminara Unduli, “All it takes, the smallest ounce of anger and if you act wrongly on this you can damn the entire galaxy into total darkness.”

Desra shook his head and calmed himself saying, “I will not become the monster you made Anakin to be.”

“I made Anakin into what he is?” Emperor asked, “Or did he inflict this upon himself?”
“Young one, Anakin chose his own path; he did it out of love.”

“He did it out of desperation, out of ignorance of the greater picture!”

“We can argue this for eons, nothing will come of it.” The Emperor said rising from his Throne, “I brought you here to offer you life and not death unless you choose it.”

“You turn to the dark side… work for the good of the Empire or… if you don’t I will publicize your demise in front of millions on Coruscant.”

“Work for the ‘good’ of the Empire?” Desra chuckled, “Nothing good will come of the Empire… nothing but oppression on the home worlds of many species.”

“Then we’ve spoken enough of this.” Emperor said in his dark toned voice, “Guards take him to his cell… I will arrange for his public execution tomorrow.”

Desra was taken back to his cell as he anticipated his doom. Meanwhile, Kael was lost in the huge capital city. He looked around when he over heard someone say Jedi in the crowd. There was a large group of people looking at the holo video above… it was Emperor Palpatine.

“Hear this, citizens of Coruscant!” The Emperor announced, “We’ve captured another Jedi and will publicize his execution tomorrow at dawn!”

Hearing this Kael knew he was referring to his brother, Kael knew he had to think of something fast before his brother became bantha fodder. The young Jedi felt the watching eyes of several individuals. He quickly raised his hood and started running down the crowded streets.

His pursuers were hot on his trail. Kael grabbed his lightsaber, as he was running, ducking into a back alley and readied himself for a possible attack. They backed him up into a corner. Lightsaber ignited, looking around once, the young Jedi charged them.

“Hold it Kael...”

The Jedi held his attack for but a moment, “Who are you... what do you want?”

It was a Mon Calamari, he turned around and said, “Jedi, I was sent by Bail Organa, we seen what happened to the Jedi Temple.”

“We know the Jedi would never rebel against the Republic... the government has changed drastically.” The Mon Calamari’s associate explained

“What do you want from me?” Kael asked him.

“It’s insane…the Jedi were once protectors of the peace… now they were going to betray the Republic so now we are executing them?” The alien said in disbelief, “We need you and all other Jedi to help overthrow this... new tyranny.”

“I didn’t tell you my name…” Kael felt that he could trust this alien, “I am Kael Windu, of the Ghôsh Windu family.”

“Windu… you’re related to Jedi Master Mace Windu correct?”

“Yes…” Kael said in a low voice.

“I am Agent Kiki Yunaris and these are my associates; I am guessing you want something more to know about the situation.”

Kael smiled as they walked down one of the busy streets, “Well yes and I need help rescuing my brother, he’s being detained by the Imperial Guard and they are going to execute him tomorrow morning.”

“I see…well glad we’ve found you.” Kiki said, “I am no supporter of this new Empire, I’ve got some friends you may want to meet.”

They walked to what looked like an abandoned building but inside was people forming a rebellion. Kael was delighted to see the base of operations and also saw some Jedi that escaped the slaughter. Everyone there gathered around the young initiate of the Jedi and greeted him.

“We were already working on a way of saving your brother.” Kiki said to Kael, “and with your skills…this might prove even easier than we thought.”

One of the Jedi came to Kiki and reported, “Kiki, everything is just about…oh… Kael??”

Kael looked at the Jedi and to his surprise it was one of his bro’s long time friends at the temple Timothy Ashacar, an Epicanthix. He was a muscular boy with dark, brown hair. He was complete with his training before the slaughter began and was well on his way to becoming a master. Timothy gave Kael a bear hug, Kael was coughing after that but was extremely happy to see his friend.

“I thought you were dead man…” Timothy said, “glad to see your alright, what happened to Desra?”

“He’s the one we’re saving.” Kael replied.

Timothy chuckled, “He was always the one to get into trouble… well let’s get going shall we?”

“Ok, its suicide just to walk into the military installation where he’s being kept.” Kiki said, “If they are holding a Jedi there, it’s under heavy guard without a doubt.”

“What do you have in mind?” Timothy asked.

“First, we’ll hack into their security systems, which should buy enough time for you to retrieve Desra and get out of there.” Kiki explained, “So… you and Kael will go and find him, smaller the number of rescuers the lesser the chance you are being caught.”

“Ah… Gotcha!” Kael said with excitement.

Timothy shook his head lightly and sighed, “This ain’t gonna be easy is it?”

“What you think?” a voice said from the distance, “I can’t believe as lazy as you are, you are a Jedi Knight…”

The person walked into full view of everyone. It was one of the commanding officers sanctioned over them. Miraluka General Jane Willobran was chosen to lead a group of Rebel soldiers to another planet to build up and save for time till they were ready to converge on the Empire.

“Agent Yunaris, while your men are on this rescue mission, I will be taking our group to the planet of Almania.”

“Alright, we’ll find our way there then.” He replied.

The rescue team was set, mission understood, everything in place. It was time to take action against the evil that had occurred. Agent Yunaris went along with the two Jedi in their ZRX-29 airspeeder and took off for the Imperial Military Installation.

Meanwhile, Desra was getting anxious… he was unaware that he was soon to be rescued; he paced the prison cell floor hoping to come up with an idea to escape his ordeal. A service droid came in to give Desra some food… then he came up with a plan. He waited till the droid was placing his food down, then he ripped open the control box on its back and turned it off.

Somehow the droid was able to bypass the shield blocking the way out of the cell. He looked at the droid very carefully and found a shield bypass key. He placed it in his pocket and he was able to walk out unharmed by the shield. No alarms were raised so he figured he was undetected and searched for his belongings. He ran down a corridor leading to the armory and there he found his robe and lightsaber.

He then ran into trouble when he walked into the generator room. There was a dark figure standing there with a red lightsaber drawn. Desra looked at the man and drew his emerald green lightsaber. He knew he was in for a fight but this man was not the Emperor but one of his dark acolytes.

“My master will reward me greatly when I destroy you Desra Windu.”

“Hmm… and who might you be?” Desra asked, “Another of the Emperor’s puppets?”\

“I am Darth Nelo, prepare to die Jedi…”

He prepared himself as Darth Nelo came at him with a whirlwind of powerful blows. Desra blocked them as they came stronger each time, slash after slash they came. The skilled Knight came back with blows of his own but received the backhand which sent him fly off the platform and into some control panel. Desra got back up, breathing heavily; he underestimated his enemy… something he usually did. Desra held his lightsaber and went back on the offensive. The diabolical dark acolyte laughed harder and harder every time Desra tried to land a blow.

While this was going on, Kiki Yunaris had snuck past the Imperial Guard. He had gone into the security room and shut it down. This allowed Kael and Timothy to successfully infiltrate the Imperial Military Installation. With the security systems down, the imperials were too busy getting them back online to pay attention. So Kael tried to feel the currents of the Force hoping it would lead them to where Desra is when Timothy felt a disturbance in the Force. He knew Desra was in trouble so he and Kael followed the troubling current. They came into the generator room and saw Desra fighting the Emperor’s dark acolyte.

Desra was getting weary while Nelo seemed to have possessed unlimited strength and stamina. He charged with every last bit of strength he had but was knocked back again, losing his lightsaber. Nelo walked over to him about to strike him down when…a mighty punch from Timothy landed Nelo face first onto the floor. Kael and Timothy drew their lightsabers as Desra lay on the floor catching his breath.

“More Jedi scum… comes to protect your fallen brethren eh?” Darth Nelo held out his lightsaber and ignited the other side of his lightsaber… it was double bladed… this was a very well trained Sith indeed the three Jedi realized.

“Back off…” Timothy said, “He’s coming with us.”

“Yeah, you leave my brother alone!” Kael added.

Darth Nelo snickered and prepared to fight them, he charged Timothy first who was also well trained as he had a trick up his sleeve as well. He pulled out a second lightsaber and fought back with blows that had Nelo tripping. Kael held his lightsaber staff out ready to strike and jumped up in the air and came back down hitting nothing as Nelo evaded. Nelo simply kicked Kael to the side and concentrated on Timothy. Desra got back up and grasped his lightsaber once more. Clone troopers came in to kill the two brothers as the Jedi and Sith dueled. But they were no match for the combined might of the Windus. Timothy and Nelo fought into an extremely dark room and Nelo back flipped and turned off his lightsaber hiding into the darkness.

“The darkness will not save you Nelo…the dark side is nowhere near enough to overcome the light.” Timothy spoke out using the force to sense out his foe.

“Pathetic Jedi… I was going easy on you… prepare to feel my true power.”

Lightning jumped out of the corner of the room knocking Timothy back into the wall. Darth Nelo came out about to fry Timothy alive, but with quick thinking, the Jedi blocked it using the force to absorb it. Nelo’s anger intensified and the lightning became stronger and Timothy was losing control over the Force when he had an idea and Force pushed him back, charging with both lightsabers in his hands.

Darth Nelo somehow vanished into thin air and Timothy looked around cautiously but sensed nothing and came back out to join the brothers in their escape. More and more clone troopers came in and the Windus were falling back. They ran back to the airspeeder with Timothy and took off. One of the Imperial officers reported to the Emperor of what happened. The Emperor was furious and choked the life out of the officer… but the Jedi enjoyed victory and hurried to the base of the new rebels.

“Timothy… man it’s so good to see you alive.” Desra said.

“Yeah man… thought you were dead but when we saw Kael he gave us the good news.” Timothy added.

Desra looked at the city around him and asked, “Hey man… you wouldn’t know if…”

“What?”

“If Jade was still alive… we found no traces of her at the temple.”

“I saw her just before the attack…but I have no idea what happened to her after that.”

Desra felt like there was no chance of seeing her again. They landed back at the base and Kiki came to them saying, “Glad to see you guys, got bad news…”

“No more bad news… I just got out of a cell…” Desra shook his head.

Kiki frowned, “We are going to have to get out of here fast… Imperials are sending troopers here to investigate anything against the Empire!”

“How do we get out of here?” Timothy asked, “We have all this equipment, it would be folly to let this stuff fall into the Emperor’s hands.”
Kiki took them into the basement which was like an underground hangar. They looked in disbelief that something like this could be under Coruscant streets! There was Corellian Star Shuttle ready to take off. Desra and Kael were greatly impressed and confused on how they got away with this without the Imperials even noticing these operations.
“Well let’s get aboard, everything is loaded and set to go.” Kiki said getting onto the ship.
They got aboard ready to take off and leave this planet behind for a long time. The shuttle took off and flew threw a long tunnel underneath the city streets and then came out of a cave and flew into space. But… the imperials weren’t too far behind; a dozen TIE-fighters chased them down. But they were in for a surprise, the shuttle was equipped with an ion cannon. The shuttle’s crew disabled three tie fighters and was evading the other three. They jumped into hyperspace and destination was unknown to the Emperor and the Empire.

Chapter 1: A Jedi’s Job Never Stops

It’s been ten years after the events that occurred upon the Jedi, the Jedi seemed to have disappeared from the face of the galaxy and the Sith were in total control. Most aliens on the worlds controlled by the Empire were oppressed. It seemed to be the end of all justice within the galaxy. On a small world in the middle of Wild Space, named Almania, laid what would one day be part of the resistance that would overthrow the Empire.

There, Jane Willobran and other surviving masters trained the younger Jedi in the ways of the Force. The rebels of Almania did constant runs through the galaxy, picking up Force Sensitive before the Empire’s corruption would taint them. The peaceful planet was a breath of fresh air for the worn out heroes.

The two Windu brothers, however, were still haunted by their past… by the killings… by the betrayal of the clones…. The betrayal of Anakin…. All this still haunted them every day as it did everyone else.

Desra walked outside one of the training grounds built up for Jedi initiates and looked around at the beautiful blue sky above and the green grass that surrounded him. Looked so serene… so peaceful there. He took a deep breath and lay out on the green plains just staring at the sky. The crisp, clean air swirled around him softly, this eased his pain that he felt. He soon fell asleep.

He had another dream… he was in the meditation chamber of the Jedi temple and there was his Uncle Mace Windu. Desra looked at him… he couldn’t believe Mace was standing in front of him. Mace waved his hands in the air then something happened, Desra felt the incredible Force flow through him.

Mace was fading, taking one last glance at his nephew, “Remember Desra, use it for the good of the galaxy… don’t give into your anger and hate for the Emperor…”

Then everything turned black around Desra and he woke up looking at himself. He felt different… he felt stronger, more in touch with the Force then he ever was before. He got up and looked eastward towards the horizon thinking about Jade… He was determined to find her, but he couldn’t be caught up in personal affairs as he had to help overthrow this new tyrant. Kael came out to talk with him, “Desra!”

“Oh… hey bro…”

“Sure is… so how are things with you?”

“Better actually...” Desra said staring at the clouds above, “I know she’s out there and I won’t stop fighting till I do find out what happened to her.”
Kael put his hand on his brother’s shoulder as they walked back into the training ground area. Babax the cook was making something that smelled awfully pleasing to the nose. Timothy walked into the kitchen seeing Babax rush back and forth. Babax was a Jazbinan, short but cute, he was a long time friend of Timothy almost like a brother to him.

“Whatcha whipping up there?” Timothy asked peering over the pot.

“Back off fat boy, you’ll get some soon enough!” Babax said laughing.

Timothy took a bread roll and stuck it in his mouth then left. Babax shook his head and kept adding to the pot. He was making a special Karkan ribene, one of his own special recipes and Runyip stew. He was a superb cook, inherited cooking skills from his mother who was presumably dead after the Clone Wars. Max, Babax’s little cousin, came in with a spoon testing the food to see how well his brother did.

They brought out the big pot and everyone served themselves then sat at the long dining table. Everyone talked amongst themselves enjoying the well done home cooked meal. Desra, Kiki and Timothy were sitting at one end, joking and laughing about old times, Desra and Kiki knew each other when Kiki was a junior pilot for the Old Republic and Desra was a mere padawan, Kael wasn’t born yet.

“You’ve really… outdone yourself …this time Babax.” Timothy said with a piece of Karkan ribene in his mouth.

“Is enough to make you fat and happy?” Babax chuckled, “You know you’ll be bigger than a Bantha when you’re done.”

Desra was sipping his Dagoban bentaxne berry tea, “Mmm… now this tea… never tasted anything like it.”

“Lemme taste that Desra.” Kael said grabbing for the cup.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, Kiki Yunaris received a call to the Meeting Room, Desra and Kael accompanied him to see what their next move would be. They got there and there was one of the Jedi knights observing a transmission from an unknown source. A hooded man was in the hologram.
“Play it and let’s see what does this man wants.” Desra said.

Kiki played the hologram, “Jedi Knight Desra and Kael Windu, I have some information for you if you are interested…you are to meet me in the Cantina on Nar Shaddaa named the Green Hutt. When you arrive at Dock module 42 there will be a Sullustan by the name of Nija Kapok, I believe this will not be a waste of either of our time, good day to you both.”

“Hmm… could be a trap?” Kael speculated.

“On Nar Shaddaa? I don’t believe so… but we’ll be prepared for anything before we head there.” Desra said taking another sip of his tea.

Kiki Yunaris looked at the planetary map and said, “We can take care of things here but this might help us with the Empire.”

Desra agreed, “Alright lets head there right away Kael.”

They climbed aboard an N-class freighter and headed to Nar Shaddaa. While in hyperspace, the two brothers sparred to keep their skills up. Kael smiled; he had a new trick up his sleeve. Desra knew that smile anywhere. He had always been the better of the two but Kael seemed to progress in his training quite quickly.
“You won’t believe what I did...” Kael said, pulling out his lightsaber.

Desra noticed a change in his brother’s hilt... it was longer, “What did you do to your lightsaber?”

Kael ignited his lightsaber, “You’ll see...”

They began to duel; there wasn’t anything different so far. Desra figured he was just over-thinking the situation. He swung at his brother, who blocked it. Kael pressed a button on his lightsaber and the blade grew longer. Taking his older brother by surprise, he countered the strike, doing flips that Yoda had taught him. Eventually, the velocity and power of the attacks were too great, knocking the lightsaber out of the hand of his brother. For the first time, Kael won the duel.
“H-how did you learn to create that?”

Kael laughed, “I read a book on some of the other Jedi, and it is called the Dual-Phase Lightsaber.”

“You learned just from reading a damn book?”

“I’m just better than you now.”

“You’re crazy...”

Kael just smiled and bragged about his win. Normally, Jedi were not allowed to brag, pride was a downfall to Jedi but this was just brotherly competition.
They landed on Nar Shaddaa and walked out of the freighter… the stench of the place was almost unbearable as it was the home of hutts. It was full of alien life walking about and crime was the law here. Desra and Kael were coughing because of the smell here was rancid. Nija Kapok saw the two Jedi and ran up to them to greet them.
“Are you Nija Kapok?” Kael asked.

The small Sullustan nodded and led the Jedi to the Green Hutt. Kael noticed the Green Hutt sign; it was glowing with neon lights with a green hutt in the middle of it and the words ‘Green Hutt’ in Huttese. When they came in, it seemed every alien turned their head towards the two Jedi. Humans were a rare sight in that cantina they assumed. They walked around looking for the man and so then went up to the bar tender. It was a Deveronian; he was cleaning off one of the glasses and looked up at the two Jedi.

“We’re looking for a man and I am guessing you don’t get many human customers here.” Kael said.

The bar tender just looked at them and pointed to the dark corner of the cantina. Someone was sitting there drinking a Jawa Beer. The Jedi was about to walk over when a group of bounty hunters stood in their way. It was Aqualish bounty hunters… not the most beautiful of creatures that’s for sure Desra thought.

“The two humans we were looking for… there’s a bounty on your heads and we’re here to collect.” One of them said in the Aqualish tongue.

Desra tried to reason with him, “Look, we don’t want to hurt anyone, best that you just move along and forget you saw us.”

The bounty hunters drew their E-11 blaster rifles and said, “No one talks to us like that, we fear no one, we’ve killed people for lesser threats then those.”

With a quick slash of his light blue lightsaber, Kael cut off one of the hands of the bounty hunters. The bounty hunters started blasting, spraying away but were no match for Jedi. Without killing them, they simply used the Force to stun them. They lay on the floor stunned and could not get up so the Jedi moved past unharmed. The hooded man rose to greet them and they sat down.

“Glad you were here to meet me Desra and Kael.” The man said, “Impressive display you put before those bounty hunters indeed.”

Desra said, “Yeah… um thanks... who are you and what is it you have for us?”

“My identity will remain unknown to you both for now as it is of no relevance.” The man replied, “You want to know about Jade do you not?”

“Jade??” Desra asked with excitement, “What is it? Is she ok?”

“She’s alive yes but far from ok...” the man began, “She has changed, Desra...”

“Well what do you mean?” Kael asked.

“She’s given into the dark side… she’s joined Lord Vader and his Empire.” The man said.

“Say what?!” Desra yelled, attracting the attention of others, “I apologize… but there is no way she could’ve turned… you’re lying…”

The man shook his head, “I was there and saw everything… she no longer follows the path of the Light anymore, what I really wanted you to know is that she is looking for you and Kael for she has to kill who she loves most to become a Sith and complete her transition to the Dark Side.”

“How do you know about this?” Kael asked.

“The Empire is becoming stronger every passing day as no one has the right to oppose them yet. Defeating the Empire will be long and hard to do but with the Force on our side we can do this.” He explained, “There’s this planet named Adari, its inhabitants are supplying the Empire with resources, if you can somehow stop the flow or delay it, might cause considerable harm to them.”

Gratefully, Kael asked, “Thank you, but again... how do you know about this, why help us?”

“Let’s just say... I hate traitors...”

Kael bowed and noticed Desra had left the cantina, “Thank you sir, may the Force be with you.”

Desra couldn’t believe what he heard… Jade couldn’t possibly have turned… but if so then she couldn’t possibly pull herself to try and kill him and his brother. Kael came outside, he knew what was wrong… he couldn’t believe it himself; Jade would love Kael to death when he was the ‘adorable’ little initiate in the temple.

As the Jedi walked back, a twi’lek woman ran up to them, “Help me!”

“What’s the matter?” Desra asked, wiping away his tears.

“May I please have some credits?” she pleaded, “I need to get my daughter back, and she’s only four! The hutt Ajal threatened to sell my precious Keyona into slavery if I don’t give him 300 credits!”

Desra nodded as Kael looked through their pack for remaining credits. They were down to their last 100 credits. The young Jedi looked at his brother, who shook his head. They felt compelled to help this woman. She was a dancer by the looks of her. Most female twi’leks was. The only option was to try and bargain with this hutt and hopefully he would see reason. He had felt enough pain, he didn’t want to see this happen to someone else.

“Don’t worry, take this money and we’ll get your kid back.” Desra assured her and walked away. He had a fire in his eye after getting such heartbreaking news. He raised his hood, asking locals about Ajal the Hutt and his dwelling. Apparently, Ajal was a hutt that worked for the district crime lord Erbe the Hutt. Ajal was made out to seem like a total pushover if it weren’t for the men of his boss.

When they finally came to Ajal’s dwelling, they were surprised on how elaborate it was. Unlike the rest of the city, this place was decorated with only the finest. However, the stench of hutt was always the same. With Kael’s proficiency in the art of Mind Trick, they were easily able to enter and see Ajal.

Ajal was a red-skinned, yellow spotted hutt who apparently didn’t seem to notice anything but the nerf burgers that lay around his area in stacks. The Jedi didn’t reveal their faces, in case they came to realize they were wanted Jedi by the Empire.

“Ajal the Hutt…”

Ajal was just stuffing two burgers in his mouth, “W-Who are you? Don’t you see I’m eating you spine!”
“Hatin’ on what you ain’t got huh?” Kael replied sarcastically.
Licking his large lips, Ajal sneered at the young Jedi’s remarks, “You best watch your tongue Jedi… I don’t hold back on anyone, especially a couple of brats.”
“WHO YOU CALLIN’…” Kael was stopped by Desra, who stepped forward to speak with the Hutt.
“Ajal, don’t mind my younger brother, I wish to parlay with you about a small matter.”
“Yes?”
“Keyona… I want to get her from you and I ask what you would like in return for her.”
“Did that wretch of a dancer ask you to get her brat back?”
“Why does it matter?”
“I fired her, she’s lucky to be alive, she was to make our guest ‘comfortable’ while he stayed here and she refused to do it.”
“Doesn’t she have that right?”
“The only right she has is to breathe…” Ajal bellowed, “Nothing more… nothing less.”
“Give me the child… she has nothing to do with this.” Desra asked kindly.
“I see nothing you have that would convince me otherwise Jeedi.”

He looked at his surroundings, thugs were armed with customized E-11 blasters, one hatchet leading underground near the Dancer’s Stage, a heavily guarded door behind him, and a sun roof above. They had few options to work with. Desra looked at his little brother, he was already ready and aware.

After a brief moment of silence, a stare down that seemed to last for hours, in reality only five minutes, they dashed for the exit points. Guns went ablaze, dancers and patrons running around during the chaos. Kael went for the small hatch leading underground and Desra went for the door.

Kael’s extra long lightsaber acted as a shield as he rotated his elegant weapon around his body, deflecting shots away from him. He killed two thugs who felt bold enough to run up to him. A large gamorrean stood in his way with a vibro axe at hand. Unafraid, the young Jedi made a mad dash for the hatch narrowly dodging the swing and sliding through.

Desra had force pushed all of the guards from the door and ran through. Ajal was not having any of this and ordered his men to pursue. Kael had unfortunately ended up in the sewer pipes where he had to crawl through the foulness. He eventually made it through the sewer system by following a few sewer rats.

Desra and Kael jumped to hyperspace with no idea what to do next so they reported to Kiki Yunaris to see what he thought of the situation. Kiki decided to do a ‘wait and see’ approach before continuing any further on this rebellion. In the meantime they returned to Almania to train harder for they knew they had a long road ahead of them.

Coming back to Almania, Timothy and little padawan Cynitha’breeze, everyone called her Baby, stood at the landing spot waiting for them to land. Baby was a young, reddish twi’lek with a smart mouth. Kael came out and was greeted by the two, Desra stayed inside looking out the cockpit window.
“How was your meeting?” Timothy asked.
Kael shook his head, “Well looks like several people are after me and my brother.”
“What people are we talking about?”
“We have received word the Jade has turned to the dark side…”
“How’s Desra holding up with this news?”
“You should know…” Kael said frowning.
Desra came out a few minutes later and there was Baby looking up at him.
“You must be the little padawan of Timothy’s huh?” Desra asked.
Baby nodded her head, “Yep, I want to be a Jedi just like you.”

Desra smiled at her and looked at the trees moving slowly as the air flowed through them. It felt like the time when Mace took Desra and Kael to Naboo and spent time just feeling the nature around them. Desra closed his eyes for a moment as the air flowed through his black, wavy hair, he stretched out his arms and enjoyed the moment and then looked back at Baby who was looking at a small flower that was in the ground.

“You know… the Force feels a lot like this…no harshness to it, just feel it and you will feel so good and in touch with everything around you Baby.” Desra said then walked away.
Baby picked up the flower and danced around the green grass then ran after Desra because it was just about supper time and she wanted to test the food for Babax before the food was placed out.

Chapter 2: Dark Side is not Power

While the brothers were helping with the rebellion, somewhere in the galaxy was the Imperial fleet. Jade Sunstrider was aboard the Demolisher, waiting on orders from Lord Vader. She looked out at the vast of space thinking about her past as a Jedi Consular and her future as a Dark Acolyte working for the Empire. “No one can defeat us… Sith reigns supreme now.” She thought to herself.

She walked back to her commander’s chair, thinking about the events the happened to her… how she felt the power of the dark side for the first time. She was a promising student of Master Dass Jennir before Order 66. After Desra left him to find his brother, she was on the balcony just watching the busy city. Jade was a beautiful woman of tan complexion with long, flowing hair.

Olee Starstone was waiting in the library to further Jade’s knowledge of the Force. But as Jade was walking, she felt what was like a power kick in the chest She fell to one knee, clenching at her heart. She looked toward the Jedi library, rushed inside and saw Olee, her most respected master next to Yoda, was impaled. Lying in a pool of her own blood. Jade saw the carnage that was unfolding. Jedi were fighting against Anakin and the 501st Legion.

Jade rushed to the body of her master, slaying troopers one after another. Ducking and dodging blasts, she persisted towards her fallen master. Leaped over a fallen bookcase, came up behind a battalion that had cornered a few unskilled padawans. Beheaded one stabbed the other, decapitating the rest of them. The padawans ran as fast as they could to safety.

She rushed to the side of Olee, who was barely alive, “Master...”

Jade could barely say anything, she concentrated on healing her. But it was of no avail. Her master was dead. The clones were surrounding her slowly, guns ready, aimed at her. They were ready to kill Jade Sunstrider.

“You... traitors... how could you?”

Jade stood up, took her lightsaber... a new feeling raged within her. It was not the light side of the Force she felt. She looked to her right, raised her hand. Then an incredible blast of force energy knocked all of the clones on her right into the wall. Soon as that happened, the clones began to blast at her.

She walked from her chair, trying to relieve her mind of her memories. The Imperial Admiral William Calamine took command, keeping their patrol of a colony in the Mid Rim. Jade took off her robes and lay in her bed. She remembered when she saw Desra and Kael down the hall. She saw Desra struggle, Kael holding him back. She saw them run away and how she prepared to face her demise. But it wasn’t meant to be, when Darth Vader came to her offering her a new life as his Dark Apprentice. Seeing the ‘mercy’ of Vader made her rethink her loyalties. Being offered the chance to live and join the new Lord Vader’s side, she thought for a moment.

She looked around as there were dead Jedi… she felt the Jedi being weak, careless, and her two most trusted friends did not try and save her but little did she know that Desra did try and but could not find a sign of her due to the fact she left with Vader out of the temple. She was taken on a medical vat, healed, and was the newly christened Dark Apprentice.

When she heard of Desra’s capture she was to meet him in his cell but he already had escape with unknown culprits. She still had feelings for him… she went to Lord Vader to talk with him.

“Milord, may I ask you something?”

Vader turned, “Speak your mind to me I sense you are troubled.”

“It's about the Windu brothers; I don’t know how to explain this.” She said uneasy.

“I sense your love for these two… it’s a sign of weakness and must be eliminated!” Vader slowly said, “He has escaped with help of some rebels, this is your final test you must complete in order to become a true Sith.”

Jade feared those words, “ELIMINATED??”

“Do I sense hesitation?” Vader asked, “Those two are a threat to the peace I ushered in and must die before they disrupt the peace of our Empire, remember the Jedi are the cause of the problems in the galaxy Jade.”

“Yes… Master….” Jade said with tears coming from her eyes and she was about to leave his presence when he said, “Remember what we do to those who do not have the strength to do what they are ordered to do… do not fail Jade.”

She raised her head, sitting on the commander chair, she clenched her fist with anger and rage overwhelming her and screamed. One of the Imperial officers looked at her… bad idea… she used the Force to crush his lungs and he fell on the floor. She reconciled herself trying to convince herself that Desra and Kael were nothing… for love was just something holding her back from discovering her true potential as a Dark Jedi and soon to be Sith.

She began to hunt for these Jedi but they weren’t heard from for ten years. No telling what happened to them during that time. The fleet was over Coruscant when she received a transmission from Lord Vader. They found a Jedi hiding on the world of Anaxes, so she was sent to destroy him. The Jedi’s name was Alex Lancaster; he had escaped Order 66 ten years ago and was hiding there with sympathetic supporters of the rebellion.

The Theta-class T-2c shuttle had landed in a forest where he was supposedly. Jade left the shuttle using the Force to sense her adversary. Alex knew she was on her way to kill him so he meditated as he awaited her. Jade was dressed in a dark black robe and she carried her teal lightsaber that she had since she was an initiate at the Jedi Temple. Her dark, brown hair flowed in the air gracefully, she was a beautiful woman but with the Dark Side within her, those looks were of death.

She came and saw Alex meditating, she had her lightsaber drawn.

“Jade… it has been a while since I was graced by such beauty... you’ve come to kill me have you not?” Alex asked.

Jade held up her lightsaber, “You are a threat to the peace and Lord Vader shall not have that.”

Alex rose from where he was meditating and held his lightsaber in his hand and turned towards her, “How could you betray everyone like this…how could you fall the Dark Side and consciously desire to kill me?”

“You have a choice to surrender and join Lord Vader or die here Alex…”

“I would never join that monster!” Alex cried out, “Thought you’d have more sense than to join him as well.”

“He saved me when my “friends” abandoned me...”

“No one abandoned you Jade... especially not ‘him’.”

“What we had was only just a dream.” Jade lowered her blade for but a moment, “I-I... don’t want to hear that... he lied to me...SO ARE YOU!”

Jade charged and Alex ignited his silver lightsaber and the two clashed. Jade used the Force to push Alex away and tried to deliver a death blow as he lay on the ground but missed when he rolled away. Alex felt relieved he avoided that but much was still to come as she charged yet again and he jumped high in the air and came back down with a kick to her back which made her land face first into the ground.

“The Dark Side isn’t power, it’s a crutch… a way to cause more harm to those who deserve none at all.” He said watching Jade get up.

“DIE!” she screamed with blows that had such anger… hate… ferocity behind them, Alex had a hard time keeping up and he had barely escaped another blow which left his side exposed.

Jade smiled evilly and clashed again, “Your weak… the Jedi had used you far too long as a puppet now look at you… you can barely hold your own anymore.”

Jumping from one of her wild swings he yelled back, “What’s wrong with you??”

He blocked her blows, “have you forgotten who your real friends are?”

Jade used her knowledge of Force Lightning and tried to overpower the old Jedi. He tried to block her attacks with his lightsaber but he was becoming weaker and her hate grew stronger. He couldn’t hold for too much longer as he pressed forward hoping to end the lightning.

“Have you fallen so far that you just don’t care about your friends anymore?” he asked.

“You are NOT my friend!” She yelled and her attack just got stronger.

Alex began to kneel as the pressure was becoming just too great to bear, “Think about Desra and Kael… would they want you going down this path?”

“Do not mention their names around me… AGAIN! ” Jade screamed and the lightning just overwhelmed the elder Jedi frying him to a crisp.

She stopped and left a little life in him and she came over with her lightsaber at his throat. She looked at him sizzling from her attack, she knew he didn’t want to harm her at all and that he was trying his best to be her friend but the darkness rose up inside her and it became very great.

“I am sorry but you must die… if you’re not on with him then you are his enemy… and enemies must… die…”

With that said she raised her lightsaber and brought it down slowly upon the Jedi inflicting an agonizing death. If that wasn’t enough, she drained his remains of whatever force power it contained and fed upon it increasing her strength. She deactivated her lightsaber and knelt on the ground crying. She didn’t really want to kill him but she truly believed in the Emperor’s cause.

She looked at her smoldering foe as he could not become one with the Force because of what she had done. He was just lying there dead; she walked away back towards her ship thinking about how far she had fallen and what Alex said. She knew Desra and Kael were committed to heroism, justice, and loyalty and they would never do what she had done. She convinced herself that she had fallen too far now to even be saved; she had built up much anger towards everything. Those who knew her feared to even speak to her because she might’ve killed them if they had.

She saw a flower blooming in the forest, so she picked it up and it turned black and decayed because the dark side emitted from her strongly. She crushed it in her hand and threw it somewhere in the forest.

“I... have to do this... but... what if Alex was telling the truth...” she questioned.

She walked through the forest, thinking of everything that happened. Vader was her new master now. There were talks of a new apprentice, but was never to be seen. As far as she was concerned, she was Vader’s right hand woman.

Back in the Demolisher, an imperial commander came to her, “Milady, there’s a large fleet headed towards us… it’s not one of us and we suspect its part of the Rebellion!”

Jade walked over to the cockpit window and saw the massive fleet and then she quickly turned to the imperial commander, “Raise the alarm and request reinforcements… we’re going to need them now!”

Taking that command, the commander went and instructed the pilots of the Demolisher to raise the shields and requested assistance from the Empire. Jade turned back to the window, watching her fleets move into attack position. The opposing fleets opened fire on Jade’s fleets and the dogfight began. These ships were unknown to Jade and wondered what support these Rebels are getting.

Jade was taking heavy losses as she wasn’t prepared for a fight like this but just in the nick of time the Imperial Navy came out and assisted her. The fleet that was thought to be Rebellion sent a transmission to Jade’s starship. An imperial came up to her and told her that a transmission had been received from the enemy fleet.

“Let’s see what they want…” Jade said.

The imperial opened the communication port and the holo image of a man in Mandalorian armor had appeared, “Hello there, I am Mandalore we ask that we cease hostilities and begin negotiations we see that you know the ways of war and are not the weaklings we thought you out to be.”

“Mandalore?” Jade sounded surprised, “I thought your clan had died out eons ago and are nothing more than common mercenaries now… you wish to make negotiations with me?”

The Mandalorians sent a transport ship with Mandalore and two mandalorian warriors with him to the Demolisher and met with Jade there. He was quiet surprised to see her…he took off his helmet and Jade’s mouth widen. It was Khan Cloudrunner, one of the Jedi knights that had trained with her in the temple.

“Khan, you are Mandalore?” Jade asked.

Khan replied, “Indeed, I had found this Mandalorian claiming to be Mandalore and gathering his warriors to take back the galaxy and I had killed him.”

Jade smiled and asked, “So you no longer follow the Jedi?”

“Let’s say I didn’t agree with their views and they didn’t agree with mine so I left.” Khan replied, “What are you doing in our space?”

“Your space?” She asked.

“We had just come out of…” he began; these are the events that happened before the dogfight…

The Mandalorian fleets had just conquered a colony world somewhere in Wild Space and were moving into the Outer Rim Sector to expand their empire. As the Mandalorian fleet came out from hyperspace, Mandalore - also known as the former Jedi Knight Khan Cloudrunner – was at the bridge of his flagship, the Nightmare, looking out at the planet Rattatak. Rattatak was a hostile world with the Rattataki, a group of violent near humans. The surface was littered with mountains, gorges, and sinkholes that would seem to have no bottom at all. Just then Zex came running into the commanding room where Mandalore was.
.

“Mandalore, an Imperial fleet spilling out of hyperspace!” cried Zex, the Nightmare’s gunnery commander.

“Mandalore, what are your orders?”

“Zex, get a target on those ships, Kumis, open a comm. Channel to the head of that fleet, and ask them what the fierfek they are doing in our territory!”

“Yes Mandalore” replied Zex and Kumis.

“Mandalore! The Imperial fleet is moving into an attack position. What are your orders?”

“Zex, how many batteries have targets in their sights?” asked Mandalore.

“Batteries 2, 5, 7, 10, and 16 Mandalore.” answered Zex.

“Good, fire when ready.” said Mandalore.

“Yes Mandalore” replied Zex.

The fleets of Mandalore opened fire upon the Demolisher; the Imperial flagship was strong but took heavy damage. Then Mandalore noticed more imperial fleets dropping in from hyperspace. But still they were inferior to the might of the Mandalorian fleets, Mandalore admiring their persistence and saw Jade appear on the Hologram.

“And that’s basically what happened Jade.” Khan explained.

Jade nodded her head, “I have a proposition…”

Khan turned around and asked, “What?”

“An alliance with the Empire, for with the might of both our empires, who could stand against us?” Jade asked.

“I like how you think Jade…” Khan said smiling, “We’ll accept this.”

She turned about to leave then Khan said, “Jade…”

“Yes Khan?” she asked.

He came over to her looking at her intensely, “You know… I am still fond of you…”

He was stroking her hair but she turned away, “What’s wrong?”

“Love is for the weak…” she said to herself unconvinced.

“That’s not it at all… I know you better than that.” Khan said, “Where is he now?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“You know who… that Jedi… the puppet of the weak old Order.” Khan began, “I don’t see what you see in him, he’s nobody, he’ll die just like all the other Jedi if he’s not dead already.”

Jade snapped her head, “He’s not dead, and I have no feelings for him anymore, he’s but a mere speck in my memory.”

With that she turned and stormed out, Khan shook his head and looked out the window at both fleets in orbit. He saw this as a new age for the Mandalorians… a new era has come upon the galaxy as two of the most feared has joined forces. Who could possibly stand against them?

Jade sent a transmission informing the Emperor about the offer of an alliance. Emperor evilly smiled and agreed… he had another plan for the mandalorians. He thought to kill the young, new Mandalore and take command of the Mandalorians himself. Jade told Khan of the Emperor’s decision and the alliance was made. This would complicate the efforts of liberation for the Rebels.

“The Dark Side… is power…” Jade whispered thinking about the Jedi Alex that she slew, “Foolish Jedi thought he would defeat me in all my darkness… I proved him wrong… I PROVED HIM WRONG!!!”

The Imperial Fleet entered Hyperspace and back to Coruscant and the Mandalorian fleet returned to its original plan of conquering Rattatak…

Chapter 3: Destiny Calls

Months had passed since Desra and Kael’s last mission, Kiki Yunaris received word of the new pact the Empire and the Mandalorians had created. This was indeed disheartening news but all was not lost. Kiki knew to help win this war, they had to either disband the Mandalorians or convince them that the Emperor is not who they believe him to be.

Meanwhile, Desra was teaching Baby the lightsaber combat form of Vaapad, a form his father Mace had taught him. Baby was catching on but slowly.
Kael came in watching, “Baby!” he yelled.

“Kaelly!” she said in response smiling at Kael.

“Kaelly??” Kael asked, “Don’t call me that, sounds girly”

Baby laughed dancing around saying, “Kaelly, Kaelly, and Kaelly!”

Desra laughed, rolling his eyes, and told Baby to concentrate. Baby was always happy and hyper; she lifted her training lightsaber at the droid she was practicing on. The droid was equipped with a lightsaber that could cause no harm to Baby but the effects of it felt quite real.

Baby often lost to the droid but when she did win, she took it to heart and cheered. Baby concentrated on her opponent as hard as she could and strangely the droid exploded. Desra laughed and Baby was there shocked with her eyes widen and mouth wide open.

“Did I do that?” she asked.

Patting Baby on the back Kael responded, “Yeah you did, didn’t think you could control your powers that well yet.”

Desra asked one of the technicians to bring in another droid for Baby to practice on. The Force was indeed strong within her and her innocence and joy was inspiring for all the Jedi to see even Desra and Kael. The red little twi’lek picked up her yellow training saber and put it in the satchel on her belt. There was indeed great potential within her and Desra would not see the Emperor’s darkness corrupt her. She was 11 years old at the time, pretty soon she could be a Jedi knight.

Desra let Kael teach Baby as he left the training grounds and into the woods to center himself. He sat in the middle of a clearing and began to meditate. He heard a noise in some nearby bushes; he rose up saying, “Kael?”

No answer came, he sat back down thinking it was nothing then he heard a twig break. He rose again with lightsaber in hand, he sensed a dark presence but also one of light. Out of one end a dark hooded man came and another one in a brown robe. Both came to Desra, Desra sensed no harm coming from either… yet. He lowered his lightsaber and asked, “Who are you two?”

The black robed man answered, “I am Ludo Kressh, a true sith…”

Desra’s eyes widen, “and who are you?”

“Micah Giiett young Jedi.” The brown robed man replied.

“B-but both of you died a long time ago… how can…” Desra was shocked.

“Our spirits live on Jedi… I am here to tell you that this path you’re following is one of folly!” Ludo said.

Micah shook his head, “Desra… you have stood for justice and peace in the galaxy, you indeed have been following the Light as a true Jedi should, and you’ve shown care for people… very noble quality for any Jedi.”

“Desra… your weak… you barely held your own against Darth Nelo… if Timothy was not there to save you, you would have surely fallen, is this what you call power?” Ludo tried to entice Desra to the dark side.

The sky grew dark, lightning streaked the sky, the ground shook beneath Desra and the land around him turned black and he looked at Ludo with horror. He’s never seen anyone with such power, Micah stood behind Desra watching to see what would the Jedi do… accept the power and denounce the light or embrace the light and deny the immense power which could be given to him.

Ludo looked at Desra, his eyes were as white as the lightning above, “Desra… all of this power could be yours… embrace the dark side of the Force and you can rule as you wish unopposed.”

Desra lowered his lightsaber even further as he was tempted, “You know your heart desires this power, the Emperor would even fear you, he knows not of this power… Desra you could win the one you love back… bring her back to you if you desired to… you could crush the Empire and bring back what you believe was peace and justice.”

“I-I could… Master Windu said use this power for the good of the galaxy… I could… end the Emperor for good!” Desra said lowering his head.

Micah put his hand on Desra, “This is not what Mace wanted, remember he said don’t give into your hate of the Emperor… if you truly love the one you say then do not accept this.”

Desra looked at the immense power of Ludo, “Do not listen to that old jabbering fool, what you see here?”

Desra lifted his hand for a moment, “Yes… you can feel it… just take that lightsaber and strike down Micah and the choice will be decided young one.”

Wrestling with himself Desra took his lightsaber and raised it… Micah only looked at Desra then something happened… everything started flashing around him… “Don’t!” said a voice.

“Uncle Mace?” Desra asked with lightsaber in hand.

“Do not do this for you will not return from this path once you have chosen it boy!” Mace said.

Desra shed a tear, “This is not the way to defeat the Emperor, you are good-hearted, you know this is wrong, the power will corrupt you as it did Anakin and you will become worst then Anakin could ever be!”

Then the light disappeared and Ludo was standing on one side and Micah on the left, Desra raised his lightsaber then… extinguished it. Ludo raised his hands toward Desra, “FOOL!”

“How could you deny such an offer??” Ludo scolded him, “You are indeed weak… a pitiful soul… you will not become one with the Force instead you will forever be tortured for your stupidity and softness.”

Micah stood between Desra and Ludo, “You will not harm him, for he is destined to save the ones he loved so they may live another day, he has far greater power then you know Ludo.”

Then both ghosts disappeared… Desra knelt on the ground crying, he came so close to falling. Kael came there rushing thinking his brother was in serious trouble. He ran through the forest in search of his brother. Desra raised his head with a look of determination, the Emperor would be defeated… he would save everyone he ever cared about and those who deserved life not death
.
Kael was almost at the clearing when… he was struck from behind. Desra felt the blow through the Force and rushed to find his brother. He came to where Kael was but did not find him… he looked around and saw something move in the nearby trees. It was a couple of sith marauders; one was carrying Kael on his back. Looks like they were headed back to their ship. Desra followed closely till they got to another clearing in the forest.

“Hey!” Desra yelled, “Put him down now!”

Sith marauders ran back into their ship and out came an old adversary… Darth Nelo… Desra looked at Nelo with intensity. Nelo took off his cloak and revealed his lightsaber. He planned on finishing off Desra once and for all with no interruptions. Desra ignited his lightsaber as Nelo paced around staring at him.

“We meet again at last Jedi!” Nelo began, “It’s been a hard long search but we found you.”

“Give me back my brother!” Desra demanded.

Nelo laughed, “Oh right, like I am going to do that… the Emperor has plans for him, oh don’t worry… we’ll take good care of him.”

Desra’s anger intensified as Nelo could feel Desra had gotten stronger since the last time they fought but underestimated the Jedi. Nelo ignited only one end of his double bladed saber and laughed some more at Desra. Desra charged at him, Nelo tried to backhand him but missed as Desra gave him a roundhouse kicked that made Nelo barrel roll in the air.

“Not this time Nelo…seems the dark side is a lot weaker then you assumed.” Desra said as he prepared himself.

This angered Nelo and he rushed at Desra who in return gave him the backhand. Nelo couldn’t believe it… that this Jedi whelp was actually putting up some sort of a fight. Alright no more games he thought… he ignited the other end of his lightsaber. Desra laughed and taunted Nelo, who charged at Desra and both lightsabers clashed. Nelo came in fast twirling the double bladed staff at Desra who back flipped continuously. Nelo kicked Desra in the stomach while Desra was back flipping and he landed on his back.

“You’ve improved indeed… but it’s still not enough to save you from me Jedi!”

“We’ll see won’t we?” Desra said getting back up with lightsaber in hand.

The fighting went on, Desra and Nelo intensified their attacks one strong blow after the other but Nelo had a trick up his sleeve as he came up with one end of his staff and sliced the robe of Desra with the other. Desra held his side as blood spilled out of it but he wasn’t finished yet. He stumbled back a little bit then Nelo charged again but Desra sidestepped evading the attack.

Nelo simply smiled and went back on the attack and both saber locked, “After I finish you off, I’ll kill Jade and take her spot as favored pupil of the Emperor… she’s pathetic… still have feelings for you… what a weak…”

But before he could finish, Desra punched him in the face, “You won’t live long enough to lay a hand on her.”

Nelo put his hand over his nose, seeing the blood he charged again but was kicked in the chest then with the final move; Desra gave him an uppercut with his lightsaber, slicing the dark warrior in half. Desra fell on the floor holding his wound; he stared at his fallen foe and thought about what he said. Jade had indeed still had feelings for him then she was not yet totally lost he thought. But then he turned hoping to see the sith ship but it had taken off with Kael inside. His brother wasn’t going to let him down, he would travel and find Kael where ever he was and save him.

Desra stumbled back to the training grounds, padawans Baby and her sister Jal’nel hurried to him and helped him get to some help. He lay on top of a bed and Baby left to get Timothy or someone who could help Desra before he bled to death. Kiki rushed in examining Desra’s wound… it was a wonder how the courageous Jedi made it back. As his wound was temporarily patched up till he would be taken to a medical droid at the nearest city or town, he turned his head to Kiki who was checking to make sure the wound was securely patched up without blood dripping through.

“Kael has been taken by the imperials…” Desra said in a weak voice.

Kiki shook his head, “Don’t worry… we’ll get him back but you won’t be going anywhere until you are healed.”

Desra tried to sit up but the pain was too great as Kiki told him to lie back down. Babax came in with some more of his favorite tea and gave it to Desra to drink. He took a seat near the window eating his own meal. It was late in the day and Desra became more worried about Kael wondering what had happened to him.

Well, traveling in hyperspace, Kael was locked in a force cage within the lambda shuttle. Kael woke up, recovering from that blow to the head and looked around. He was in the torture room… he knew he was in for some hellish treatment. With no way out of this one, he prepared to face the inevitable. An imperial torturer came in with Admiral Omar Kaffar; they mocked the young Jedi and insulted him.

“Well Jedi… you’ve been evasive so far but now we’ve gotten you.” Omar said.

Kael turned up his nose, “Hmm… not evasive enough jerk.”

“Jerk? You’ll regret those words Kael.” Omar threatened, “Lord Vader wishes to know what you were doing on Almania.”

Kael chuckled, “And why would I tell him that?”

“Because if you don’t tell us now the consequences Lord Vader inflict on you will be far worse than anything I can do you here.”

Kael knew what that meant but he couldn’t tell them of the Jedi training grounds on Almania or all would be lost. So he replied, “Admiral…go chase parked ships cause I ain’t tellin you nothing got it?”

As Kael took a gasp, Omar ordered the droid to commence torture procedures on Kael…meanwhile Desra was back up, still wounded, but at least now he was walking. He came into the dining quarters where there was some left over jerked bantha meat. He picked up a piece to snack on then walked outside where Timothy was instructing Baby and Jal’nel in the art of lightsaber combat. They were using wooden swords and practiced against Timothy.

“Hey Tim, watch you get beat by the two little girls.” Desra said laughing.

Timothy took one glance and was pounced on getting the mess beat out of him, “I QUIT, I QUIT, ouch!” Timothy cried as the two little sisters smacked him in the head with their sticks.

The two little girls shook each other’s hands then looked at Timothy who was getting up off the ground holding his head.
They laughed at him then ran, he started chasing them around screaming “Imma get you two!”

Babax was outside as well hanging out with Max who was shooting off his mouth about the new E-11 rifle he had bought. The day wasn’t the same without Kael though, Desra hoped to heal fast to find his kidnapped brother. The next day, Desra woke up feeling a lot better but Kiki told him to give it a few more days so he could totally heal. Desra refused to stay cripple while his brother was in danger and potentially badly hurt. You never know what cruel punishment an Imperial would inflict.

First they had to find out where Kael was being held then figure out a way to get him out. Being positive the imperials learned better from the first escape Desra had successfully done, they prepared for the worst case scenario, Kael being held in a fortress that’s battle ready. What they expected… was correct, Kael was being held in an Imperial Fortress on the snowy planet of Hoth. Everyone was really going to be on their A-game when they fight the imperials to rescue they loyal and trusty friend…

Chapter 4: Day of Reckoning is Near

Upon the frozen, ice world of Hoth, Kael lay in his cell pondering his fate within. He paced the floors hoping to come up with some sort of answers but things looked bleak. His hope lay in the hands of his brother, who was determined to find him. A broken, battered Old Republic soldier was also in the cell with him. Kael dusted himself off and went over to talk to him.

“My name is Kael Windu, I’m a Jedi from Coruscant...”, Kael kneeled down next to him. The soldier looked frightened... but it wasn’t due to war he sensed. But fear of the dark powers in the Imperial fortress. There was no talking to the soldier, he shook and rocked in place. The cell was dark and damp with only one window showing the empty, snowy world outside. Only to drain all hope from the prisoners.

He sat back down and waited. The young Jedi knew if he didn’t get out of there soon, certain doom loomed near. Meanwhile, Jade also resided in that fortress but she was unaware of Kael’s presence. She was training, honing her powers in the meditation chamber. It was then when she had a vision... a vision that would haunt her. She twitched, felt the agony of death, loss in the Force. She woke with a terrible look upon her face. She fell down on her face crying about what she had seen.

“ I can’t do this... this cannot possibly be my fate... no matter wha-“

“Can’t do what, Jade?”

She lifted her face at the sound of the voice. Khan stood there in full battle array, he had a mocking expression on his face as if he knew what her issue was. She tried to wipe off the tears from her face but only more came streaming down. She turned her face away from him and raised her hood over her head. This was definitely not the time and she was at her weakest point. She thought of those who once had open arms to her that are now gone. No one to turn to anymore... she was alone, as she had always been since the massacre at the Jedi Temple.

Khan walked to her side, “Why do you cry for him?”

“For who? What are you talking about Khan?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, I see it all over your face.” He said with a smug look, “He isn’t here to protect you anymore, probably just another dead and forgotten carcass lying among the pile of trash that were the Jedi.”

Jade snapped her head at him, she bit her tongue as not to defend him. But her reaction was enough to reveal what she really felt about what he said. Khan hated Jedi for defeating his people in battle, although mandalorians were supposedly looking for glory and honor whether they won or loss. He held a deep grudge and had no remorse for the fallen warriors of peace.

“If he still lives, Vader will have you kill him.”

“...I will kill him, don’t try and tell me what to do or you’ll be one dead mandalorian.”

“I wish you would... fighting your kind has been my life’s work, just because you call yourself a Sith, we see both sides as one.”

Jade placed her hand upon her lightsaber, “Don’t think you understand the Sith... we are the strongest in the galaxy... I don’t ever recall you mandalorians ever making it far against the Jedi without the aid or influence of the Sith.”

Khan began to walk away, only turned his head back to glance, “Maybe... but you Sith... can’t truly defeat them without us.”

She released her grip from her weapon... she hated him but the Empire needed them for now until they could be successfully assimilated.

to be continued...

There are several things that I feel I should point out. First, let me say this is great so far, I can see you put alot of work into it.

Second, I've spotted alot of grammar and speech mistakes such as "he grits his teeth together" conflicts with the rest of your grammar. It feels like are switching between third person and fourth person perspectives, example:

Jade sent a transmission informing the Emperor about the offer of an alliance. Emperor evilly smiled and agreed… he had another plan for the mandalorians. He thought to kill the young, new Mandalore and take command of the Mandalorians himself. Jade told Khan of the Emperor’s decision and the alliance was made. This would complicate the efforts of liberation for the Rebels.


Do you think you are rushing things? Jade sent the transmission informing the emperor and the emperor agreed. Where was the conversation where Jade encourages the Emperor to agree? Where is the tension as she talks to him? Things like that can really fill your book alot easier and make your readers understand and like the story more.
It's also kind of wack on the grammar bit. Should be 'Smiling, the Emperor nodded, his evil mind already racing through the many possibilites'. Or, 'The Emperor smiled, true evil gleaming through his eyes as he agreed.'
Also besides the obvious plot twists its pretty good so far!! Keep it up, and also, our new forums are at http://sentinelsoflight.mmoguildsites.com/forums .

I need to invest in an editor or something lol I can't catch all of that while I am writing, I would have to go over this story again after its totally complete.

Well if you want to publish eventually, your editor will do it all for you. Just go over it first to make it presentable and not have your editor just sigh and put it away.

How long is your book?

Trying for at least 10 chapters, at the most maybe 15 depending on how I see the story going. I had thought up of an unthinkable plot twist that requires something to make one think otherwise lol... this story will not end as it seems That is garuanteed

Mandalorians kill the sith and conquer the galaxy.

lol I know some people would be estatic about that :p but absolutely no lol but I am creating my version of Star Wars with most of MBII ppl I played with in it that will change the galaxy GAR, GE, SoL, etc lol kinda a fantasized version of our games. And about Jade and the Emperor part, I changed because that was actually written by a friend of mine, I promised em I would put it in there lol so I changed it up and made it a bit more dramatic.