Chapter Text
Ahsoka rushed back toward the screams. And she quickly found the source. Zule Xiss was furiously cutting down clones. Some tried to fire back, but it was useless. Others died before they could even understand what was happening.
“Zule, what are you doing—?!”
Falleeni turned toward her. Her eyes were yellow, and her presence in the Force… was Dark. She’s… a Sith?
There was no time to think. Zule lunged at the Togruta, who struggled to parry the frenzied blows. Xiss’s strength in the Force had grown terrifyingly powerful, and Ahsoka understood that defeating her would be very difficult... She tried to weave combinations, structured chains of strikes, but Zule slipped through them effortlessly—or simply overpowered them, driving monstrous force into each swing.
Suddenly, Zule knocked the Togruta’s saber from her hand and hurled Ahsoka to the ground with a brutal blow. The mad girl’s blade rose above her.
NO! Ahsoka covered herself with her hand instinctively.
“It won’t work!” a shout rang out as a clone barreled into the Falleeni, knocking her aside. Devil! Ahsoka didn’t even have time to feel relief before the clone was struck down—impaled on Dark Jedi’s blade. He died saving her.
Ahsoka used telekinesis to summon the hilt of her saber. Once more, they spun together in a deadly dance…
I have to defeat her! Neutralize her! Maybe she can still be helped.
Focusing—though it was agonizingly difficult—she reached deeper into the Force.
So… no… no… but this might work. Go!
Ahsoka ran and leapt, using a chunk of rock as a springboard. As she flew above Zule, her saber traced an intricate pirouette behind her back. Falling to the ground and rolling away, evading her opponent’s slash, then turned on one knee and raised her blade perpendicular to the ground to parry the blow from the Falleeni strike. Then there should have been an opening—she could sever her arms, disable her without killing her. But the follow-through never came…
A few steps away, the Falleeni collapsed slowly onto her side. Ahsoka, overwhelmed by the shock of Zule’s dying presence in the Force, stared at the wound on the girl’s neck with numb detachment. The strike meant only to distract—to be parried—had severed her spine.
“Zule… no!” The Togruta lowered her hands, unable to believe she had just killed Zule Xiss.
“Commander Tano! We have to go!” Lucky sprinted up to her. “The enemy is repelled, but now—Dank—she’s not herself! Grab her and get up the mountain!”
***
My breathing is uneven, and despite the armor’s air-conditioning system, sweat runs down my back… Sounds seem unreal, muffled as though underwater, and the colors around me appear faded and dead. I don’t know if I fully understand how people feel when they go mad… but now I was close. At least, that’s what I thought. The endless chain of deaths… the exhaustion… the oppressive feeling that everything was,,, doomed… pressed down on my mind.
Silently, I carved a path through the droids, heading toward where I felt the Padawans were.
Suddenly, a wave of danger washed over me… Someone screaming… Ahsoka?! What’s happened to her? I can’t tell—it’s too far…
You know…
What the—again?!
You can be strong…
Go to the hutt!
You know, everyone will die… you can’t save them…
Images erupted in my mind, and reality blurred with the future…
A young man cuts down droids with confidence, but assassin droids rise behind him. He senses the danger—too late. Dozens of plasma bolts tear through him…
A Sullustan woman clutches her head, collapsing into the mud…
A wounded Aqualish blows himself up with grenades, taking a tank with him…
Two beings—a human and a Zabrak—are consumed in the flames of dozens of exploding missiles, clinging to each other in a final attempt to remain together until the end…
And I cannot tell if these moments have already happened or not—their deaths strike my consciousness like red-hot needles…
No… no!
You see… it’s all in vain… death will claim everyone… but you can become strong…
I sprint forward, searching desperately for someone—anyone—but find only the dead. And again, the Padawans’ deaths wash over me… again… and among them are Zule Xiss and Ahsoka…
They will die… die… die…
Suddenly, I see Mak Lotor and Kass Tod—both lying on the ground, curled around each other… And rockets are already hurtling toward them…
Their deaths flash in front of me again and again. Their lights shine brilliantly in the Force, reaching toward one another—but ahead lies only death…
They will die…
No… No! I won’t let them!
With a raw, feral effort, I fling my arms forward. Nothing matters anymore—Light, Darkness… it’s all dog shit.
A lunge—
I won’t let them die! Not now!
The rockets twist midair, tearing apart into warped chunks of metal that clatter harmlessly to the ground.
I take a few staggering steps. My vision swims red. My arms hang limp at my sides.
“Knight Vikt…” they exhale—stunned.
“What are you sitting around for? Decided to die? Not on my watch!”
The Force… how tired I am…
***
She drove the speeder as fast as she could. The Force pulled her forward, unerringly guiding her to the Hutt Jedi. The time for revenge had come… She found him on the battlefield without fail. The knowledge she had gained from her people—the Dathomir witches—allowed her to perform many things. Among them was the ability to seek out living beings through their blood.
Yet just as she prepared to strike, something happened that shook her…
Ventress watched, thoughtful, as the Jedi walked away. Part of her passionately urged her to chase him down, catch him, kill him—but another part warned her to hold back. He had just done something extraordinary, and she had no idea what else he might be capable of. She wasn’t going to repeat the same mistake by underestimating her opponent. Count Dooku would not forgive her another failure. She had never even heard of such abilities—for a Jedi to draw on the Dark Side and yet grow Lighter at the same time. If she hadn’t witnessed it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.
Who are you?
She slowly made her way back to where she had left her speeder. I need to tell the Count. He’ll definitely be interested in this… and help explain it.