Five years later....the heroes start to emerge, slowly at first; the Zakuul already having fallen into a state of relaxation are unaware of the vengeance held in the hearts of so many who slept seething over what they lost. No one holds greater vengeance in their heart than the Former Darth and Hammer of the Empire, Mrysti Alpha. Believing her sister dead and having lost two of her brothers as well as other family members to the Juggernaut that was the Zakuul Empire, Mrysti returns to exact more than a pound of flesh for all that's been taken from her....
Things have changed however, there are new players in the game and Mrysti must decide if the price of her vengeance is worth the cost. Especially in light of the family she must some how piece back together from the ashes. No one will be more effected than Mrysti....and her NEW daughter, Samantha.....
“Finally, the respect you and I deserve….”
Arcann smiled and glanced over at his brother Thexan who looked down shyly and smiled in return. This was a long road, but finally the Sith Empire and the Republic were no more. In their hands they carried a bit of flag from both factions and the lightsabers gathered from the most difficult to defeat of each faction’s heroes. Arcann was slightly annoyed that the ones who vexed him on Korriban before the assault on the Republic’s homeworlds were not included in the package that they were about to present to their father. And Thexan absolutely refused to give Arcann Karolin’s lightsaber. She wasn’t dead, instead resting comfortably in the carbonite chamber Thexan set up for her. Still, Marr’s lightsaber was there and though he did not have Mrysti’s lightsaber wrapped up in the flag under his arm, Arcann was sure sooner rather than later he would get it. She couldn’t be far and now that the galaxy was his, he would spare no expense in finding her. The matter of Karolin was still creating a rift between the two brothers.
As the lift stopped, the door to the throne room slid open with the Eternal Cordon of Zakuul Knights guarding the highly polished path to their near untouchable Father. No one came here, no one had reason as their father sat privately most of the time. The few visitors he did see were mostly family, meaning the two brothers and Vaylen; who was still out in the Mid-Rim tying up some loose ends with the Hutts. The two brothers stepped off together after a quick glance at one another. Walking purposefully, pridefully and fully in sync. A destiny fulfilled, the task complete, they stopped in their normal spots bowing and then kneeling as they were taught to; each one unfurling the tattered flags they carried to reveal the lightsabers of those most dangerous foes they encountered in their conquests. Two sabers each lay on the tattered remains of the once proud symbols of both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire. Thexan and Arcann both gave a solemn glance at their father before they both dipped their heads at the neck in a sign of reverence; each expecting the just reward for a task that cost each brother something.
For Thexan, it cost him innocence. When he left Zakuul, he was a mindless automaton. Following the orders of the Emperor, his Father, blindly. Being exposed to the different cultures of the Republic and the Sith Empire, he grew. In power and in knowledge a grudging respect was earned for the power they both come to know now as ‘The Force’. Neither brother was the same person they were when they left, but of the two Thexan was changed the most. Both in wisdom and in knowledge. Still wholeheartedly committed to his Father’s dream of ‘Justice to the Galaxy’, Thexan had to wonder if perhaps there were different forms of Justice. That perhaps the Zakuul way was not the only way. Of the two factions, the Jedi seemed most like the Zakuul and in Thexan’s brief encounters with them; Karolin especially, he saw very little difference in the views they shared with the Zakuul. It was this doubt he harbored and helped to create the rift between himself and Arcann. Then there was Karolin, Thexan was sure now that he loved her. Though he knew she hated him and his Empire for what they done, in his heart he knew when she was awakened he could convince her of the futility of resistance. Her power would be his power and together they would forge a brave new galaxy, one free of injustice and turmoil. A peace eternal to rule…until the stars burned out of the heavens.
Arcann held no such illusions. The loss of his arm and most of his face at the Battle of Korriban, Arcann felt he gave more than he received. As was always the way with Arcann, throughout his childhood, he craved acknowledgement and attention for the achievements he made. Though overshadowed by his brother who fought and thought in a more controlled manner, Arcann wanted recognition regardless. The rift was formed from the very first training session at 5 years old, when his brother Thexan bested him in the contest. The rift grew as Thexan’s power grew and Arcann held the feelings of inadequacy and guile deep in his heart. He loved his brother, but he loved power more. Hate twisted him, Zakuul Justice was a path to that power and through meting out that Justice on the unsuspecting galaxy of the Sith and Jedi; Arcann was fulfilling his destiny. But it was never enough, there was never enough acknowledgement . It was as if his whole life, his Father purposefully kept that love and recognition for something else; like he was waiting. In Arcann’s mind that day had come. If the vanquishing of the two most powerful factions in that galaxy were not enough, then nothing was going to be.
Valkorian kept his eyes straight ahead, like he always did. He was above the pettiness of actually looking down, he would never look down at anything. Of course he knew what the two brothers were unfurling in front of him; his tribute in a way and a show by the two of them of what they accomplished. It was unnecessary, he already knew what was going to happen when he deployed the two to lay waste to the Republic and the Sith. And it was not over, even though he could feel that the two brothers believed their hardest work was done. Sighing visibly, Valkorian stepped away slowly and turned his back on them. Still they had not passed the final test, even in this act by the two brothers Valkorian was not completely satisfied.
It started as a slow build up, Arcann’s head snapped upwards as he heard his Father move away and turn his back on them, as he always had. Thexan’s gaze shifted as he felt the change in his brother, looking over at him. Something broke in that instant inside of Arcann as he clenched his cybernetic fist, his breathing becoming heavy and he gazed at the mechanical hand. So much sacrifice, so much destruction. And after all he had given, his Father would dare to turn away from them yet again. Having nearly died for the cause and after years of neglect, Arcann had enough. He was not going to force his Father to acknowledge them and as without warning he jumped up and leaped into the air igniting his lightsaber; Arcann was going to kill the source of all of his pain.
Thexan jumped up immediately, the change was instantaneous and he knew what it was. On Korriban he felt it and in the presence of the Sith he felt it. Arcann had fallen in that instant to the injustice of the Dark Side. Murder was on his mind. Thrusting his hand out Thexan grabbed Arcann in the Force and pulled him back in the last moment before the saber came down. A blow that would have surely severed the head of their Father. The pull in the Force was not so much to protect their Father, but to protect Arcann. In all of their struggles together, in their journey to the other galaxy for conquest the one thing he always tried to impart to Arcann was patience. As Arcann sailed through the air, he screamed in rage at having been stopped once again from his goal. Once again denied that which was owed to him. Fury bit into him as he landed, his one good eye glazing over as the flame iris of the Dark Side ignited within him. Thexan, his brother, was now his enemy.
Thexan immediately activated his own saber to block the saber strike from his brother as Arcann landed. Being completely on the defensive, Thexan parried and moved to the side, blocking again. In his rage, Arcann stayed on the offensive, matching each block with a strike-slash and pressing forward. Arcann’s vision was clouded with the crimson haze of a bloodlust he couldn’t possibly understand as he struck-slashed again and crossed through the middle of his brother’s block bringing the saber across Thexan’s midsection. Almost immediately Arcann realized what he’d done as Thexan stopped and lurched forward slightly, the saber in Thexan's hand deactivating in disbelief. Arcann dropped his own saber and ran to his brother as he fell. The darkness in his eye clearing as he cradled Thexan’s head, grasping his arm as they always did and lowering him gently to the ground. The look of disbelief in Thexan as he watched his brother lower him in those final moments. Thexan’s thoughts drifted at the loss, as Arcann had just taken the most important thing from him he could ever hold dear; his life.
“No…”
Thexan closed his eyes and went slack, his body finally giving in to the deathly blow his brother had given him. Arcann bowed his head and stared in disbelief at what he’d done. A profound sadness had overtaken Arcann as the one person in the universe he ever confided in, Arcann just killed. The rift was no more, the bond broken; Arcann had slain Thexan. Footsteps made Arcann look up as Valkorian stood over him and Arcann looked up like a shy five year old who had just done something dreadful, not really sure what his Father would do. The Emperor’s eyes still not bothering to look down, not even in the death of one of his sons. At last, the final test had been completed and Arcann had passed the threshold. For the first time in their lives, Valkorian did look down on Arcann and extend his hand; speaking the word that Arcann had longed to hear since his birth.
“Come with me…my SON….”
Zakuul - Special Carbonite Containment Facility - (Continued from the Finale in "Fall")
Still blind from the Carbonite, Karolin held onto the shoulder of the one who freed her. Her sense in the Force was returning as the two of them ducked behind some conduits at her rescuer’s urging. A slight breeze wafted by the two of them as Karolin suddenly realized; being out of the climate controlled antechamber of the Carbonite storage area, she was completely naked. Sneering at her misfortune she cursed under her breath.
“Kriffin’ Thexan…wait until I get my hands around that scrawny neck of his…I am gonna—“
“Prince Thexan is dead…”
Surprised at her own reaction, Karolin looked away in shock. Her head lowered she searched for answers wondering about how much could have taken place in the time she was frozen in Carbonite. She looked back in the direction of the shoulder she held onto knowing her face was still twisted in the shock she felt at hearing of Thexan’s death.
“How…long has it been? How long was I in Carbonite?”
The hand went over hers as she felt an urging both in the Force and tugging on her own hand, “Come…we have to move. I will be happy to answer whatever you wish once we get out of the Palace. I have a place on the lower levels of the city.” Karolin’s hand jerked away in disgust, she still didn’t know who this benefactor was and in her blindness was loathed to follow someone who may lead her into another trap.
“You have a place here?!?! You’re Zakuul??”
There was a sound of running feet as Karolin felt in the Force the arrival of two other presences, two entities she felt before many, many times. The muffled electronically modulated voice of a Zakuul Knight echoed in the corridor as the shuffling of the feet approaching them stopped.
“Halt…’Outlanders’! You! You have broken a Royal Edict in releasing this…’Jedi’. You will surrender at once, drop your lightsaber!”
Karolin heard the tell-tale signs of saber staffs being activated and the sharp whine of reflective shields come online from the direction of the two Knights. Close to her Karolin heard and smelled the ions of a saber activate as the voice attached to her ‘benefactor’ replied defiantly.
“We ARE leaving this place! You can stand aside or be destroyed…it’s your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate—“
Even in her nakedness and thankful she couldn’t see at the moment to be more embarrassed, Karolin stepped around from behind the voice who was protecting her. She dealt with these ‘Knights’ before and had no intention of showing quarter to the more than adversarial and conquering warriors. Eyes that were shut lightly she began to ‘see’ in the Force, the auras of the two Knight lighting a blue-yellow in the blindness of her mind’s eye. Karolin raised her hands as the swirling yellow-red light of the Force began to caress and make it’s way over her body, coalescing in her hands.
There were no statements from Karolin as she cast her hands out and pushed the Knights away like leaves in the wind. The ‘Disturbance’ caused by the Force Push tossed the Knights aside and Karolin hoped it pushed them into something that was hard enough to kill them or at least knock them off an edge. The running feet of the one closest to her and the slashing sounds made by a lightsaber hitting armor told her it wasn’t. Karolin’s mysterious benefactor moving quickly to dispatch their two assailants. Grabbing her hand, the ‘benefactor’ pulled her onward with an admonishment.
“We could have avoided killing them I think…that was unnecessary in the—“
Jerking her hand away, Karolin stopped and bent her head down, “Look I don’t know who you are, but in my world these people are the enemy…and they are responsible for more than just putting me in Carbonite. I show no quarter and they all have much to answer for, especially for the death of my family.” With her head cast down, Karolin was still ‘seeing’ in the Force and the aura cast around the mysterious stranger was all yellow light, which told her at the very least he was a Jedi. As he approached she could feel his emotions turn more sympathetic, the hand again grabbing hers more gentle this time.
“I know…I know it. And that’s why I’ve come for you. It’s time, Master. More than you know has happened…” He paused as Karolin felt the sense of urgency rise in him again, “…and I will be more than happy to answer it all once we get out, but right now…” And he pulled her, the two of them running down what seemed like a long wide corridor. The curiosity still eating at her, Karolin spoke while they ran occasionally stopping as she sensed the movement of guards and other individuals in the vicinity.
“Well…at least answer this. How long was I under this time? You seem to know me, so I guess you realize I have been in Carbonite before.”
There was a slight chuckle as the two of them started their movement again, “Five years…and yes, I know all about you. I was a Padawan on Tython at the time of the Zakuul Invasion. One of my first study assignments gave me the opportunity to view your Holocron and I became…” There was a hesitation in the voice as Karolin sensed some embarrassment from him, “…’interested’ in you and your family. I studied more and before I realized it I had become more of an expert on things involving your family than I realized.” He stopped as both of them knelt down under another series of conduits, “After the fall, I started seeking out the members of your family. My studies took me above and beyond what a normal Padawan would have been responsible for and I stumbled on the first of your clues left behind by your sister, ‘Mrysti’.”
Karolin smiled as she looked up and at the voice, even in her blindness she could sense his excitement as well as the beam on her face at hearing her sister’s name, “She’s alive?!?! Then we must find her…go to her!!!”
The hand pressed on Karolin as she started to get up, “Not so fast Master, we are on Zakuul and a long way from where your sister may or may not be. In fact, no one knows where the facility is. I said I found the clues, I didn’t say I found her. The only ones who knew are either in hiding or I can’t get to. General Alpha is almost untouchable and she’s a ghost in the movements of her and her resistance unit.” Karolin nearly jumped again in surprise.
“General Alpha?!?! You said my sister was still in hiding?”
The smile behind the words could be heard as the benefactor replied, “General ‘Porchia’ Alpha…leader of the resistance. Or at least one branch of it. There are units scattered throughout the galaxy.”
Pressing her hand to her forehead it was a lot for Karolin to take in. ‘Porchia? A General? And where was Marstel?’, she thought. At the time of Karolin’s departure, Porchia was only 20 she was nearly 25 now. So many questions swam around Karolin’s head as the two waited for the footsteps to pass before getting up and proceeding. She felt a coat being thrown over her as Karolin’s rescuer spoke again.
“My name is Derrick. I was an architect at the time of the Zakuul invasion.” Derrick saw the look of surprise from Karolin as they entered the doorway and out into a maintenance causeway before exiting on ground level and out into the lower levels of the city. “And yes, I was a Padawan. Force ability in my family was not something we advertised. My family was well-connected on Alderaan, which kept me at home and out of the Jedi Temple. I didn’t feel compelled to join the Order until after I saw first hand what the Zakuul were doing to our galaxy. Now, I regret not becoming a Jedi in the first place, but rescuing you and…well, this is my way of making amends in a way.”
They rounded a corner as Derrick eased Karolin into a seat and she heard the sounds of a speeder starting up. They rocketed away as she relaxed a bit, her eyes adjusting to the light blur of her vision returning slowly and Karolin squinted looking over in Derrick’s direction.
“You said you found clues…what kind of clues and who else knows about them?”
Derrick continued to pilot as the two of them rocketed toward a destination Karolin had no idea about; Derrick speaking as he worked the controls, “Well, not many…your family I suppose. I do know that General Alpha has dropped off the grid, I suppose it’s time to start looking for you all and she is doing what I am. As I said, I haven’t spoken to her. I do know that her and the adopted daughter she has…” Karolin lurched forward again grabbing Derrick’s arm.
“Daughter?!?!”
Karolin could sense no deception in Derrick, only curiosity at Karolin’s response to what he was saying, “Yes, a little Mirialan girl…they call her Samantha. No one really sees her or Porchia for that matter. Does that mean anything to you?”
Laying her head back, Karolin began to smile broadly her eyes cast to the sky and the blur of light with faint hints of a blue sky. The laugh came slowly as Karolin wiped her face, a tear forming and streaking down in happiness as she murmured to herself, “Samantha.” Not privy to what happened after she was taken away on Korriban, Karolin’s last image was that of Marstel dragging Mrysti away from the cliffs edge before Thexan was about to sever her head with his lightsaber. Sparing Karolin he placed her in Carbonite, even after she cursed him and begged him to kill her. They did lock eyes when Karolin looked at Mrysti on that cliff’s edge, it was Karolin’s way of trying to tell Mrysti that it was ok, that she was ready to join the Force if it was required. In the months leading up to that moment both Mrysti and Karolin shared a vision of Karolin’s death and it suddenly dawned on her as she stopped smiling and sat up. “She thinks I’m dead.” Derrick glanced over intermittently as Karolin thought and murmured to herself, completely lost as to what she was thinking.
“They all think you’re dead, Master. You’re location was a closely guarded secret and only the very highest of Zakuul authority knew about your existence…I only stumbled on it by chance when—“
Karolin interrupted him as her thoughts started piecing together things quickly. The talks Mrysti and she had before the fall, the planning. There were plans inside of plans and Mrysti always knew where to hide things. But Karolin being dead, Mrysti may have changed things. It dawned on Karolin that Mrysti would have sought out another Holocron to place a clue in; the original plan was to place the first clues in Karolin’s Holocron and plant it in ‘The Castle’. Karolin desperately wanted to go to ‘The Castle’ and simply wake up her sister, but as she glanced at her wrist in blindness she realized she had no idea what the timetable was. Was Mrysti even awake? Was she even alive? What would she do if all was lost, did any of them survive? Karolin knew Porchia was alive and had what seemed to be Mrysti’s daughter with her. Karolin smiled again thinking about that, Mrysti’s daughter. Samantha had to be Mrysti’s daughter it was the only explanation and Porchia most likely knew where that first clue was if she indeed dropped off the grid as Derrick suggested. Where to look and where to begin was vexing Karolin as the speeder finally came to a stop shutting down.
“Well, we’re here and that was much easier than I thought. The Zakuul were not guarding that area as heavily as I was lead to believe."
Karolin stumbled as got out of the speeder awkwardly in her blindness, her genetically enhanced intellect already calculating the possibility that she was ‘allowed’ to escape, though she didn’t voice it. Instead Karolin grabbed Derrick’s wrist and felt around for something.
“Do you have a Chrono…what day is it….the year?”
“It is exactly 4 years, 42 weeks and 7 days since you were placed in Carbonite. Why?”
Karolin was assembling things at a rapid pace. Her mind working in three dimensions as she worked her thoughts over, Mrysti was not yet out of her hyper-sleep and as much as she wanted to simply go to ‘The Castle’ and retrieve her there were other factors to consider. One, was the new little girl they were responsible for. Samantha, had to be safeguarded and without knowing if ‘The Castle’ even survived the Zakuul conquest, going to Mrysti would be fruitless until Karolin had more information. It was really a lack of good information which was poking holes in the many thoughts Karolin was having as to what course to pursue. What she did know was enough to go on, but she still needed time to consider. With the effects of the Carbonite slowly wearing off she began to see an image of a face. It was a blur, but it was definitely a face. Karolin smiled in Derrick’s direction.
“We have a lot to do, but I need some time to assemble things. We can’t be too hasty, Derrick. The reports of my death although false, can be used to our advantage. We just need to decide which way to move first and I will need my things…my lightsaber especially…”
Derrick looked down sadly in Karolin’s blurry vision, she watched him until he looked up again.
“That is most likely at Prince Thexan’s estate. That’s where you were held before Arcann had you moved…”
The name sent a shock of lightning through Karolin as she felt her anger rise. All of the thoughts of planning immediately subsiding as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth repeating it, “Arcann…” Karolin stepped around Derrick as he fumbled with the code key to his apartment glancing at Karolin worriedly. She could sense a change in him and it was fear. Perhaps all he read was more than he bargained for in meeting Karolin in reality. She didn’t hide her anger, but instead sighed slightly placing a hand on his arm to reassure him. “Don’t worry…I am not going to harm you, Derrick. But, I am going to need your help. That lightsaber is incredibly valuable to me, it has a very rare crystal in it and…well, I really just don’t want to leave my lightsaber in the hands of those who murdered my family. So, I am going to get it…Arcann and the rest of his pathetic people, be damned.”
Derrick saw the flash of light in Karolin’s eyes and stepped back slightly as the door opened. The feeling he got was pure evil and he began to realize that indeed, he may have gotten more than he bargained for in helping to free the one he became enamored with.