"He does not yet see. Why can he not yet see?"
"Defiance."
"How can I make him see? How can I open his Eye to Ascension?"
"Patience."
"The time is at hand. Please. Please tell me what I can do to bring him into your graces. Into the light of Ascension!"
The answer did not come from the Dark Lady. There was only silence as Critus sat with the bacta patches tending his wounds. They were minimal, Calen's explosive only having done superficial damage at best in the end. The power sent down to him had seen him saved, the rest of the healing would be done soon enough. Pain, loss, they were things for lesser men...men who lacked purpose.
Already, the Vigilant Warden had dropped out of hyperspace and now was in orbit around Karideph, the fabric of hyperspace sliding back into the more concrete feel of realspace as it did so. The Imperial forces on the planet had several times hailed them for information, and had gone on ignored. It did not matter. Their forces on the planet were not strong enough to contest this ship even without its Admiral in charge, they were of no threat. Nor were the Rebels, with their-
"Grand Perceptor!" The holy man was drawn from his meditation by the voice of one of his new crew. "We have contacts! Rebel ships are massing on our location!"
"Dispatch the TIEs." Critus said almost off-handedly, his hands sliding back into the sleeves of his white robe as he walked to the viewport that Ayro had been looking out of so cockily only a few hours before, so confident in a power that he was sure was his. It had never been his to begin with. Critus could see the man now, slumped over the shoulder of his dutiful Corrin Dax, the viper of a Captain that would spell the man's end. No longer any concern of his Maltus Ayro had no place on the Way, and he never had.
"Patience."
The Dark Lady was wise, and she had not led him astray. The Heart was nearly ready...the addition of Karideph to it's bountiful horde of life force would ignite the fire that would burn across the galaxy!
Ascension. Was. Nigh!
* * *
The path to Docking Bay 338 was nearly devoid of life, almost to the point of suspicion. The corridors had a few bodies from where fighting had broken out, left undisturbed in the time since. However, the few living cultists or troopers that the party of three Rebels, the Imperial officer, and the unconscious Imperial Admiral found were quickly taken care of. By the time they actually managed to reach Docking Bay 338, the Admiral was starting to stir.
"We need to go. Now." Dax said, moving toward a shuttle that had been landed in the bay. It had had no guard, most of the guards on duty had either been killed in the struggles of Critus to take the Star Destroyer, or had gone to their new posts at his command.
"The codes." Calen intoned.
"Once we're aboard, I'll transmit them to this station." Dax tapped the monitor, one of his code cylinders left on it.. "And I hope we will never see each other again..."
"Move then. Quickly." Tessa said, taking her place at the station. "Calen, Niyasa. Cover me."
Dax moved onboard the shuttle, carrying Ayro with him.
"I don't like this..." Calen's teeth were gritted.
"I know you want revenge, but-" Niyasa started.
"It's not that." Calen shook his head. "This was too easy. Either this is a trap, or..."
"Or what?" Niyasa asked.
"Or Critus wants them to leave." Calen said.
"Why would he want that?" Niyasa asked.
"I don't know." The ramp lifted, the shuttle started to rise up, its engines powered. At the station, Tessa was tapping the keys.
"Docking clamps released...and code sent. Good." Tessa pulled the cylinder from the terminal. "Let's go, quickly." The shuttle shot off through the bay doors, just in time for them to see chaos erupt out in the vacuum of space. An X-Wing shot by, then a TIE, then another X-Wing, then three TIEs and a-
"Wait, a sec!" Calen said. "Is that-?"
"Glin must have called in reinforcements!" Niyasa grinned. "That might be the whole of Section Six out there!"
"Well, good." Calen said. "Maybe they'll be keeping Critus busy." He looked to the doorway they had come through. "Let's get moving. We have to set the last of the detonators."
* * *
Bashin and Rook were guarding Y7 as the astromech worked furiously at the power terminal.
"What do you mean it's double encrypted?" The Abednedo asked the droid.
Y7 gave a series of quippy beeps.
"An access code? Well, I guess we'll have to hack into the system and-"
The Wookiee barked.
"Oh, what am I supposed to do?" Bashin looked to Rook. "Am I supposed to just pull some codes out of my-"
"You could just say 'please'." Calen grinned as they entered.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're not all dead!" Bashin grinned. "Where have you been?" Rook growled happily, picking up Calen and Niyasa into a hug that Tessa barely managed to avoid.
"Escort duty. It's a long story." Tessa said, holding up the code cylinder. "We have the codes, and it looks like Section Six came out in force."
"Oh, I know. I managed to get a message back to Glin." Bashin said.
"You what?" Calen asked. "Rook! Air!"
"I'm not just a pretty face." Bashin smirked. "I managed to hack into the comms long enough to tell them what was happening. I guess Glin got the message after all."
"Vos must be fuming." Niyasa chirped.
"Oh, I'm sure he is." Bashin's smirk only grew. Tessa, meanwhile, was plugging the code cylinder into the terminal as Y7 backed away.
"Sorry, little buddy." Tessa tapped the astromech on its dome. Y7 seemed less than amused, if its chirping was any indication. "Okay, we're in!" She tapped in a few commands, and the control matrix opened up to reveal...nothing. "What the-?"
"It's empty?" Calen asked. "Then...how is the ship still running? Check the power feed." Tessa tapped a few keys on the terminal.
"...there's...there's nothing." Tessa said. "Only the emergency power is own. That's...that's all that's running the Star Destroyer."
"How?!" Calen asked.
"I know how, Calen." Critus crooned in his ear.
"Oh, kriff, not again!" Calen groaned.
"What is he going on about?" Tessa asked.
"I-what? You can hear him?" Calen asked.
"We all can, Calen." Niyasa said, pointing to a speaker up near the ceiling - internal communications.
"You are indeed correct, Miss Jaast." Critus said. "I believed it was time to speak to you on a level that most of your group is more comfortable with."
"Where's the Heart, Critus?" Calen demanded.
"Safe. Safe with me. You will join me soon enough here, on my bridge. The mess you left has been cleaned."
"You sit tight, we'll be right there." Calen replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You walk the Path now, Calen. The Way is open to you. It has been foretold to me." Calen gestured for the others to follow as he moved out of the room, heading down the corridor.
"Okay, so plan?" Tessa asked.
"Same plan." Calen said. "We set the charges, we get off this ship, we blow this ship to Kingdom Come."
"Yeah, but if Critus is somehow controlling it through the Heart-?" Niyasa began.
"It won't matter," Calen said, "he'll be dead before that becomes a problem."
"How do you know that?" Bashin asked.
"Because I'm going to kill him." Calen said.
"What?" The Abednedo looked at Calen strangely.
"When we were on Gesaril." Calen said, looking in particular to Niyasa and Tessa. "They know this, but...when we were on Gesaril, the Gesaril, they told me I was supposed to stop the Eye Man. That I had to."
"You're not going alone." Tessa replied adamantly.
"Yes, I am." Calen said. "This is something I have to do."
"I'm...I'm not going to let you do that. I'm your superior officer." Tessa said. "I am-"
"I resign." Calen cut her off. "You, Niyasa, Rook, Bashin, Y7, you get on a ship and get out of here. I'll take the detonators and face Critus and-"
"You're being stupid!" Tessa shouted at him. "Completely kriffing stupid!" She stomped toward him. "We're not throwing lives away just because you have a hunch, Darkhaven!"
"It's not a-" Calen started, stopping as Tessa slapped him. This time, he was unable to catch the hand. "OWW!"
"Don't. Be. Stupid!" Tessa snapped at him, raising her hand to slap him again. This time, he caught it.
"Tessa, enough! I-MMPH!" Calen was cut off as Tessa pressed her mouth to his. After a moment, he realized he was being kissed. A moment later, he was likewise moving his against her own. Yet another moment after, she was pulling back. Calen opened his eyes to see mixed emotions on the face of Tessa Gaxan.
"You said you ran away from Coruscant. You were alone, then. I'm not going to let you run into danger alone." Tessa said to him.
"You mean we're not going to let him run into danger alone." Niyasa piped up, getting the attention of the two humans, Calen in particular. "Hey, don't look at me like that! What kind of mentor would I be if I let you be stupid all on your own?" Calen's eyes flickered over to Bashin.
"And you?" He asked.
"I've flown alongside you. Broke out of prison with you, too." Bashin said. "My blaster hand is yours." R2-Y7 beeped loudly in agreement, as did the roaring Wookiee. Calen's eyes flickered from the droid to the organic beings in the room. He came to a decision right then and there.
* * *
The battle outside was horrendous. The Rebels had called in their allies, just as had been foretold to him. Everything was playing out exactly as the Dark Lady had said, even down to the detail of Dax escaping with the Admiral onboard that shuttlecraft. They no longer mattered in this story, and they would not escape what was to come. In his mind, he once more saw all that he had yet seen - all that had been shown to him since his childhood. The many stars that made up the galaxy, shining brightly in the void, their lights getting brighter...and brighter...and brighter until the darkness was shied away from them all, each and every one of them.
All that remained was the light, and thus the Way.
Ascension.
Ijo Critus looked out as Rebel and Imperial alike died in fire and futility, their essences going only to the Heart. Like a beacon, it called them, an opening to their salvation. They would not be alone for very long at all. He looked to it, this artifact that had caused such upheaval in such a short time. The rage and ego of an Admiral, the sneaky machinations of the Gauntlet, and the Rebel Alliance fighting a war that they could not win against an opponent they could not know.
The Heart kept the Warden aloft, kept it flying and powered. Every death made that power even stronger. It radiated in waves from the thing, and Critus was only too overjoyed to bask in the light that it offered him. The power...
"Grand Perceptor!" One of the voices from the crew pit caught his attention.
"Yes, my child?" Critus asked.
"Admiral Ayro and Captain Dax have esca-"
"I know, my child. It is of no matter to me..." Critus said gently. "How goes the battle?"
"The Rebel forces are strong, but they haven't been able to penetrate our shields."
"Of course. Keep me updated." Critus did not expect them to be able to. Even with their photon torpedoes and laser blasts, his will remained strong. He had purpose, focus. "How long until we are in range of Capital City?"
"Five minutes, sir."
"Prepare to fire the instant we are in range!" Critus said. "Let Karideph be the fire that lights our way to Ascension!"
"To Ascension!" The cries came up from all around him, Imperial and Church members alike. They were all now filled with their purpose. Critus smiled, that smile fading as he felt the presence within the lift that was slowly rising. The door opened, and out stepped the young Rebel, so defiant.
"I told you, I'd be right here." Calen said.
"So you did." Critus said, his back still to the younger man. "Have you come to try and blow me up again, Calen?"
"Not exactly." Calen said, and Critus hear the clicking of the safety on a blaster. Several of them, in fact. Critus did turn to face Calen, and his friends. Another human, an Abednedo, a Wookiee, and Niyasa. Oh, and a little astromech droid.
"Well, then...I suppose it is time."
All of them reacted in different ways to what they saw. Niyasa looked disgusted, Tessa tensed like a spring ready to bounce at any moment, Bashin was muttering prayers to the space winds, and Rook was growling like a caged animal. Even Y7's chirps almost sounded like panic.
Calen, looking at the man named Ijo Critus, felt the nauseating touch of the Dark Side pulling at him. It seemed to be leaking out of the man's body...just as it was from the third eye upon the man's forehead. Indeed, the turban had hidden it well, but it was plain to see that Critus had somehow been mutated - a third eye upon his brow that stared at them just as his other two did.
"The Waking Eye, huh?" Calen asked.
"The Awoken Eye, Calen." Critus said, moving at a slow, even pace toward the group gathered on the walk. " For it is awoken now, fully! I have been enlightened, my mind opened to the realities of our universe. All has been foretold to me, Calen. Even here, now, you will try to defy it. And you will fail."
"Fail this!" Calen lifted his blaster, as did his friends. Five blasters went off, firing multiple shots enough to blind them all. "Hold your fire!" The light had become too much and it took a few moments for it all to clear. Critus remained standing, a hand having gathered the energy together.
"You are so small. All of you." The ball of energy receding once more into his being. "You cannot stop me. It is all going just as She told me." Rook rushed forward, drawing his wicked blade from his belt and charging the man in the robes. Critus merely gestured and Rook fell off the walkway and down into the crew pit. The officers there began to attack him as he roared in defiance.
"Rook!" Calen shouted. Tessa, on the other hand, threw a familiar silvered sphere toward Critus.
"Really? This is becoming tiresome." Critus rolled his eyes (two of them, anyway) as he raised a hand to capture the energy from the explosion. Tessa pressed a button on a remote...and nothing happened. "...what?" The holy man looked confused, then felt a jolt go through the ship. Then another. And then another. The deck under their feet swaying slightly. An alarm blared loudly. Structural integrity dmaages. Through the Heart, Critus could feel it...the ship was being damaged.
"It's called a distraction! Thermal detonators at key points." Tessa said. "This ship is going down."'
"And so are you!" Critus gestured, flinging Tessa back into the door of the lift.
"NO!" Calen rushed forward, clearing the space between himself and Critus and slamming his fist into the man's face. Critus took the hit...and began to turn his head back in the direction the punch had forced it away from, almost relishing the confused and frightened look on Calen's face.
"Insolent child!" He gestured again, focused upon sending Calen backwards as he had the woman. Calen raised both of his hands, Critus amused as the boy's will fought with his own. "Perhaps the Dark Lady was right about you after all..." He gestured again, Calen crying out as he was thrown back again, falling backwards onto the walkway. "You have so much to learn, Calen. But don't worry, I will teach you the-" He stopped short, feeling something else. Calen's attack had been that of the physical, a force to match his own. This, though...this...was different.
Niyasa Jaast had her clawed hands raised, her eyes closed as she focused upon the Heart.
"You seek to control the Heart, little one? Do try." Critus smirked, focusing a bit more of the artifact's power onto her. Niyasa screamed out as her hands began to smoke as though they were about to burst into flame, her eyes snapping open and her falling back. That little probe into his mind and his connection to the Heart having miserably failed. "Do you not understand it by now? How many times must I say it?" Critus asked them. "Can you see that you cannot defeat me? Even with your paltry power?"
Bashin fired another blaster shot, then another, and another. The rapidfire from his blaster lasting until his power pack was emptied. Critus shook his head as the energy traveled to the Heart, the light from it seeming to grow even more. Calen managed to get back up despite the searing pain that the toss had caused him. Rook had fallen, Tessa had fallen, Niyasa was injured and he saw as Bashin was being slammed in both shoulders and at the knees with blaster bolt after blaster bolt.
"You. Are. NOTHING!" Critus seemed to tower above them, more so when he actually lifted up from the ground. "I am the Grand Perceptor! I am the Keeper of the Way! You will all heed me and follow! You have no choice!" As the holy man ranted and raved, and as the Rebel and Imperial forces did battle outside, Calen felt it again. That feeling he'd gotten on Gesaril. That feeling that was so pure, so powerful. The feeling radiated from him like a wave, hitting objects in the room and bouncing back to him, showing him the weaknesses.
He could see the point. He could see Niyasa's blaster having fallen to the ground. With a raised hand, he brought it to him. The blaster slide across the floor until the grip was in his palm.
"It has been foretold to me!" Critus declared. Calen pulled the trigger. Twice. Critus looked, a hand raised, having expected the bolts to once more come to him, but they hadn't.
The Heart of Derriphan smoked as the blaster fire tore through it, shattering it into thousands upon thousands of shards.
"Don't believe everything you're foretold..." Calen wheezed out as he watched Critus visibly pale. The light from where the Heart had been seemed to glow.
"No! I did everything you asked! My Lady! Where...where are you? Wher--NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Critus screamed. Suddenly, his third eye burst into flame as his bellow went out across the bridge. The man's body soon joined his eye in being aflame, his body lifting up even further as he was consumed by the flames...and then he and the singularity that had once been the Heart winked out of existence. Calen struggled to rise, wincing in pain.
The bridge had erupted into chaos, those who had been under the thrall of Critus were now free and very much panicking. The deck lurched under them all.
"We're pushing toward the planet!" One of the officers cried out.
"We have to get the power back online..." Calen hissed as he got up, seeing Niyasa had already gotten up and was moving toward Tessa despite her own injuries. "How is-?"
"She's breathing." Niyasa said. "The pulse is strong. She should be fine...but none of us will be if-"
"I know, I know." Calen nodded. "Rook!" The Wookiee growled from within one of the pits, Calen looking down to see that the furry humanoid had the officers there very cowed, though he hadn't beaten into unconsciousness at the very least. "Alright, good..." He glanced over to Bashin. "You alright?"
"Been better." The Abednedo winced, but he was standing despite the pain coursing through him...and then slumped over one of the terminals. "I'm afraid I'm not going to be much help."
"We'll manage." Calen hissed as he got back to his feet fully. "Y7, see what you can do about the power." The astromech had already rolled up to an access point and had started doing just that while they'd handled Critus, just as had been intended. "You people!" Calen shouted down to the crew pit that hadn't had an angry Wookiee dropped into it. A few listened, stopping. "HEY! YOU!" He shouted down at them. Apparently, they were more used to that. "Power! Get it back on! We have five minutes until we crash! Let's keep that from happening!"
The crew was, mostly, pressed into service. Niyasa had managed to wake Tessa, who was still too dazed to be of much help. With her and the Mrlssi out of commission for the time being, Calen worked with what they did have. Namely a Wookiee, a Abednedo, an astromech, and a bunch of Imperial who had worked on the Star Destroyer.
Y7 beeped as a humming sound flooded their ears. The auxiliaries coming back online.
"That's a definite start." Calen nodded, patting the astromech's dome. "Good work, Y7, now try to get the mains back up." The astromech beeped confirmation as he got to work.
"We...can't." Niyasa said from where she was.
"What?" Calen asked.
"We blew them up, remember? Main power is going to be either damaged or not working at all." Niyasa said. Calen paled.
"Oh, son of a-"
"If we can't get back out of the planet's pull, we can at least land somewhere unpopulated." Bashin said. "Aim for the wilderness."
"Sounds good to me." Calen hopped down into the pit, examining the navigation terminal. "Alright, I'm punching up the coordinates." He gestured over to the officer at ops as his other hand punched in the coordinates. "You. Get us ready to move. Pronto."
"I don't work for-"
"I'm sorry, did I ask who you worked for? Get to your station! NOW!"
"Y-Yes, sir!" The still somewhat dazed Imperial officer stammered and got to work. His fellows that weren't still dead or unconscious following suit.
"Are the comms working?" Calen asked.
"Uh...yes!" Bashin's flickered to a console providing a readout. Calen looked for the comms controls on his terminal and opened the internal to broadcast across the ship.
"ALL HANDS! BRACE! BRACE! BRACE!"
The Vigilant Warden was pushing into the atmosphere...flames erupting across the hull as it did so...
* * *
To hear the people of Karideph tell of it in the years afterward, it was a massive comet streaking down from the skies, at least at first. Those who had had macrobinoculars had been able to see it well before then. They had also been able to see the battle that created it, the fighters of the Rebellion and the Empire circling around it like enraged hornets. What had been a comet soon became clear as an engine of terror and destruction that they had well known for several years - the Vigilant Warden. It's fall from the heavens had signaled the end of the Battle of Karideph.
It had landed several kilometers from the city, many thanking the Force for the boon. Crashing into the mountains, it had left quite the crater in its wake. By the time the Imperial Security Bureau was on scene, there were only the handfuls that had managed to survive...and the cultists from Pergitor that had to be either executed or taken into Imperial custody. Not a single Rebel was found among the number of survivors, the official report being that all of the Rebel saboteurs had died at the hands of the valiant crew of the Warden, who had heroically not only stopped the Rebels, but also had saved Capital City from destruction.
Of course, just because the report was official didn't mean it was factual.
* * *
Far and away removed from the official report were the facts, and so were the Rebel Alliance. Their cell in the Minos Cluster had been compromised, but Alliance command had deemed the cause just. It had been a large mining operation for the Empire that would take some time to reestablish, years if ever. Those Rebels that had died found themselves on a transport heading to the Bogden system.
* * *
A medal depicting a golden star on a circle of blue attached to a blue ribbon was pinned to the front of Tessa's uniform.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"For acts of bravery far above the call of duty, it is my honor and privilege to see you awarded with the Star of Alderaan."
An identical medal was pinned to Niyasa's tunic.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"For acts of bravery far above the call of duty, it is my honor and privilege to see you awarded with the Star of Alderaan."
A third medal, identical in appearance, was pinned to the front of Bashin's flight suit.
"Thank you, ma'am."
"For acts of bravery far above the call of duty, it is my honor and privilege to see you awarded with the Star of Alderaan."
The fourth and final medal was pinned to Calen's uniform.
"Thank you, ma'am." He nodded, stepping back from the visage of Chandrila's former Senator. Mon Mothma gave a smile and gestured behind them. The four turned to face the crowd of gathered Rebel soldiers, pilots, and others, who broke out in applause for them. A short bit of festivities followed, the beaten and bruised heroes subjected to some merriment and joy from their fellows. Few of them would truly know just how close the galaxy had come to a doom it might not have been able to escape. Fewer still would have cared, just happy to know that the Empire's grasp had been weakened, another step toward their ultimate goal.
The festivities carried on through that day and well into the night. It was as those festivities were still going on that Calen found himself on the battlements of the old stronghold the Rebels had based themselves in, tucked away in the rocky terrain of the small moon. He gazed up at the starry night, those distant points of light scattered out across the canvas that was the cosmos.
"Hey." Tessa's voice snapped him from his reverie, and Calen's head turned to her. She had been beaten up pretty badly for just the head injury. A bad concussion and ultimately a broken arm after the crash. Thanks to the medical droids, however, she would be fine.
"Hey." Calen said, giving her a smile.
"How are you feeling?" Tessa asked.
"Not too bad. You?" Calen asked.
"Fine." Tessa nodded. "You just looked...lonely out here, all by yourself."
"Just thinking."
"You do that?" Calen laughed at her teasing question.
"When I can help it, yeah." He said, looking back up at the sky. "I was just thinking about everything that's gone over the last few weeks...it's been...well, insane, really."
"Welcome to the Rebel Alliance." Tessa said, earning another bit of laughter from him that she joined in on this time. "It's a wild galaxy, Calen. More well than you can imagine."
"No kidding." Calen said. He went quiet. "There's still a lot I have to do. I know we stopped Critus, but...Ayro's still out there. And whoever wanted Captain Caius dead."
"Gonna be a little hard to do that with the war on." Tessa said.
"I can multitask." Calen said. "I'm in this for the long haul, after all."
"Good." Tessa said, moving a little closer to him.
"Why is that good?" Calen asked her.
"It just is." Tessa said with a smile. Calen smiled, too, the pair of them looking up at the infinite galaxy around them.
Their adventures were only just beginning...
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