Mistaken Identity Chapter 84 — Incident at Sun Station (Patreon)

(AN: This chapter is both important and not really important which is kind of why I wanted to get it done quickly so I apologise if it seemed rushed, I honestly just wanted to get back to Jaden and finishing the events of the film, but I can’t do that without showing what happened to his crew while he was with Padmè. I don’t like this chapter much but it needed to be done. Anyway I’m going to probably still work on Star Wars for a bit more after this before going into Life can Change. Anyway enjoy.)

Also please excuse the funky pseudo science.

Also this is a 23k chapter.

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The cockpit of the Vengeance shook with another groan, metal struts creaking as the battered ship banked lazily through the the inner system. Aubrie's grip tightened on the controls, her brow drawn in concentration as warning lights kept blinking angrily across the pilot's console. The ship hadnt gotten better—surprisingly—and though it still flew, it limped through space like a wounded animal. "Come on," Aubrie muttered under her breath, adjusting the inertial dampeners again so they weren't all thrown from their seats. "Just hold together a little longer."

The forward viewport was filled with blinding light—not from an explosion or weapon fire, but the presence of the sun itself. The Vengeance was flying uncomfortably close to the star, skimming the safer edge of its gravity well. Solar radiation crackled faintly along the deflectors, turning the view into a glare-tinted orange wash. Aubrie was uneasy about getting this close to Coruscants star, especially with how damaged the ship was, but she had no choice. 

And then, slowly emerging from around the star was it slowly orbited its corona, there it was. The reason they were here. 

The Sun Station.

Scout leaned forward in the co-pilot's chair, her mouth open in awe. "Oh kriff, that's it!"

The massive orbital facility glinted like a crown above the sun's corona—ringed, layered, braced by enormous scaffolds and towers. Huge pylons reached down toward the star with large sails, harvesting energy. A long, central spine ran the length of the station like a blade. Dozens of ships, Republic cruisers, transport barges, sleek prototypes, floated around it like insects, drifting in carefully-controlled patterns. The closer they got, the more of the detail became visible: rotating dry docks, rotating shield cradles, tethered construction arms, and kilometers of linked research modules. All contained in a powerful shield to prevent them all from burning into ash. 

"I've wanted to come here since I was twelve," Scout said, nearly bouncing in her seat. "This is the most advanced dry dock in the entire Republic. Most of the R&D budget comes through here. It's where they test everything. Cloaking tech, plasma tuning, interdiction harnesses. Hell this is where they built the Defender!"

Zule, seated just behind them with her arms crossed, didn't even glance up from the sensor readout. "It is just a station."

Scout turned and stared at her like she'd just committed blasphemy.

"Just a—are you serious?" Scout blinked, hands up in disbelief. "You're an idiot."

Zule looked up, calm as ever. "I am not."

"Okay, then you're just completely immune to wonder. That's worse."

"I fail to see the relevance of wonder in the face of mechanical infrastructure."

Scout leaned over the console. "It's not just 'infrastructure'! That station is a miracle of modern science. They built the quantum-threaded scanners here. Do you know what that means?"

"I know the words. I do not see why they require excitement."

The two locked eyes, one brimming with fire, the other completely unreadable.

"I will personally shove you into a fusion chamber," Scout hissed, almost fondly.

"I'd like to see you try," Zule replied.

Master Fay's voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Enough."

The cockpit fell still. The bickering stopped instantly, Scout slumping back in her seat while Zule returned to scanning telemetry without a word. Fay stood behind them her hands folded in the sleeves of her cloak. Her silver-blonde hair was pinned behind one ear, the rest trailing loosely over one shoulder.

Vaylin, seated on the chair near the sensor station, looked up curiously. "Is it really such a big deal?"

Fay nodded gently. "I visited the Sun Station once. Nearly a century ago. Even then, it was a marvel."

Scout's eyes lit up. "Wait... you've been here before?"

"I have. Though it has changed much." Fay looked toward the glowing shape in the distance. "The Republic spares no expense here. It is the foundation of their future fleets, a fortress of innovation. But I do not wish for you to get your hopes up, Scout."

The young Padawan's smile faded a little.

Fay continued, "We are not here as tourists. We are wounded, unexpected, and under special clearance. It is unlikely we will be permitted to see any of the current projects."

Scout nodded, a bit deflated. But after a moment, she shrugged. "Still beats crashing into star grazers."

Fay smiled faintly. "An excellent perspective."

"Bringing us in," Aubrie said, adjusting the stabilizers. The station's gravity anchors were starting to take hold. She checked the flight vector again, then flipped a switch. "Pinging them now."

A second passed.

A chime lit up the console.

[Incoming Transmission]

A blue holo-lit symbol of the Republic flickered into view, followed by a voice.

"Unidentified vessel, this is Sun Station Command. You are entering restricted approach space. Identify yourselves and transmit clearance code immediately."

Aubrie took a breath. "This is the Vengeance, under special clearance from Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo. Transmitting clearance now."

She keyed in the authentication code Padmé had given her. For a moment, nothing happened. The transmission fell silent.

Then, a new voice came through.

"Vengeance, your credentials have been verified. Welcome to Sun Station. Proceed to Docking Bay Seventeen. Hold vector and reduce speed to .05 sublight. A tractor assist will guide you in."

The coordinates lit up on the display. Aubrie relaxed a little in her seat.

"Copy that, Dock Seventeen. Holding vector."

The ship's thrusters slowed. A tug field from the station reached out, locking onto the ship. Lights blinked as the docking sequence activated. Aubrie leaned back, letting the station take over. Outside, the bay loomed ahead, it was an enormous circular opening, with retractable doors and magnetic clamps the size of buildings. Inside, cranes and droids moved in perfect sync, prepping the berth. As the ship began its slow descent toward the station interior, Scout pressed her face to the viewport. "I can't believe we're actually here."

"You can't believe many things," Zule murmured, eyes still on her screen.

"I'm ignoring you."

"Sure you will."

Fay allowed herself the faintest sigh as the two resumed their verbal sparring. Vaylin, still curious, moved to the window to look for herself. She said nothing, but her expression mirrored Scout's wonder.

The Vengeance settled into Docking Bay Seventeen with a gentle thud, the tractor field releasing its grip as magnetic clamps locked the hull in place. The engines powered down with a disturbing whine, the cockpit falling into a hush broken only by the unbuckling of belts and movement inside. Scout unbuckled first, practically vaulting from her seat, while Zule rose more slowly, stretching her arms and back clicking them slightly. Master Fay stood gracefully, and Vaylin followed.

Aubrie killed the last of the systems, the console lights dimming to standby. "Alright, everyone. Let's not keep them waiting." She led the way down the ramp, the group filing out into the huge bay. The place was practically buzzing with activity; droids scurrying on repulsors, techs in Republic jumpsuits barking orders, the sharp screeching sound of welding sparks. Vast scaffolds towering overhead like the ribs of some mechanical giant, cradling half-built fighters and other kinds of prototypes.

A burly human dock master approached, his coveralls stained with grease, a datapad clutched in one meaty hand. His face seemed to form a perpetual scowl, his eyes narrowing as he took in the ragtag group "You the Vengeance crew?" he barked, "Senator Amidala's party? About time you showed. Bay's been held for hours."

Aubrie stepped forward, undeterred by his tone. "That's us. Aubrie Wyn, acting captain. We appreciate the berth."

The dock master snorted, thumbing through his datapad without looking up. "Appreciate it all you want. Here's the deal, Amidala paid for the full package. Structural reinforcement on your hull plating, hyperdrive overhaul with Kuat-grade coils, shield emitter recalibration, and a full diagnostic sweep. Parts are premium; no skimping. You'll get access codes for Bay Seventeen only so don't wander, or security'll space you. Codes expire in forty-eight hours. Ship's yours when we're done, but cross me, and I'll scrap the whole thing for parts. Questions?"

Scout opened her mouth, eyes gleaming at the mention of upgrades, but Zule elbowed her silent. Fay inclined her head politely, while Vaylin merely stared, her presence unsettling the man for a flicker before he grunted and turned away. "Techs'll start now. Foreman'll handle the details."

Aubrie sighed, rubbing her temple as the dock master stomped off, already barking at a droid. She knew this would be a long day. But the ship needed it, and Padmé's favor had bought them this shot. She turned to the group. "I'll stay with the foreman, oversee the work. You lot explore the station if you want. Just stick to public areas, no snooping in restricted zones. Scout, that means you."

Scout grinned, already edging toward a nearby observation deck overlooking a prototype assembly line. "Yes, ma'am! Public areas only. Totally."

Zule rolled her eyes but followed, with Fay and Vaylin trailing. The bay doors hissed shut behind them, leaving Aubrie alone with the sound of repairs beginning. After waiting for a moment she moved through the cluster of repair droids hovering around the Vengeance's hull, their manipulator arms extending to probe damaged panels. She stepped aside as one droid floated past, and Engineers in Republic jumpsuits directed the work. 

She boarded the ship via the open ramp, weaving past a pair of technicians installing new sensor arrays near the airlock. The corridor led her deeper into the vessel, where more droids clustered around exposed wiring, their tools whirring as they fused connections.

She reached the engine room where SD8 stood motionless in the center, its tall frame blocking access to the warp core chamber.

"SD8," Aubrie said, approaching the droid. "Did you shut down the warp core and hide all traces in the databases?"

SD8's photoreceptors glowed steadily. "Affirmative, Mistress. The core is powered down and isolated. In the ship's manifest, it appears as a secondary power source. Engineers cannot access its systems or scan the contents without triggering failsafes."

Aubrie nodded, her fingers tracing a nearby panel. "Good. Jaden wouldn't want anyone discovering this. He and Velea poured everything into building it. Stay here and keep it safe. No one touches this area."

"Yes, Mistress," SD8 replied.

"If there's trouble, you know where I am," Aubrie said, turning to leave. She exited the engine room, passing the same technicians now calibrating thruster nozzles. Back in the hangar bay, she found a sturdy crate near the ramp and sat down, crossing her legs and closing her eyes, drawing a deep breath to center herself.

Meditation came slowly at first, her mind a whirlwind of concerns. Jaden's face flashed in her thoughts. She worried about him constantly, out there in Hutt space, tangled in the war again. He had escaped it once, vowing to stay clear after Jabiim, but Padmé's plea had pulled him back. Aubrie understood; the senator had saved him during his trial, risking her career and life to expose Collan Eislo. Still, it stung that he went without them. Would he be safe? Tatooine crawled with  different dangers—slavers, bounty hunters, Separatist spies. One wrong move, and he could vanish into the dunes.

She pushed the fear down, focusing on her breath. Inhale. Exhale. 

The crew needed her to be composed. She needed to make sure that the doubts that she was sure everyone was feeling didn't affect her. If she allowed them to then it would only make everyone feel worse. She just needed to meditate, and focus on the ships repairs while everyone else distracted themselves with the wonders of this station. 

...

Scout bounced along the corridor of the Sun Station, her eyes darting to every detail; the bulkheads etched with Republic insignia, the hovering maintenance droids zipping past with tool arms extended, even the simple access panels glowing with holographic interfaces. "Look at that!" she exclaimed, pointing at a standard airlock seal. "That's a Mark VII pressure lock—triple-redundant failsafes, can hold against vacuum breaches up to 5000 kPa. And over there, that's a holoprojector node. This place is a treasure trove of tech! I bet they use it for simulating hyperspace jumps without leaving the dock."

Zule walked beside her, arms crossed, her expression a mask of boredom as she scanned the passing technicians in Republic uniforms. "It's a door, Scout. And that's just a light. Calm down before you hyperventilate."

Master Fay glided along with them, and while she wasn't as enthused about the station as Scout was she still found it all rather interesting, as a Long lived species she liked seeing different advances in technology. Vaylin trailed at the rear, her pale features twisted in mild curiosity, her eyes flicking to the armed security clones stationed at intersections.

Scout spun to face Zule, her face flushing with indignation. "Calm down? How can you say that? We're on the Sun Station! This is where they developed the Delta-7 Aethersprite interceptor. And those conduits up there? Probably feeding power from the solar harvesters straight to experimental labs, this is the only station in the galaxy capable of siphoning energy from a star. I mean, come on, Zule, even your cybernetic arm could get an upgrade here if you asked!"

Zule stopped short, her cybernetic hand clenching with a faint whir. "My arm's fine as it is. And you're acting like a youngling now. It's a station, not some mythical Jedi Temple. Get a grip before you embarrass us all."

"Embarrass? You're the one who's a total buzzkill!" Scout shot back, stepping closer, her voice rising. "This is the heart of Republic R&D! If you can't see how cool that is, you're blind as a mynock in sunlight."

Zule's eyes narrowed, her orange-red skin darkening with irritation. "Cool? It's a floating scrap heap full of overpaid engineers patting themselves on the back. How much of this stuff is even used in the war?! How much of it even helps the people on the front line, I don't see any kind of innovation?!"

"Take that back!" Scout demanded, her fists balling at her sides. "You wouldn't know innovation if it bit you on your—"

"Enough," Master Fay interjected, stopping both mid-sentence. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders, forcing them to step apart. "Compose yourselves. We are guests here, representatives of the Jedi and allies of the Republic. Such discord dishonors us and draws unnecessary attention."

Scout deflated, mumbling an apology as she scuffed her boot against the deck. Zule nodded curtly, her stern facade cracking just enough to show reluctant compliance. Fay released them and glanced around the corridor, where passing crew members had paused to stare before hurrying on. "Perhaps it would be best if we split up," Fay suggested. "Zule, join me we can go  to one of the observation lounges. Vaylin, if you don't mind keeping an eye on Scout?"

Vaylin nodded, a small smile curling her lips, her head tilting slightly. "I can do that."

Fay inclined her head in thanks. "Very well. Scout, behave and learn what you can without causing trouble." She turned and glided away, Zule falling into step beside her, the pair disappearing around a bend toward the station's quieter sections.

Scout watched them go, then turned to Vaylin with a dramatic sigh. "Ugh, Zule's such a buzzkill. Always acting like everything's no big deal. This place is incredible I'd kill to get a job here, tinkering with prototype engines or shield generators. Can you imagine? Working on the next Venator-class upgrade or something even crazier, like experimental cloaking tech."

Vaylin walked alongside her. "Why not ask Senator Amidala? She could arrange an internship or an apprenticeship under one of the engineers. She has the connections."

Scout's eyes widened, her excitement reigniting like a hyperdrive flare. "You think? Padmé would do that for me?"

Vaylin shrugged, her yellow-flecked eyes glinting. "Why not? You're skilled, and she owes Jaden a favor or two after him saving her. It couldn't hurt to ask."

Scout laughed manically, the sound echoing down the corridor as she grabbed Vaylin's arm and dragged her forward. "You're a genius! Come on, let's check out the viewports I saw signs for the outer bays. They overlook the prototype yards!"

They hurried to a series of wide transparisteel windows lining the station's outer hull, the viewports offering glimpses into adjacent dry docks. Scout pressed her face close, her breath fogging the glass as she pointed. "Look! That's a modified ARC-170 starfighter, see the extended S-foils? Probably testing variable geometry for atmospheric dogfights. And over there, that's a LAAT/i gunship with what looks like upgraded turbolaser mounts."

Vaylin peered out, her interest piqued by the sleek vessels suspended in zero-g cradles, droids swarming like insects over hulls. "Impressive. What's that one—with the angular nacelles?"

Scout squinted. "Hmm... could be a prototype for the Eta-2 Actis interceptor, but those engines look bulkier. Maybe a hybrid with Nubian ion drives? Or wait, no—that's got Mandalorian influences, like from the Kom'rk-class. I can't tell for sure, but it's definitely experimental. Jaden would love it here he's always tweaking our ship with stuff like that. He could probably work here too, designing custom drives or something."

Vaylin giggled. "Jaden would like it here. He'd spend days in those bays, ignoring everything else."

They wandered on, Scout chattering nonstop about every detail, the efficiency of the mag-lev cargo haulers gliding past, the holographic schematics projected on bulkheads for engineer briefings, even the station's artificial gravity generators humming beneath the deck. "Feel that? That's top-tier inertial compensation—probably tuned to handle solar flares from the star below and gravitational distortions. No wonder they built it here; the energy harvesting must power half the station!"

Vaylin nodded along pretending to listen as Scout kept chattering. They paused at another viewport, Scout mesmerised by a massive cruiser frame under construction, its skeleton glowing with welding spqrks. Vaylin glanced back, then slipped away quietly, melting into the crowd of technicians and droids streaming through the corridor. Scout didn't notice at first, too entranced by the sight of a sleek corvette being fitted with what looked like experimental cloaking emitters. Her mind raced with possibilities, oblivious to Vaylin's departure.

Vaylin moved quickly in her attempt to slip away from Scout, her lithe form weaving through the crowd, yellow eyes scanning for access points. The station's security was tight, there were clones at every junction, but she sensed opportunities, hidden panels and maintenance shafts that could lead to restricted levels. She didn't know what was on this station, but one thing she did know is that she wanted it.

...

Master Fay and Zule walked in silence through the station's corridors, the activity fading as they approached the observation deck. The vast chamber opened before them, its curved transparisteel walls framing the star's surface below. Plasma storms swirled in endless patterns, casting a warm, golden light that bathed Fay's face in awe. She paused at the railing, her eyes widening slightly as she took in the view. Zule followed, her gaze lifting to the spectacle, though her expression remained guarded.

Fay leaned forward, her hands resting lightly on the rail. "In my centuries of life, very few things have come close to the beauty of a star."

Zule nodded slowly, her cybernetic arm whirring faintly as she crossed her arms. "They are indeed very impressive."

Fay smiled at the simplification, her lips curving with gentle amusement. She turned back to the star. "Billions of years ago, stars were the genesis of all we know. They forged the elements in their hearts, scattering them across the void to birth planets, life, and light itself. If the universe were a living body, the star would be its cells, giving birth to new forms, sustaining the whole through their sacrifice. Beauty and life intertwined, eternal yet fleeting."

Zule listened, her stern facade cracking as the words sank in. She uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to the viewport, her eyes tracing the swirling plasma. The star's glow reflected in her pupils, drawing her in, a rare sense of wonder stirring within her chest. For a moment, the station felt distant, the star's majesty pulling at somethinh deep inside of her. 

The silence stretched between them, broken only by the faint vibrations of the station. Fay turned to Zule. "It has been a while since we have spoken Zule... how are you feeling?" She asked. 

Zule didn't answer at first. She kept her gaze on the star, her fingers tightening around the rail. "I still have doubts."

Fay hummed thoughtfully. "That is perfectly natural."

Zule hesitated, her voice emerging quieter than usual. "I feel as if nothing has changed. I'm still weak. Unworthy. I don't belong with the others."

Fay placed a hand on her arm. "This feeling of otherness is normal. It stems from regret, from the shadows we carry within."

"You feel a lot of regret and shame, don't you?" Fay asked gently.

Zule nodded after a long pause. She looked down at her cybernetic hand, flexing the metallic fingers.

"It's Jaden, isn't it?" Fay probed softly.

Zule's body tensed, a slight twitch betraying her, waves of pain radiating from her like ripples in the Force. She didn't speak, but Fay read the truth in her silence.

"Does he treat you differently from Aubrie?" Fay continued.

Zule shook her head. "He's never treated me different. He looks at me with the same eyes he looks at Aubrie."

Master Fay hummed before a look of understanding came over her. "But you feel unworthy of it."

"Yes," Zule admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Why do you feel that way?" Fay asked, her tone inviting rather than demanding.

Zule stuttered, words catching in her throat. "The... the women who have loved Jaden... they're incredible. Aubrie is amazing in almost all regards. As a friend, as a Jedi, as a healer. She was one of the best Padawans in our generation, had she not chosen to go with Jaden she would've been a master in the next decade. She's prepared to sacrifice herself countless times for others."

Zule paused, her breath hitching. "Velea..." She choked up on the name, her eyes glistening. "She was a genius. Kind. The one who showed me the truth of my feelings. She gave her life to save everyone on the Eternal Horizon."

Zule gestured vaguely toward the star. "They are very much like the stars you love. Beautiful and bright. Drawing people into their orbit with nothing but their presence."

She looked down, her voice breaking. "Then there's me. Nothing... I sometimes wonder why am I here... what makes me worthy to stand with such heroes..."

Fay placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, her touch warm and steady. "Perhaps that's how you see yourself, but I remember a different Zule Xiss."

Zule looked up. 

Fay continued. "One who fought alongside Aubrie and Jaden on Jabiim. One who stood on the Eternal Horizon. One who faced the Lord of Hunger on Teth."

Zule opened her mouth to interrupt, but Fay raised a hand gently.

"We all fall short of those who give their lives for the sake of others," Fay said. "They didn't give their lives so that we could compare ourselves to them. You think you fall short of those around you, but in truth, very few people are as dedicated to their friends as you are."

"But what about the time—" Zule began, her voice trembling.

"Everyone makes mistakes, Zule," Fay interjected softly. "We all fail at times. But what matters is our actions after that. I've seen you charge into certain death for the sake of others. So I know in my heart that while you may not see yourself as such, you shine just as brightly as those you compare yourself to."

Fay turned her gaze back to the star. Zule fell quiet, her eyes returning to the swirling plasma. The star's light played across her face, softening the hard lines of her features. After a long moment, a small smile made its way onto her lips, tentative but genuine. "Thank you," she said.

Fay nodded, a warm smile on her face. They sat in companionable silence, the star's glow enveloping them. Zule felt a subtle shift within herself, the doubts not gone but diminished, like shadows retreating from dawn. For the first time in a while, Zule allowed herself to simply be, watching the plasma dance, her cybernetic hand relaxing at her side.

The observation deck's tranquility wrapped around them, Fay closed her eyes briefly, drawing peace from the view, while Zule pondered her path forward. Zule glanced at Fay, gratitude swelling in her chest. As minutes stretched, Zule spoke again, her tone reflective. "I've always felt like an outsider. Even before I lost my arm... and my master. The Jedi path never fit me perfectly."

Fay opened her eyes. "The Force does not demand perfection. It flows through our imperfections, shaping us. Your strength lies in your loyalty, Zule. To Jaden, to Aubrie, to the crew. Perhaps that is your path."

Zule absorbed the words, her smile growing a fraction. "Maybe. It's hard to see sometimes."

"That is why we have friends," Fay replied. "To remind us when we are blinded by our own doubts."

They lapsed into silence once more, the star's majesty holding them captive. Zule's mind wandered to Jaden, the pain of unworthiness easing but still very much there. She would prove her place, not just to herself, but through actions.

Fay looked to the young woman. "When we return, speak with Jaden. Openness heals more than silence."

Zule nodded. "I will."

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In the security room of the Sun Station, five clone troopers sat around a table full of drinks and snacks. The room was large and full of monitors flickering with feeds from docking bays and sensor arrays, as well as every single security terminal on the station, only Clones had access to this room as anyone else was susceptible to being bribed and possibly betraying the republic. CT-4823, known as "Jax" among his brothers, dealt the next hand of sabacc. Across from him, CT-5179, "Spike," leaned back in his chair, helmet off, revealing a scarred jawline from a previous skirmish. CT-6391, "Bolt," fidgeted with his blaster pistol on the table, while CT-2048, "Rook", nursed a mug of watered-down caf. CT-7754, "Echo," rounded out the group, and kept an eye on the monitors. 

"Shift's quiet tonight," Jax said, sliding cards to each player. "Might as well make it interesting. Standard rules, no shifting unless you declare."

Spike picked up his hand, a grin splitting his face. "Quiet? That's the dream. Last rotation had us chasing that faulty mechanical droid through the vents. Nearly lost an arm."

Bolt snorted, glancing at his cards. "Yeah, well, quiet means time for this. I'm in for ten credits."

They anted up, chips clinking into the pot. Rook played conservatively, folding early with a mutter about bad luck. Echo matched the bet, his expression unreadable. The round progressed, cards revealed in tense increments, until Spike laid down his hand and had a pure sabacc, twenty-three exactly.

"Again?" Bolt slammed his cards down, his voice rising. "That's the third time this shift! You're cheating, Spike. No way you pull that off clean."

Spike leaned forward, his grin fading into a scowl. "Cheating? You calling me a liar, brother? I won fair, not my fault your luck's just Bantha fodder."

Jax chuckled, trying to defuse the situation. "Easy, Bolt. It's just a game."

But Bolt stood his chair scraping back. "No, he's got something up his sleeve. I could swear I saw him palm a card last round!"

Spike shot to his feet with his fists clenched. "You take that back, or I'll make you."

Rook tried to intervene, standing between them. "Sit down, both of you. We're on duty—"

Bolt shoved Rook aside, lunging at Spike. "I'll prove it!"

The fight erupted in a blur of motion. Bolt tackled Spike over the table, cards scattering like confetti. They rolled across the floor, punches landing with meaty thuds; Bolt's fist connecting with Spike's jaw, Spike retaliating with a knee to the gut. Jax jumped in, grabbing Bolt's arm. "Break it up!" But Bolt elbowed him back, sending Jax stumbling into Echo, who tried to pull Spike free. Rook shouted for order, but a wild swing from Spike clipped him on the shoulder, drawing him into the fray. Fists flew, grunts and curses filling the room as they grappled, chairs toppling, a mug shattering against the console.

A sudden alarm blared from the main sensor panel, red lights flashing. "Unidentified vessel approaching, vector unknown."

The fight froze. Spike released Bolt's collar, both panting as they scrambled to their feet. Jax wiped a split lip, rushing to the console. "What the—?"

Bolt leaned over the screen, his anger forgotten. "No transponder signal. It's coming in fast, straight for the station."

Rook checked the schedule log, fingers flying over keys. "No ships due for another cycle. This one's unscheduled."

Echo activated the comms. "Unidentified vessel, this is Sun Station Security. Transmit clearance codes immediately or we will open fire. Repeat: identify or be engaged."

They all moved to positions—Jax and Spike manning the turret controls, Bolt and Rook readying the lockdown protocols, Echo monitoring shields. Tension thickened the air, breaths held as they stared at the incoming blip on the radar, growing larger by the second.

A moment passed. 

The screen lit up with an incoming transmission. A cloaked figure appeared, wearing a hood that concealed his face, only the faint gleam of yellowed eyes visible beneath the cowl, his robes swallowing the light like a void.

Before anyone could speak, the figure spoke. "Execute Contingency Protocol Zeta-Nine-Omega. Authorization: Sidious Prime."

The clones jolted as one, bodies rigid for a split second. Their eyes glazed over, for a moment before they shook it off and stood straight. "How may we serve you, my lord?" Jax asked in a flat, almost robotic tone. 

The cloaked man leaned closer. "Shut down and destroy all communications on the station, destroy power grids in sector 8-21. Activate the jamming field. Disable any ships capable of leaving. Do it now."

"It will be done, my lord," they chorused.

They moved as a unit, no hesitation. Bolt overloaded the main comm array, circuits frying with pops and sparks. Rook initiated the jamming field. Jax and Spike activated the experimental docking failsafes. Echo sabotaged the hypercomm relays, by overloading them. Multiple explosions rocked the station, fireballs blooming in the void from overloaded power nodes, debris scattering like shrapnel.

"It is done, my lord," Jax reported, the transmission crackling as interference built.

"Good," the man said. "You know what to do."

"Yes, my lord," they replied in unison.

They stood, drawing DC-17 pistols from holsters. Without a word, each pressed the barrel to his temple. Five shots rang out almost simultaneously.

The cloaked man ended the transmission, the screen going dark. The security room fell silent, save for the distant klaxons of the station.

____________________________________

Aubrie sat cross-legged on the crate, her breathing steady as she delved deeper into meditation. The station's vast hangar faded from her awareness, the distant clangs of tools and voices blending into a distant hum. She focused inward, letting the Force flow through her, easing the knot of worry over Jaden.

BOOM

A sudden explosion rocked the station, the blast wave shuddering through the deck and jolting Aubrie from her trance. Alarms wailed, red lights flashing across the bay. She hopped off the crate, her heart pounding, and scanned the bay watching as everyone scrambled and pancied. "Foreman!" she shouted, rushing toward the Twi'lek overseer who barked orders at his team. "What's wrong? What was that?"

The foreman didn't spare her a glance, he slapped his comm unit. "Dock Master, come in! Harlan, report status we have explosions in multiple sectors!" Static crackled back, no response. He cursed in Ryl and dashed to a nearby terminal. "Trying again, control this is Bay 47. Please report!"

Aubrie followed, but the foreman waved her off, his focus locked on the screen. Panic spread like wildfire among the engineers. "What were those blasts?" one shouted, a human with oil-smeared cheeks. "Core overload? Sabotage?" Another, a Rodian, gestured wildly. "I felt the whole ring shake, if the harvesters are hit, we're cooked!" Murmurs turned to shouts, speculation fueling fear as more alarms joined the chorus.

Aubrie frowned, a chill creeping up her spine unrelated to the situation. She reached out with the Force, sensing a dark presence... almost... malevolent, like a shadow coiling through the station's life force. It made her shiver, her skin prickling as if icy fingers traced her back. This wasn't an accident; something sinister lurked behind the explosions. She pushed through the growing crowd toward the Vengeance, droids scattering from the ramp as she shoved past them.

She boarded and sprinted to the cockpit, sliding into the pilot's seat. Her fingers stabbed at the comm panel. "Scout, Zule, Fay, Vaylin, anyone copy? We have explosions, get back to the ship now!" Static hissed back, the signal jammed, no response. "Kriff." She flipped switches, initiating startup sequence; the engines whined but sputtered out, consoles flickering before going dark. She tried again, slamming the ignition. Nothing. "Come on!"

"SD8!" she called, her voice echoing down the corridor.

The tall droid entered the cockpit, its frame filling the doorway. "Yes, Mistress Aubrie?"

"Diagnose the ship, I'm having trouble starting the engines," Aubrie instructed, jabbing the controls once more. The startup failed again, lights dimming.

SD8 extended a probe, plugging into the console. Data streamed across its interface. "All systems are functional."

"Then why won't it start?" she pressed, frustration sharpening her tone.

"Unknown," SD8 replied. "No detectable faults."

Aubrie bit her lip, tasting blood from the pressure. Scout knew the systems best, she'd have to find her. She bolted from the cockpit, back down the ramp into the bay. Things only got worse outside, engineers panicked, some rushing for emergency stations, others arguing in clusters. The foremen shouted for order. "This is just a routine test!" one yelled, his voice cracking. "No need to panic, get to your posts!" But doubt rippled through the crowd; whispers turned to shouts. "Routine? There were multiple explosions!" "If the stations stabilisers fail then we won't be able to maintain orbit!" A shove led to a punch, and the riot ignited, fists flying, bodies colliding as fear boiled over.

Aubrie waded in, raising her hands. "Everyone, calm down! Panicking won't help, listen to the foremen!" A elbow caught her side, knocking her to the ground amid trampling feet. Pain flared in her ribs, but she drew on the Force, calming her breath. She pushed outward with a wave of energy, the invisible ripple clearing space around her, shoving people back in a tumble of limbs and cries. She stood, dusting herself off. "Stop! Whatever the problem is, it'll be solved soon. Stay calm and—"

Aubrie's words died in her throat as a sleek black ship pierced the bay's energy field, its engines roaring with a force that made the deck vibrate under her feet. The vessel descended like a predator, casting long shadows that chilled her skin. Everyone fell silent, engineers freezing mid-motion, their panicked shouts cut off as they stared at the unrecognized craft. No Republic markings, nothing at all made it recognisable. 

Terror gripped Aubrie, the Force screaming warnings that flooded her senses, a primal dread that squeezed her chest and made her breath hitch. Danger pulsed from the ship like a heartbeat, though she quickly realised that it was her own heart thumping inside her chest. She drew her lightsaber hilt from her belt, fingers trembling around the c metal hilt, but she didn't ignite it yet, she held her instincts back as sweat beaded on her forehead.

The ramp lowered with a hydraulic whine that echoed in the silence, and a small cloaked man stepped off, his presence slamming into her like a wave of pure malice. Darkness radiated from him, wrapping around her body and throat until she struggled to draw air. She gasped, her body shaking, sweat trickling down her back as her mind fogged, thoughts scattering like leaves in a storm. He was one massive Shatterpoint, a nexus of fractures so vast it overwhelmed her vision, branching into infinite possibilities of ruin she couldn't comprehend, her head pounding with the pain of even attempting to understand it.

A few foremen approached him sour looks on their faces. "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here? This bay's restricted—"

The man laughed, a quiet chuckle that sent ice through Aubrie's veins, and gestured with one hand. The foremen lifted off the ground, their bodies twisting unnaturally, spines snapping with cracks that echoed like breaking branches. They crumpled to the deck in heaps, limbs folded wrong, eyes staring vacantly at the rest of the people in the bay. Screams erupted after that and the crowd shattered into panic, everyone with any sense bolted for the exits, but some with less sense grabbed tools to fight back. "He killed them!" one shouted, rushing with a hydrospanner raised. Others joined, a wave surging toward the intruder.

Aubrie tried to shout, to stop them, but her voice choked in her throat, the darkness that emanated from this man pressed on her harder making her legs turn to lead. She could only watch as the man raised both hands, and ripped everyone into pieces. He crushed one attacker's skull with an invisible grip, the head imploding in a wet crunch. Another he hurled into a wall, bones shattering on impact. A group charged together; he swept his arm, and they flew apart, slamming into crates and droids, limbs breaking with sickening snaps. One engineer fired a blaster; the man deflected the bolt back with a casual wave, burning a hole through the shooter's chest. All within five seconds.

Horror built in Aubrie until it overflowed. She couldn't stand it anymore, the slaughter, the helpless screams. She ignited her lightsaber, the blue blade humming to life in her shaking hand, and rushed forward, her feet pounding the deck as she closed the distance. But before her strike landed, he held up one hand, and she froze in space, her body locked mid-motion, saber raised. She strained against it, trying to use her own command of the force to fight back but this man was something else the power he wielded was like a mountain crushing her from all sides. Sweat poured down her face, her arms trembling as she pushed with everything she had, but she couldn't move an inch.

The man tilted his head, his hooded eyes gleaming with amusement. "Weak," he mocked, his voice a rasp that slithered into her ears. "Look at you, struggling like an insect in a web. Pathetic. Is this the best the Jedi have? Laughable."

Aubrie gritted her teeth, her breath ragged, but she kept fighting, willing her limbs to budge, the pressure building until spots danced in her vision. He laughed again. "Fight all you want. It changes nothing, here let me show you."

He released her suddenly, and she stumbled forward, gasping. She swung her saber in a wide arc, aiming for his neck, but he slipped aside effortlessly, his cloak swirling. She pressed the attack, thrusting and slashing in rapid sequence, but he dodged each strike with minimal movement, as if anticipating her every thought.

"I can sense your fear," he said, his tone dripping with contempt. "Your helplessness. Use them. Let them fuel you."

Aubrie wasn't a fool, she did the opposite, she calmed herself, drawing on her training, centering her breath amid the panic. She doubled down, her strikes now faster and more precise, yet even with that she still made no progress in even grazing him. 

"Such a disappointment," he said, boredom creeping into his voice. He grabbed her with the Force, an invisible vice lifting her off the ground and slamming her into the Vengeance's hull. Pain exploded in her back as metal dented under the impact, air driven from her lungs. He flung her down, her body hitting the deck hard, ribs cracking with the force. She gasped, rolling to her side, but he pulled her lightsaber from her hand, the hilt flying to his grasp.

"Such weak people don't deserve powerful weapons," he said, igniting the blue blade and holding it before him, the light casting eerie shadows on his hood.

He laughed, a chilling sound, and gestured again. Aubrie felt the pull, her body dragged upright and toward him, feet scraping the deck as she struggled, screaming in frustration, her muscles straining against the inexorable force. She was inches from impaling herself on her own saber when a roar filled the bay.

SD8 burst from the ship in attack mode, boosters flaring as it rocketed toward the Sith, slamming into him with bone-jarring force. The man flew upward, crashing into the ceiling, the impact denting panels as he dropped the lightsaber. SD8 caught the hilt mid-air, pivoting and rushing to Aubrie. It scooped her up, flying out of the bay into the corridor, throwing her further down the passage roughly.

SD8 turned to close the door, its servos whirring, but froze, the Sith had caught it with the Force.

"Run, Mistress," SD8 said as metal buckled and circuits sparked, then the droid was ripped to shreds and crushed all at once.

Aubrie's eyes widened in horror, her hand snatching up her fallen saber as she scrambled to her feet. She ran down the corridor, using the force to hasten herself. She glanced back, lightning sparks circled the passage behind her, the Sith's malevolent laughter echoing down the hallway, the entire corridor compressing and ripping up in a storm of twisted metal and debris and all of it coming towards her. 

Terror fueled her sprint, the Force urging her onward as wreckage chased her heels, sparks flying and panels crumpling like paper. She reached the elevator, extending her hand to Force-open the doors before she arrived, the panels sliding apart with a groan. She dove inside, slamming the control for close, the doors grinding shut just as the destruction slammed against them, the car shaking but holding.

She collapsed against the wall, panting as her heart felt like it would be out of her chest. She had never seen such a powerful sick before. Could this have been the Lord of the Sith that was rumoured? Count Dooku's Master?

She didn't know. 

But what she didn't know is if she spent her entire life not seeing this man again it would still be too soon. 

Taking a deep breath she leaned against the elevator walls, her back pressing into the cold metal as she forced her breaths to slow. Terror still pounded in her chest, but she closed her eyes, drawing on the Force to steady herself. Calm flowed through her eventually, pushing back the panic that clawed at her edges. She reminded herself: survive, find the others, escape. The elevator buzzed faintly around her until...

BOOM

Multiple explosions boomed through the station once again, shaking the car violently and jolting her eyes open. Lights flickered and died, plunging her into darkness and the elevator ground to a halt with a screech, the sudden stop throwing her forward. Panic flickered in her gut again, but she shoved it down. 'No time for fear.' She reached out with the Force, sensing the doors' mechanisms, and wrenched them open, the panels parting with a groan that echoed in the shaft.

The elevator hung halfway between levels, the gap above her head revealing a sliver of corridor. She jumped, gripping the edge, and pulled herself up, her muscles straining slightly as she hauled her body through. She rolled onto the floor, and paused, kneeling in the emergency light that flashed intermittently. The corridor stretched before her only unlike before it was like a ghost town. Lights were out everywhere, the station swallowed in a blackout, she wondered why the backup generators hadn't kicked in yet.

She stood, brushing off her tunic and took a moment to center again. Spreading her awareness out through the force she started to move carefully down the corridor, only to stop as she sensed people coming closer. Multiple people rounded a bend in the corridor, running toward her in a frantic sprintt, all of them breathing heavily and looking panicked. She stepped into their path, raising her hands. "Wait! Stop, I need to talk to whoever is in charge."

They didn't slow, shoving her aside in a panic, one elbow catching her shoulder and spinning her against the wall. Pain flared in her ribs, but she caught herself, calling after them. "Hey! Don't go that way it's dangerous!" But they didn't listen. They vanished down the hall without a word. Aubrie considered chasing them, but she decided against it. They likely knew no more than she did and wouldn't be much help in their state of panic. She had to focus on finding her friends and getting out.

She pressed on, the corridor twisting into a service junction where a terminal flickered weakly on emergency power. The looked at the screen which was  glitching with static. She approached, tapping the interface to pull up a station map, but the controls responded sluggishly, menus freezing mid-load. Frustration built inside her as she kept trying to access the terminal, she wasn't tech-savvy like Scout and Jaden so she found it hard to try and get passed the broken system. She tried again, but the display errored out. "Come on," she muttered, slamming her fist against the panel, the impact jarring her knuckles.

She stepped back, reminding herself to calm down. Anger wouldn't help her now. She closed her eyes, reaching for the Force to guide her, seeking that inner clarity. But emotions swirled inside—fear from the Sith's presence, anger at the destruction, sadness for SD8's loss—making it hard to focus. The Force felt turbulent, like a storm-tossed sea, pulling her in conflicting directions. She couldn't grasp a clear path. In the end, she picked a direction on instinctl and continued through the corridor. Then it hit her again—the malevolent presence, a dark wave crashing over her, closer now, almost suffocating. Terror surged through her body, her skin crawling as the Force screamed danger. She turned and ran away from the source. The Sith was coming and she needed to get out of there.

She pushed harder with each step, boots pounding against the ground, breath tearing out of her throat in ragged bursts. The weight in her chest swelled as she ran, pain building behind her ribs, but she didn't slow. She threw herself around the next corner without thinking, not bothering to check what waited ahead. The floor shuddered under her feet, another blast rolling somewhere behind her, the sound bouncing through the passage. She didn't look back.

She turned sharply again.

Her shoulder slammed into a body. She staggered back, off-balance, her hand flying to her belt. Her saber snapped into her grip, and her thumb pressed the switch.

The blade ignited and Aubrie swung.

Zule caught her wrist mid-arc, her cybernetic hand clamping down and stopping the strike inches from her neck. "Aubrie!"

Aubrie's eyes widened in shock, then flooded with relief. "Zule!" She deactivated her saber, stepping back, and looked at her properly, also realising that Master Fay was behind her.

"Aubrie," Fay greeted softly, her hand reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"Aubrie," Zule said with a frown on her face. "Do you know what's going on? There was an explosion and the power—"

"A Sith Lord he's here! He destroyed SD8. We need to run now!" She interrupted, panic filling her voice as she grabbed onto Zules robe. 

Fay's expression remained calm, though a shadow crossed her eyes, as if she wasn't surprised. Zule, however, looked stunned, her stern features slackening for a moment before they morphed into one of anger. She drew her lightsaber, the green blade igniting with a snap. "Where? I'll—"

Aubrie grabbed her hand immediately squeezing tightly. "No, Zule. You can't fight him. You don't stand a chance, he played with me like I was nothing, I didn't even manage to graze him. We need to run. We need to find Scout and Vaylin and get out of the station. There will be no victory through conflict."

Zule hesitated, her blade humming, but Fay spoke up. "I fear she may be right. The presence I felt is unlike any other. The only one to come close is the incarnation of Darth Nihilus."

Zule's fear radiated outward, a cold wave that Aubrie felt in the Force, her grip on the saber faltering.

They all turned as the malevolence grew closer, a suffocating pressure building in the air, making their breaths shallow.

"Come," Fay said urgently, gripping both women's shoulders. "We have to run."

_____________________________________

Scout leaned against the transparisteel window, her breath fogging the surface as she stared into the adjacent bay. The prototype fighter suspended there gleamed under work lights, its sleek fuselage a puzzle of exposed wiring and unfinished panels that made her fingers itch to tinker. "Look at that thruster assembly," she said. "That's got to be a hybrid ion-turbo setup, probably from Sienar Fleet Systems. If they integrate that with a hyperdrive ring, it could outrun an interceptor easy. And over there that's a deflector shield test bed. See the emitters? They're using a phrik alloy, I bet, for lighter weight without losing power."

BOOM

A sudden explosion rocked the deck beneath her feet, the blast wave making the window vibrate against her palms. Scout stumbled back, her heart jumping as alarms wailed piercing her ears like needles. Red emergency lights pulsed, casting the corridor in red lights. Engineers froze for a split second, then chaos erupted, people started shouting, shoving toward exits, tools clattering to the floor as they abandoned workstations.

"What was that?" Scout yelled, grabbing a passing mechanic by the arm. "Hey, what's going on? Was that an atmospheric breach?"

The man yanked free without a glance, his eyes wild as he bolted down the hall. "Out of the way!"

Scout spun to another group fleeing past, their jumpsuits smeared with grease. "Wait! Stop, tell me what's happening! Is the station okay?"

The crowd kept moving forward. No one looked at her. They didn't stop. They didn't slow down. Each person just kept running, their arms pumping at their sides, their feet slamming down hard against the floor. Some had their hands out in front of them like they were trying to push the air out of the way. She could see the fear on their faces. Some people had their mouths open, shouting to others, but she couldn't make out the words over all the noise.

Scout stayed where she was, trying to hold her ground. Bodies bumped against her from both sides. One shoulder struck her arm and spun her slightly. Someone behind her shoved past and knocked her forward a step. She threw her arms out to steady herself, then turned her body sideways so she wouldn't get dragged with the others.

"Wait please!" She called out, but no one reacted.

She looked to her right, expecting to see Vaylin still beside her. The space was empty. She frowned and turned more fully, scanning the people behind her. She didn't see blonde hair. She didn't see Vaylin's jacket. She didn't see anything familiar.

"Vaylin?" she shouted, raising her voice again.

She turned her head the other way and stepped forward into the crowd. People kept running. She ducked under a taller man's arm and moved past a pair of engineers clutching each other's hands.

"Vaylin?!" She shouted the name again. Her voice broke a little at the end.

BOOM

Then another blast struck, this one louder than the others.

The floor jumped under her feet and tossed her sideways. She lost her balance and crashed into the wall. Her shoulder slammed hard against it, and she felt the pain shoot down into her arm. She gritted her teeth and shoved herself away from the wall before she could be pinned there by more people. She stumbled back into the flow of the crowd. They didn't stop for her either. Someone hit her back with their elbow. Another person's hand caught her face for a second before they passed by. She didn't see who it was.

The lights above blinked once and then shut off.

She stood still for a moment. The red strips on the lower walls turned on, casting the hallway in a red glow that made it harder to see people's faces. Smoke started to fill the space. She noticed it when it hit the back of her throat. It made her cough. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and raised the collar of her jacket.

She shouted again, louder this time. "Vaylin!" She didn't see Vaylin anywhere and it was starting to worry her. She kept moving until she saw a terminal fixed to the wall. The light from it flickered, and she went straight to it without thinking. She slapped her hand against the activation panel. The screen came to life slowly, lines flashing across it, but it kept cutting out. She leaned close, watching the loading bar crawl across the display. "Come on," she said under her breath. Her fingers moved fast over the controls, pressing keys and trying to bring up a map. The screen glitched again and filled with red text. She pressed the keys harder, trying different commands, but the system froze. Then a message flashed saying access was locked.

She swore under her breath, stepped back, then dropped to her knees. She pulled the lower panel off the terminal and tossed it aside. A mess of wires hung out. She reached in, pushing them apart with her fingers until she found the ones she needed. She followed the power cable to a dead relay and flipped it open, cut through the damaged section, and spliced a working line into it. Sparks jumped when the wires met. The sound made her flinch, but she kept working until the power came back through the system.

She pushed herself up and hit the screen again. This time it stayed on. The map of the stationloaded showing the layout of the station. She zoomed in, moving between levels, trying to find something—anything that would tell her where Vaylin might be or what the hell had happened to the station. She tried to access the cameras and sensor logs, but each time she hit the command, the same message flashed back at her. Access denied. She typed in a republic override code, one she had used on other systems before. The screen froze for a second, then flashed a warning and shut her out again.

She stared at it for a moment with a look of annoyance, then turned the terminal off and stepped back. If she wanted to see more, she would have to reach the command deck or engineering, but those likely had even more security than this terminal, they were also far away, so she would have to make do with the main sensor hub. That was the place she could check for damage in the station, life readings, maybe even open comms if she could get to it. She nodded to herself and started walking in that direction.

A moment later an announcement started being repeated over the speakers. She stopped and looked up at the ceiling. "Protocol Five-Nine-Omega active. Repeat. Protocol Five-Nine-Omega active." It said the same thing again and again.

She frowned and shook her head. The name meant nothing to her and she didn't have time to figure it out. She turned and started moving again, following the little light that marked the path. As she walked, the sound of boots reached her, what followed was the sound of blaster fire and the screams of people. She reached for her saber and pulled it free from her belt. Her thumb brushed the switch. The blade sprang to life. She held it in front of her and started running toward the sound.

When she turned the corner she stopped.

A group of clone troopers stood ahead. They stood with their blasters aimed towards the ground, though the barrels were smoking signifying that they had been fired. Several men lay on the ground in front of them, not moving. The smell of burned cloth and metal hit her. The clones lifted their rifles again and fired into the bodies, confirming the kill.

Scout stepped forward and shouted, "What the kriff are you doing? Stop! That's an order! Stand down!"

The sound made them pause. One of them turned toward her. His rifle stayed half raised. "Commander?," he said. He looked to the Clone Sergeant. "What do we do sir, does protocol apply here?"

Scout frowned and raised her saber higher. "What protocol? Stand down right now!"

The lead trooper hesitated for a moment. Then he spoke. "You know the protocol boys, no exceptions. We have no choice."

Every soldier turned their rifle on her.

The lead trooper said one more word. "Sorry Commander."

The shots came all at once.

She moved without thinking. Her arms lifted, and the saber swung in front of her. The bolts struck the blade and bounced off in bursts of blue light. Each one hit with a hard jolt but she kept blocking, moving her wrists in a quick flourish sending a few bolts back into the walls. One blast grazed her shoulder. She felt the heat bite through her sleeve and clenched her jaw against the pain. She took a step back, then another, keeping the saber up. The clones kept firing intent on killing her as they aimed for vital spots. She turned the blade and deflected as many as she could while dodging the rest. She spotted a pipe above her and swung to redirect a shot into it. The impact split the pipe open. Steam poured out, filling the corridor.

She turned and ran.

Her boots hit the floor hard as she pushed herself forward her saber still in her hand. The sound of shouts followed her but grew fainter as she ran farther away. When she couldn't hear them anymore, she slowed down. She ducked into a side passage and leaned against the wall, her chest rising and falling in quick bursts. She turned the saber off. The darkness closed in around her. Her head dropped slightly. "What is happening?" she whispered. Her own voice echoed back at her, and she stood there for a long moment, trying to think of what to do next.

But she felt a prickling warning crawl up her spine and knew more clones were coming. She turned and ran from where she stood, her boots pounding the deck as she let the Force flow through her senses, mapping the corridors around her in her mind. She pictured the layout ahead, turns and junctions appearing like lines on a holomap, and she sensed the clones' positions, their boots echoing in her awareness before she heard them. She veered left at the next intersection, avoiding a squad she felt marching from the right.

She kept running, the Force sharpening her hearing to pick up distant shouts and the click of blasters charging, letting her dodge another group by slipping into a side passage. She climbed a maintenance ladder when she sensed patrols below. She dropped into a new corridor and paused, feeling the net tightening around her as cloned began converging from multiple directions. She knew she would get surrounded soon if she did not act.

She ignited her lightsaber, the blue blade humming in her grip, and charged toward the nearest group she sensed. She burst into a junction where six clones waited with their rifles raised. She deflected their first volley, her blade spinning to send bolts back into two of them, the shots punching through armor and dropping them. She leaped forward, slashing across another's chest, the cauterized wound felling him as she rolled under a third's fire. She came up thrusting, her saber piercing a fourth's shoulder and twisting out. The remaining two backed away while firing constantly, but she parried and advanced, cutting one's rifle in half before kicking him into the wall.

More clones poured in from side doors all of them firing blaster bolts and forcing her into a corner, her saber a blur as she blocked and deflected the bolts as much as she could. She Force-pushed one away making them stumble back, but others closed the gap, their shots grazing her tunic and burning her arm. She spun and slashed, taking down three more, but the numbers overwhelmed her, forcing her against the bulkhead, her breaths coming fast as she parried desperately.

A clone lunged with a vibroblade, and she blocked it, but another kicked her knee, buckling her leg. She fell to one side, her saber sweeping to sever his ankles, but pain shot through her as a bolt clipped her shoulder. She rose, deflecting more fire, but they circled her, rifles trained and ready to fire. She prepared to fight for her life when, when a massive Force blast erupted from the corridor behind her.

Vaylin stood there, her hand extended, the blast shattering the hallway in a wave of power that threw every clone down the passage. Shrapnel from ruptured panels shredded them mid-air, metal tearing through armor and flesh as they flew, bodies crumpling in heaps at the far end.

Vaylin grabbed Scout's arm, pulling her up. "Come with me."

Scout stared at Vaylin for a moment, confusion clouding her face as she processed what she had just seen. Vaylin had used the Force to blast the clones away, a power Scout knew the Vaylin she traveled with did not have. Her hand tightened on her lightsaber hilt, and she raised the blade toward Vaylin, the blue glow casting shadows between them. Scout knew Vaylin was responsible for Velea's death, at least the side of her that was a Sith. She did not know all the details of what happened on the Eternal horizon, but the fact Vaylin could use the Force meant this was not the same person she knew anymore. The Vaylin she trusted had no connection to the dark side, no ability to wield it like this.

Vaylin looked at Scout and sighed. "Scout, it is not what you—"

Scout slashed at her before Vaylin could finish, the blade cutting through the air where Vaylin stood a second before. Vaylin dodged to the side avoiding the slash as easily as breathing. "Scout, stop," Vaylin said. She caught Scout's wrist in her hand and held it, stopping the next swing cold.

"I am not the Sith you think I am," Vaylin said.

"Liar," Scout said loudly. .

"It is complicated, but I need you to trust me," Vaylin said. "We are all in great danger here. Not just us, but Aubrie, Zule, and Master Fay."

Scout frowned. She knew it would be unwise to trust a Sith, but this was still Vaylin, and part of her wanted to believe her. The person who had traveled with them, shared meals, fought beside them was the person before her, that this could not all be a lie. She extinguished her lightsaber, the blade retracting with a snap.

"Okay," Scout said. "... I will trust you."

Vaylin let go of her wrist and nodded. "Come on."

Scout walked with her down the corridor, her steps matching Vaylin's quick pace. "Where are we going?"

"To find the others," Vaylin said.

Scout nodded. "We will have an easier time if we go to the main sensor room."

Vaylin looked at her and smiled a little. "I am glad you said that. I was not sure where to start with finding them." Vaylin could sense the others on the station through the Force, but she struggled to find their exact locations. The dark presence of her old master clouded everything, making it hard to pinpoint friends.

Scout glanced at Vaylin as they walked. "How are you able to use the Force?"

"Can we speak about this later?" She asked. 

 Scout refused. "Tell me now."

Vaylin sighed as they moved through the corridors. "Fine... long story short, On Teth, my mind was close to breaking. The Vaylin you knew was close to disappearing and being changed into Darth Tenebra forever."

They ran into more clones then, a squad turning the corner with rifles raised. Vaylin raised her hand, and the clones lifted off the ground, their bodies slamming into walls and ceiling before dropping in broken heaps, necks twisted at wrong angles.

She continued without stopping. "I used a very intensive neurological treatment. After it ended, it combined both of us. So I am now one person. Both Vaylin and Darth Tenebra, and neither of them."

Scout listened, her mind piecing it together. She understood the idea of two sides merging, but uncertainty lingered. "Do you still want to hurt Jaden?"

"No... while I may have wanted to when I was Darth Tenebra it wasn't anything personal, it was just my old master manipulating me, I've never truly wanted to hurt him.." Vaylin shook her head. After a moment, she spoke again. "And for a while I thought about leaving after it happened. But I cannot bring myself to do so. Despite combining with my darker half, I still care deeply about all of you."

Scout smiled at that. She put her hand on Vaylin's shoulder. "I am glad you did not leave."

After a while of walking they finally reached the main sensor room. Vaylin raised her hand, and the door ripped open with a screech of metal, panels bending outward. They stepped inside, the room filled with consoles and screens flickering in the room. Scout rushed to the terminal in the main sensor room and started pressing buttons to access it, but the screen kept showing error messages that blocked her every time she tried a command. She knelt down and opened the panel under the terminal with her hands, pulling out wires and looking at the circuits inside until she found the security bypass she needed. She connected a red wire to a blue one and twisted them together, then pressed a small switch she saw hidden behind a cover, and the terminal beeped as it let her in. She stood up and typed fast to get to the security logs, her fingers moving over the keys without stopping until the files opened and showed her what she wanted.

Vaylin watched her and asked, "What did you find?"

Scout didn't look away from the display. "Someone did this on purpose. They overloaded a bunch of systems, probably to make it look random. That's what caused the first explosions. They also cut off all comms. No one can send out a distress call and it seems that a special protocol has been activated, it's the reason why the clones have been attacking us. In order to stop anyone from getting their hands on experimental weapons the clones are ordered to kill everyone on the station."

Vaylin crossed her arms and said,"So? What now?"

Scout nodded and scrolled through more files, her face getting tighter as she read. She stopped and looked at Vaylin. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"

Vaylin raised an eyebrow and waited.

Scout tapped the terminal and brought up a new screen. "The station is in full lockdown. Every ship is held down by mag-clamps. But in lockdown, they don't just hold the ship in place. They act like energy sinks. If you try to start an engine, the clamps pull the power out before it can fire. You could sit in the cockpit all day and nothing would happen."

Vaylin looked at the diagram. "So even if we get to a ship, we're stuck?"

Scout nodded. "Unless we find a way to shut down the entire docking system manually. And even then, we'd have to do it fast."

Vaylin frowned and said, "That is a problem."

She then asked, "What is the good news?"

Scout looked at her straight. "That was the good news."

Vaylin sighed. "What is the bad news then?"

Scout typed again. Another window popped up, this one full of system alerts. "The first explosions didn't hit anything important right away. They were aimed at secondary systems under the main grid. That caused power surges in the primary lines. Which caused more failures. The chain reaction is still going."

Vaylin's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Scout pressed another key. A warning filled the top of the screen in bright red. The words blinked over and over: GRAVITATIONAL CONTAINMENT INSTABILITY DETECTED. Gravitational containment failure.

She looked at Scout. "Does that mean what I think it means?"

Scout gave a slow nod. "If we don't stop this soon or get out somehow, the containment field will collapse. Gravity will do the rest."

Vaylin went quiet. Then she started biting her thumbnail, eyes scanning the room. "How long do we have?"

"I don't know. Could be an hour. Could be ten minutes. There's no countdown yet."

Vaylin lowered her hand. "Start looking for the others. We need to regroup."

Scout nodded and opened the camera feeds. She clicked through one view after another, searching every hallway and bay she could. One of the feeds showed movement. She zoomed in.

"There," she said.

The camera showed Aubrie, Master Fay, and Zule running through a corridor. Scout leaned closer, watching them glance over their shoulders. Their expressions weren't just scared they were running from something.

Scout pointed at the screen. "What are they running from? Clones?"

She zoomed the camera and saw the floor behind them tear up in long lines. A cloaked figure walked after them, his hand out as the metal ripped apart.

Scout swallowed. "That's not a clone."

Vaylin felt anger build inside her. The room groaned as metal bent around her without her touching it. Her anger pushed out and made things move.

She looked at Scout. "Come on. Let us go."

_____________________________________

Aubrie ignited her lightsaber and slashed through the first clone who rounded the corner, the blue blade cutting across his chest as he fell. Zule followed right behind her, her saber humming as she blocked a bolt from another clone and thrust forward to pierce his armor. Clones poured in from side passages, their blasters firing in rapid bursts that forced Aubrie to spin and deflect, sending shots back into their ranks where one hit a helmet and dropped the shooter. Master Fay moved with them but kept her lightsaber sheathed as she did most of the time, her hands raised as she pushed clones aside with invisible waves that slammed them into walls and cleared a path.

Aubrie's heart pounded as she parried another volley, her arms aching from the constant motion while she backed away from the advancing group. "What do we do? There are too many we can't keep this up!"

Zule decapitated a clone who got too close and kicked his body into the others to slow them. "We need to get to the ship and try to contact Scout and Vaylin."

Aubrie blocked a shot that grazed her shoulder and winced at the burn. "We can't, we have to find Scout first. Something is interfering with the ships' engines they won't start and I have no clue as to why."

Zule swept her saber to take out two clones' legs and stood over them as she shouted back. "We cannot look for Scout if we are being followed. We need to deal with the Sith first or he will hunt us all down."

Aubrie deflected bolts into the ceiling to bring debris down on a cluster of clones and create a barrier. "We cannot do that Zule I told you it is suicide. He is too powerful I saw what he did to SD8 and the others and to me..."

Zule pushed forward with a series of strikes that cut down three clones in quick succession. "Running will not save us. We will face him eventually."

Aubrie's voice rose in panic as she parried and retreated. "Facing him means we die now. We need a real plan, we can't just go in winging it."

They argued louder while fighting, their sabers clashing against blaster fire, clones falling around them but more replacing the losses. Master Fay raised her hands and sent a wave that bowled over a line of clones, giving them space to breathe. She stepped between Aubrie and Zule. "Stop this. Fear and anger will not serve us in this situation. They cloud judgment and lead to mistakes."

Aubrie deactivated her saber for a moment to catch her breath, her chest heaving. "What should we do then Master? We cannot beat him. He is too powerful."

Master Fay met her eyes steadily. "Power is not always everything. Come with me. I have a plan." She turned and led them down a side passage, away from the clones who regrouped behind. Aubrie and Zule followed, reactivating their sabers to cut down any clones who pursued.

They reached a cargo bay, the doors sliding open as Fay waved her hand. Inside, crates lined the walls, and shuttle parts sat in disassembly. Fay closed the doors behind them and sealed them with another gesture. "From what I remember the last time I was here, these cargo bays are on separate systems. They are designed to be disconnected from the station to prevent a possible containment leak."

Zule smirked as she wiped sweat from her brow. "You are going to jettison him into the sun."

"Indeed," Fay said.

Aubrie approved of the plan and nodded. "It could work. We lure him here and detach the bay."

Fay told them to take her hands first. "I need to hide us all from his senses."

...

Darth Sidious walked down the corridor while he killed anyone who crossed his path. He raised one hand and crushed a technician's throat from a distance, the man's neck snapping inward as his eyes bulged and he dropped choking on blood. Another engineer ran at him with a tool raised, but Sidious gestured and the man's body twisted until his spine broke with a crack, limbs flopping useless as he fell. A clone fired a blaster, the bolt flying toward Sidious, but he caught it in his palm and sent it back through the clone's visor, the helmet exploding outward in fragments as the body slumped. He stepped over the corpses without slowing, his cloak trailing behind him as he moved.

He stretched his senses out to find the fleeing Jedi and felt them still running ahead. He grinned, teeth showing in the red light, and went faster, his steps quickening as he pursued them through the twisting passages. He turned corners and passed more bodies, engineers and clones scattered like broken toys. He sensed the Jedi leading him somewhere specific. He followed without hurry at first, then increased his pace when he realized they headed to a cargo bay.

He reached the entrance and stepped inside, looking around at the large space filled with numerous crates stacked high and large shelving units lining the walls. He walked further in, his boots echoing on the deck as he scanned the area, sensing the Jedi hidden among the shadows but unable to pinpoint them exactly.

He began to talk. "You have managed to hide yourselves from me. That must mean you have a very skilled master if she can conceal you all in the Force."

He paused and turned slowly, eyes narrowing as he searched the crates. "But it is not enough. I can sense your fear. It clings to the air like smoke. You tremble behind your barriers, thinking it will save you. It will not."

He laughed, the sound echoing off the metal walls. "Come out, little Jedi. Face what you cannot escape. Your lightsabers will shatter against me. Your bodies will break like the bodies I left behind. I will peel your minds open and watch you scream as I take everything you hold dear."

He walked deeper, passing a row of crates, his hand trailing along one as he spoke again. "Think of your friends. The ones still running. I will find them next. I will make them beg before I end them. And Jaden, ah, Jaden. That boy thought he could hide in the Unknown Regions, playing explorer with all of you. But I know where he is. I know every step he takes. When I finish here, I will go to him. I will break him slowly."

He stopped in the center of the bay, turning in a slow circle. "Attack me. Show yourselves. There is no purpose in cowering, I will find you." Silence answered him. He waited, sensing their restraint, their refusal to rise to the bait. He grinned wider, but they did not move. Instead, they slipped out through a side hatch he had not notice. The door sealed behind them with a lock clicking into place. He turned as the bay shuddered, mechanisms activating beneath the floor.

The Jedi had locked him in and set the cargo bay to jettison into space. He laughed again, raising his hands to stop it, but the detachment sequence began, the bay separatingily separating from the station with a groan of metal. He stood in the center as the walls pulled away, the void of space opening before him, the sun's light pouring in as the bay drifted free. "You think such a simple plan can defeat one such as myself..." Sidious cackled as he reached out with the force. 

...

"That's right! You kriffing bantha pot hole!!!" Zule shouted and cursed uncharacteristically as she watched the cargo bay jettison into the sun through the viewport. After which she laughed and relaxed slightly. Aubrie felt a sigh of relief leave her chest. Master Fay stood beside them and exhaled slowly. The bay drifted away from the station and tumbled toward the star. It looked like the plan worked. The Sith was gone. Though truly Master Fay felt that this was too easy and that she shouldn't yet relax. 

And only a few seconds later she was proven right.

The bay stopped. It hung in space for a moment and then started moving back toward the station. Aubrie panicked. Her hands shook as she stared at the screen. Zule got angry. She slammed her fist against the wall. Master Fay tried to push the bay back with the help of the girls. They raised their hands together and focused. They pushed with everything they had. The bay slowed but kept coming. The Sith overpowered them. The bay reconnected with a loud clang. Master Fay's eyes widened. She turned to the girls. "Run right now."

A moment later the door exploded outward forcing Master Fay to protect both of the girls. She used a force bubble around them. The force of the explosion threw them all down the corridor. They landed hard. Aubrie rolled to her feet. Zule stood up fast. Master Fay rose slower. She looked at them. "Find Scout and leave the station. I will handle him."

Aubrie begged her not to. "You can't Master... he's too strong, you are going to your death."

Master Fay put her hand on Aubrie's head. "I am a Jedi Master. Do not think me so weak that I cannot deal with a Sith."

"Now go," she said.

Aubrie refused. She shook her head and drew her lightsaber intent on standing with her and fighting against the Sith Lord. Hoever Zule wrapped her arms around her and dragged her away. She pulled Aubrie down the corridor. Aubrie looked back and shouted to Zule to let her go and that they needed to go back. 

Master Fay stood alone as the Sith walked toward her. He laughed as he came closer. "Perhaps if you had used them both as a distraction you could have scored a lethal hit upon me," he said.

"Perhaps that is your way Lord of the Sith," Master Fay said. "But it is not mine."

She unclipped her lightsaber and once she did her presence in the force exploded outward. It battled against the Sith's darkness making the air feel heavy between them as Dark and Light clashed in the corridor . 

"Master Fay," he hissed, savoring the name. "The elusive sage. The Jedi who refused to sit at the Council's feet, yet clung to their feeble ideals. How I have longed to see your corpse laid out beneath my boots."

He stepped forward, slowly, his presence pressing down like a weight. "All your wandering. All your meditations. You thought it made you wise. You thought distance from the Order gave you clarity. But it only made you slower to see. You are arrogant. Blind. Like all the others."

His voice twisted, thick with venom. "You call it the will of the Force. I call it cowardice. You let the galaxy burn while you whispered riddles to farmers and children. The Jedi path... ha! A path of denial, weakness, and death."

Master Fay stood still, maintaining her composure even now. The flames from the explosion behind her cast light across her face, but she did not blink.

"You seem to have misunderstood," she said softly. "I have never followed the Jedi path. Perhaps they set me upon it, but it has long since become mine, and mine alone."

Sidious's expression curdled into a snarl, and with a snap-hiss, the crimson blade of his lightsaber sprang to life. Its glow painted his lower face in blood-red shadow.

"Then you will die on it."

Sidious swung his lightsaber in a wide overhead arc that forced Fay to leap back, her blue blade rising to meet the red one as she twisted her body sideways and redirected the momentum of his strike into the deck plating where it gouged a molten scar. He pressed forward immediately with a series of powerful downward chops each one delivered with both hands and enough strength to crumple durasteel if it were a simple vibroblade and Fay met each blow by stepping into his guard and angling her saber to turn his power aside sending the energy flowing past her into nearby consoles that sparked and exploded from the redirected force. 

She countered with a quick thrust at his midsection but he batted it away with a contemptuous flick and unleashed a blast of Force lightning from his free hand the jagged blue energy crackling toward her and Fay crossed her saber in front of her to absorb it the lightning coiling around the blade and feeding back into his palm making his fingers twitch but he laughed through gritted teeth and poured more power into the attack until she staggered back a step her arms burning from the effort to hold the barrier.

"You fight like a coward, typical of all Jedi Masters," Sidious said as he cut off the lightning and lunged with a brutal stab that she sidestepped and turned into a sweep of his legs and vaulted, landing lightly behind him and slapped her saber against his shoulder the impact searing his cloak but he spun faster than she expected and brought his palm up into her ribs cracking bone and sending her skidding across the floor. "The Jedi way weakens you. So much power and you deny it, you could've been so much more but you fear the dark side."

Fay rolled to her feet and met his next charge by catching his descending saber with hers and using the clash to pivot and hurl him sideways into a bulkhead his body denting the metal but he rebounded instantly with a Force push that lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the opposite wall her vision blurring for a moment as pain lanced through her back. "I do not fear the dark side, I only fear the endless path that it sets you on," she replied calmly as she dropped into a crouch and sprang forward her saber weaving a tight pattern of deflections that turned his flurry of strikes back on him one bolt of his own redirected lightning glancing off his arm and scorching flesh. "Your chase for power consumes you, and it will take more and more of you as you travel down the path until there is nothing left."

"Let me show you what the path of power has given me," Sidious roared and channeled a massive Force wave that tore up the deck plating and ceiling between them sending jagged shards flying toward her and Fay extended one hand to redirect the debris turning the lethal projectiles back at him where he used his force lightning to annihilate them and closed the distance with a leap his saber coming down in a two-handed overhead smash that she blocked at the last second the impact driving her to one knee her arms quivering from the strain. "Power only consumes the weak and I will be the most powerfully Sith Lord to ever live," he snarled as he rained down more blows each one heavier than the last forcing her to roll aside and rise again her blade a blur as she parried and slipped away redirecting his fury into the walls that buckled under the force of his strikes. "You are one of the most powerful Jedi Masters in the order and yet you're this weak!!!"

Fay slipped under one of his wide swings and countered with a precise slash at his thigh that caused a gash but he kicked out with his other leg catching her in the chest and hurling her through a doorway into an adjacent corridor where a squad of clone troopers opened fire their blasters barking blue bolts that she deflected into the ceiling while Sidious strode through behind her laughing as he Force crushed one clone's helmets and hurled the trooper into his squadmates bowling them over. "See how your abilities fail you," he said as he blasted lightning at the clones who turned on him their shots missing in the confusion and Fay used the moment to circle back her saber redirecting a bolt from a clone into Sidious's path where it forced him to move aside giving her time to press him with a series of rapid stabs that he blocked with growing anger .

The clones recovered and fired at both of them bolts crisscrossing the hall and Sidious swept his arm to lift a trooper and use him as a shield the body absorbing shots before he tossed it aside and unleashed lightning that arced through three more clones vaporizing their armor in explosions that lit the corridor. Fay dodged a bolt meant for her and turned it back toward Sidious who absorbed it with his hand and countered by snaking a severed power conduit at her she sliced it in half and closed in again and redirected his saber strike. "Strength without wisdom destroys the wielder as it has destroyed you," she said as she parried his thrust and twisted to send him stumbling past her into a group of clones who fired wildly at him before he crushed them all with a gesture their bodies folding inward like crushed tin cans.

Sidious whirled back to her with a roar and Force leaped across the hall slamming into her with his shoulder that knocked her saber from her grip momentarily she caught it mid-air and blocked his downward chop the blades locking as they grappled their faces inches apart his breath hot against her skin. "Wisdom is the lie you tell yourselves to justify cowardice," he hissed as he broke the lock with a headbutt that split her lip and followed with a knee to her gut doubling her over before he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her his fingers digging in as she choked and clawed at his arm. "The Sith embrace truth. Power. Your code only serves to binds you in chains... through power I gain victory, through victory my chains are broken... the Force Shall Free Me."

Fay brought her saber up and severed his grip forcing him to drop her and she rolled away as he blasted lightning that scorched the floor where she had been she rose and met his charge by stepping aside and redirecting his momentum into a bulkhead that melted and cracked under the impact. They fought on through the corridor Sidious swinging massive arcs that she always turned aside, managing to counter his overwhelming power through sheer control and finesse.

"You fight in vain Master Fay... Let me show you the true power of the Dark Side...". He raised both hands and lifted a massive cargo crate from the floor. He hurled it at her with crushing speed. Fay twisted aside and the crate smashed into the wall behind her, metal crumpling like paper. She lunged forward with her saber, but he caught her in a Force grip and slammed her into the ceiling and laughed as he did so. Plating buckled around her body. He released her and she fell hard, ribs cracking on impact. Pain flared through her chest, but she rolled to her feet, blood dripping from her lip.

"You feel it now," Sidious said. "You feel the overwhelming power..."

He ripped the floor up in a wave of durasteel. Shards flew toward her like spears. She deflected some with her saber and pushed others aside, but one sliced her thigh, another her shoulder. She staggered, breath coming in gasps. He laughed and collapsed the hallway behind her. Walls folded inward, debris raining down. She leaped through a gap as the ceiling caved, landing in the next section.

Fay stood, saber raised, but he sent her flying through a bulkhead. She crashed into a control room, consoles exploding around her. Sparks burned her arms. She rose again, coughing blood. He followed, tearing the walls apart as he came. He lifted her with the Force and threw her through another ceiling. She hit the level above, bones jarring. He appeared above her, lightning crackling from his fingers. Bolts struck her saber. She held it up, arms shaking, redirecting some back at him. He absorbed them and laughed.

"Weak," he said. "You cling to your ways like a fool, but I can feel your fear... your anger... your regret?"

He ripped a support beam free and swung it like a club. She blocked with her own force, the impact driving her to her knees. He slammed a force pus into her in the chest. She flew back, crashing through a railing. She landed on the lower deck, vision blurring. He jumped down and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her. His fingers dug in. She choked, saber falling from her grip.

"Yes... I can sense your regret, but for what..." he said.

She pushed against his grip with the Force, breaking free. She rolled away, grabbing her saber. He hurled lightning. She caught it on the blade, redirecting it into a control panel. Explosions erupted around them. She stood, blood streaming from wounds and burns covering her body, but she was still breathing. She raised her saber.

Sidious grinned. "Tell me what is it that the Great Master Fay finds herself regretting before her end... I sense great pain in you... I sense..." Sidious laughed maliciously. "I see... to think the legendary wandering Jedi would feel such things... it is truly a shame yo not let you explore those emotions."

He tore the deck apart beneath her. She leaped as it gave way, landing on a platform. He followed, saber raised. She met him, blade to blade. He overpowered her immediately, driving her back. She redirected his strikes, turning his power against the walls. Explosions caused them to collapsse around them. She slipped through the them, surviving each blow. He hurled more debris which she pushed it aside, but in the end he sent her flying again. She crashed through a wall and struggled to rise once more.

"You cannot win," he said.

Fay stood, a serene smile on her face. "That is the difference between us Sith, I do not need to win, and I am not afraid of losing, but until I fall I shall still fight with all I have."

...

Aubrie struggled against Zule's grip, her feet dragging as she twisted to look back down the corridor where Master Fay stood alone. "Let me go! We cannot leave her like that. She needs us!"

Zule pulled her harder, her cybernetic hand clamped around Aubrie's wrist like a vice, her other arm looping around Aubrie's waist to keep her moving. "We cannot go back. We will just get in her way and get her killed. She would have to protect us instead of fighting. You heard her. Go."

Aubrie hated the words even as they sank in. She hated the fact she had to leave Master Fay behind, the Jedi who had guided her through so many doubts, who had shared quiet lessons on compassion amid the war's horrors. Fay's face flashed in her mind, the way she had placed her hand on Aubrie's head and spoken with such certainty. Aubrie did not know what else to do. The station shook again, distant explosions rumbling through the deck, and Zule's pull kept her forward. They ran together, Aubrie's free hand clutching her lightsaber hilt, her breaths coming in short gasps as guilt clawed at her chest. "She is going to die because of us. Because we ran."

Zule did not loosen her hold. "She won't die, she can hold him off until we come up with a real plan, we will go back for her!" She said resolutely. 

They reached the hangar bay, the doors hissing open to reveal the Vengeance sitting silent amid the chaos, repair droids frozen in place, engineers nowhere in sight. Aubrie's eyes scanned the ramp, hoping to see Scout waiting. "Scout! Are you here?!" She shouted, but there was no answer, the ship was empty. 

An alarm pierced the air then, a piercing wail that overrode all other sounds, the overhead speakers crackling to life. 

"Attention all personnel: evacuate the station immediately. Gravitational containment failure imminent. Twenty minutes until star collision."

"Repeat: evacuate immediately. Proceed to nearest escape pods."

Aubrie's eyes widened, her heart slamming against her ribs as the words sank in. The station crashing into the sun. Master Fay back there, facing that monster alone, and now this. Zule's face hardened, her grip tightening. "We have to find them. Maybe we can get the scanners on the ship working."

They rushed to the ship, Aubrie stumbling over a fallen tool as she boarded, Zule pulling her up the ramp. The hangar felt too quiet, the absence of the repair crews a hollow scent that made Aubrie's stomach turn. As she walked to the ship she spotted the scattered remains of SD8—twisted metal limbs and sparking circuits strewn across the deck like broken bones. Her breath caught, a sharp pain blooming in her chest as she knelt beside the droid's core, the photoreceptor shattered but the data port intact. "SD8," she whispered, her fingers trembling as she pried open the panel and lifted the core free. "I'm sorry. I promise we will fix you."

Zule placed a hand on her shoulder. "Aubrie..."

"Aubrie! Zule!"

The voice echoed from the bay. Aubrie's head snapped up, hope flooding her as she and Zule rushed back to the ramp. Scout and Vaylin burst through a side door, Scout waving frantically while Vaylin covered their rear.

"Scout!" Aubrie called, relief crashing over her as she jumped down, Zule right behind. They met in the open space between crates, Aubrie pulling Scout into a quick hug before stepping back. "You are okay. Where have you been?"

Scout panted, her face flushed. "Long story. We need to get out of here the station is falling apart! Wait where is Master Fay?"

Zule nodded at Vaylin. "Good to see you both. But we have bigger problems. Master Fay is in trouble."

Aubrie jumped in, her words tumbling out in a rush. "A powerful Sith Lord attacked. He destroyed SD8 and slaughtered everyone in the bay. Master Fay stayed behind to fight him. We tried to trap him in a cargo bay and jettison it into the sun, but he stopped it and came after us. We have to go back. We have to help her."

Vaylin interrupted, her voice firm. "We need to get out of here. The station is on a collision course with the sun. Twenty minutes. We cannot fight him and survive."

Scout crossed her arms. "We are not leaving her. Not after everything she has done for us."

Aubrie nodded fiercely. "She is out there alone... we need to help her."

Zule gripped her saber hilt. "Agreed. We find a way to pull her out."

Vaylin shook her head. "You do not understand. He will kill you all. We run now or we die with her."

Aubrie ignored the comment and turned to Scout. "Can you get the ship running? I tried to before, but there is something stopping the ship from starting."

Scout nodded. "Yes, those would be the magnetic clamps, but don't worry the warp drive is an unregistered power source. I can use it to jump-start the engines. It should override them."

Aubrie gave a small smile. "Good. Get the ship running."

Scout frowned and stepped closer to Aubrie. "Wait... what are you gonna do?"

Aubrie hesitated, then squared her shoulders. "I'm going back. I have to get Master Fay out of there. I don't know how yet... I'll find an opening, draw his attention. We pull her out, then we fly out of here."

"You're not going alone," Scout said, almost instantly. "That's crazy."

Zule moved beside her, expression tight. "That's not a plan. That's walking into your death, the exact thing Master Fay wanted to prevent."

"But three of us could help, maybe if we worked together?" Scout offered. "If we hit him from different sides, we might have a shot. Just rush him, throw everything we've got."

Zule nodded. "Overwhelm him. Get Fay and run, maybe that could work."

Aubrie shook her head. "It won't work. He's too strong. You saw what he did to SD8 and those engineers and to me. He didn't even slow down. If we charge in, he'll take us apart before we get near her."

Scout looked frustrated. "Then what do we do?"

"No," Aubrie said. "But we need to be smarter. We can't fight him straight on... we'll lose for sure. We need something else. Something that gives us an edge."

Scout paced a few steps, then turned. "The station's falling apart. Maybe we use that? Reroute energy somewhere and blow a conduit in his face."

Zule raised an eyebrow. "And blow Master Fay up with it?"

"Okay maybe not a good idea," Scout muttered.

Zule crossed her arms. "Or we split up. One distracts him, the other two grab Master Fay and get her out."

Aubrie's head snapped toward her. "No way. We split up and the bait is the one who'll die. He'll pick them off like it's nothing."

Scout chewed her lip, thinking. "Okay, then what? We need something. Anything."

Vaylin stood there, her arms crossed, listening as the guilt built inside her. It started as a small knot in her stomach when Aubrie mentioned the Sith, growing larger with each word they spoke. The man who created her, who twisted her into a weapon, now hunted her friends because of her. She watched them argue, their faces set with determination, and the guilt swelled until it pressed against her ribs, making it hard to breathe. They did not know the full truth, the darkness she carried, and they planned to risk everything because of her presence. The knot tightened, her hands clenching at her sides as memories flashed: Teth, the merging, the power she unleashed. She could not let them die for her mistakes.

"Enough," Vaylin said, silencing them all. Her voice cut through the debate like a blade. "I will not let you enact any of those foolish or suicidal plans."

All of them looked at her with confusion, though Scout a little less so, her eyes narrowing as if piecing something together. She hesitated for a moment before she met their gazes. "I am the reason he is here.... So I will deal with him."

Aubrie's face mixed concern and confusion. "What do you mean?"

Zule stepped forward. "Explain."

Vaylin took a breath. "He is here because when I used to be Darth Tenebra, he was my master." She unveiled the truth that she had tried to keep hidden... one she was sure that even Jaden did not know or at the very least only suspected. 

The words hung in the air, shock rippling through them. Aubrie's hand went to her mouth, eyes widening as the pieces fell into place. Zule's face hardened, a flash of anger crossing her features. Scout stared, her earlier suspicions confirmed, but a hint of betrayal stung her eyes.

"He has come after me because he is worried I will unlock my full memories which will include who he is," Vaylin continued.

 "You know who he is?" Scout asked.

"No," Vaylin replied. "But he created me. So it is likely I know many secrets he has hidden inside my mind with his vile alchemy."

"I will fight him and distract him," Vaylin said. "He should come after me and leave Master Fay alone. That will give you time to get away."

"No," Aubrie said, interrupting her before she could finish. "We are not doing that."

This confused Vaylin. "What do you mean it's the perfect plan?"

Zule nodded. "She is right. We are not."

Scout put a hand on Vaylin's shoulder, her touch gentle but insistent. "Even if you have hidden stuff from us, Vaylin, you are still part of the crew. We are not going to sacrifice you. Not for Fay, not for anyone."

Aubrie and Zule agreed, their voices overlapping in solidarity. "We find another way," Aubrie said. 

"Together. No one gets left behind."

They started talking again as they tried to come up with an idea to deal with the Sith. Scout suggested rigging a power surge m to create an electrical burst in the corridor, stunning the Sith long enough for a rescue. Zule countered with using the station's failing gravity fields to disorient him, pulling him into a zero-g section where they could maneuver better. Aubrie built on that, proposing they collapse a bulkhead to separate him from Fay, then extract her through a maintenance tunnel. They debated details—timing the surge with the gravitational failure, positioning for the collapse, signals to coordinate without comms. Vaylin listened, the guilt easing as she realized they saw her not as a threat, but as a friend.

Vaylin stood there with a smile on her face as she looked at her friends. Yes, friends. The word settled in her chest like a warm ember, chasing away the cold doubt she felt before. They chose her, even knowing the darkness she carried. Tears pricked her eyes, but she blinked them back.

"Thank you," Vaylin said, her voice thick. "All of you. For that."

The moment hung, but Vaylin's resolve hardened. They did not have time for a perfect plan. The alarms blared evacuation countdowns, the station groaning under failing systems. She raised her hands, lightning crackling from her fingertips and struck Aubrie and Zule, stunning them into unconsciousness. They slumped to the deck, eyes closing as the energy coursed through them.

Scout jumped back, shock widening her eyes. "Vaylin! What did you do? Why?"

Vaylin lowered her hands, the lightning fading. "We do not have time to come up with a perfect plan. You need to get these two on the ship and get the ship running. We do not have time to argue."

Scout looked sad as she realized what Vaylin meant to do. Her shoulders sagged, the weight of it hitting her. "You are going after him."

Vaylin nodded. "Yes. I will draw him away from Fay. Buy her time to escape. It is the only way."

Scout breathed heavily as she composed herself. She knelt by Aubrie and Zule, checking their pulses, relief flooding her when she felt steady beats. "You cannot do this. We can figure something out."

Vaylin shook her head. "The station has minutes left. Fay needs that time. I will give it to her."

Scout stood, tears glistening in her eyes. "But..."

Vaylin stepped closer. "I need you to tell Jaden something important."

Scout nodded, leaning in as Vaylin whispered into her ear. Vaylin stepped back and took Aubries lightsaber from her belt, clipping them to her own. "I will see you soon."

With that, she turned and ran from the bay, her cloak billowing as she vanished into the corridor, leaving Scout alone with the stunned pair and a ticking clock

Vaylin left the bay and rushed through the corridors. She unleashed her presence in the Force, letting it bloom outward like a storm cloud breaking open. The darkness within her surged, filling the passages with her signature, a beacon that screamed her location to anyone who could sense it. She had no trouble finding her old master. His malevolence pulled at her like a chain, guiding her steps as she turned corners and leaped over debris. She ran faster, her jacket snapping behind her.

...

Sidious laughed as he felt Vaylin's presence ripple through the station. "Look who has come out to play," he said.

He focused back on Master Fay. She was beaten and badly hurt but still fighting. Her robes hung in tatters, blood streaked her face, and her left arm dangled useless at her side from a dislocated shoulder. She held her blue lightsaber with one hand despite the pain that etched lines into her face. Sidious swung his red saber in a vicious combo, the blade arcing down toward her head. Fay blocked, but the impact drove her back a step. He followed with a thrust to her chest. She parried and countered with a slash at his side, but he twisted away and unleashed a Force push that sent her flying into the ceiling. Her body hit hard, cracking panels above, and she dropped to the floor with a thud that jarred her bones.

Fay rolled to her feet, gasping, but Sidious closed the distance. He slashed high, forcing her to block, then low, making her jump back. He raised his free hand and gripped her with the Force, lifting her off the ground. She choked, her saber arm straining to strike, but he slammed her into the ground hard enough to crack the deck plating. She bounced and slid, her saber clattering from her grip as pain exploded in her ribs. Sidious laughed and blasted lightning from both hands. The blue energy wrapped around her, arcing through her body, making her convulse and scream as it burned her nerves.

She broke free with a desperate push, rolling away as the lightning scorched the floor where she lay. Fay grabbed her saber and stood, her legs shaking. 

Sidious felt Vaylin coming closer. He laughed louder. "My apprentice returns. How delightful."

Vaylin burst through the walls with a massive shockwave, the durasteel crumpling outward as she leaped into the chamber, her eyes blazing. She landed in a crouch, her presence clashing against his like thunder meeting lightning.

Sidious turned to her, his grin widening. "Darth Tenebra. My apprentice. You have returned to me at last."

Vaylin stood, her saber igniting in her hand. "Do not call me that!"

Sidious tilted his head, sensing her. "You feel different. Weaker. What has happened to you? Have you mixed with that weak facade I created for you? The Vaylin who plays at being a friend to Jedi scum?"

Vaylin's eyes glowed yellow. The Force groaned around her, metal bending in the walls. She glanced at Master Fay quickly, seeing the Jedi slumped against a console, breathing ragged but alive which made her glad. Vaylin turned back to Sidious. "I am going to kill you."

Sidious laughed, the sound rolling through the chamber. He had noticed her look at Master Fay. "Oh? Already forming attachments? To these... vermin? Jaden and his pathetic crew; the boy who fancies himself a wanderer, the healer who clings to light like a child to a blanket, the mechanic who tinkers with scraps and the girl with one foot already in the dark side. Have you grown fond of them, Tenebra? Learned to care for the weak?"

Vaylin stepped forward with her saber raised. "Shut up."

Sidious circled her slowly, his blade at his side. "I am disappointed. Attachments are a weakness, a chain that binds the strong. I thought I taught you better. The Sith thrive on power, not sentiment. You were forged in my image a weapon without mercy. And now you hesitate for these insects?"

Vaylin's grip tightened on her saber. 

Sidious stopped. "It is no matter. I can always repeat your training. Break you again until you crumble."

"But first perhaps I can bring out your true power." He raised his hand and grabbed Master Fay with the Force, lifting her limp body into the air. She gasped, her saber falling as she clawed at invisible fingers around her throat. Sidious pulled her toward him and impaled her with his lightsaber, the red blade sliding through her stomach with a sizzle. Fay's eyes widened, a choked cry escaping her lips. Vaylin screamed, the sound echoing through the station as rage exploded within her.

Sidious laughed and threw Master Fay off to the side, her body crumpling to the floor in a heap, saber rolling away. Vaylin jumped at him, her saber swinging in a furious arc aimed at his neck. Sidious met her strike with his own, blades locking in a shower of sparks, and pushed back, forcing her to strain against his strength.

She did not stop and pushed back before she started,

swinging again and again, each blow fueled by the image of Fay's lifeless form, the blade whistling through the air as she poured her anger into every motion.

Sidious met her strikes with ease, his red saber parrying each one, but he smiled, his eyes gleaming with delight as he felt the dark side swell within her. "Yes good," he said, stepping back to let her overextend before countering with a lazy thrust that she barely deflected, the tip of his blade scorching her tunic. "Let it consume you. This is the power I created in you."

Vaylin roared and unleashed lightning from her free hand, blue arcs crackling toward him that he caught on his hand, the energy coiling around his arm before he redirected it back at her. She twisted aside, but the bolt struck the wall behind her exploring a terminal and ripping up panels and sending shards flying that embedded in crates and bulkheads. She charged again, slashing at his chest and legs in rapid succession. He dodged most, but one grazed his thigh, drawing a thin line of blood, and he laughed louder, the sound echoing as he Force-pushed her hard enough to send her crashing through a support beam that buckled and collapsed, crushing a nearby droid into sparking wreckage.

"Beautiful," Sidious said as he advanced, toying with her by letting her rise before unleashing a wave of lightning that she blocked with her saber, the effort straining her arms while the excess energy arced to the floor, melting deck plating and igniting fuel lines that burst in small explosions, flames licking up walls and filling the air with acrid smoke. Vaylin broke through the barrier and thrust at his heart, but he sidestepped and grabbed her with the force, twisting her wrm until she dropped her saber, then slammed her into the opposite wall, the impact denting metal and knocking loose conduits that sparked and fell around them.

She landed on her feet and called her saber back to her hand, igniting it mid-leap as she hurled herself at him again, rage making her strikes wilder, faster. Sidious parried and countered with a sweep that she jumped over, but he followed with a Force grip that lifted her and threw her sideways into a row of storage lockers, the doors crumpling under her weight and spilling tools and panels across the floor. He walked closer, his saber loose in his grip, as if savoring the show. "The anger suits you, Tenebra. Feel it burn away the weakness. The Jedi's death was a gift now use it."

Vaylin stood, blood trickling from her lip, and unleashed a Force push tha shattered the entire room. He deflected most of the debris with a wave of his hand, but one scored his arm, and he chuckled, advancing through the debris. She met him blade to blade, their sabers locking as she headbutted him, breaking his nose with a crunch of bone.

"More," he urged. "Let the rage fill you completely. Destroy everything in your path, as I taught you."

Vaylin ripped a support strut from the ceiling with both hands, hurling it at him like a spear. He sliced it in half and closed the gap, his saber coming down in a heavy chop that she parried, but the impact jarred her elbows and sent her skidding back into a cluster of fuel drums that toppled and ignited, flames roaring up and consuming nearby panels in a chain reaction of blasts that shook the deck and collapsed sections of ceiling, debris raining down as she rolled away.

She countered with her own lightning, twin streams from both hands that arced toward him, but he met them with his, the energies colliding in a crackling nexus that grew unstable and exploded outward, the shockwave buckling walls and hurling them both apart—Vaylin slamming into a bulkhead that dented under her, Sidious through a doorway into the next chamber where he landed easily, his cloak torn but his eyes alight with joy at her unleashed fury.

"Perhaps you are not the useless tool I believed you to be..." Darth Sidious commented as he approached her.

...

Scout hoisted Aubrie over her shoulder and dragged Zule by the arm, their unconscious bodies limp as she staggered up the Vengeance's ramp. The station trembled beneath her feet, deck plates buckling with deep groans that made her trip, nearly sending all three tumbling. She caught herself on the airlock frame, cursing under her breath as another shockwave hit, sparks flying from overhead conduits. "Come on, come on," she muttered, hauling them inside and dumping them onto the deck in the corridor just outside the cockpit. Scout paused for a second, her chest heaving, then bolted for the cockpit, the door hissing open as she slapped the panel.

She dropped into the pilot's seat, fingers flying over the controls. The console lit up, but the engines sputtered, the magnetic clamps holding firm from the lockdown. "Not today," Scout said, switching to the warp drive interface. She overrode the safeties, routing power through the core. The clamps whined, then released with a metallic screech, the surge from the warp drive bypassing their absorption fields. The ship lurched free, repulsors firing as Scout throttled up.

She gripped the yoke, eyes darting to the chrono; ten minutes until collision. "Okay, think. How do I rescue Fay and Vaylin?" The question hung, her mind racing through options. Grab a speeder from a bay? Too slow, and the corridors were clogged debris and clones. Sprint through maintenance shafts? She'd never make it in time. Scout slammed her fist on the console, the impact jarring her wrist. "Think, damn it!"

She hit her head with her palm, once, twice, trying to shake loose an idea, but the constant chime and rumble of the station crumbling around her drowned everything. Her pulse thundered in her ears, frustration boiling over as another tremor shook the ship, loose panels rattling. "Come on, Scout, you're smart, think!"

She couldn't leave the ship; she'd never make it back in time. But if she bring Fay to the ship, she had to bring the ship to her. The idea formed and it was incredible and very stupid, a desperate plan that could either save them or vaporize the Vengeance in a warp feedback loop. Scout sat back, staring at the drive controls, her fingers hovering.

"Computer," Scout called out.

The computer beeped in response waiting for further input.

"Initiate warp drive at point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one percent of maximum output. Create a localized warp bubble around the hull. Engage spatial distortion field to compress the surrounding metric, allowing micro-jumps through structural matter without physical collision. Override safety interlocks on bubble integrity and feedback loops. Route auxiliary power through the core to maintain stability."

"Warning: warp drive activation at sub-threshold velocity risks temporal shear. Bubble collapse probability at eighty-seven percent. Structural integrity of surrounding matter not guaranteed. Recommend immediate abort."

"Override," Scout said, ignoring the cascade of alerts. "Engage now."

The ship rocked violently, consoles sparking as the warp drive hummed to life at a crawl, the bubble forming around the Vengeance like an invisible skin. Reality warped, space folding in on itself, the corridor outside enlarging as the warp bubble manipulated the fabric of space. The hull groaned, systems straining and panels sparked and exploded, but Scout compensated, adjusting power flows manually, her hands blurring over the panels. "Hold together, you beauty."

"Feedback loop detected. Core temperature rising. Evacuate or—"

"Shut up!" Scout yelled, rerouting coolant lines. The ship lurched forward, the warp bubble enveloping the corridor ahead, durasteel walls rippling like water as the Vengeance "slid" through without touching, space itself enlarging and bendinb to accommodate the intrusion. She almost laughed, the sound bubbling up manically as the ship inched along, alarms screaming failure after failure—shields fluctuating, inertial dampeners offline—but it worked.

Scout gripped the yoke tighter, sweat dripping down her face as she guided the ship forward, the deck vibrating under her feet. "Come on, come on, just a little more."

...

Vaylin channeled everything she had left into her assault, her broken body screaming as she surged forward, rage igniting her veins like liquid fire. She unleashed a torrent of lightning from both hands, the blue arcs forking toward Sidious in a web that lit the chamber, but he raised his hands and absorbed the energy and drank the power before he flung it back at her in a concentrated bolt that scorched her body and drove her to one knee. She did not stop, calling on the dark side to rip up the entire deck plating beneath him, jagged sheets tearing free and hurtling toward him like battering rams; he laughed and swept his free hand, redirecting the metal barrage back at her, forcing her to dive aside as plates embedded in the wall behind her with thunderous impacts that buckled the structure and sent cracks spidering across the ceiling.

She rolled and thrust her saber upward, aiming for his chest, but he parried with ease and countered with a slash that grazed her thigh, the blade searing flesh as she twisted away; she responded by Force-gripping a fallen beam and swinging it like a club toward his head, the metal whistling through the air, but he shattered it mid-swing with a focused crush, fragments exploding outward and embedding in her arm like shrapnel that drew blood and made her gasp. Vaylin pressed on, her strikes a frenzy of overhead chops and spinning sweeps that he blocked each time, the clashes sending vibrations up her arms until her muscles burned, yet she poured more power into a Force push that lifted him off his feet and hurled him into a cluster of control panels, consoles erupting in sparks and flames that licked at his cloak as he landed amid the wreckage.

Sidious rose without a mark, his grin widening as he felt the dark side swell within her, feeding on her fury like a flame on dry tinder. "Yes, feed it. Let the rage consume you as it should," he said, but Vaylin roared and leaped at him, her saber coming down in a two-handed arc that he met with his own, the blades locking as she drove him back step by step, her strength amplified by the hate boiling in her chestl and she broke the lock, following with a slash across his shoulder that made him hiss.

He straightened and erupted in a Force shockwave, the invisible blast radiating outward like a star's corona, slamming into Vaylin with concussive power that lifted her off her feet and threw her back through the air, her body crashing into a bulkhead that dented under the impact and knocked the breath from her lungs as she slid down the wall, ribs cracking from the force. 

Sidious walked toward her slowly, his saber at his side, and raised both hands; she felt the grip tighten around her arms, bones fracturing with twin cracks that echoed in the chamber, pain exploding through her shoulders as her limbs went limp, useless at her sides.

"Disappointing," he said, his voice dripping with mock pity as he loomed over her. "If this is all you can muster now, then my creation has truly failed. I expected a rival, not this broken shell."

Vaylin roared through the agony, her vision blurring with tears of rage, and used the Force to hurl her lightsaber toward Sidious like a spear aimed at his heart and throat. He watched them come and looped them back with a casual wave, the weapon reversing mid-air and plunging into her leg, the lightsaber piercing her thigh and pinning her to the deck as she screamed, the pain white-hot and immobilizing, her body spasming from the shock until she deactivated it.

Darth Sidious knelt beside her. "I thought you might become a rival, Tenebra. A true heir to the Sith legacy, shattering empires at my side before claiming your own. But look at you now pinned like an insect, begging for mercy you will not receive. All that potential, wasted on these fools. Jaden's crew? They soften you, make you weak. And for what? A Jedi who lies dead?"

He laughed, the sound rolling deep from his chest, and unleashed the Force as a vice around her chest, squeezing until her ribs creaked and air fled her lungs, her vision spotting as she gasped and clawed at nothing. He released just enough for her to breathe, then tightened again, alternating the torment with grips on her mind and body, probing her thoughts to look for her memories, ones of Teth, of the merging, of the friends she now fought for, twisting them into visions of their deaths; Jaden impaled, Aubrie crushed, Scout torn apart, each one a knife in her psyche that made her writhe and scream.

But the torture stopped abruptly as Master Fay staggered forward, her hand outstretched, and unleashed a Force push that caught Sidious off-guard, slamming him back across the chamber into a row of crates that splintered and collapsed under him. Fay clutched her stomach where the saber wound still smoked, but she held her stance, her blue saber reigniting in her good hand as she moved to Vaylin's side.

"Vaylin," Fay whispered, kneeling despite the pain that made her vision swim, her free hand pressing against the young woman's shoulder to check her injuries. Vaylin spasmed under the touch, her body convulsing from the impalement and mind torture, her breaths ragged gasps that prevented words, only a choked whimper escaping as tears streaked her face.

Sidious rose from the wreckage, brushing debris from his cloak with a chuckle that built into full laughter. "Amusing, isn't it? How the weak congregate, clustering like vermin in the hope that numbers will save them. Yet despite it all, you are all still squashed under my boot. Jedi and Sith alike."

He raised both hands and unleashed Force lightning again, twin streams forking toward them in a deadly arc. Fay stepped in front of Vaylin and caught the lightning with her bare hands, the energy coiling around her palms as she absorbed it through Tutaminis, her body shaking from the effort. Sidious's eyes widened in surprise, but he poured more into the attack, the lightning intensifying until Fay's knees buckled, smoke rising from her flesh.

She pushed back, channeling some of the energy outward in a redirected bolt that went back through the stream. They clashed like this, Fay sending portions back at him while he redoubled the assault, the air crackling with ozone as the two streams warred, neither yielding fully, the station groaning under the strain of their power.

But suddenly the corridor began to warp then, space folding unnaturally as the Vengeance appeared, its hull materializing in the passage with the ramp already down and Scout standing at the edge, waving frantically. Sidious's eyes narrowed, but he was not about to let them go; he unleashed more Force lightning, making her body trembling as she held the barrier, sweat mixing with blood on her face.

"Run," Fay urged Vaylin. "Escape. Now."

Vaylin pushed herself up on shaking arms, pain lancing through her with every movement, and considered it. The temptation pulled at her, but in the end she could only do one thing. She lifted her broken arm with a grunt of effort, the Force responding through the pain, and threw Master Fay into the ship with Scout, the Jedi's body sailing through the air to land on the ramp where Scout caught her, pulling her inside.

"Pointless..." Sidious commented before he went to shoot a powerful stream of force lighting at the ship. 

Vaylin jumped in the way and took the full brunt of the Force lightning then, the energy slamming into her like a storm, coiling around her body and burning through her, her scream echoing as she held it back with one hand, the other reaching out to Force-push the Vengeance out of the station. The ship lurched forward, space warping around it as it accelerated, tearing through bulkheads in a chain of explosions that ripped the station apart, hull breaches venting atmosphere into the vacuum, the structure fracturing like glass under the strain.

"Goodbye," Vaylin said as she stopped fighting, her voice a whisper lost in the roar. "My friends."

Before she let the lightning consume her, her body arching as the power overwhelmed her, but she held just long enough for the ship to escape, the station crumbling behind it in a cascade of fire and debris, drifting toward the sun as Vaylin's scream faded into silence.

...

Scout flew into the ceiling as the inertial dampers failed, her head cracking against a panel that sparked and sent pain exploding through her skull. She bounced off and slammed into a wall, her shoulder hitting hard enough to jar her arm, but she grabbed a handhold and held on as the ship spun out of control, the deck tilting wildly beneath her.

"Warp bubble has collapsed."

"Microfractures detected in hull integrity."

"Danger warp core breach."

"Danger warp core breach."

The repeat hammered her ears, each word syncing with the ship's violent rolls that made her stomach lurch. She broke a rib as she slammed into a pipe jutting from the bulkhead, the pain made her gasp and curl inward for a moment. She hung on, her fingers white-knuckled around the bar, her breaths coming short as the ship whirled, corridors blurring past in a disorienting spin that made her almost want to throw up.

"Computer," she shouted hoarsely. "Disengage artificial gravity!"

The artificial gravity cut off, and Scout floated free, the sudden weightlessness making her drift upward as the ship continued to tumble. She pushed off the wall with her feet, propelling herself through the corridor, her body bouncing lightly off panels as she oriented toward the engine room. She grabbed a conduit to steady herself, pulling her body along hand over hand, the pain in her rib stabbing with every twist.

She reached the engine room, which filled with smoke that stung her eyes and plasma fires that licked at exposed wires, the flames dancing in zero-g like slow-motion tendrils. "Kriff," she said, coughing as she waved a hand to clear the haze, her lungs burning from the acrid scent that clawed her throat.

She pushed herself to the warp core, the massive chamber pulsing with energy, red lights flashing warnings across its surface as coolant hissed from fractured lines. She grabbed the access panel and yanked it open, sparks showering her face as she exposed the core's manuel controls. "Hold together," she muttered rerouting power from auxiliary batteries to stabilize the breach. The core groaned, a low whine building as fractures spiderwebbed the containment field, but she isolated the failing section, venting plasma into space through emergency ports that vented the smoke in a rush.

"Warning: collision with celestial body in five minutes."

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Scout said, her hands freezing on the console as the words sank in. She slammed the shutdown sequence, the warp core powering down with a final shudder, the bubble collapsing completely and leaving the ship inert. She pushed away from the core, floating past the open ramp, she felt a pang of pain as she watched the station be consumed by the sun, the hull glowing red then white as it sank into the plasma, fracturing in silent bursts that lit the void. "Vaylin," she whispered, her voice breaking, the name hanging in the weightless air like a ghost. She was gone now, sacrificed to buy them time, and Scout could not shake the guilt, the what-ifs piling up as tears floated free in the zero-g.

But she could not think about her friend at the moment as she needed to save everyone else. She pushed off a bulkhead and floated toward the cockpit, her rib protesting with every jolt, the ship still tumbling without dampeners. She grabbed the pilot's chair and strapped in, fingers flying over the controls to reroute emergency power to the sublight engines. "Come on, you stubborn heap," she muttered, overriding safeties on the thrusters, patching in the auxiliary generators that hummed to life with a reluctant growl.

The engines caught, stuttering at first, but she coaxed them online, adjusting fuel lines and ignition sequences manually through the console, sweat beading on her forehead as she ignored the numerous of errors. She fired the bow thrusters to counter the spin, the ship lurching as it stabilized, then throttled the mains, the Vengeance shuddering as it blasted away from the sun's pull, the corona receding in the viewport, the heat fading from the hull.

She leaned back in the chair panting as she finally took a breath, her rib throbbing with each breath, hands shaking from the adrenaline crash. The alarms quieted, leaving only the ship's creaks and her ragged inhales. But then the comms crackled, a voice booming through the speakers.

"Unidentified ship, lower your shields and prepare to be tractored. This is the Republic Cruiser Valiant."

"I repeat lower your shields now."

Scout looked at the ship spitefully, the massive wedge-shaped behemoth filling the viewport, its hangar bays yawning open like a predator's maw, tractor beams glowing blue as they locked on. 

"Republic reinforcements... always on time."

(AN: Woooo we are done, finally. I hate these kind of chapters as they are importent but also not? Meh it's hard and I did end up rushing things which sucks but at least I didn't take a massively long time with it and can now move on to the next chapters and go back to the main story. Anyway how many of you thought Master Fay was actually going to die? Well you know my rule guys if it’s not explicitly stated she dies then never assume they’re dead.)