End of the Line

Force only knows why I'm here, on Malachor... again. Personally, I think the Galaxy might be better off if Kreia does kill herself, and even better if I die along with her. At least that way my 'wound' in the Force would stop harming others and the suffering would end. But I've tried to easy way before, and I almost lost everything... Hell, I spawned a completely new breed of Sith in the process. When I leave Malachor this time, I will have seen my task to completion. Whether I live or die doesn't matter this time, I must stop Kreia and her Sith from causing any more damage. The Dark Side has dominated the Galaxy too much in recent years. In the span of less than fifty years the Sith have undone much of what the Jedi built in the past thousand. This is unacceptable, it's time for the Galaxy to recover.

I can sense the Dark Side rippling outward from a durasteel-grey, metallic structure not far from here. Its presence nearly overwhelms me, but I've faced the Dark Side before and I know how to defeat it within me. The steps up to the structure, an Academy for the Sith no doubt, are lined with Sith Assassins. I reach for my sabers before I realize they mean no harm, at least not yet.

The entrance to the Academy is fairly well lit, much brighter than the night sky outside. The green clouds are a sickly reminder of what I did here almost ten years ago and it's good to be free of them. Within the walls of the Academy, the dark presence that blankets the Planet is far more pronounced. Above the door, written in Ancient Sith, there is an inscription that reads: "Trayus Academy" as well as a copy of an older, slightly different Sith Code than the one used by recent Sith. Once I pass through the door the Sith become much more aggressive. I can tell that these Sith have different orders than those that greeted me at the door, these Sith were sent by Sion to slow me down. Not that they stand a chance.

My initial greeting party consists of a Sith Assassin who has obviously received greater training than those I have fought previously during my journey. He wields dual lightsabers and, from his stance, appears to be a student of the Ataru lightsaber form. I received rudimentary training in the Ataru form during my training on Dantooine, but disliked it due to the focus on using the Force to augment the user's own abilities, such as jumping higher or running faster. In confined spaces, Ataru's advantages of speed and mobility were nullified, and its lack of a strong defense made it an unreliable form, unlike my chosen form, Shien.

As the Assassin closes in and attacks, I use Shien's roots in the defensive form Soresu to easily block and parry. I then use Shien's ability to channel defense into offense to push the Sith back into a corner to limit his mobility. As our four blades continue to whir and spin in a beautiful dance of death, I search for weaknesses in his stance, his form. Inevitably I find a hole, just one, and before he can react my dark blue saber is sticking out of his back and he falls dead at my feet.

The majority of my time in the Academy passes in a haze of random Sith soldiers, commandoes and assassins. It's obvious these soldiers aren't trained to deal with a Jedi of my skill, and I cut through their numbers with relative ease, until finally I reach the Core of the planet. Sion and Treya are waiting for me here, both of them standing in the center of a suspended platform in the middle of a giant chasm. I approach slowly, but confidently. I activate my twin baldes as the left side of my face blazes with the blue hue of my main saber, while my right is bathed in a silvery light.

When I reach the bridge leading up to them, Sion activates his blood-red saber, and it almost seems as if he hadn't noticed me before this moment. He raises his saber and points the tip of the blade at my face.

'By coming here, you have only doomed yourself to death,' He says menacingly, taking a step closer to me while he speaks. 'Are you really arrogant enough to think you could best both me and my master together? If you were, than you are a fool, more of a fool than I had believed.'

'This is not your fight, Sion,' I said dismissively to him. My target is Kre-- no Treya, Kreia died on Dantooine. This woman merely looks like my former master. 'I am here to end Darth Treya's life, but if you get in my way I will destroy you too.'

'Bold words from one such as yourself,' It is Treya who speaks this time. 'I see you still fear challenge and death, as you did ten years ago when you severed yourself from the Force because there was a chance you might die.'

'I no longer fear death, Treya,' I turn from Sion to face her as I speak. 'I have come here, at great risk to my own life, to end you and the evil you have spread throughout the Galaxy.' Before she can respond, however, Sion attacks and forces me to retreat from the platform.

'I will not let you harm her.' Sion says as he dives me further away from the center with his assault. Though he is using the graceful Makashi lightsaber form, he is using it with such strength and such precision that, for the time being, I am hard pressed to defend myself. The battle takes us out of the core and into a small room with four pillars in the center. His blade and my two become locked in a lethal whirlwind of attacks and parries. His strength and precision forces me back, while my speed and agility allow me to barely evade or block most of his blows. In a flash of memory I suddenly remember something HK told me that may tip the balance of this fight to my favor. I know that Sion cann't physically be beaten; he is too strong, too resilient, what I need to do was mentally defeat him.

As he continues to press his advantage, I use a quick counter attack to slow him for a second. I then backflip away from him and upon landing, throw a Force push at him and hope it will slow him down for a minute. The push does little more than stagger him, but it's the break I need.

'Sion,' I say before he can resume his assault. 'Why do you fight alongside her? What do you see in her that makes you so loyal now, when before you banished her?'

'Before, she was taking too long, too much time. Time we didn't have,' Sion begins. 'Nihilus and I felt she was holding us back. Now that the Jedi are no more, she is the best one of the three of us to lead. Nihilus cared only for his hunger and I care nothing for ruling the Galaxy, nor the Republic. I seek only the death of all Jedi, everywhere.'

'But once that's accomplished, what use will you serve to her?'

'She... she will always need me, I have bested her, I am stronger than her.' The tone of Sion's voice sounds very uncertain as he speaks however, and I can tell he's not sure if she still needs him.

'If you are a threat to her power, do you really think she'll keep you around? If you kill me here, she will have no more use for you. She is a master of betrayals, and if she is betrayed, she will seek revenge. You know this...'

'Enough words. When you die by my hand, she will know I am worthy!' With that he resumes his assault, however even as his hate and rage fill him, his attacks became less precise and less powerful. I can sense the conflict growing in his mind. I use this chance to counter attack. My blades become a twirling vortex of deadly energy that forces Sion to retreat slowly. As with all of my battles, I begin searching for weaknesses in his form, searching for the perfect opportunity to... STRIKE!

My blade finds a gap in his defense and cuts into the bicep on his left arm. If he had any blood in his body it would've been flowing freely. However, due to the semi-cauterizing effect of a lightsaber and his lack of blood, all that is left when I retract my blade is a new scar.

'How long have you lived like this?" I ask, knowing that he must be in terrible pain. "How long has the pain consumed you? If you surrender now, it can all end. You could be redeemed, healed, and become a follower of the Light.'

'No. The Force is my life, the Dark Side consumes me, sustains me. Without the Force, with out the Dark Side, I would die. And death is not something I seek.' Sion sounds remorseful, almost as if he wishes what he is saying isn't true.

'Is it life, Sion? Is a life of pain truly a life at all?'

'Life is life. I cannot die, not again.' Sion's voice turns to fear as he speaks and I realize that this place holds a unique fear for him. In a horrible revelation I realize he must have died here on Malachor when I activated the Mass Shadow Generator, he was one of the Jedi on the surface.

'There is life beyond the Force, Sion. I have lived it, it's not so bad. 'There is no death...'

'There is... the Force...' As Sion speajs the final words, his body crumbles into a million tiny bits, parts of his body simply turning to dust leaving only his lightsaber and his clothes behind.

'May you finally rest in peace, Sion.'

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sion may have found his peace, but I still have one more battle before me. I turn away from Sion's remains and enter the Trayus Core again. Treya is still standing where she was when Sion and I began our duel. As I stalk towards her, she begins to speak again.

'So, you have learned more than I thought you could. I knew Sion would be a tough challenge for you, but I see now that you took my lessons to heart and triumphed over your opponent's mind as well as his body.' She sounds odd, like she regrets what she's doing.

'Kreia, there is still a chance to save you, you can return to the Light, as Sion did.'

'It is too late for me, and I am too old and have fallen too far to change my ways. No, to defeat me, it must be with your saber not your mind.'

Even as she finishes speaking, she begins unleashing Force powers at me. First comes a choke, which I manage to prevent just in time, but even as I deal with that she is already throwing lightning at me as well. My silver bladed saber gets torn from my grasp by the sheer force of the blast and rolls off the raised part of the structure. She then sends a very powerful Force push that sends me sprawling and spinning into one of the claw-shaped columns. When I regain my bearings and clear the stars from my eyes she is nowhere to be seen. My instincts tell me to dodge to the left and even as I began moving her blade slams into the column I was in front of not one second before.

When I finally manage to get up and face her, I can't figure out what form Treya is using. Usually I can tell a lot about a person just by studying their form, but even after months of traveling together I still can't figure Kre-- Treya out. She comes at me again, using very bold and open movements in her attacks. At first they appear to be completely random, but as I study her form I realize she's trying to confuse me.

For the most part, I block her attacks and counter whenever I can. But since I am missing one of my lightsabers, I am at a slight disadvantage and she manages to cut my right forearm. I shake off the pain and begin forcing her backward, towards the spot where my second lightsaber fell. As our sabers crash, blow for blow, strike for strike, I manage to glimpse my other saber roll off the edge of the platform out of the corner of my eye.

To try to change the pace of the duel, I begin launching Force powers at Treya, starting with a Force push. She manages to defend herself against it, as well as redirect a chunk of rubble I throw and block the lightning after that.

'Good, you are using different tactics. But no matter what you do, you cannot win. I have foreseen it.'

'See this, shutta.' I think while viciously kicking out at her abdomen. The impact knocks her back for a second, a second I use to disarm her and pin her to the ground with a stasis field.

'Yield Kreia, you need not die,' I say, hoping she would see reason and surrender.

'I do not need your pity, nor your salvation!' She replies angrily.

'Then you must die,' I answer her regretfully. 'I'm sorry Kreia...'

With that, I use my Force draining technique for the last time as I suck the Force from her, thus ending her life. I walk away sadly, mourning the loss of not only my mentor, but also my friend. With that final act, my wound in the Force closes and the threat to the Galaxy is finally over, for a time...