3963 BBY, Jebble: An Ice Planet near Taris and the staging grounds for the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders

“Do it!” Celeste said to Zayne. She sank to her knees and presented her neck. This was her duty as a Jedi. She dedicated her entire life to eradicating the Sith and this was no different. On countless missions, she never failed to complete the objective. Marka Ragnos’s last epistle? Destroyed. The eye of Horak-mul was locked away because of her. She even managed to recover the lightsaber of Exar Kun and prevent it from tempting any other Jedi to the dark. Now though, she was too great a liability to be left alive.

She had been measured, and she had been found wanting.

It took only a few moments for the Muur Talisman to corrupt her. Moments for her to draw on its powers and commit unthinkable atrocities. Sure, she used that power for the greater good. She even destroyed an entire Mandalorian invasion force with it. In the process she had saved Alderaan from and its peaceful citizens from devastation.

Below their vantage point on the cliff, the snows of Jebble ran red, and the valley was in a state of carnage. What few Mandalorian warriors weren’t turned into rakghouls by the talisman, were quickly being overrun by the hordes under her command. Soon an army of millions all answered unquestionably to her. An unthinking horde of zombie-creatures would do anything she asked.

She had to die. If she lived, the plague would spread and Karness, that damned sorcerer would continue to whisper in her ear. He would let her draw on more and more power. Eventually, she could destroy all who opposed the Jedi and the Republic. In doing so, she would just replace one evil with another. For Karness would take hold, empowered by her usage of the talisman.

“Strike me down and run!” She pleaded. It wasn’t just about stopping her. She deserved death after what she had just done. She hadn't taken prisoners and indiscriminately changed all who were in the valley.

“It will come for you, so you have to go!” she explained. The talisman would latch onto any sapient it could once she died.

Zayne knelt down and grabbed her hands in his own.

“No, I won’t kill a friend. Besides, I have an idea!” He replied. His voice was filled with confidence like he had all the answers. For the first time since she met him, this child knew something that she did not. How did this bumbling oaf survive and turn out to be such a good kid? She thought.

Then he pulled her up and dragged her back into the compound. There, among the other Sith artifacts that the Mandalorians collected, was a black box. It was an isolation chamber.

“Lord Dreypa’s Obliette!” Celeste said once she realized what it was. It was on the list of Sith artifacts she had studied her whole life. Dreypa was Muur’s greatest rival, and his chamber was built specifically to counteract the Sith Lord’s powers. Inside of her, Muur screamed at the realization. He clawed at her mind in the hopes of stopping her. This was his most hated device. Dreypa would finally have his victory and Muur would be stuck inside the chamber, possibly forever.

There was nothing Muur could do though. She had stopped tapping into his power and brought up her mental shields against him. He could complain all he wanted, but at the moment, she could still contain him.

“Yeah, Pulsipher explained how it worked before he…well ya know,” Zayne explained. Pulsipher, the Mandalorian commander that collected all the items in the room became just another rakghoul at Celeste's behest.

“It was designed to contain it, to contain me. It’s the safest way,” Celeste whispered. Without a second thought, she stepped up to the chamber and began to get in. All the while, Muur pounded at her mental shields.

Celeste pulled out a necklace from beneath her armor and handed it to Zayne. It was a red charm with three sides. “It’s a key. It will get you into the covenant compound,” she explained to him. “The researchers may be able to remove it safely.”

“Yeah, they’ll remove it once Zayne and I are dead!” grumbled Gryph. The Zayne's Snivvian companion did not look happy about going straight to the people that had framed them for murder.

“No, it’s alright. Celeste, we’ll make sure you get there,” Zayne replied.

“You really didn’t kill those kids?” Celeste said. She had her doubts ever since meeting these two. Not only were they incredibly unskilled fighters, but they had consistently displayed purity of heart since encountering her. They would bumble around and cause problems, but they also stopped to help anyone in their path. It could have been an act, an incredibly elaborate and convincing act. Or, she had been sent to kill the wrong traitors.

Zayne shook his head with a grim smile. He was happy someone finally believed him, but it was hard to experience joy when anyone discussed his friends’ deaths.

“Then you must reach Krynda. She would never have allowed this to happen. She will know what to do,” Celeste pleaded.

Zayne looked unsure. He had heard of this Krynda before, but he still had no idea who she was. He sure wasn’t in love with the idea of talking to the boss of a bunch of murders either.

“She’s devoted to the light, Zayne. She’s not evil,” she said and grabbed his hands. Celeste knew Kyrnda was a good person. Her old master was the only one who could clear this mess up.

He nodded. “If she’s like you, then there’s hope,” Zayne said.

“Thank you,” Celeste replied. Then she released him and leaned back.

Zayne activated the mechanism, and the lid began to close around her. Just before all light and sound left her, Zayne said, “Don’t worry, it won’t take long. I will see you later.”

19 BBY (or Year 0 of the New Imperial Calendar if you asked somebody), Mimban: A jungle and mine ridden world.

One of the four B1s following us tripped and fell to the ground. The black Jebble Box it was carrying fell along with it and hit the mud.

Just as I turned around to curse at them, two more of the bumbling droids ran up and grabbed that side of the box. Together, they lifted it back into the air, and we resumed our trek.

This part of Mimban was a giant jungle. The trees were so high and so old that they even covered the temple. We landed close to a mile away from the it. The jungle density forced us to find a clearing, so we set down near one of the many rivers in the area. From there, it was an annoying walk through humidity and heat.

“How did a Jedi come to possess the talisman? And why a stasis chamber?” Barriss asked. She was ahead of me on the trail we were following.

“Do you want the long or the short?” I asked.

“I believe we have more than enough time,” she replied while motioning towards the winding path in front of us.

“Fine,” I said and thought for a moment. “It’s a tale about not blindly listening to the force. Or rather, it’s a story about making your own decisions,” I said with my best story-teller's voice.

“Oh, now I’m enthralled,” Barriss said sarcastically.

“There was a cabal of Jedi that formed after the poorly named Great Sith War-“

“Poorly named? It split the republic,” Barriss cut in.

“Are you joking?!” I asked with serious annoyance. If there was one thing I knew, it’s that the Great Sith War involved almost no Sith.

Barriss turned around to face me and shook her head in confusion.

“It was a Jedi civil war. Exar Kun wasn’t a real Sith, he was just an incredibly powerful dark Jedi. The real Sith, my people, were hiding out in the Outer Rim at the time,” I retorted.

“He was taught by Friddon Nad!”

“Also not a Sith, just a Dark Jedi,” I replied.

“What exactly are your criteria for being a Sith?”

“It’s a culture and maybe also a religion,” I replied. “We had teachings, philosophies, an entire history,” I continued while growing more indignant for some reason. It was probably a hang-up from the Zarosian side of my personality.

“Those two bumbling idiots learned the incantations, but nothing about what it meant to actually be a Sith. How would you like it if some random force-using crusaders attacked us and we called it the Great Jedi war?” I said after reigning it in. All this talk about pretenders almost sent me into a diatribe about Bane.

“The Sith didn’t recognize Exar Kun?” asked Barriss while scratching her head.

“There was a millennia-old Dark Lord of the Sith at the time, nobody in the know was following that Jedi. Anyways, after they defeated Exar Kun, the Jedi got paranoid against all things Sith. In that atmosphere, a group called the First WatchCircle, became a secret cabal that dedicated themselves to destroying all of my people’s remnants,” I replied.

“There have been many zealous ones throughout our history,” Barriss said while ducking under a vine.

“Five masters in the cabal received a prophecy. Their best interpretation was that their five padawans would cause irreparable damage to the Jedi and the Republic,” I continued while ducking under the same vine.

“So, they…” Barriss began to say. She seemed to understand where this was going.

“Yes, they murdered their padawans in cold blood,” I finished her sentence.

“How did they know? How did they come to that decision?” she asked.

“Between them, all that has been built will fall,” I recited the last line of the prophecy. “The masters saw their demise at the hands of a figure. For whatever reason, they thought that figure was actually their padawans.”

“I can only assume they killed the wrong people?” asked Barriss.

“The murdered weren’t harboring plans on destroying the Jedi. The prophecy spoke of the masters instead. They destroyed themselves and all they built in their quest to stop their own destruction,” I explained.

“They never questioned their path. They thought no darkness existed within themselves, so they believed that their padawans were the ones who would destroy everything,” I continued.

“They sound like amateurs. I find it hard to believe the force would lead more understanding Jedi to such disastrous results,” Barriss replied.

“Why give them such vague visions in the first place?” I retorted.

“Regardless, had they just listened to their own conscience and kept to their own morals, then they wouldn’t have made this mistake. None of them felt darkness in their students. None of them wanted to hurt those kids, but they did it because they thought the force willed it,” I said before she could answer.

“So, Celeste was one of those murderous masters?” she asked.

“Oh no. One of the padawans, a particularly lucky kid named Zayne Carickk, got away. Celeste was a Jedi Shadow, so they sent her to finish the job. She would have killed the boy too, but a rakghoul plague outbreak stopped them from coming to blows. She had time to see with her own eyes that the child they sent her to kill was not capable of destroying the Jedi. She chose to trust him instead,” I explained.

“It sounds more like the force chose her to help the boy,” she offered.

“The force or her own conclusion, it doesn't matter to me. Each of us already knows what’s right even without the force. It's hard to imagine a normal person coming to the same conclusion as these Jedi," I replied.

“So how did she get into the box?”

“Oh yeah, the rakghouls were caused by the Muur Talisman. In trying to stop the outbreak, they had to get the talisman. Except, that talisman is sapient and capable of latching onto people,” I explained.

“The talisman attached itself to Celeste then?” she asked.

“Yes, so to stop her from destroying the galaxy, they put her inside this stasis chamber until they could figure out how to get the talisman off,” I replied.

“So, they never learned how to remove it and left her there?” Barriss asked.

“They might have been able to help her, but Mandalorians orbitally bombarded the world. Her allies had no clue just how strong the box was, so they assumed she died along with everything else on Jebble.”

“Now you have really lost me. Why were the Mandalorians involved?”

“So, you’ve heard of the Mandalorian Wars right?”

“There are close to a forty different major Mandalorian Wars…” She replied cautiously.

Ranroon Orbital Refueling Station, Just Outside of Zygerrian Space

“This might be worse than when you tried to use shyrack guts to lure in more shyracks,” Alha grumbled from her seat at their little table. She was currently dressed in a very skimpy outfit, made all the more skimpy because it didn't fit her. They found this, along with a few other scandalous outfits inside a crate labeled with the name Vette. The only thing hiding her shame at the moment was the large hooded cloak wrapped around her, which she clung tightly to.

“I can’t believe you think baring some skin is similar to getting caked in…no I can’t even say it I might gag,” he replied from his spot. He was similarly cloaked, though underneath his were layers of beskar armor.

The two of them were at a spacer cantina and had taken up a dark corner in the back as the scum and villainy rotated in and out of the place.

From across the room, in a group noticeably louder than the rest of the rowdy crowd came a whack. It was followed by a crash as a Rodian was sent reeling into a table. Soon, his assailant set upon the man. He grabbed him by the shirt and started pounding into his face with his free fist.

After an uncomfortably long time, the attacker seemed to feel he had done enough damage and allowed his victim to slump to the floor. He turned back to his own table, raised his hands, and received a flurry of cheers from his mates in response.

Those ruffians were why they came to this drinking spot. They were also why Alha was dressed in such a manner. Zygerrian raiders were known to frequent this bar on their way to and from drop-offs. The feline humanoids were known for causing trouble anywhere they went. It was something in their culture that forced them to throw their weight around wherever they could. If you really wanted to find a group of Zygerrians, all you had to do was pick the sleaziest bar in town, the type that doesn't ban people for murder, and wait there until a group showed up.

Alha stared dumbly at the scene and was only brought back to reality when she felt a sharp pain in her shin. Alhoy had just kicked her!

“Alright, go on!” he hissed and made a shooing motion with his hands.

She closed her eyes and grit her teeth for a few moments. “For the village,” she whispered as she slowly got up from her chair. She pulled the tie-string on the cloak and let it fall to the ground. A cold shiver ran down her back. It was either from shame or the frigid wind of the circulation units that now had access to most of her body.

She paused, swallowed some bile, then forced a smile and sauntered over to the still celebrating Zygerrian.

“Hey big boy!” she said with all her might. When he turned to face her, she reached out and slid her hand along his shoulder. It took all of her will-power not to kill him right then and there.

“I really love a man who can fight. How about I buy y-you a drink and we get to know each other,” she managed to spit out in a convincing enough manner.

The muscular feline gave her an appraising look that was not unlike a butcher examining meat. He seemed to like what he saw because he gave her a drunken grin.

“Refreshments always taste better after some exercise,” he replied. Zygerrians usually sported an eastern-European accent, and he was no exception.

“Great,” she muttered as she grabbed his hand and led him towards the main bar.

“Whar?’ he asked with a slight slur and used his free hand to take a pass at her nearly exposed butt.

Alha whirled around and stuck a finger into his chest before recovering from her anger. Instead of a hard poke, she ran the finger down his chest.

“I was thinking we could do a little exercise of our own. Maybe somewhere more private once we have our drinks?" she said and managed not to cut his throat then and there.

Date Unknown, Dreypa's Void

“I cannot believe I attached myself to such a fool,” Karness lamented in a raspy voice. It had to be the millionth time he made that sentiment clear.

Celeste wasn’t sure when he had begun to appear before her. As she floated in the darkness, she lost all track of time. They could have been there a few days or a few years for all she knew. Somewhere along the way, he had joined her. Company was company, she mused. Yet, it was hard to call this any better than eternal loneliness.

For starters, Karness looked terrible. Celeste wasn’t sure how spirits worked. One would assume that an ethereal entity had the ability to shape itself in any way. Yet Karness stayed old. His thin white hair hung down off his head where the bald spots hadn’t taken root. His nails were far too long, like sharpened claws, and his skin was wrinkled and filled with sunspots. Somehow though, he was still imposing. As they floated in the dark, he towered over her and still maintained a wide frame.

Probably the only saving grace was that spirits didn't smell, or maybe it was her floating consciousness that couldn't smell. Regardless, he looked like he smelled and he didn't so she was thankful for that small mercy.

“We’ve been here forever. Your friends clearly abandoned you. I doubt that child was ever your ally to begin with. I wouldn’t put killing those filthy padawans past him!” he continued.

“Yes! Maybe he would have been a more suitable host,” Karness said and began cackling.

“Even if that were true, I’ve done my duty by locking you here,” Celeste replied. His words cut deep though. She had known Zayne for less than a few days. Maybe he denied her death just so he could keep her in limbo for eternity. It wouldn't certainly be a worse fate than having been returned to the force. Maybe Zayne was a schemer. Maybe he really was an incredibly powerful force user. Somehow he managed to flee from everyone except for her up to that point. With a single trick, he had managed to even remove her from his life.

Even if Zayne wasn’t a murderous dark Jedi, that meant far worse things. If those padawans had been murdered by their masters, by her mentors, then what had she been doing all her life? She trusted them, trusted the Jedi to uphold their duty. How could five of the greatest men and women she had ever known do something like that to their own students?

“Bah! I’ve nothing but time. We could float for millennia, and I’ll be fine. Someone will need my power, but you’ll be all alone," Karness continued.

"The Jedi tear themselves apart all the time. Take me and mine for example. Ever since Xendor, no, ever since Daegen the Jedi have produced their own destruction," he said with a laugh.

"Shut it," was all she said in reply.

"Admit it, the harder you cling to the light, the easier it is to fal-"

A flash of light cut the old geezer off. In a second, their entire world was filled with a blinding, almost searing, brightness as the void melted away. Then she felt someone grabbing her body under her arms. She couldn’t move though; couldn’t wake up to see what was happening.

The Temple of Pomejema, Mimban

“This temple…it’s positively prehistoric!” exclaimed the hologram of Aphra. “Bring me closer to this column, I must have a sample!” he demanded of the droid holding his communicator. The kidnapped archaeologist, ever the man with tunnel vision, had near thrown a fit when I told him he wouldn’t be allowed to come with us. The only way to get him to shut up…well, not the only way, was to have a droid cart his simulacrum around while he made observations.

The temple was a sight though. It was probably as ancient to me as I was to the rest of this galaxy. The vaguely Mesoamerican pyramid was made of pure black stone. The construction was a mystery because it was impossible to see any connecting lines between blocks. Meaning, they were either carved whole or fused in some way. Regardless, even after the millennia, the rocks were shiny; oily almost. Only the most adventurous vines and ivies were able to gain a foothold on the temple.

“Roger, Roger,” the B1 responded dutifully, though I could hear a note of annoyance in the poor droid. B1s, aside from being absolutely terrible in combat, had the odd ability to develop personalities. Most became surprisingly humorous. Sure, most of it was dark, self-deprecating humor. But when it takes you a round of shots just to hit a single standing clone thirty yards away, the only thing you can do is laugh at yourself.

I turned to my much more capable BX droid captain. These machines did not have a sense of humor. I was pretty sure they didn’t experience joy, but they sometimes exhibited sadistic natures. It was never so overt as the joy HKs got when they killed. They weren’t kicking puppies, but you could often find BX droids pumping a few too many shots into their enemies or using fear tactics. They did so even after their built-in scanners should have been telling relaying signs of death. That said, they were much better soldiers in every capacity than any other droids in the CIS army, especially because they could hit the broad side of a barn.

“Sweep the area, I do not want any humanoids in the vicinity,” I commanded it.

In a deeper voice than its B1 counterpart, the BX captain replied, “Roger, roger.” With a single nod to its subordinates, the group of fighters vanished into the jungle surrounding the old temple. That was another thing. The way they moved was in itself a form of psychological warfare. They were fast, but more importantly, their elastic bodies defied gravity as they bounded over underbrush and under vines.

“The rest of you, cart that damn box into the central chamber,” I said to the now eight B1s that were straining to carry the Jebble Box.

They replied with, “Roger, roger,” and followed me into the temple proper. Noticeably absent was Barriss, who rushed ahead upon feeling the power of the Kaiburr crystal. I didn't judge, since it was certainly intoxicating. Even from outside the temple, a force-sensitive could feel the power flowing through the temple and into the crystal.

We found the young not-Jedi right where I thought we would. Her hand was outstretched a few feet from a massive statue that dominated the center of the main chamber. It was made from the same oily black stone as the rest of the temple. Though its lower half was humanoid, its head was dominated by tentacles.

Typically, a scene like this might have been a cause for concern, or at least caution. Aesthetically, this whole place screamed dark side. But it was actually built by the native Mimbanese to worship some god of healing. I’m not sure what creature from the Cthulu mythos visited and gave that impression though. The healing wasn't totally off, though I doubt this Pomejema was doing any of it. The crystal was doing all the heavy lifting.

Whatever it was, the place had contained nothing of the dark side. It wasn’t necessarily bathed in the light either, but it was powerful in the force. It drew the force in and centered it on the statue, or more aptly, the massive gem inside the chest of the statue.

Kyber crystals usually fit in the palm of your hands. The Kaiburr Crystal, which was placed inside the statue was bigger than my head. It gently pulsed with the force, which is probably what Barriss was feeling for.

“It’s…alive,” Barriss said in a low voice as we joined her inside.

“If you say so,” I replied while shrugging my shoulders. “Feel free to grab onto it, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t bite,” I explained.

The droids set down the box near the statue and then retreated to the far corners of the room. The only troops I wanted anywhere near us were the two magnaguards who stood watch stoically. The only noise they made came from the high-frequency hum of their electrostaffs, which gave off a purple glow in the dark room.

Barriss slowly moved towards the gem and touched it with her hands. She let out a long breath, to the point that all the oxygen seemed to leave her body when she touched the gem.

Then incredibly gently, she pulled the gem free and cradled it to her chest. With her eyes wide, she turned and began examining everything in the room.

I raised my eyebrow. Is she alright?

“Yeah, I’m just…feeling everything right now,” she replied.

Did she just-

She squinted her eyes almost shut. “Yes. I can see...and feel the force. Everything is clearer; louder, especially you” she replied.

“So, it’s working then?” I asked.

She nodded, though she still seemed pretty spaced out.

And then we waited. We couldn't just start this procedure without word of a cleared perimeter. It only took a few minutes for the proficient BX droids to confirm one around the temple. It was still an awkward amount of time to spend with only someone high on the force and some menacing magnaguards as conversation partners. That said, if we were going to create an army of new droids they needed to be based on the BX models. HKs were good, but I still didn’t trust HK-47 not to secretly make his own army and attack all life in the galaxy. Anyone who refers to people as meatbags, probably doesn't care too much about lifeforms.

I shook my head, that was all for the future.

“You ready?” I asked Barriss.

“I…believe so,” she replied. She pulled out a chalk piece from somewhere and drew an almost perfect circle. While gripping the gem to her chest, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed.

“Alright…should I expect some blast of light? Do you need to touch the amulet or can you do it from there?” I replied with only a small amount of concern in my voice.

“I can’t break my concentration. You’ll need to bring the amulet to me so that I can do this,” she replied.

“Everyone be on guard,” I said before igniting my blade and cutting the box open.

The blade easily cut through the years of different crusts that encased the box and released the mechanism with a hiss. Steam or mist of some kind filled the room for a moment before I pushed it all out.

There, laying in the pod was a severe-looking woman. Even in her deep slumber, she had a scowl on her face, as if everything she ever encountered was one grim annoyance. Her hair was pulled back and braided into a ponytail. It was jet black and seemed to have never been cut, since it descended almost to her feet. She was armored in what I can only describe as a crop-top breastplate with vambraces on her arms and tassets on her hips. Standing out against the blues and silvers of her outfit, was the gold and ruby talisman of Karness Muur attached to her neck. Like some type of metal insect, its legs had reached out and latched onto, or maybe into, her.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered before grabbing her under the shoulder and pulling her out of the pod’s bed. Getting this close to the talisman gave me goosebumps both from my mild phobia of insects and because it pulsed with incredible power. I certainly didn’t want this creepy-crawly too close to my neck. This might have been a holdover from my own personality. Though it seemed to really affect me. So, maybe Zaros didn’t like insects either. It was made all the worse because I knew the talisman would jump ship to a more powerful vessel if it could. And I was probably the most powerful vessel this side of Coruscant.

So, instead of getting her into a more comfortable princess carry, I more or less gripped Celeste in the same way you might hold a feral cat. That is to say, with my arms outstretched as far as possible. With nothing to support her head, it rolled to the side, while her legs swung in the air.

About halfway to Barriss, who was now deeply entrenched in her meditation, Celeste’s body went rigid and her head shot up.

She took a deep gasping breath, as if her bodily functions were only now restarting.

“Zayne?” she tried to call out, though millennia of un-use turned it into a whisper.

“Shit!” I said and picked up the pace to lay her down next to Barriss.

“Have the Jedi come- why are you holding me like this?!” she said and began squirming.

“Would you sit still? We’re trying to destroy the amulet!” I retorted. I pulled her closer to Barriss, who began to reach out with her left hand towards the amulet. To the naked eye, it would have looked like her hand was bare. But to any force-sensitive, it was positively wreathed in a glowing white aura. It was a lot of power, the crystal allowed her to focus more of the force than I could in my current state.

“Then Zayne made it?” she asked.

Before I could answer her, she looked towards the empty space in the room. I followed her gaze and could almost make out something shimmering in the air.

“Millenia?” she said to nobody. Then she turned and almost squirmed out of my grip. I channeled the force into my body and strengthened my hands to stop her from moving.

“Who are yo- the darkness!” she hissed. He movements became far more powerful as she used the force to strengthen herself. Her squirming was supplemented by a heavy kick that connected with my stomach. It almost knocked the breath out of me, but I just trucked through and drug her closer to Barriss.

“That’s not important. We really are trying to destroy the amulet,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Wait! Stop! He knows what you’re doing!” she yelled. It didn’t matter if he knew. It was pretty obvious what we were trying to accomplish. Well, obvious to everyone except this crazed Jedi.

I pulled the woman within inches of Barriss hand, but she never stopped kicking wildly. Though she didn’t land a hit on Barriss a few more connected with me and one last one disturbed the chalk circle. That was enough to break her concentration.

That was bad. In a flash, the talisman uncurled from her neck. Seeing the bug-like object move, I instinctively threw Celeste away from me and jumped back so that it wouldn't touch me. Her light body sailed through the air towards the wall. It was such an automatic reaction that it overrode my training.

In a split second, I realized that the talisman wasn’t heading for me. Instead, it jumped straight for Barriss’s neck. It's claws unsheathed and expanded as it dove through the air.

Luckily, I was able to recover and reached out with my left hand. The talisman froze in the air only inches from her neck. Barriss stumbled backward in response and almost dropped the Kaiburr crystal. By this point, any semblance of her concentration was gone.

Unluckily, this talisman felt like one of the heaviest things I had ever lifted. It wasn’t because the talisman itself was heavy. It was powerful in the force and began resisting my attempts to hold it down. It soon took both my hands and all my attention to keep it under control.

“Do something!” I hissed at Barriss.

“On it!” she grumbled as she fished out her chalk once more and redrew the circle.

Away from us, a yellow lightsaber ignited in the dark corner of the room where Celeste landed.

“What foul sorcery are you planning, Sith?” she asked as she warily approached.

“You sound like an idiot,” I replied in annoyance. At this point, the amount of force I was channeling just to hold the small object in the air was becoming absurd. More absurd was the fact that the shimmering figure I saw before started to take shape. It swirled around the talisman and then traveled over to the space behind me.

“Joe, Barry! Care to do your job?” I yelled at the two magnaguards. “Everybody else ready your guns, but don’t fire!” I commanded. I didn’t need wild blaster shots getting deflected towards us.

“Roger, roger!” the B1s replied before cocking their E-5 guns into position. The magnaguards silently moved into a protective position. Their white robes trailed behind them and the only noise came from their servomotors and electrostaffs as they got into their fighting stances.

Barriss reset into her position and started to once more channel the force through the focusing power of the Kaiburr crystal.

“I see now. It’s not her power, just the crystal!” said a disembodied voice. Then the talisman shifted in the air and aimed itself at me.

A cold hand rested itself on my shoulder. It was ethereal, red, and attached to a man I knew to be Karness Muur. It felt gross, and I realized that it wasn’t the insectoid nature of the talisman, but Karness’s spirit that made me feel disgusted.

“I can feel how much you need more power. Look at you, like a child struggling to contain me,” he whispered after pulling himself in close to my ear. I shuddered at how kriffing weird this guy was.

“I’m not interested,” I muttered. It all sounded great, but no one in their right mind would ever consider this deal.

“I can feel your fear though. I can see how you’ve been scurrying around like a rat in the dark; too scared to face the true players in the galaxy,” he continued as his spirit wrapped itself around me.

I ignored him and looked at Barriss. “Any day now!” I yelled. In turn, she ignored me. In her hand, she summoned a blinding amount of the force again and held it out towards the amulet.

“You needn’t be. Just accept my power. I could become a fine teacher,” he said with his slimy voice. He was so weird and old, I just wanted him to stop talking to me.

"Shut it! I cannot express how little I care for your offers of power you slimy old-" I began to shout.

I was cut off when Barriss completed whatever ritual was required to attack Karness. With her massed power, she grabbed onto the talisman and a blinding white light filled the room.

Karness screeched in pain for a few moments and then went silent. In fact, the whole room descended into silence. Celeste, who had been fighting with my guards even stopped in awe, and the light momentarily overloaded the visual receptors for all the droids.

When it receded, the talisman was gone. Karness was no more. We had done what the Jedi should have all those millennia ago. There would be no more exile for him, only death. There would be no hidden rivals to disturb my path. And there certainly wouldn't be any more kriffing rakghouls.

But I wasn't totally satisfied. I assumed Barriss's power would just expunge the amulet's power and not destroy it completely. At the very least it made for a good study material. It's ability to prolong life was a top notch power, that I certainly wanted. I wasn't entirely sure the natural lifespan of a Sith. The dark side ate at our bodies far less than it would a normal human. People like Ragnos lived for hundreds of years and stayed strong and healthy for most of it. They certainly didn't grow into disgusting lifeforms like Sidious.

The clash of electrostaff and lightsaber stirred me from my thoughts. Celeste was slowly overpowering my magnaguards, so I ignited my own saber and stepped towards her.

"Now, what should we do with the wayward shadow?" I mused.