The next day shone bright and sunny, with only the faint shadows of the orbiting vessels darkening the sky. After hiding the evidence of their stay in the abandoned nest, the two Jedi struck out into the mountains. The day passed without much fanfare, and the two Padawans encountered nothing more than the local wildlife and the occasional Imperial probe droid. The presence of probe droids worried them, but they managed to remain undetected.

Just when the sun was approaching the horizon, causing dusk to slowly fall over the landscape, they finally reached the other side of the mountains. In the far distance, they could see the spires of a noble house rising into the sky.

“That’s House Alde!” Yish exclaimed.

“How do you know?” Kayle asked.

“I recognize it, I’ve been there before several times.” Her voice got lower as she suddenly realized what that implied about their location. “That means…”

“What?” Kayle asked in a worried tone.

“It means we’re less than twenty klicks from House Thul.” Both Jedi looked at each other.

“That explains the probe droids,” Kayle said. “an early warning system to alert the Thuls to an intrusion on their territory.”

“The good news,” Yish replied in a much more cheery voice. “is that House Alde are strong allies with House Organa and the Republic! We’ll know where Master Neeman is in no time!” She began to climb down the mountainside, and after a moment’s hesitation, Kayle followed.

When they reached the bottom of the rocky portion of the mountain and clambered down onto the grassy slope that lead down to House Alde, Kayle stopped and seemed to focus on the distant manor, then he abruptly reached out and grabbed Yish’s arm insistently.

“Hey! Kayle wha-”

“Yish, look at it through the Force.” Yish did so.

“Oh, oh no.” She said as she registered the noble house’s Dark Side aura. Kayle voiced what they were both thinking.

“The Thuls have taken it.” Yish shook her head.

“That doesn’t change anything.” Kayle looked at her as if she were crazy.

“What are you talking about? This changes everything!”

“No, I mean we still need to get in there to figure out where Master Neeman is.” When Kayle spoke next, it seemed to be through slightly clenched teeth.

“Just how do you plan on us infiltrating an enemy-occupied fortress?” Yish looked thoughtful.

“House Alde is the oldest noble house on Alderaan, with the Alde family being the original royal family.” She paused for a moment, the wheels in her brain still turning. “If my hypothesis is correct, that means-” She suddenly tugged on Kayle’s arm, “come on.” She said, taking off in a southwesterly direction.

“Hey wait!” Kayle tried to stop her, but she was already too far away. “Kark.” He swore under his breath as he took off in pursuit.

When he finally caught up with her, she was on the west side of Alde and was opening a cleverly hidden secret passageway in the wall. She motioned for him to follow her, then clambered in. Once he was inside, Yish twisted her upper body to look back at the entrance and closed her eyes in concentration. When Kayle looked back, he saw the panel she had removed floating in the air, slowly moving back into position as Yisheera guided it with the Force. When the panel clicked into place, lights embedded in the ceiling activated, illuminating the cramped corridor. Kayle flashed Yish a smile and thumbs up. She smiled back.

The two Jedi spent a considerable amount of time making their way through the labyrinth of passages and crawlspaces. After a few minutes, Yish detected something with her Force perception that made her stop. There was a person in the room on the other side of the wall of the passage, a very scared, very isolated person. Perhaps they were hiding or imprisoned. Either way, they weren’t hostile and would likely be glad to help two Jedi figure out where a powerful Jedi master was being held and inform them as to how the Thuls had taken Alde. She began to search for an exit panel and found it in short order. As she fiddled with it Kayle crawled up behind her, whispering a question softly.

“What is it?”

“Don’t you feel that?” Kayle closed his eyes in concentration and in seconds his facial expression told Yish that he could feel it now too. When Yish finally got the panel open, they clambered out of the crawlspace and into a large, open room.

“Oh my goodness!” came the aged voice of the only being in the room, “my goodness, what on Alderaan?” Yish looked up at the old man and smiled.

“Curator Derun. It’s so good to see you again!”

____________

Darth Imperious, formerly known as Serjay Thul, watched out the viewport as his personal shuttle came around to land on one of House Alde’s many landing pads. He’d come to supervise the final touches of House Alde’s exile, having left the exile of House Organa in the hands of one of his most trusted advisors and a cadre of apprentices. The noble house was nearly emptied of its former inhabitants, filled almost entirely by Imperial soldiers and Sith. There were only a few remaining members of the Alde family on the grounds, and they were about to be sent off in the last shuttle, which would depart the planet and be held captive with the others by the Imperial fleet in orbit until the attacks had been carried out.

Imperious hadn’t changed his armor style since becoming king. He still wore his usual suit of ablative armor, dyed in black and grey. Now though, there was a long, black cape around his shoulders, and on his head rested a battle crown the same black as his armor. The crown also doubled as a helm, being made of cortosis, and protecting his jawline and cheeks with curving metal plates that made it appear that the crown was grasping his head. It wasn’t entirely necessary to wear it, given that this was not a battlefield but conquered territory, but Imperious felt that a little intimidation might go a long way to making the removal of the last Alde exiles go smoothly.

Despite House Organa’s strong alliance with the Republic, it was House Alde that Imperious feared the most. Once they had been the greatest of the noble houses, each of their sons a warrior and philosopher in his own right, each of their daughters a master diplomat and teacher, held in high esteem the galaxy over. Alderaan’s first king had been of their number, indeed the house was named after the planet itself, and if his own study of history had taught him anything, it was that great legacies and noble ideas were far more dangerous to a ruler than weapons of war could ever be.

If there was a rebellion on Alderaan, it would be driven by and thrive on grand aspirations, dreams of equality and unity, and the legacy of the planet’s past royalty. If he was to remain in power, these things had to be destroyed, or at least desecrated. The destruction of House Alde would be his biggest step towards consolidating his power thus far, fitting then, that it would happen mere hours after his ascension to the throne.

When the shuttle landed and the boarding ramp extended, his honor guard went out first, taking up their positions before he himself descended the ramp to set foot on Alde’s soil. He allowed himself to savor the moment. He was standing where history had been made countless times over countless centuries, and soon he would bring it all to naught. At his command this place would be bathed in fire and the huge columns and towers would tumble down in a hail of rubble.

But his reverie lasted only a moment, for a stiff breeze arose out of nowhere, and through the Force he could sense something anomalous; the faintest hint of the Light.

___________

“Young Yisheera!” The old man exclaimed as Yisheera and Kayle got to their feet and brushed themselves off. “You can’t be here child, not now! You must get out of here!”

“We know about the Thuls, Derun.” Yisheera explained. “We’re just here to find Master Neeman.” The old man’s expression fell.

“Then you’ve come on a hopeless quest.” He said solemnly.

“He’s not dead!” Yisheera said firmly. “He’s alive and somewhere on Alderaan. We need your help to find out where.”

“I already know where Master Neeman is.” The old curator said sadly, taking a seat in a nearby chair. “That’s why I told you it’s hopeless, young ones.”

“Where?” Yisheera nearly screamed, struggling to keep her voice low. “Where is he?” Through the Force, Kayle could feel her desperation to find Master Neeman multiplying a hundredfold as the prospect of reaching him was dangled in front of her. The old man looked up at them.

“The Thuls took him, and now he’s imprisoned in the deepest depths of House Thul, to be executed in one week.” The revelation stunned both Padawans into silence. It was then that it occurred to both of them that they should have guessed this from the start. Where else would one imprison one of the most powerful Jedi on the planet? Kayle and the old man were both brought back to reality by the sound of pounding, booted feet approaching down the hallway outside the door at the far end of the room.

“You two must go!” The old man said in a hurried whisper. “The soldiers will be here any minute to take me!” Kayle turned to run back to the still-open wall panel, only to realize that Yisheera was still staring ahead blankly.

“Yish!” He said harshly, shaking her shoulder to jar her out of whatever daze she was in. She stirred and realized the situation, and the two were about to turn and make a beeline for the open hatch when the door opened.

“You, stop!” Barked a commanding voice with an Imperial accent. On instinct, the two padawans drew and activated their lightsabers, and just like that the battle began.

__________

Imperious started as his comm crackled to life. “We’ve got Jedi in the museum, two of them, armed and dangerous, requesting backup!” The whiff of the Light side that he had gotten moments before suddenly made sense, and at that moment Imperious understood that it might well have been the Dark Side that brought him here, and not his own decision. He barked a command to his guards and they moved off to assist and take up positions around the estate to prevent the Jedi from escaping. Imperious activated his comm,

“This is Darth Imperious, I’m ordering you to take the Jedi alive. I repeat, I want those Jedi alive!” Then he himself began to move, following the scent of the Light Side of the Force as it grew ever stronger.

__________

Kayle and Yisheera ran through House Alde’s corridors like blind rodents in a maze. Every now and then the ever-growing mob of Thul soldiers and Imperials would catch up to them or pop out from around an oncoming corner and one or both of them would have to hastily deflect the oncoming bolts, occasionally deflecting several of them into the crowds firing at them. The stakes were raised significantly when they encountered the Sith.

The black-robed pureblood shot lightning at them, but Kayle absorbed the electric vipers with his lightsaber, which unfortunately slowed him down. If that had continued, the small army at their back might have caught up with them, but Yisheera was on the Sith in a millisecond, forcing him to break his concentration to engage in a lightsaber duel. He wasn’t very good and by the time Kayle caught up to them, Yish had dealt the final blow and the two Jedi took off again, dodging down a side corridor just as their pursuers rounded the previous corner.

Yish lead them into a holotransmitter room, where she locked the door and immediately started working on the console. A lightsaber blade pierced the door and began slicing down as the forces outside struggled to reach the trapped padawans. With a flurry of motion Yish entered a series of commands into the console, and the elaborate holoprojector shifted to the side, revealing another hidden passageway. Without hesitation, Yish practically dove into the tunnel and Kayle followed. As if on a timer or a sensor, the holoprojector returned to its original position, just before the door of the room slid open.

Yish and Kayle moved as silently as possible, struggling to not make any noise as they crawled on their stomachs through the narrow shaft and away from the holoprojector room. When they reached an intersection, Yish took the left passage, and when Kayle tried to follow her, she turned back to him and said in a hoarse whisper;

“No, you take the right path. Go through two more intersections until you reach a fork, then go left. You’ll enter a ventilation duct, go right and you’ll come to a ceiling vent which opens into a large hallway. From there go left, away from the double doors at the far end of the hall, then left, right, then right again. From the balcony that’s there you can see the shuttle pad that I’ll meet you at to the south.”

“Yish, it’s not a good idea for us to split up. Jedi are stronger together.”

“Well in this case it might get both of us killed or captured.” Yish pointed out. “One of us has to rescue Master Neeman and get back to the Republic to warn them of what’s going on here.”

When Kayle didn’t respond with a retort or counterargument, Yish turned back and continued crawling down the left corridor, while Kayle took the right.

Following Yish’s directions, Kayle eventually ended up at the ceiling vent. He managed to detach the vent and levitate it to the floor before crawling out of the duct and twisting nimbly in mid-air to land softly on his feet. Concealing the vent under a nearby chair, he began to move quickly down the corridor, repeating Yish’s directions under his breath to keep from forgetting them.

In minutes he arrived at the balcony where he was supposed to spot the shuttle pad. When he exited the building onto the large, circular platform, he noticed that the sky was choked with dark clouds that hadn’t been there before, and the wind was blowing more harshly, chilling him as he scanned the darkened estate for the shuttle pad.

“I thought I might find you here.” The voice that came from behind him was dark, low, and powerful, the voice of a true Alderaanian noble. But this particular voice also had a strong Imperial accent. Kayle felt a dark presence settle over him, and with growing fear that he tried to squash, he realized who was standing behind him, blocking the entrance to the building.

Kayle turned around to see Lord Serjay Thul standing there, his lightsaber still on his hip. He was dressed in a full suit of ablative battle armor that seemed a mix of fabric, plasteel, and laminoid. The two major differences between the Serjay Thul whose description Kayle had heard secondhand and the Serjay Thul standing before him was that this one’s shoulders were adorned with a long, black cape, and on his head was a black, imposing battle crown that doubled as his helm. He seemed equal parts the terrifying Sith warrior of legend Kayle had heard wounded Jedi returned from the front talk about, and kingly leader. The image he cut and his bearing gave him the appearance of an ancient Sith warlord or conqueror that had just walked straight out of the pages of history. Despite himself, Kayle shivered.

“I can smell your fear, boy.” Serjay spoke, as the chilling wind picked up, causing his cape to billow to one side. “I am Darth Imperious. Lord of House Thul, and king of Alderaan. Stand down and surrender, and I can promise you will receive fair treatment.” Despite his intimidating figure, the newly crowned monarch’s voice was calm, steady, and sure. He spoke with firm but surprisingly gentle authority, as if he didn’t want to fight Kayle.

“Never.” Kayle said, his voice stoic and unwavering, but barely concealing his fear. He drew his lightsaber and activated it, the green blade humming over the howl of the wind. Imperious looked resigned, as if this was not the response he had expected nor desired.

“Very well,” he said, drawing his own blade and activating it, the crimson blade casting a similar glow on his armor. “come Jedi, prove yourself.”

Kayle attacked, rushing across the space between them, calling on the Force to strengthen his muscles and enhance his reflexes. When he reached Imperious their blades clashed, red against green, and the Sith parried his blow effortlessly and followed up with a brutal counterattack that Kayle had to retreat to avoid. He charged his foe again, this time attempting to fake him out with a wide sweep in order to get in a thrust. Imperious batted away his attempt as if he were child playing with a stick.

Again and again Kayle threw himself against the Sith, but over and over his enemy repelled his assaults with casual ease. It quickly became apparent that Imperious was toying with him, humoring him. Kayle’s anger and frustration built, and his attacks became more erratic and sloppy as his emotions began to cloud his judgment and weaken his connection to the Light.

“Do you really think she cares for you?” Imperious asked, his tone indicating genuine curiosity. “I’ve met her kind before boy, trust me when I say that girl cares for no one but her master. To her you’re nothing more than a means to an end.”

“Shut up!” Kayle shouted, leaping at his foe, his furious assault seeming to force his opponent to take him more seriously. Even so, his attacks were repelled expertly and when he was caught off balance by a particularly skilled parry, Imperious Force pushed him across the balcony to tumble to a stop on his hands and knees near the banister. His opponent didn’t press the advantage quite in the way Kayle expected, and instead of a lightsaber piercing his back he was lifted up into the air as an invisible, unbreakable grip fastened itself around his neck.

“Wake up boy, and see the truth.” Imperious said, his voice both commanding and compelling. “She will gladly throw your life away to save her master without a second thought. Don’t sacrifice your life for an ungrateful weakling like her.” The Force choke lapsed and Kayle dropped to the ground, choking and gasping for air. With his first deep breath he looked up at Imperious and screamed.

“Shut up! I won’t listen to your lies!” He leaped at his foe again, and their blades met. Kayle struggled to drive his opponent’s blade back into him, but the Sith Lord had far too much leverage and strength for that strategy to work.

“Search your feelings boy; you know it to be true!” Imperious said urgently, as if he were pleading with Kayle.

“Shut UUUUUUUPPPPP!” Kayle’s piercing howl was emphasized by a heavy overhand strike which Imperious weathered with a solid block. When the thoroughly enraged Kayle switched back to attempting to hack the Sith Lord into pieces, Imperious stalwartly and easily defended himself, but never launched a serious counterattack or pressed the advantage. After a few more clashes, another Force push sent Kayle flying back towards the railing again, and before he could recover, he was once more suspended in the air, and the Dark Side had a vice grip on his throat.

“You were meant for so much more than this.” Imperious insisted. The rage inside Kayle manifested to become an aura of pure power, and the air around him began to vibrate. He curled himself up into a ball, and released his power in an explosion of Force energy, his arms and legs spread wide, and his head thrown back with the exertion. The Sith Lord’s grip on him was released, and he dropped to the ground and immediately flew across the meters separating them, screaming an incoherent battle cry.

His vision and consciousness blurred by emotion, he somehow he managed to launch a furious flurry of blows that drove his opponent back. He moved with the speed and grace of a predator, while the strength and force of his blows exceeded the possible force he could have exerted under his own power. His mouth unleashed savage, animalistic screams of rage and exertion, and his face was twisted into a mask of anger, bloodlust, and hatred. Blow by blow, he drove his bigger, stronger, more skilled opponent into retreat.

The moment didn’t last however, Imperious used a moment of weakness to deftly disarm him with a flourish, sending the lightsaber flying out of his hand. The weapon deactivated with a hiss, clattering to the platform and rolling towards the edge, nearly falling off and plummeting to the ground far below.

Kayle was immediately knocked onto his hind by a solid blow to the side of the head and found himself staring down a glowing rod of hot plasma. He looked up at the victor and his face showed his slow realization that the winner of this fight had never been in doubt. His eyes gave away the storm of emotions raging within him. His regret, his longing, his shame, and his fear were all made manifest in the verdant depths.

“The girl is holding you back, boy.” Imperious said in a pressing tone. “You could be so much more than this. Join me, stand at my side and I can promise you the freedom to seize your own destiny.”

“I will never listen to a hateful monster like you!” Kayle snarled at him, his face twisting in loathing.

“Look into my eyes boy!” Imperious demanded, his expression becoming even more serious than before and his gaze intensifying. “What hate do you see there?” Kayle looked. He looked and looked and looked but the more he did, the more the truth stared back at him from within those deep brown orbs. There was no hate, no anger, no hint of corruption in them. His posture and expression fell as the truth itself fell on him with the weight of an entire world, and in that moment, it seemed Imperious had won.

Just then, they both sensed a disturbance in the Force, and in unison they stared in surprise at the gunship that rose up from below the balcony, its side door opening to allow access. At the controls sat Yisheera, her voice crackling over the vessel’s loudspeaker.

“Get in!” With that command Kayle was up and running, calling his lightsaber to his hand as he did. Imperious stood still as the stolen ship’s automated turrets swiveled to face him and opened fire. The guns unleashed an unending stream of plasma bolts at the king, but he conjured a Force barrier and began to back towards the door, his face a mask of concentration as he struggled to maintain his shield under the barrage of plasma fire.

Kayle reached the open door and practically leaped inside, the hatch sliding shut behind him. The last thing he saw was Imperious, staring right at him as the door closed and sealed itself shut. As soon as the door sealed, Kayle felt the shuttle peel away and take off at high speed, nearly knocking him off balance with the acceleration. He moved to the porthole where he could look back at the receding sight of House Alde, and the lone figure standing stoically on the now scorched and damaged platform, watching the shuttle as it flew away into the darkened sky.

___________

Darth Imperious watched as the shuttle flew off into the cloudy grey sky. His comm crackled as the voice of one of the Thul gunners and a commander came over the line.

“I have a bead on the target.”

“Prepare to fire.” Serjay’s hand nearly flew to his comm.

“Hold your fire!” He barked. “I want those Jedi alive.”

“My lord-” the voice of the stunned gunner, who’d obviously forgotten himself momentarily, was cut off by the same commander who had given the order to fire.

“You heard the king soldier, hold your damned fire!”

The silence that followed was broken only by a flash of lightning in the clouds, the rumbling of thunder overhead, and the first drops of rain falling on the first royal estate of Alderaan, now empty of those whose ancestors had filled its halls for countless generations.

Imperious stood for a moment longer, watching the silhouette of the shuttle vanish into the distance before he turned and entered the building through the ruined door.