"AHHH!" Padmè screamed as her eyes opened wide. She awoke for the second time not knowing where she was. Though what followed after that thought was a blindly sharp pain in her head and a dull throbbing sensation; she reached up her hand and touched her head. 'Blood...' she tried to move, but it seemed strength had not yet returned to her limbs. Instead she looked around, this was not the same cell she had been taken to before. The walls were grey and featureless, and the floor beneath her was solid and cold. There was no sound from outside, and no light coming in through the door. Her mouth was dry and her skin felt damp with sweat. She blinked slowly, trying to remember how she had gotten here. Her thoughts were slow and distant, like they belonged to someone else. She could still feel the weight of the blow that had knocked her out, though the memory itself refused to return. Her hands curled slightly against the floor. She wanted to stand, but her body would not listen.
The door to her cell opened without warning, and a sudden burst of white light flooded through the gap. Padmè squinted, lifting her arm slightly as the glow burned into her eyes. A silhouette stepped into the frame. Collan stood there with a smirk on his face. His shadow stretched across the floor towards her as he tilted his head slightly.
"You're awake. Good. Saved me the trouble of throwing a bucket of water on you," he said.
Padmè scowled at him, dragging herself up into a half-seated position. Her hand still throbbed with the ache from when she'd hit the wall earlier, but she kept her voice calm. "What do you want," she asked.
Collan laughed, not even bothering to look directly at her. "You know, I'm impressed. You very nearly escaped. If not for one of my acolytes, you would've simply taken a shuttle straight off my ship. Very impressive... for a senator."
Padmè's scowl deepened, but inside she felt a flicker of satisfaction. He hadn't found the transponder. The signal was still active. That meant someone would be coming. Not yet, but soon. She held onto that thought like a thread of steel.
"Come on," Collan said. "Get up."
Padmè hesitated. Her muscles ached, and her knees felt stiff and bruised, but she pushed herself up. She staggered slightly, her balance slow to return, but she managed to stay upright. She didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her fall.
"Let's go," he said.
He turned and began walking away, not even checking to see if she followed. Padmè limped behind him, her eyes adjusting to the light as she stepped through the doorway. What she saw made her stop for a second. It wasn't the metal corridors of a ship she was expecting. It was stone. Dark, weathered stone with carvings so faded they barely held shape. The walls were damp, and the floor uneven, like the whole place had been here long before the war.
"Where are we," Padmè asked.
Collan laughed again. "You'll see."
They continued down the corridor in silence. The air smelled like dust and moisture. She watched his back carefully, waiting for him to slip up, but he didn't look concerned. "You sure you don't need a guard?" she asked.
He laughed. "I can handle you myself."
Padmè clenched her jaw. She hated how confident he sounded. Worse, she couldn't argue. She had seen him disappear and reappear at will. If hr truly did hold the power to stop time then she wouldn't stand a chance against him. "Why have you brought me out of my cell," she asked. "What do you want. I doubt it's to give me another chance to escape."
Collan smirked as they reached a widening passage. "You have a very important part to play in my plans," he said.
He stopped walking and turned to face her. "I've always hated you," he said. "You were always a smug bitch who didn't know her place."
Padmè stepped forward and swung her fist toward his face. But before it connected, he vanished. A moment later he reappeared behind her and struck her in the back of the shoulder, knocking her to the floor. "See what I mean," he said.
Padmè pushed herself up, her fists clenched. He stepped past her without another word and gestured toward the archway ahead.
"The fact is," he continued, "you never had to be part of my plan. But the fact that I hate you so much... I had to include you."
She followed, biting down her anger, her limp heavier now as they entered the chamber. It was massive. The ceiling stretched far above them, and along the floor stood hundreds of mercenaries, all armed, all watching. Between them stood droids, standing at full alert. And behind them, cloaked figures—at least a dozen of them—lined the edges of the room. Acolytes.
Padmè scowled. "How low of you. Joining with the Sith."
Collan laughed. "They're not Sith," he said. "No... these are members of the Apex Society. While they may look and dress like Sith, and carry lightsabers, most of them are not Force-sensitive. In fact, you ran into one of the only ones who was."
Padmè glanced toward the nearest figure. He was wide, round in the belly, and barely fit into his black robes. He was fiddling with a datapad and breathing heavily.
"Look at that acolyte over there," Collan said. "Do you believe a man so fat could be anything other than a politician or businessman?"
Padmè didn't answer. She didn't give him the reaction he wanted. Her attention shifted instead to the far side of the room. Dozens of people stood in chains. Civilians. Some looked unconscious. Others just stared at the ground. None of them moved.
"What are you doing with those people," she asked.
Collan smirked. "I'm glad you noticed them," he said as he walked toward the center of the chamber. Padmè followed, trying to stay close enough to hear but far enough to avoid another blow.
"They're part of the ritual," he said.
She frowned. "What ritual."
Collan raised a hand as if painting the idea in the air.
"One that will allow me to channel the residual essence of Darth Nihilus. His hunger. His voice. His strength. Through that I will draw the energy from long-lost artifacts, some of which are already in my possession, and use them to enhance the conduit I've constructed beneath this very site. Once it's complete... I won't just absorb power. I'll absorb the force itself."
Padmè froze.
"You can't do that," she said.
He turned slowly toward her, " i can," he said. "And I will." He smiled again, and this time there was nothing amused in it.
"If there is one person who deserves to become a god in this universe it's me."
Padmè stared at him and shook her head. Did he really just say that? She knew her ears hadn't deceived her but to think that Collans delusions of grandeur was so bad. "You're insane," she said in a quiet voice.
Collan looked at her and laughed. Then he turned slightly, his smile still there. "Our galaxy has been broken for thousands of years. Every time someone rises with power, they swear they'll bring peace. And every time they fail. The Jedi promised balance. The Sith promised power. The Republic promised stability. They all failed."
He began to walk.
"Even the great ones. Revan. Satele Shan. Heroes, legends. But in the end, what did they achieve. Nothing. Revan couldn't even decide which side he was on. Shan fought for decades, then disappeared. They were strong. Gifted. And weak."
He kept walking. Padmè followed him slowly.
"But I'm not weak. I see the truth. I have the vision they never had. The will they never had. I'm not doing this to destroy. I'm doing this to fix everything. To rebuild everything. I will bring forth a new dawn." They stepped out through a stone arch. Light broke across the path. Padmè raised her hand slightly, her eyes adjusting. What she saw made her stop.
They were no longer inside the temple. The path ahead led into a vast jungle. Massive trees loomed above. Thick vines wrapped the sides of the structure. She turned and looked back at the temple. It was a lot bigger than she thought it was with half a dozen large towers circling a central spire.
Collan raised one hand as he stepped forward. "Welcome to planet Volik. The birthplace of your new god."
Padmè looked at him.
She didn't speak at first. Then she looked back at the ruins. 'The Republic needs to get here,' she thought. 'He's insane. He has to be stopped.'
Though as she thought that a cold feeling etched its way into her heard. She was reminded of the fact that Collan hadn't actually said what part the people would play in the ritual was. "You didn't say what part of the ritual those people will play."
Collan smiled.
"They're the fuel of course. The ritual I've uncovered requires it. Their life force will serve as a barrier, protection for me. Without them, my body would be taken over by the spirit of Nihilus. With them, I'll be free to absorb all the power I want."
Padmè lunged forward again. She swung her fist. He caught her wrist and pushed her back.
"You must wonder why I'm telling you all this." He kicked her from behind. She hit the ground. Then came the first blow. His foot slammed into her ribs. The second came a second later. Then a third. Then another to her stomach. She tried to pull away. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and slammed her down again. "I wanted you to know. Because I want you to see the moment I'm granted everything I want. Total omnipotence. I want you to see that before I kill you."
He stepped back. Two guards approached and grabbed her arms. Padmè kicked and twisted, but they dragged her without effort. "You won't get away with this. You won't—do you hear me—" Her voice echoed behind them as they carried her off.
Collan stood on the edge of the stone platform. He looked at the trees for a long moment. Then he smiled and walked back into the temple. Inside, the droids were already moving the last group of prisoners into place. The stone floor had been cleared, and a ritual circle had been carved deep into the ground. Collan stepped down the stairwell and moved through the chamber without slowing. One of the droids turned toward him, and he gestured sharply.
"Begin the binding process. I want every prisoner positioned exactly as we discussed. No breaks in the formation. No changes."
The droid beeped once and turned away. Several more prisoners screamed as they were dragged to their knees. Collan didn't glance back. He moved through the next passage until he reached the side courtyard where the mercenary captain was waiting. The man stood at attention, wearing heavy body armor and holding a datapad.
Collan approached the man. "I want your men stationed on every level. Outside, inside, along the perimeter walls. I don't care if it stretches them thin. I want this temple locked down so tight nothing gets in or out," he commanded.
The captain gave a wuick nod. "Consider it done. We'll rotate patrols every hour and double-check equipment. No one's getting through without a fight."
"Good. I want this place to be a fortress. The ritual chamber is off-limits to everyone except me and my acolytes. If any of your men step across the threshold, they die," Collans replied.
The captain nodded again, said nothing more, and walked off to begin relaying orders. Collan turned and walked deeper into the compound, past the war room and into the central command chamber that had been built temporarily out of modular structures and durasteel platforms. It was crude compared to the ship they had just been on, but it served its purpose. Holograms of the system floated in the center. Around the table stood the members of the Apex Society, each one dressed in dark robes and various pieces of expensive armor.
He stepped into the room, and they all turned.
"The time is close," Collan said. "Everything we've built here is coming to a point. The last of the artifacts are being positioned now. The binding circle is complete. And the spirit of Nihilus is almost within reach." He stepped up to the edge of the table. "When the ritual is finished, I will have untold power. Not just the Force will answer to my will. Something beyond it. The foundation of reality will be mine to alter."
They watched him. Some with awe. Some with hunger.
"And you," Collan said, "will be rewarded. As I promised."
He looked around the room slowly, taking each of them in. "You will all be granted the abilities of the greatest Force wielders in history. Not through training. Not through patience. But through me. My power will extend to each of you. You will become my angels. And each of you will have your own piece of the galaxy to rule over."
There was silence at first. Then a voice from the far end.
"We always knew you could do it."
Another nodded. "There was never a doubt."
A third leaned forward slightly. "And when the Jedi come looking. When the Republic tries to interfere."
"They'll be crushed," someone else said. "It won't matter."
Collan said nothing for a moment. He looked at their faces. Their eyes were filled with anticipation, but none of them understood what he was really creating. Not yet. They believed in promises of territory and titles. They believed in flashy force abilities and credits.
They didn't understand.
This wasn't about ruling part of the galaxy. This wasn't about destroying the Republic or the Jedi or the Sith. This was about ascending. About reshaping the entire foundation of life and thought. About turning the laws of the galaxy inside out and writing new ones in his own image. He had never believed in balance. Balance was compromise. Balance was weakness. Power didn't come from compromise. It came from control. From clarity. From purity of vision. And no one in history had ever seen clearly enough.
Until now.
He would be the first. He would be the last. He would be the only.
___________________________
The warp core thrummed beneath the grated deck as Jaden worked, each pulse of energy syncing with the stabiliser array he'd wired by hand just weeks ago. Velea's modifications had pushed the design past anything conventional, and now that they were using it at full scale, he needed to be certain it wouldn't tear itself apart mid-jump. He crouched beside the power junction, tool in hand, while SD8 projected a diagnostic readout into the air beside him. The warp output was high, but within operational tolerance. That wasn't the concern. The real issue was core compression. If it drifted more than two percent, they'd overshoot the beacon by half a system.
"Open the throttle conduit," Jaden said. "I want to see the internal pressure."
SD8 let out a low trill and rolled to the side panel. The hatch hissed open and released a short burst of white steam. A cluster of green lights blinked rapidly inside. "Too fast," Jaden muttered. "Set the auxiliary limiter to kick in at one-ninety. If it goes over two-fifteen, shut down the core entirely." The droid chirped and initiated the adjustment. Jaden didn't move. He kept watching the pressure gauge until it steadied, then reached forward and tapped twice against the side panel.
The system was holding.
He ran a quick secondary check on the Kyber matrix alignment, verified the modulation ring, and cross-checked the warp field harmonics with the interface. Everything was balanced. No drift. No spike. Not even a vibration through the floor.
"It's stable," he said. "Better than before."
He stood slowly and closed the junction. His hand lingered for a second. Every time he looked at this engine, he remembered the day Velea had cracked the harmonic code. She hadn't slept in two days, and her eyes were bloodshot, but when she showed him the numbers, he'd never seen her so happy.
He let out a breath and allowed himself the smallest smile. Though the smile vanished as soon as it came, as he was reminded of her absence...
He packed up his tools, wiped the grease from his palms, and turned toward the stairs. SD8 skittered behind him, its head twitching lightly as it scanned the plasma tubes and other parts of the engine. The moment they reached the top level, Jaden saw Vaylin. She was standing near the viewport, frozen in place.
She didn't blink. Her hands were pressed to the glass, her head tilted slightly as if trying to make sense of what she was seeing. There were no starlines. No swirling tunnel. Just stars. Dozens of them, hundreds, all rushing past in real-time. Just pure motion, as if the ship was cutting through real space at impossible speed.
"What... is this," she said.
Jaden walked over and stopped beside her.
"Not hyperspace," he said. "I call it warp speed. Velea and I started building it a few months ago, as a way to easily navigate the unknown regions. It's why we were on the Eternal Horizon. We needed a Kyber Crystal big enough to power it."
She didn't answer. She stayed there, eyes still locked on the stars. He could see her shoulders tense slightly, and her jaw tighten. She still hadn't forgiven herself. She didn't say it, but he could see it every time the Horizon was mentioned. Jaden turned away from the viewport and dropped onto the bench in the center lounge. The table lit up as his hand brushed the edge, and the transponder signal flickered into view. The location was locked now. Isolated region. No patrol routes. No active scans. A dead corner of space that hadn't seen traffic in decades.
Vaylin sat down beside him.
"What is that," she asked.
"Tracking the signal. I picked it up on Coruscant. It's coming from a system just in the unknown regions," he replied.
Her eyes skimmed the data. The readouts meant little to her, but she could see that many other data pads with one persons name written all over them. "So... we're going after Eislo," she said in a quiet voice.
"No," Jaden said. "I am."
She looked at him.
"You're going alone?!" Vaylin said with concern in her voice.
Jaden didn't answer right away. He adjusted the map, zoomed in on the sector. She kept watching.
"You know he's not going to be by himself," she said. "He'll have guards. Maybe a whole army. Maybe worse. You can't just walk in there."
"I'm not planning to walk," he replied.
"You know what I mean!" Vaylin said.
"I've dealt with worse," Jaden shrugged.
She leaned back slightly. "You should call Aubrie. Or Zule. Or both. You know they'd come. You know they'd want to help."
Jaden shook his head. "They don't need to be dragged into this."
"They're your friends," she said.
"That's exactly why," he replied.
Vaylin looked down at the console. She wasn't really seeing it anymore. Her mind drifted. Jaden had always been careful, always thinking five steps ahead, Aubrie and Zule had told her of how smart he was of how during their time on Jabiim he managed to outthink the entire separatist army and practically single handedly won the war. She felt it in the way he moved. In the way he talked about Velea. The way he talked about Eislo. It was like he was obsessed... she could understand that he was in pain, but to be so reckless. She looked at him again, and this time she didn't speak. There was nothing she could say that would pull him off this path.
Jaden kept working. His eyes stayed on the readout in front of him as he adjusted the tracking parameters and narrowed down the signal's exact coordinates. Vaylin sat beside him for a while longer but stayed wuiet. She didn't look at the screen anymore. Her hands were resting in her lap as she thought of how she could help Jaden. That he had saved her from a terrible fate, that she wanted to help him in return; she just didn't know how. After a few minutes, she stood up.
"I'm going to sleep," she said. Despite how much time she'd spent asleep, she still felt exhausted. She couldn't think like this, she neeeded to sleep and then hopefully she'd be able to come up with a way to help Jaden.
Jaden gave a short nod but didn't look at her or say anything. She waited a second, then turned and walked off toward the back of the ship. Her footsteps faded into the corridor until there was nothing but the hum of the systems around him. A moment later, SD8 walked up from the hallway and jumped lightly onto the table. The small droid sat there, head tilted as it scanned the console. Jaden gave a faint smile, then let it fade. He rubbed his hands together and leaned back in his seat.
"I've got plans to get in," he said. "Every path. Through jungle or deserts or grasslands, through vents or ships. Through any kind of fortress. I've thought about going in through the main gate or dropping in through the ceiling. It Doesn't matter. I can get in."
He tapped the side of the table.
"I could fight through a hundred guards, maybe even more. Through mercenaries or droids or whatever he's built around himself. But when I get to him... it all falls apart. If I can't kill him in one hit, then the fight's already lost."
He looked down at the edge of the table.
"How am I supposed to fight someone who can stop time. Every plan I run through ends the same way. I get there. I attack and if I don't end it in one hit then... nothing. That's the end of it... I've lost"
"Beep, boop beep."
Jaden glanced at the droid.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just tired."
He ran a hand over his face and rubbed at his eyes. He'd spent many sleepless nights trying to get the ship ready and he'd just fought out of a republic prison. He needed to get some rest. He stood and walked out of the lounge. The corridor lights dimmed slightly as he passed through. He reached his room, stepped inside, and let the door slide shut behind him. He didn't turn on the lights. He didnt even undress. He just lay down, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
...
Jaden jolted awake, his breath ragged, sweat clinging to his skin. In his nightmare, Collan Eislo stood in a burning chamber, laughing as he swung a red lightsaber. Velea fell first, her body crumpling as Jaden screamed, unable to move. Aubrie and Scout followed, their faces frozen in pain as Collan's blade cut them down. Padmé reached for Jaden, but Collan struck her too, her eyes locking with Jaden's as she collapsed. Jaden's limbs were heavy, his voice silenced, his hands useless as Collan turned to him, grinning. The scene faded to black, and Jaden's eyes snapped open in the Vengeance's sleeping quarters.
He grabbed his lightsaber from under his pillow and ignited it, the purple blade casting a glow across the room. He scanned the shadows, his heart pounding, searching for an intruder. His eyes landed on Vaylin, standing at the foot of his bed, clutching a pillow. Her shoulders were hunched, her eyes wide with unease. She took a step back, her hands tightening around the pillow.
Jaden lowered the lightsaber and extinguished it, setting it on the bedside table. He rubbed his eyes with his palms and spoke, his voice hoarse. "I'm sorry. I had a bad dream."
Vaylin nodded, her fingers fidgeting with the pillow's edge. "I did too. Could I... stay here tonight?" She glanced at the floor, her cheeks flushing. "I can sleep on the floor. I just don't want to be alone."
Jaden looked at her, then pulled back the blanket on the other side of the bed. He gestured to the empty space and turned away, lying back down. "Get in." Vaylin hesitated, then hurried to the bed, slipping under the blanket. She lay down, her body relaxing as she exhaled, a faint sigh of relief escaping her lips. The room fell silent after that, only the sound of their breathing could be heard in the room. Eventually Jaden turned to face Vaylin, his gaze settling on her silhouette in the dim light. He hesitated, then spoke quietly. "Do you have any family?"
Vaylin stiffened, her head turning slightly toward him. She was slightly surprised at the abrupt question but answered nonetheless. "Just my mom. It was always just us, back on our homeworld. She stayed behind when I left for Coruscant."
Jaden propped himself on his elbow, his eyes searching her face. "Why did you come to Coruscant?"
Vaylin pulled the blanket closer, her fingers tracing its edge. "My mom wanted me to have a better life. She was old friends with Chancellor Palpatine. She contacted him, and he arranged a job for me as Padmé's assistant. It was supposed to be my chance to make something of myself."
Jaden stayed silent, his mind turning over her words. He found it strange that some no one on an outer rim planet was close enough friends with the chancellor that they could get their daughter a job yet couldn't help themselves. "Before Coruscant, how many people did you know?"
Vaylin turned to face him, her brow furrowing. "Why ask something so strange?"
Jaden shrugged, lying back down. "I just wondered. I never saw you contact your mother the whole time I knew you, or anything now that I think about it."
Vaylin's expression fell, her eyes starting to glisten. "I-I've just been busy and t-the times between our worlds aren't synced very well..." her words didn't even convinvw herself let alone Jaden.
Jaden stared at the ceiling, his thoughts churning. He suspected Vaylin's past mirrored his own in ways she might not understand. Like him, she could be an experiment, created or manipulated by someone with power; the thought of Palpatine being involved was something he should consider due to his weird involvement in Vaylins life. Her quick rise to Padmé's side, her supposed Sith abilities, and her isolated upbringing raised questions. He had no proof, only a gut feeling shaped by his own fragmented origins. He kept silent, unwilling to upset her without evidence. The idea of Palpatine orchestrating their lives gnawed at him, but he pushed it aside for now.
Jaden spoke again. "You can use the ship's comms to contact her if you want." He turned away, closing his eyes to sleep.
Vaylin looked at him, her eyes softening, she always liked how nice Jaden was to her. "Thank you." She turned onto her side, staring into the darkness. Her thoughts drifted to her mother, who hadn't reached out since Vaylin arrived on Coruscant. No messages, no congratulations for her job, just silence. The absence stung, a reminder of how alone she felt, even before the prison. She closed her eyes, sleep pulling her under.
...
Days passed aboard the Vengeance as Jaden honed his plan to kill Collan Eislo. He worked tirelessly in the ship's workshop, assembling his arsenal. He checked a crate of thermal detonators, ensuring each was primed for maximum impact. He tested a grappling hook launcher, firing it across the room to confirm its range. He packed high-yield explosives, capable of breaching durasteel bulkheads, into a secure case. He calibrated a splicing kit for bypassing security systems and cleaned two heavy blaster rifles. He also tested a holographic projector that created a lifelike copy of himself, moving it through the workshop to ensure accuracy. Tucked in a locked case was a tricobalt device, a compact explosive that could destabilize a ship's reactor with a focused antimatter pulse. Every piece of equipment was ready, he checked and rechecked to make sure that his plan to kill Eislo wouldn't fail.
Vaylin spent much of her time in the cockpit, sitting with her feet on the seat and her legs tucked against her chest. She stared at the console, her fingers hovering over the comm system. She had tried contacting her mother on her homeworld, but no one answered. She sent messages to neighbors, old friends, even local officials, but the silence persisted. Fear gnawed at her. She wondered if Separatists had attacked her planet, if her mother was gone. She tried again, her hands shaking as she typed another message, but the comm remained silent. Her worry deepened with each failed attempt.
Jaden noticed her distress during a break from his work. He stood in the cockpit doorway and spoke. "After I deal with Eislo, I'll take you to your homeworld. You can check on your mother yourself."
Vaylin looked up a look of gratitude etched onto her face. "Thank you, Jaden. I'm just... scared something's happened to her."
Jaden nodded and returned to his preparations, leaving her to her thoughts. Even if Jaden suspected that her history was fabricated he wouldn't be the one to deny her the truth.
Eventually the Vengeance entered the Volik system in the Unknown Regions, its sensors detecting a massive ship in orbit. Jaden sat in the pilot's chair, Vaylin beside him, and SD8, at the navigation console. Jaden spoke to SD8. "Activate the cloaking device."
SD8's linked into the controls and activated the cloaking system, the Vengeance shimmered, its hull vanishing from sensors. Vaylin stared out the viewport, her breath catching as she saw the Oberon, Collan Eislo's flagship. The ship loomed was massive and was armed to the teeth, she could also see dozens of fighters flying around it like flies.
Jaden turned to SD8. "Set a course for the Oberon. Approach at minimum speed to avoid detection."
Vaylin turned to him, worry filling her as she couldn't think of any reason why they should risk going there. "Why are we going there? That's a capital ship. It's too dangerous."
Jaden kept his eyes on the console. He spoke, his tone firm. "Eislo might be on board. Even if he's not, that ship is his escape route. I need to disable or destroy it."
Vaylin leaned forward, her hands gripping the armrests. "What about the people on board? There could be hundreds, maybe thousands."
Jaden's jaw tightened, but he didn't turn to face her. "Anyone associated with Collan Eislo is my enemy. They can die with him."
He stood and walked out of the cockpit, heading toward the cargo bay. Vaylin jumped up and followed, quickly catching up with him and grabbing his arm. "What about prisoners? You can't just kill them all!" She cried out.
Jaden stopped at a ladder leading to the cargo bay. He spoke without turning. "They're casualties of war." He descended the ladder and closed the hatch behind him, leaving Vaylin standing alone. Vaylin stared at the hatch, her hands trembling. She couldn't believe Jaden's callousness. This was the same man who had saved millions on Jabiim, risking his life to protect innocents. Now he dismissed lives as collateral damage. Her shock deepened, the contrast between the Jaden she knew and the one driven by vengeance unsettling her. She returned to the cockpit, Jaden needed help but she didn't know how to do it.
Her gaze then traveled up to the comms. 'I may not know how to help him... but there are some people who do..."
...
In the cargo bay, Jaden prepared his equipment. He pulled on an environmental suit, its reinforced fabric designed for vacuum exposure. He strapped a heavy blaster rifle to his back, clipped thermal detonators to his belt, and secured the grappling hook launcher to his thigh. He tucked the splicing kit and holographic projector into a pouch, ensuring the tricobalt device was safely stored in a sealed compartment. The Vengeance's cloaking device would get him close to the Oberon, but he would need to cross the remaining distance himself.
The ship's voice crackled through the intercom. "Approaching the Oberon. Distance: five hundred meters."
Jaden moved to the hangar bay, checking the suit's seals. The Vengeance slowed, and the hangar doors opened, revealing the void of space and the Oberon's massive silhouette. Jaden activated his suit's thrusters and leapt out, propelling himself toward the enemy ship. He floated silently, and landed on the Oberon's hull near a maintenance hatch. He used the splicing kit to bypass the hatch's lock, the panel beeping as it opened. He slipped inside, sealing the hatch behind him, and entered a narrow service corridor. He moved through the corridor but not before he activated the cloaking device on his belt. He kept to the side, avoiding contact with anything that might give him away as well as any cameras that might have sensor sweeps embedded into them. The hallway curved slightly toward the next deck junction, where two mercenaries stood talking near a storage bay. He didn't stop. He timed their steps, moved past them at the right moment, and slipped through a side door before either of them looked up.
He continued forward until he found a maintenance control room on the second deck. One technician sat inside, focused on a console. Jaden stepped in and struck the man once at the back of the head with the blunt end of his hilt. The technician dropped forward without making a sound. Jaden pulled the body aside and dragged it behind the door. He pulled out the splicing kit and plugged it into the main terminal. The display lit up with internal schematics and personnel logs. Jaden searched for Collan Eislo's assigned quarters. The location appeared in a secured section on the upper deck, with minimal staff presence. Jaden disconnected the device, shut off the terminal, and left the room.
He followed the corridor toward the upper deck, bypassing a patrol by moving through a side crawlspace that connected to a service tunnel. The path was narrow and lined with cables. He moved quickly without stopping. When he reached the other side, he waited for a single patrol unit to pass, then continued to the hallway leading directly to Eislo's quarters. He reached the door. He shut off the cloaking device and drew his lightsaber, holding it down at his side. He opened the door with the terminal override and stepped inside, keeping his weapon in his hand, he could practically imagine how it would feel when he cut him through.
The room was empty.
Jaden scanned quickly. The bed was untouched. The lights were off. No signs of it being loved in, no signs of anything. He ignited the saber for light, stepped through the chamber, and checked behind the furniture. Nothing. He turned toward the desk in the corner and saw the private terminal. He extinguished the saber, walked over, and inserted the splicing kit. The terminal came online. He accessed encrypted records and opened the most recent logs. The entries confirmed Collan had boarded a shuttle and left the Oberon less than a day ago. Flight records showed a direct route to the surface of Volik. Jaden shut the terminal down and packed the kit back into his pouch. He walked back to the door, now certain of where Eislo had gone, and what he had to do next.
Jaden stepped back into the hallway and closed the door to Eislo's quarters behind him. He kept moving, already moving into the next part of his plan. With Eislo on the surface, he needed to make sure that he had no place to retreat to when Jaden attacked. If Eislo tried to return, the ship needed to be gone. He pulled up the ship's internal map on his wrist terminal and traced the shortest route to the reactor core. It was located five levels down, near the engineering section, sealed behind blast doors and guarded checkpoints.
He activated the cloaking device and moved. The corridors between decks were narrow and active. He stayed close to the walls and cut across maintenance routes to avoid open hallways.
Despite the plan going relatively smoothly, not all good things could last forever. When Jaden reached Two levels down, the cloaking device gave a low tone and blinked red; most cloaking devices were clunky at the best of times, they sucked a lot of power and glitched easily. He slapped the control panel, but the light stayed on. A sharp static pulse ran across the belt and the field around him flickered.
The cloaking field failed.
He stopped moving.
He was standing in the middle of a loading bay near one of the engine conduits. Four mercenaries were at the weapons racks. Two more sat near a bench with rifles across their laps. Three droids stood near the rear wall. All of them turned at once.
"Shit," Jaden said.
He didn't hesitate. He activated his lightsaber and threw it into the group before they could raise their weapons. The blade spun across the room, cutting through one mercenary's chest and slicing the barrel off a blaster rifle. As the saber arced back toward him, he ran forward, leapt into the air, and kicked the nearest man into a wall. He caught the saber and spun it low, severing the legs off one of the droids as it fired.
The other mercenaries opened fire. He deflected two shots back into their senders and dropped low, sliding beneath a crate as another barrage hit the wall above him. He reached to his belt, pulled a stun baton, and sprang out to the left. He drove the baton into the knee of the next man before swinging the saber into his throat cutting off his head. Another droid raised its weapon but Jaden used a Force push to throw it into the wall hard enough to break its limbs.
He rolled right as two mercenaries came at him from both sides. He caught one by the arm and drove his elbow into the man's face, then twisted and used the body to shield himself from the other's shot. As the blaster hit the body, Jaden shoved it into the last attacker and kicked both over the bench. Before he grabbed a large platform and pulled down with the force letting it slam into them.
Alarms began to sound as one of the guards managed to contact the bridge.
Jaden moved fast. He ran through the corridor, cutting through a side door as more droids entered the main hallway. He ran along a narrow catwalk as turbolaser fire from below. He jumped from the catwalk and landed behind a supply crate, using a thermal detonator to clear the corner ahead. The explosion shook the wall and sent smoke across the passage. He sprinted through it, using the cover to stay ahead of the next wave. He turned a corner and three droids came around from the opposite side. He jumped up, caught the overhead beam, and swung his legs forward, kicking the lead droid into the others. Before they recovered, he dropped into a roll, slid across the floor, and sliced through all three with a single horizontal strike. Several mercenaries managed to blindside him and hit him with a very blaster bolts that hit the armour he wore on his chest. He roared and grabbed both of them with the force lifting them up into the air and then slowly crushing them.
They screamed as they felt their bones start to crack and break under the strain. Jaden then slammed then into the ground over and over again before throwing them down the hallway, and then continuing downer he hallway. He reached the elevator junction, he opened the doors with the force as it had been locked due to the alarm. He dropped into the shaft and activated his boots' magnetic grip, sliding down the wall to the lower deck. When he hit the floor, two guards were already waiting. One lunged. Jaden ducked under the swing, pulled his grappling launcher, and fired it into the guard's chest. The force of the launch threw the man back across the hall. Jaden yanked it free and turned just as the second guard fired.
He deflected the shot, stepped forward, and sliced his hand off then both legs and then ending it with grabbing his head and slamming his knee into his face and dropping him.
He pushed into the reactor corridor. The security door was already locking. He sprinted and slid under the half-closed barrier. A single droid opened fire from behind the reactor controls. Jaden launched the holographic projector to the left. The copy drew the fire and Jaden came from the right, saber cutting straight through the droid's head.
Jaden reached the reactor console and entered the shutdown sequence. The security system denied access. He didn't waste time trying again, he didn't have time to splice into it. He pulled the tricobalt device from his pack, armed it, and set it on a timed detonation. The timer flashed as he set it down behind the main control panel. It would destroy the core and trigger a complete overload of the Oberon's reactor. He stepped away from the terminal and turned toward the exit.
Two mercenaries entered the room just as he reached the door. Jaden drew his lightsaber and cut down the first before he could react. The second pulled a blaster, but Jaden deflected the first shot and forced the blade through the man's chest. A droid activated from the corner and raised its arm-mounted weapon. Jaden threw the lightsaber across the room, cutting through the emitter and droid before the droid could fire. He caught the saber on the rebound and walked through the smoke rising from the console.
He reached the hallway and started toward the hangar, but then stopped. It was at this moment his mind decided to remind him about what Vaylin had told him on the ship.
'What about the prisoners?!'
Jaden hesitated, his fists clenched as he tried to force himself forward. In the end he couldn't. "Damn it."
He changed course and moved down the access tunnel toward the brig. Two guards stood outside the security room. Jaden moved fast. He closed the distance before they could raise their weapons and drove his shoulder into the first one's chest, slamming him into the wall. He ducked the second's strike and swept his legs out. He then killed both of them with a quick blaster bolt to each of their heads. He entered the security room and used the splicing kit to override the system. Rows of cell doors unlocked across the deck. He moved through the hallway, opening doors manually where needed. The prisoners inside were slow to move at first, confused and disoriented.
"You need to leave now," Jaden said. "The ship is going to explode. Move."
They followed. Some stumbled. Others helped carry the injured. Jaden moved to the front and led them toward the hangar, clearing the path as they moved. The alarm had reached full level. Red lights pulsed along the floor and walls. The ship was in partial lockdown. As they passed through a junction, a squad of mercenaries appeared from the left. Jaden turned and moved in fast. He used a Force push to knock the first three off their feet, closed the gap, and took out two with consecutive strikes. A blaster bolt grazed his side, but he kept moving. He used the momentum from a spin to knock the rifle from the last man's hands before driving the saber into his chest. As they moved Jaden made sure to check each corridor. More prisoners joined the group as they passed secondary holding cells. By the time they reached the cargo lifts, there were over forty of them. Jaden kept them moving, giving orders in short bursts.
"Stay behind cover. Move when I say. Watch the corners."
They moved down to the hangar level and entered the approach corridor. The guards there were already set up with E-Web turrets and automated defense grids. Jaden activated the cloaking device and moved forward alone. He reached the rear wall of the turret position, disabled the first unit by cutting the power cable, and pulled a thermal detonator from his belt. He threw it into the center of the barricade. The explosion took out the main gun nest and sent the remaining guards diving for cover. Jaden advanced before they recovered. He deflected fire from the right and used a Force-enhanced leap to land behind the nearest crate stack. One of the guards turned and fired, but Jaden blocked the shot and kicked the man over the ledge. He cut through another before vaulting over the crate and clearing the path for the prisoners.
"Move. Go now."
They ran across the hangar floor. As the last of them crossed the open stretch, more guards and droids entered from the far end of the hangar.
"SD8," Jaden said into his wrist com. "Get the ship here now."
The hangar lights flickered as pressure locks engaged. The upper platform doors opened. The Vengeance descended, guided by SD8's control. Its landing gear touched the floor and the ramp extended.
Jaden stood in front of the ramp as the prisoners ran past him. The droids on the far end opened fire. He deflected shots left and right, adjusting his position to draw their fire away from the crowd. He moved forward in short steps, using the reflected bolts to disable the front line. One of the droids fired a missile. Jaden caught it mid-air with the Force and redirected it back into the support column. The explosion collapsed part of the ceiling, taking out three more droids. More prisoners reached the ramp. Jaden stepped back slowly, intercepting another wave of guards. One charged with a stun baton. Jaden disarmed him, used the weapon against him, and threw it into the face of the second attacker. He moved through them quickly, not stopping until every prisoner was aboard.
Once the last was inside, Jaden jumped onto the ramp and hit the controls. It lifted as the ship began to rise.
The Vengeance lifted from the deck and turned sharply toward the hangar exit. Turbolasers from the upper towers tracked their movement. SD8 banked hard to the left as one of the blasts cut across the shield, shaking the cabin. Jaden moved to the co-pilot seat and pulled up the rear view. Two fighters launched from the upper hangar bay and began pursuit.
Jaden turned to the front.
"Short-range warp now," he said.
SD8 chirped once and hit the command. The nav computer engaged immediately. The fighters closed in behind them. Turbolaser blasts fired from the lower towers.
The stars stretched.
The Vengeance vanished into warp.
Behind them after a few momentsthe Oberon detonated. The tricobalt device reached full output. The explosion consumed the ship and tore through the surrounding fighters leaving nothing left.
Jaden stood near the ramp for a moment before making his way back to the civil pit. The prisoners behind him were speaking—some thanking him, others asking what would happen now—but he didn't answer. He didn't even look at them. Without a word, he turned and walked down the corridor, heading straight for the cockpit.
He stepped inside and closed the door.
He sat in the pilot's seat and pulled the console forward. His hands moved across the controls. The Vengeance's sensors were still recalibrating from the warp jump, but he didn't wait. He brought up the data he'd taken from Collan's terminal. The planetary coordinates were exact. Collan had gone into an ancient temple installation built into the northern ridge.
Jaden set the course immedietely, he wouldn't wait any longer for his revenge. The planet Volik filled the viewport, its surface dark with cloud cover, the terrain below marked with thick jungle and large oceans.
Jaden locked in descent.
He sat back in the chair, hands on the controls. His eyes stayed on the planet. His mind didn't wander. Everything he'd built, every hour he'd prepared, it all led here.
His revenge was on that surface.
And nothing was going to stop him now.
(AN: Wooo a big boy chapter. Anyway now that all of that is set up I can finally get started on the finale which is likely going to be long. Tbh I'm a little burnt out with Star Wars. It's why I always alternate stories every week as it gives me time to think and plan, I hope I don't end up ruining this finale but I'm way to tired to care at this point. Anyway I'm positing these chapters now and gonna start working on the finale which is gonna be long and have a lot of battles. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this.)
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