Private Post Apocalypse

[Starlin Rand]

Chapter 1: The Shadows of Chaldea

​

Ruined City of Pirivena, Chaldea
Inner Rim

Kyla Nimdok stood in the cockpit of the Bright Knight, gazing out through the viewing window. They had just come out of hyperspace, and were now rapidly approaching a blue-green globe orbited by a purple moon. It was odd, she thought - from the way Master Rand had described what happened there, she didn't expect it to look so... peaceful.

About ten years ago, Chaldea had suffered what could only be called an apocalypse. Dragons had attacked the inhabitants with gnashing teeth and fiery breath, burning every settlement and killing every sentient being they could find. The loss could be felt in the Force even across a vast distance of billions of light years. Now they were going to see the ruins up close and personal.

There had been reports of a Dark Side cult operating near Pirivena, the remains of a coastal city that was now partially underwater. The reports had come from one of the few surviving remnants of Chaldean civilization, the Mer. Normally isolationist, the fact that they had felt compelled to ask the Jedi Order for help indicated that they were taking the threat posed by the cult seriously.

Though she was endeavoring to hide her excitement, Kyla was intrigued at the prospect of meeting the Mer. She wasn't so happy about the investigative work. But she supposed not every mission could double as a relaxing retreat or an impromptu shopping spree...

"Landing in T-minus ten minutes," Master Rand's voice interrupted her thoughts. He was sitting in the pilot's chair, steering the ship. "Do you know where Lara is?"

"No," Kyla replied, sinking into the co-pilot's chair to indicate that she would not be willing to go look for her sister. "She's probably in her room reading a book or something."

A moment later, Lara stepped into the cockpit. "Sorry, I was in the 'fresher," she said. "Did you guys start without me?"

Starlin chuckled. “Well, whaddya want me to do? Call you up on the intercom and tell you to shit faster?”

Lara groaned and flopped into her seat. Starlin’s smile faded almost immediately, his expression growing distant. Resting her cheek on her hand, Kyla studied their master’s bearded face. Though he still smiled and joked, something had been off about him for the past few weeks. Whatever was bothering him, it must've been a pretty big deal for it to dull his undying light.

"Is that Chaldea?" Lara asked, looking out the window as she buckled herself into her crash webbing.

“Yeah,” Starlin answered. “I’ve already started landing procedures. Are you girls ready to go?”

The twins answered in affirmation. Kyla's attention was brought back to the planet as they began to descend down toward its surface. Now that they were up close, she did see some signs of destruction visible from orbit. Her brow furrowed. Nobody seemed to have a definitive answer as to why the dragons had burned the world down. But it had brought an end to everything.

"We don't want to land too close," Starlin said. "If the cult's operating in the ruins of the city, it'll be dangerous for us. I'll set us down on the outskirts.."

 

[Starlin Rand]

Despite the faraway look in his blue eyes, Starlin was doing his damnedest not to think too much. Because if he did allow himself to contemplate his fate, to face the reality of his current situation, he would lose it. Even now, as he parked the starship and prepared for their mission, a voice rose up from his subconscious, taunting him throughout his routine.

Everyone who has ever cared about you is dead. Everything you spent all these years building is gone. All the ideals you stood for are broken. Your shining examples are false idols. You are alone.

He ignored the voice, getting into the driver's seat of his speeder. Once Lara and Kyla had buckled in the back, he hit the accelerator and sped off toward the city proper.

They blazed past overgrown ruins and empty streets, the only sound the gentle humming of the speeder engine. Pirivena was in a state of urban decay that was both unsettling and beautiful. Nature had reclaimed all the manmade structures, the towers and towns and homesteads green with plant life. Starlin had never had the chance to see Chaldea before the dragons destroyed it all, but from what he understood they had been in economic and social decline for decades before their cities burned. At least their civilization got to go out in a blaze of glory, rather than suffering a slow and agonizing death...

He shut down the path his thoughts were taking. “We should be coming up on the meeting spot now,” he announced, turning a corner.

The coordinates the Mer had given him turned out to be the site of an abandoned opera house. The building had been intentionally constructed half on land and half on water, and it appeared to be less overtaken by wildlife than the rest of the ghost town.

Kyla was the first to climb out of the speeder, looking around while she stretched her legs. Her brow furrowed as she spotted another speeder parked nearby. “Are we not the only ones here?”

“Well, yeah. The Mer are gonna meet us,” Starlin said.

“Do the Mer use speeders?” she asked.

"Probably. They aren't true merfolk, you know - not like Melodies. They have these special suits called Atargatis Skins which let them swim underwater. If they want to walk on land, they just take them off." He closed the door on the driver's side. "Let's get inside. We're running a bit late as it is."

 

[Starlin Rand]

He pushed open the entrance to what had once been the opera house's lobby. With no windows to let in natural light and no electricity, it was very dark inside. He turned on his lightsaber so that he could see better.

"Halt!" a voice commanded. The owner of the voice stepped out of the darkness; it was a woman in full armor, her face obscured by a golden helmet, wielding a magnificent lightsaber. "State your names and your business here, strangers."

Nodding reassuringly to Lara and Kyla, Starlin raised his hands in surrender. "Greetings," he said. "My name is Starlin Rand. We've come on behalf of the Jedi Order, to answer the Mer's call for help."

A pregnant pause followed his words. The woman didn't speak for several long moments. Then she reached up and removed her helmet, revealing her face.

Starlin's eyes widened. No way. It can't be... "Isolda?" he whispered.

"Starlin." She stared at him, her stunned expression mirroring his. "By Ashla, it's been so long..."

"Twenty years, give or take a few."

"You've grown a beard."

"Your hair's going gray," he said. Though his lips curled in a smile, his eyes were full of pain. Here was his lost love, the one who got away. All it took was seeing her again to bring back the deep and abiding yearning he had felt for her in his youth. The beautiful knight who couldn't be with him because they were from different worlds.

As the initial shock of recognition faded, Isolda slipped back into a more professional persona. "I apologize for the... poor welcome. The Mer also requested my help. They didn't mention that anyone else would come."

"Have you met with the Mer yet, or heard anything from them?" Starlin asked.

"No." Her brow furrowed. "I've been waiting for nearly an hour. There's been no word from them in all that time." She turned her attention to the twins. "Who are your companions?"

"Oh, uh—these are my apprentices, Lara and Kyla Nimdok," he introduced them. "Girls, this is Isolda of Ession. She's... an old friend."

The girls exchanged confused glances, then bowed politely to her. "Nice to meet you, ma'am."

Starlin checked his datapad. “The Mer haven’t sent me any updates either. Do you think something happened?”

"It is possible." Isolda gestured toward the doorway behind her. "Come, we can talk more in here."

 

[Starlin Rand]

Starlin followed her into the auditorium, Kyla and Lara trailing close behind. The massive chamber was partially submerged in ocean water, the waves lapping at what remained of the seats. Every now and then he spotted a colorful fish tail flashing amid the seafoam.

Isolda led them up onto the empty stage, where a table and chairs had been set up for the meeting which had yet to take place. The sight of the empty seats was eerie in light of the Mer's unexplained absence. "Please, have a seat," Isolda said before taking the chair across from Starlin. "I'm sure you have questions for me, as do I for you."

Starlin nodded and sighed. "Well, for starters - what are you doing all the way out here? Chaldea and Ession aren't exactly neighbors."

"Many Essonians no longer call Ession home," she replied softly. "I have become what you might call a knight-errant. I wander the stars, rendering justice to evildoers and helping the weak and wronged. Chaldea called for aid, so I answered." Pausing, she added, "This world reminds me of Ession in many ways. It has seen the end of everything, brutalized by a stronger force which destroyed its civilization. Yet there are survivors. Perhaps I see myself in them, a spirit of resilience similar to that of my own people."

"That's admirable of you," Starlin said. "I was assigned to this mission by the Order. I can't claim to have any personal connection to this place, but I'm willing to do what I can to help." He didn't mention that the Order as he knew it no longer existed, or that the Core had been abandoned to the Sith. He was in no mood to broach the topic, and they had more important things to worry about. "Since the Mer have failed to show up, I suggest we organize a search party."

"I agree. Though I am not sure where to begin looking for them." Her gaze darted toward the water, and her face seemed to drain of color. "Do you think... they are somewhere down there, beneath the waves?"

"I mean, it's possible." He shrugged. Was she afraid of the water? "We don't need to go diving, though. I have a better idea."

 

[Starlin Rand]

Removing a piece of enchanted chalk from his pocket, Starlin drew the Jedi meditation symbol across the stage. Then, kneeling within the circle, he closed his eyes.

The beauty of the sorcery Syd had taught him was that it could be invented on the fly. Each spell had a structure - a statement of situation, followed by a plea to the Ashla for help - but beyond that it was malleable as clay. He was a songwriter, accustomed to penning lyrics with an ear for rhythm and syntax. He could come up with a simple rhyme in his sleep.

"The Mer have disappeared; Ashla, reveal their path, make it clear!"

Power surged through the chalk lines. Starlin's eyes glowed a pure white, his vision changing. He saw ghostly figures fleeing. Wordlessly, he got up and followed their path, his companions trailing behind him.

The route led outside of the opera house and along the shoreline. Gradually the land grew upward, becoming rocky and cragged. Finally, the spectral Mer ran into a cave in the cliffside. Starlin's eyes returned to their normal color as the vision faded. "They went in there," he announced.

"But why?" Lara asked. "Was something chasing them?"

"It would seem so," he answered, brow furrowing. "But I couldn't see who or what it was."

Isolda was staring at him in awe. "You've grown more powerful since we last met," she murmured, eyes wide.

Starlin looked away, a blush make his cheeks grow warm. "I'm nothing special," he deflected, rubbing the back of his neck. "But yeah, I was uh... promoted to Master. Happened in the field, during the invasion of Coruscant a couple years back." Which didn't really narrow it down, since his homeworld was constantly being invaded, but whatever.

"Something similar happened to me." Her gaze grew wistful. "I was promoted on Ession when the Sith attacked. Right before my master died in battle."

His stomach knotted, remembering the day Syd had mastered him. How radiant she had looked. How could she be gone? "My master is dead too." Clearing his throat, he faced the cave mouth. "We should head inside and start looking for the Mer. There's no time to waste."

 

[Starlin Rand]

Master Morgun Jai had indicated during the mission debriefing that the cult here on Chaldea might be connected to ones they had encountered before. Starlin didn't know if he meant the Cult with a Capital C, or something else. It was all very ominous.

So was the cave. As they headed inside, picking their way over rocks and sand, he cast a worried glance over his shoulder at the girls. They weren't ready to face a Coven. Although he supposed they needed some exposure to these things. Keeping them in the dark about the horrors of the galaxy would just leave them unprepared. And that was far more dangerous than bringing them along on a mission like this, where he could at least supervise their first contact with the worst the galaxy had to offer.

It made him all the more grateful that Isolda was with them. She was a devout Ashlan and a seasoned veteran well-accustomed to dealing with Dark Siders. Between the two of them, no threat was too great to be overcome.

The cave mouth swallowed them whole, plunging the heroes into darkness. All four ignited their lightsabers: Starlin's blue, Kyla's violet, Lara's orange, and Isolda's silver. Silver, like the streams in the Room of a Thousand Fountains on Coruscant...

"All right, everyone stay close," Starlin whispered. He led the group forward, stretching out his senses with the Force. It was just as he feared - there was a definite Dark Side presence nearby. And the further they went, the closer it became--

A flash of red dropped down from above, landing in front of him. Lit by the glow of her crimson saber, the figure which rose to her feet was a white-haired woman dressed in black. Her eyes burned with corruption, the power of the Dark Side coursing through her blackened veins. Her lips pulled back in a snarl. "Starlin Rand," she sneered. "I should have expected to find you here."

"Uh... Have we met before?" Starlin asked.

"No," she replied. "But my face will be the last thing you see before you die!"

They were swiftly surrounded by more red lightsabers, more figures in the dark. The cultists rushed at them from all sides, slashing and stabbing. With a grin, Starlin unleashed a torrent of Force Light which rippled outward. Those caught in the wave were either thrown backwards or vaporized on impact, their ashes mixing with the sand.

The cult leader lunged at Starlin. He parried her attack, his blue blade crashing into her red with masterly finesse. Isolda fought off the worst of the cultists, keeping them away from Kyla and Lara. The twins watched each other's backs as they picked off the weaker fodder.

Soon all that was left was the cultists' leader. Isolda joined the duel, fighting alongside Starlin, while Kyla and Lara watched for reinforcements. Outnumbered, the cultist began chanting in a dead language as she fought. Starlin could feel the power surging as she called upon ancient forces. I knew it couldn't be this easy, he thought grimly, his lips moving as he fired up a counterspell: "Ashla, show this two-bit enchanter--"

The ground rumbled beneath their feet. A roar echoed through the caverns, not animal but a force of nature so incredible, it could only spell doom. Then, as Kyla and Lara looked around, unsure of what to expect, it happened. Saltwater flooded the tunnels, flushed in from the ocean at the cultist's summons. Starlin's eyes widened as he saw a wall of water headed straight for them, gushing in from outside.

 

[Starlin Rand]

Isolda's barrier went up just in time, the wave crashing over the bubble of protective energy. But as they huddled together beneath the shield, Starlin sensed it beginning to waver. "I can't hold it!" Isolda cried out, arms raised heavenward as she tried to keep the ocean at bay.

"Hold on!" Starlin exclaimed, rewriting his half-finished spell: "--She can be strong without anger!" The rhyme worked immediately, strengthening the barrier. But it wasn't enough. Whatever horror the cultist had conjured, it was more than just water which flooded over them. It was the anguished final moments of the dead, the endless suffering of the survivors in the aftermath, a hurricane of trauma and destruction. It took Starlin's breath away, leaving him gasping for air as hot tears ran down his face.

Mom. Dad. Syd. Professor Nimdok. Miri. Eliphas. Tenn. Ceri. Kai. The Jedi Order. The Alliance. Coruscant. Home.

All gone.

The barrier shattered. Starlin's last sight was of Kyla and Lara huddled together, their screams of terror rending his heart. Then there was only the roar and rush of the water as it slammed into him and swept him away.

 

[Starlin Rand]

He had already lost consciousness by the time his limp body was spat out onto the beach. There he lay still and unmoving, unable - or perhaps unwilling - to get up. That is, until he felt pressure against his chest, and the sensation of cold, wet lips pressed against his, forcibly filling his drowned lungs with air...

He spat up saltwater and bile, coughing. Isolda leaned over him, her blonde hair and golden armor matted with wet sand. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"I'm sore," he replied, which was an understatement. "But I'll live. Where are the girls?"

She didn't respond. Starlin leaped to his feet, frantically scanning the shoreline. "Kyla! Lara!" he screamed, his voice hoarse and his throat raw. But no matter where he looked, there was no sign of the twins.

Please, don't do this to me, he begged the Force, or God, or whoever was listening. They're all I have left.

"I am sorry." He heard Isolda mumbling behind him and whipped around to face her. "It's my fault. My barrier failed. I should have--"

"We need to find them," Starlin interrupted. Now was not the time to cast blame. Brow furrowing, he focused. "I can't sense them." In fact, he couldn't sense anything at all. "What about you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing. There is nothing." She shivered. "I feel so cold and empty. Like I've been... cut off. What did that woman do to us?"

Starlin took a deep breath, then wrapped an arm around Isolda, pulling her close. "Come on. I have some supplies in my speeder. Namely, dry clothes." Starlin may not have been able to feel Kyla and Lara, but he knew they were still alive. He wouldn't waste a single moment until he found them again.

 

[Starlin Rand]

deleted

 

[Starlin Rand]

Chapter 2: A Morbid Taste For Bones

​

While Starlin and Isolda were swept out to sea, the current pushed the twins deeper into the caves. Lara managed to reach the surface, gulping down air. Unable to sense her presence, she called out to her sister until her throat was raw. There was no response.

At last, the water spat her out of a tunnel and into an underground pool. Lara swam to the edge, hoisting herself up onto dry land. Almost immediately she began searching for Kyla, finally spotting her floating in the water. She dove in, pulling her body to the shore.

Kyla was limp and lifeless, her skin pale and lips blue. Lara began CPR, but her twin remained unconscious. "Wake up!" she pleaded, shaking her. "No... No, no, please - please don't die. Please, Kyla!"

Nothing. Lara kept going until she was too tired to do compressions and couldn't draw enough air to give breaths. A strangled wail escaped her throat, the pain raw and visceral. Her sobbing echoed through the empty caverns.

Something splashed in the water. Lara turned her head, her vision blurred by tears. Even after rubbing her eyes, she couldn't see anything in the murky depths. But she could hear a voice.

<Jedi.>

It was inside her head. "Who's there?" she asked, frightened. Without the Force to aid her, she was handicapped against a threat.

<Lara. Lara Nimdok. Nimdok...>

Another splash, this one louder than the first, heralded the emergence of a figure from the water. Lara leaped back, stifling a scream.

 

[Starlin Rand]

deleted

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Out of the bubbling depths arose a figure. Though implicitly male, he possessed an otherworldly quality which was far beyond that of anything merely human. No water clung to his pale hair or dripped from his fair flesh. Lara was struck dumb by the sight of this creature, kneeling frozen beside the pool.

He approached the edge, reaching one graceful hand toward Kyla. Lara thawed at once, throwing herself over her sister's body.

<Do not be afraid.>

The voice was inside her head again. "Who are you?" she asked hoarsely, trembling in fear.

He did not immediately answer. Lara's eyes darted, catching sight of other shapes in the water. Heads bobbing just beneath the surface, with gleaming sulfuric eyes. They must be Qalu, she guessed, shivering. They were rumored to be practitioners of the Dark Side.

<I'm not going to hurt you,> the voice said. <And neither will they.> The beautiful androgyne moved away from her, heaving himself over the edge of the pool. She glimpsed a flash of iridescent scales before his merman's tail split into legs. But he's not Finfolk. They get their tails and fins from skinsuits. He must be some sort of shapeshifter...

<My name is Kai. I am the last Bamarri.> Turning toward her, he met her gaze. Colors swirled within his eyes like a crystal prism. <When I was a child I was kidnapped by a Sith Lord. Darth Transitus. He made me into a Sithspawn.>

The name rang a bell. "Darth Transitus - He kidnapped our mother when she was a child, too," Lara blurted, her brow furrowing. "He gave her artificial Force Sensitivity." Miri Nimdok had struggled with the volatile, unpredictable nature of her unnatural connection to the Force all her life. Luckily her daughters had seemingly taken after their father in that department.

Kai gave her a somber nod. <He had many victims.> Then, turning toward Kyla's lifeless body, he added, <I can help her, if you'll let me. But it may bring out changes in her. The altered DNA you inherited from your mother has lain dormant in your lineage until now. That is the cost of restoring her life. You must decide quickly, before it's too late.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Lara didn't hesitate. "Save her," she answered, the consequences be damned.

Kai knelt beside Kyla and laid his hands upon her. There was no flash of light or rush of air, no explosion or fanfare. Cut off from the Force, Lara couldn't even sense her twin's revival. Nor did she have any idea of the gravity of the decision she had made, or what it would do to Kyla. She only knew that she loved her sister and couldn't let her die.

<It is done,> Kai said a few moments later. <She is waking up. Stand back.>

Lara rose to her feet and gave her twin some space. Kyla twitched, then began to violently cough. After vomiting up what seemed like an ocean of water and bile, she opened her eyes. "Lara?"

"I'm here," Lara said, moving closer to her. "It's okay. We're okay."

Kyla sat up and looked around, showing no physical signs of having been at death's doorstep only a minute ago. "Where's Starlin?" she asked. Upon seeing Kai, she immediately reached for her lightsaber, still clipped to her belt. "Who are you?"

"He helped us," Lara replied. Turning to Kai, she asked, "How do we get out of here?"

Kai inclined his head toward the pool. <The same way you came in. By water. I will guide you across the sea to dry land.> Reaching into the malleable flesh of his torso, he produced two aquata breathers. <We don't have any Atargatis Skins to spare. These will have to do.>

 

[Starlin Rand]

"You put a tracking device on your apprentices?" Isolda asked, her tone incredulous. They had made it back to the Bright Knight, where Starlin supplied the promised dry clothes and then revealed his plan for finding the twins.

"Of course I did," he replied. "My master taught me to plan for everything. People who let themselves be surprised by whatever craziness the galaxy throws at them get killed. Or worse."

He pressed a button on the ship's console. A hidden screen popped up, showing a map of the surrounding area. Isolda walked over and stood by his side, watching the map zoom in deeper, going beneath the planet's crust, honing in on a pair of flashing red dots. "Is that them?"

"Yeah." Starlin studied the map. "Looks like those caverns are a lot bigger than anticipated." He turned to Isolda. She had changed into blue and gold armor. One of Syd's suits. She wore it back when Starlin was her Padawan. Must've been laying around in the armory somewhere...

"Can these devices detect life signs?" Isolda asked, breaking his reverie.

Starlin's breath caught at the thought. He shook his head, hands balling into fists at his sides. "No," he answered, desperate defiance flashing like a blade in his eyes. "But they're alive. I know it. I..." He abruptly deflated, realizing the dishonesty of his statement. Without the Force, he knew nothing. He was nothing.

Sinking into a nearby chair, he held his head in his hands. Isolda stood over him, shifting her weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay. You're fine." Starlin rubbed his tired eyes. He felt exhausted, not just physically but mentally and spiritually drained. He couldn't even weep or scream or rage against fate. He was too spent. "It's just... Everyone else I've ever loved is gone. My parents, my master, my friends, all my other apprentices. I held two Padawans in my arms as they faded back into the Force. The girls are all that I have left. If they die, I'll be completely and utterly alone."

She touched his arm. He raised his head, looking her in the face. Her gray eyes were huge and brimming with tears.

"Starlin, I... I didn't know," she whispered. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. "We have more in common than I thought."

 

[Starlin Rand]

Isolda turned away from him. He followed her gaze, but found that she was simply staring at the wall. "We've always had more in common than you realized," he said softly. "Just because you're an Ashlan and I'm a Jedi..."

"No." She shook her head. "I can't, Starlin. You know that."

Starlin's mouth pulled in a tight, sad little smile. Rather than answer, he changed the subject. "I haven't seen your sword in a while. Did you lose it in the flood?"

Finally, Isolda faced him, her expression carefully arranged to hide her true feelings. "I must have," she replied. "I will need a replacement, if I am to be of use to you."

"Well, I've got enough weapons aboard this vessel to arm a battalion." Never mind that most of them were the personal effects and hidden caches of his old allies, now falling to him in a kind of tragic inheritance. Standing up, he pressed his hand to a glowing panel on the wall. It opened up to reveal a hidden passage, at the end of which was a room full of guns, blades, and other gadgets. "Take your pick."

Isolda entered the chamber, her eyes roving over the displays. Almost instantly her attention was drawn to a particular case. Inside was a unique lightsaber, the hilt emblazoned with a blue rose in full bloom.

"The Rose of Ashla." Starlin grinned as he watched her walk over to the display. "I should've known you'd go for that one." It had once belonged to a woman named Themis, an acquaintance of Syd's. Starlin never had the chance to get to know her properly. Now he supposed he never would.

"It calls to me from across a great distance. Its voice is faint, but I can still hear it," Isolda murmured, gently resting her palm against the transparent display case. "It seeks a new master."

"I can't imagine anyone more deserving than you, Dame Isolda." Starlin unlocked the case, picked up the hilt and held it out as if it were on a silver platter.

She took it from him and activated the blade, feeling its weight in her hands - and listening to the kyber within. "Synthetic ankarres?" she exclaimed. "This weapon was made to heal."

"And to incapacitate, if necessary." Starlin gestured toward the exit. "Let's get a move on. I think--"

The sound of the hull creaking caused him to pause. Isolda looked up and around, her expression twitching. Starlin felt it too. The blind numbness of reaching and not being able to touch whatever it was. The Force was everything to them, and without it...

The ship suddenly lurched to one side. Starlin was knocked off his feet, crashing into another display case. He grabbed hold of the edge, hanging on for dear life as the Bright Knight began to roll.

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Chased from her lair deep within the caves, the cult leader initially fled inland, only to find herself pursued by an unknown force. It stalked the edges of her perception, unseen but always felt. The presence was Dark and corrupted - a Sithspawn. But it was no subservient drone. No, this thing was fully cognizant, independent, powerful in its own right. And familiar...

The Sith Doppelganger! The last Bamarri!

They had fought once before, when the cult first arrived on Chaldea. He had been weak, a shell of what she imagined had been his former glory, easily driven back by her cult. He was still hostile to her; she could sense his cold contempt - and his newfound strength. Without her followers to back her, she was unprepared to face such a foe. So she turned back. The Jedi's ship would take her away from this dying world, and she would report to her Unholy Mistress that Chaldea was unsuitable for assimilation by the cult.

But as she approached the Bright Knight, the ground beneath her feet began to tremble. Flames erupted from the earth, searing her flesh.

<Witch,> a sneering voice pierced her mind. <Today you die.>

No matter what she did, the fire refused to go out. Out of desperation, she ran toward the ocean. By the time she reached the shore, she was fully ablaze. If she could just reach the water--!

<This time you won't escape!>

The earth beneath her lurched and split open. Knocked off her feet, she fell screaming into the fissure. The tear sealed itself like a great maw snapping shut, the only sign of it having been there a cloud of scalding steam rising in the air.

Kai stood on the beach, watching as the mist dissipated. A gentle breeze tousled his white hair, a sharp contrast to the violence of mere moments prior. Behind him, Kyla and Lara stood together, their expressions a mix of relief and fear of their new and unexpected ally.

 

[Starlin Rand]

The Bright Knight lay on its side, bowled over by the raging tides of the battle between Force Users. After crawling through the upended flotsam inside his ship, Starlin emerged from the airlock - looking a little worse for wear, but mostly unharmed. As soon as he saw the twins, he cried out, "Girls!"

The spell was broken. Kyla and Lara ran to embrace him. "You're all right," Starlin sobbed, cradling them. "You're all right..."

Isolda came soon after, looking around in bewilderment at the scene outside. Her gaze honed in warily on Kai.

Starlin's heart leaped in his chest at the sight of the Sithspawn. "Kai?" he whispered, disbelieving. "Kai!"

He left the twins and ran across the sand, stopping just short of throwing his arms around his old friend. "I thought you were dead!" he exclaimed. "They told me you were killed fighting a dragon... I-I couldn't feel you in the Force..."

<I did fight a dragon, and I was nearly killed,> Kai confirmed. <But I survived, even as Chaldea died around me. That's why you couldn't sense me.> His gaze slid off of Starlin and he turned toward the ocean. <This world is a wound. An abyss of suffering. To feel it is to die with it. The only way to survive is to cut yourself off from feeling, numbing yourself to the pain.>

"Like Malachor V," Starlin murmured. "But, Kai - It's been years since the dragons attacked Chaldea. What have you been doing in all that time?"

Kai faced him again, eyebrows raised. <I stayed behind. Got to know my homeworld better. I'm the leader of the Qalu people now. They told me about what happened to you and your friends.>

 

[Starlin Rand]

"You defeated the Witch," Lara exclaimed. "The cult has been wiped out. Chaldea is saved!"

<No. It is not.> Kai bowed his head, eyelids lowering as he looked away from them. <The cult was only one part of the problem. Chaldea is still a gaping Wound in the Force, a black hole of death and destruction.>

"This planet faced an apocalypse," Kyla pointed out. "We can't change that."

<It's within my power to heal the Wound,> Kai revealed. <I've known that for a while now. But I've been putting it off.>

"Why?" Isolda asked, her eyes narrowing. To refuse to do what the Ashla commanded was blasphemy. Starlin was equally stunned by the revelation that Kai had not done all that he could to save his homeworld. Why, indeed?

The Doppelganger closed his eyes, his expression contorting with sorrow and shame. <I am not a good person. I was forced to become what I am, but I chose to stay like this. I grew to love the power this Sithspawn body gave me, more than I cared about doing the right thing. I should have destroyed it, and let myself become one with the Force. It's the same way with Chaldea. I've enjoyed ruling over the Qalu all these years. Having power without the responsibilities. I'm a coward. I'm afraid to face the dragon again. Afraid to do what needs to be done.>

"You don't have to do this alone," Starlin said, resting a hand on Kai's shoulder. "Let us help you."

Kai shook his head. <I appreciate the offer, Starlin. But this is a path I must walk alone. My failure is what got you into this mess in the first place. You and your companions will not feel the Force again until I fulfill my destiny. I must sacrifice myself so that this world can live again.>

 

[Kai Bamarri]

"Sacrifice yourself?" Starlin echoed, eyes widening. "You can't be serious."

<I am a Bamarri. My fate is tied to this planet's in ways you could never understand,> Kai said sharply. But then his gaze softened. <I'm glad that you care about me. But I have to do this. For all of our sakes.>

He loved all the people who had helped him along his journey. Dagon Kaze had been the first to rescue him. Aeris Lashiec had helped him adjust to the strange new world he found himself in. Damsy Callat showed him what he truly was, and Alicio Organa showed him who he could be. And Starlin... Starlin was his friend. Someone who was there for him after all the others left. It was fitting that he was the one here at the end, witnessing his final hour.

Let it be my finest.

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, each hand clasping the opposite shoulder. He turned inward, then outward, entuning himself with Chaldea's energies, matching his soul to the planet's core. Both were corrupted. Together, they would become whole.

The Bamarri's body began to glow as if lit from within. His flesh crawled and writhed painfully, his Sithspawn body recoiling from the Light. It began to burn up, like a comet disintegrating in the atmosphere. Isolda flinched away at the sight, but Starlin stood firm, wrapping a reassuring arm around her and the twins. It was hard for him to watch too, but he felt like he owed it to Kai to be there as he performed his encore.

When there was nothing left but a haze of pure energy in the air, Starlin held his breath and waited. Then, he felt it. The Force flooding back into him, like a veil being lifted. He exhaled, turned to the girls and grinned. "Anybody else feel that?"

"We've got the Force back," Kyla said, mirroring his smile.

"It's not just us," Lara chimed in. "The whole planet feels alive again. The Wound is healed."

Isolda nodded. "It's a pity he had to destroy himself to make things right. I confess I don't understand why it had to happen this way... But I am grateful for his sacrifice."

Starlin felt warmth on his skin and turned toward the horizon. The sun was rising over the sea, bathing the world in the colors of dawn. Tears flowed from his eyes down his cheeks, getting lost in his beard. "Yeah," he said, sniffling. "I'm grateful too."

 

[Starlin Rand]

In the aftermath of all that, the group was certainly exhausted. Rather than let Isolda spent the night in her cramped starfighter, Starlin offered her shelter aboard the Bright Knight. She accepted, more for the promise of a hot meal than anything else. For his part Starlin was glad to put off the inevitable epilogue when everyone would go their separate ways. He wanted to keep Isolda close for a little while longer.

Physically tired but mentally wide awake, he never went to bed. After bidding Kyla and Lara good night, he remained seated at the table in the rec room with his datapad in front of him. He was in the middle of the second paragraph of his mission report when Isolda appeared from the hallway, wearing plain gray pajamas.

"Hello," she greeted him shyly. "I can't sleep."

"Me neither," he said. "Can I get you anything?"

She hesitated, then answered, "A glass of water would be nice."

Standing up, Starlin grabbed a cup from a cabinet, placed it inside the drink dispenser and pressed the button. While the water poured, he tried to figure out what to say. He wanted to talk to her very badly, but he didn't know where to start. Finally, he said, "Y'know, apart from killing all those cultists, it kinda feels like we didn't really do much on Chaldea."

"We sent all those cultists to hell," she said. "Besides, we were without the Force for half the time. Loath as I am to admit it, I rely on the Ashla a great deal."

"True. But Kai's the one who defeated their leader, and then he sacrificed himself to save the planet. Compared to that, we did jack shit."

"Is this a debate about who contributed the most, or are you just beating yourself up because you couldn't save Kai?" she asked.

"I--" Starlin began, then faltered, his shoulders sagging. The dispenser chimed. "Forget it," he mumbled, passing the full cup to her.

Isolda nodded in understanding, accepted the water and took a sip. "He's at least deserving of a mention in your report."

"I dunno how well a Sithspawn saving the day would go over with the Jedi Masters." Starlin glanced up at Isolda as a new thought occurred to him. "Did you know that Kai was a Sithspawn?" She wouldn't have been able to sense his aura, being deprived of the Force.

"I believe he mentioned it, yes."

"And did that fact not... bother you, at all?" By all accounts, it should have been a non-negotiable for her. The Ashlan Crusaders were known to be so harsh in their judgment of Dark Siders that they crucified anyone remotely connected to the Sith. The Isolda he knew was no different. It was one of the reasons why they couldn't be together. No amount of attraction could cover up the fact that she was intolerant even of those whose circumstances were beyond their control.

"He saved the lives of your students and killed the Witch," Isolda replied. "Though his flesh was damned, he proved by his actions that his spirit walked with Ashla."

"So it didn't bother you." Starlin stared at her in wonderment. "What changed?"

She seemed to grow tense under his scrutiny, putting her cup down on the island countertop. "He also spoke of his dark past, as I recall. You knew him then, did you not? Did his behavior not bother you?"

"I knew him when he was at his lowest point. He went to Azrael for his mistakes."

"Mistakes?" Her eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't call choosing to stay in a Sithspawn body a mistake. That's your problem, Starlin - you're too loyal to people. You make excuses for them even when they do unforgivable things. It was the same way with your old master, that fire witch--"

Starlin bristled at her words, but found that he had no will to argue. As he stood there in silence, Isolda seemed to run out of steam, breaking off when he failed to respond. "Why... Why aren't you fighting back?" she asked.

"Why should I?" he asked, smiling faintly. "Everything you say about me is true. I am loyal to a fault."

Her lower lip quivered, ready to respond with a sharp retort to a snarky comeback that never came. Her expression crumpled, and for a moment she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry, Starlin."

"It's okay," he said. "At least you put your faith in a perfect deity rather than flawed people. I wish I could do the same. But I'm too weak. I could never fight for a cause I believed in. But a pathetic, miserable, screwed up person? I get that. I'm the same way. I'm no good."

"You're not weak," Isolda said. "And you're not no good. You're human, and so am I."

The steel conviction in her voice sent a shiver down his spine. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. Starlin was self-deprecating by nature, but Isolda of Ession? She had always been proud. Yet here she was, showing humility and self-awareness for the first time since he had met her.

"You think my faith in the Ashla is perfect? You think I don't ever have doubts?" she continued, standing strong even as tears began to fill her eyes. "The ideals I was taught didn't stand up against the realities I faced out in the galaxy. I was supposed to scorn you for not converting, Starlin, but I loved you. I still love you."

He started to reach for her, slow and cautious. But she practically threw herself into his arms, holding him tight as she buried her face in his neck.

"Why did we do this to ourselves, Isolda?" he whispered. "Hold ourselves to these impossible standards. Why isn't it enough that we love each other?"

"I don't know anymore. We must not have known any better." She pulled back. “Let's not make the same mistake again. I will forgive you, if you will forgive me.”

It was like the embers of a dying fire were rekindled in him. Starlin let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "I forgive you," he said, then whispered. "I love you."

It was hard to tell who kissed who first. He only knew that her lips were soft and her breath was hot as she eagerly opened her mouth against his, hungry for what they had denied themselves for so many years. It was Starlin who broke the kiss at last, pressing his cheek to her brow as he caught his breath. "Are you sure this is what you want?" he gasped, terrified and exhilarated and wanting more than anything to hear her say it.

"Starlin Rand, I wish to marry you," she replied, her voice husky and irresistible. "Will you accept my offer?"

His panting gave way to giddy laughter. "Holy shit..." He stroked her long hair, grinning from ear to ear as he gazed lovingly into her eyes. "Yeah. Let's get married." Before he could second-guess himself, he kissed her again.