Chapter 9 - 72 ABY - Only the dead have seen the end of war - George Santayana
(Jayden-Age 34)
Jayden sat in silence in the cargo hold. Her legs were crossed and she was meditating about her next battle. Moira sat up in the cockpit trying to give Jayden her space. Ever since Jayden had gotten word from Jax that Kyega was in the Opoku system on the planet of Gamorr, Jayden had asked to be left alone to meditate. Moira had heard of the system but had never travelled there, although she had seen several Gamorreans on Tatooine and knew that they were a warlike species. She worried about Jayden and had never seen her like this. She pulled the ship out of hyperspace at the edge of the system and walked down to the cargo bay.
“Master, I don’t know if I can beat him. This planet used to be a part of Exar Kun’s Sith Empire. There is so much darkness I feel about this place. I haven’t had a feeling like this since Geonosis.”
“Are you trying to connect with Luke?” Jayden opened her eyes and looked up at Moira and nodded.
“I can’t hear him. I’ve been sitting down here for hours, but I just can’t connect with him,” Jayden frowned as Moira sat down in front of her on the hard metal floor.
“I’m really worried about you. I’ve never seen you this anxious.”
“I want you to stay on the ship,” Jayden asked, although she already knew the answer Moira was going to give her.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You don’t understand, Moira. There is a vast amount of dark energy emanating from this planet. I can already feel it. The last time I felt like this… my parents died.”
“The one thing I do understand is that you are my everything. I won’t let you go off and face this alone. Even if I’m just there for support. We are a clan of two, and that means we always have each other’s backs, no matter what. And if it’s our time to die, then we die together, and I’m fine with that. This is Way, and this will always be the Way. From now on, wherever you go, I follow.” Jayden smiled and they both stood up and hugged each other. Moira couldn’t help but think that this might be their last hug, so she hugged Jayden even tighter.
Moira and Jayden walked back up to the cockpit in silence, not really knowing what else to say. Jayden took the pilot seat and pulled up the map of the planet and pointed to a spot on the map. “He’s there.”
“Can you already feel him?” Moira said as she sat down in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Not really, but it’s the strongest sense that I’m getting from the dark side,” Jayden could almost feel him calling to her. She knew that he was so strong with the dark side, that there was no way that they would be able to surprise him. She zoomed in on the map and saw a compound in a clearing. It looked like a castle with a clearing in the front big enough for them to land the ship in. She plugged in the coordinates and grabbed the controls.
“What are you doing? You’re going to land the ship right in the middle of his compound?”
“There is no way that we are going to surprise him. He already knows we’re coming. Go gear up, I’ll meet you in the cargo bay once we land.”
***
As the cargo bay door lowered, Jayden and Moira stepped out onto the ramp and were greeted by two dozen Gamorrean soldiers with their weapons trained on them. Jayden looked around at the old castle that had stood there for thousands of years. It was one of the last remnants of Exar Kun’s reign. The blocks that built it were worn down over the centuries, but the inner parts of the castle still looked intact. Standing at the base of the castle were Jin and Kyega.
“Stay here,” Jayden looked at Moira and pleaded with her. Moira started to protest but then nodded. Jayden walked towards the two dark Jedi and watched them closely as they started walking towards her. They stopped when they were fifteen meters apart.
“Mighty brave of you to land your ship in the middle of our compound. You were always a brave little Padawan, always begging the Knights to lightsaber duels. You would have made a good apprentice to the dark side of the Force. Quento tried to turn you, but I told him you would never be turned.”
“Well you know what happened to him. I’d offer you the chance to give up and go back to Coruscant to face your crimes, but I already know what you’re going to say.,” Jayden responded, as she screwed her lightsabers together to form her double blades.
“Yes… but this time you don’t have a squad of Mandalorians to protect you.”
“Are you going to let your Gamorrean guards protect you, or are you going to fight with honor?” Jayden watched as Kyega motioned to his guards and they stepped back and put away their guns.
“Jin, show Jayden the power of the dark side,” Kyega said as he smiled wickedly at Jayden.
“My pleasure, Master.”
Jayden watched as Jin ignited his red lightsaber. He was at least two feet taller than her, and without a doubt, stronger. She watched him closely as he advanced towards her. She could tell by his gait that he was going to rely on his brute strength. She knew that she was going to have to be smart about this. She ignited her double bladed lightsaber and waited for him to close in. As he swung down from the top left, her lightsaber met his and the crackling sound of the sabers scraping each other could be heard all throughout the compound. He took several more swings and lunged at her, and she parried his lunges and swung out towards his feet. He jumped and flipped backwards in the air. Jayden noticed that he was very light on his feet for such a heavy creature.
He snarled at Jayden and lunged again and she reached up with the right side of her saber and met his and they pushed against each other. “I can see why Kyega chose you as his Padawan. But you don’t have to die for him. I can still sense some good in you. Your thoughts are conflicted,” she whispered to him.
Jin pushed off from her and jumped backwards, landing in a defensive crouch. Jayden knew he was using that to try and bait her into striking, but she wasn’t going to fall for it. Instead she used a bait of her own.
“You don’t have to die for him. He doesn’t care about you. He’s just using you, just like he used Yang’xie and Yako to do his bidding when he first tried to kill me, which clearly failed, just as you will. I have foreseen it.” She lied about the last part, but the lie did it’s job as he gave her a confused look and turned to to look back at his master. Just as he did, Jayden lunged and swung the left blade up and cut Jin’s left hand off that was holding his lightsaber. He screamed out in pain. She then spun around and brought the same blade next to his neck.
“Don’t make me kill you. Yield to me.”
He reluctantly nodded and she pulled her lightsaber away from his neck. Suddenly he was overcome by Force Lightning.
“No!” Jayden reached her saber up to block the Force Lightning and stood between him and Kyega, walking towards Kyega. Then she heard another scream as she turned her gaze to look behind her.
Moira stood near the edge of the platform of the ship as she watched Jayden deflect the Force Lightning from Kyega. Then she noticed Jin had another lightsaber hidden on the back of his belt. He sat up, grabbed it, and ignited the saber. He was faking the entire time, and Jayden had no clue. “JAYDEN!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. She heard footsteps on the top of the ship and watched as a shadow flew over top of her and landed between Jayden and Jin, igniting their saber and blocked Jin’s saber from striking Jayden. The new Jedi then parried his attack and swung out and sliced him along the chest, then flipped the saber in their hand and dealt the final blow and stuck their saber right through his head. Kyega snarled at Jayden and the new Jedi ran up to her side and removed their hood.
“Jax?” Jax smiled at Jayden and they squared off to face Kyega. He ignited his double-bladed lightsaber and spun it in his hands before he started his attack.
Moira breathed a sigh of relief. She had called Jax after Jayden started acting weird. She begged Jax for her help just to send an extra Jedi or two to help Jayden. Now she felt better about their chances. Moira watched as the lightsabers flashed so fast that she couldn’t keep up with them. They both attacked Kyega with a frenzy and were moving in tandem with each other, like they knew exactly what the other was thinking. Moira felt a little jealousy at that, but she was just glad that Jayden didn’t have to face Kyega alone.
Jayden swung her double-bladed saber at his feet and he easily jumped over it and swung his lightsaber back at her. Jax blocked the strike and parried his attack with her own. It was back and forth like this for several minutes. He then struck out at Jax and Jayden knew she was defenseless so she pushed Jax out of the way and his lightsaber hit hers. He pushed the tip of his saber into her helmet. The beskar protected her, but the visor started to melt. Jax used the Force to push him off of Jayden and went after him with an onslaught of saber strikes. Jayden dropped her saber and fell to the ground, screaming in pain, as the visor melted onto her cheek. She struggled to pull her helmet off and threw it to the ground. She wiped at the part of the visor that melted onto her skin, right under her right eye. She looked up at Moira who started to step towards her and she quickly shook her head and put her hand up. Moira saw the pained look on Jayden’s face and tears started to form in her eyes at the pain her wife was enduring.
Jayden stood up, used the Force to bring her double-bladed lightsaber to her right hand and reignited them. She turned back to Jax and joined back in the fight. Even though it was two on one, Kyega still had the advantage due to his skill as a Master of the dark arts. Jayden took the lead on the fighting and hit his lightsabers with a ferocity, but he parried every strike with one of his own. He struck out and barely caught Jayden in the back. She gasped in pain as she fell to her knees. Kyega saw an opportunity to lunge at Jayden but Jax stepped between them, and Jayden watched in horror as the lightsaber plunged right through Jax’s stomach. He pulled the saber back and she fell to the ground.
“No… no…” Jayden looked at Jax lying on the ground, then back up at Kyega. Storms brewed in her eyes and they turned a dark shade of purple. She unleashed a fury of attacks that had Kyega backpedaling. She ferociously attacked, swinging each side of her double-bladed sword, one strike after another from above. He blocked each one and then she feigned another attack from the top and stopped midway and flipped the bottom side of her lightsaber up and tore his double-bladed lightsaber in half. He dropped them as they spewed sparks from the broken crystal. Jayden turned off her lightsabers and sheathed them and reached out with the Force and pulled Jax’s lightsaber to her.
“Well done, Jayden,” he snarled and as he tried to reach out his hand and use the Force to push her away, she ignited Jax’s lightsaber and slashed it to the right and chopped off his left hand and then quickly spun it back to the left and watched as his head bounced on the ground. She turned the lightsaber off and looked at the Gamorrean guards and hissed at them. They realized that she had just taken down one of the most powerful Dark Jedi in the galaxy, so they backed off and left the castle. She turned her gaze towards Moira to make sure that she was safe, and they both ran to Jax and kneeled down beside her.
“What are you doing here?” Jayden asked as she put her hand over the wound to use the Force to figure out if she could do anything. It was fatal and there was nothing she could do. “I… I can’t save you,” she said as tears started streaming from her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“You were… you were right about the Council,” Jax winced and fought to continue. “I begged them for help and… they didn’t care. You were right. De-“ Jax grasped Jayden’s arm as a wave of pain overwhelmed her. “Deep down, I always knew… you were right about them. I’m so-“ Tears started flowing from Jax’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. It’s ok. It’s ok,” was all Jayden could manage to say as she grabbed Jax and held her in her arms.
“I guess I get to… to die for you after all,” Jax said and Jayden fell into her chest as Jax took her last breath.
Moira felt helpless and put her hand on Jayden’s shoulder as she cried. After several minutes Jayden stood up and lifted Jax’s body and carried her onto their ship. Moira grabbed Jayden’s helmet and followed her.
“Moira, can you do me a favor?” Moira nodded. “Can you get us off of this planet and set a course for Coruscant?”
“Of course.”
***
Moira quickly lifted the ship off the ground and headed for space. She set the coordinates for Coruscant and once they cleared the atmosphere she engaged the hyperdrive. She made her way down to the cargo hold where she saw that Jayden had wrapped Jax’s body in her Jedi robe and was kneeling beside the body.
“We’re on our way.”
Jayden nodded as she stared at Jax’s body.
“I can’t begin to understand what you’re feeling right now, but I need to clean and dress these wounds.”
“What wounds? Did you get hurt?” Jayden stood up and walked over to Moira, looking her over for injuries.
“Not me, you. Come on,” Moira said as she grabbed Jayden’s hand and dragged her to their bedroom to get the medical supplies.
Jayden reached her hand up to her face and felt the pain sting her cheek. She had forgotten all about it. She also winced as she remembered the lightsaber scraping her back. Moira had told her to sit at the end of the bed, but as Moira came back into the room she saw Jayden just standing there, staring into space. She grabbed Jayden and helped her sit down on the edge of their bed.
“This is gonna hurt, ok? There’s still some of the melted visor that’s hardened now and stuck to your skin,” Jayden was still not really comprehending anything. She winced as Moira removed the pieces of the visor from her cheek. Moira then moved to her back and warned her again that it was going to hurt, but Jayden was still in a daze. Moira was finally done and used a bacta spray to seal up the wounds. “It’s probably going to leave a nasty scar, but maybe when we’re on Coruscant you can have them heal it properly. Jayden just nodded. Moira put the medical supplies away and sat down next to Jayden and pulled her into an embrace. Moira didn’t know what else she could do for her, so she held Jayden until she fell asleep in her arms.
***
Moira pressed the button to lower the cargo bay door and Jayden stepped onto the platform holding Jax’s body. As she walked down the platform a Republic soldier walked up to her.
“You can’t just land your ship in the courtyard to the Jedi Temple, we have landing platforms for that!” She gave him a look and he dropped his gaze to the body she was carrying, nodded, and stepped back. She continued walking into the Jedi temple and headed straight for the Council chambers. Moira pressed the button to close the cargo bay door and followed behind her. As Jayden came into the Council chambers the Jedi Council members stood up to try and protest her presence until she set Jax’s body on top of the table. Jayden took turns looking at each council member before she started speaking.
“This is your fault! Your inaction led to Jax’s death.”
“How are we responsible? Master Kintao decided to go off on her own against the Council’s ruling,” protested one of the Jedi Masters.
“Sit down and shut up!” The Jedi Master’s begrudgingly sat down. “For years you have sat here in your Council chambers and have done nothing to prevent the growth of the Dark Jedi in the galaxy. Instead you sit here as I take care of them and you reap the benefits and take the reward. You sit here in your pretty robes discussing the problems of this galaxy, and finally one of you steps up and does something about it. And she died for it. Her last words to me were that I was right about the Council. This is not the Order that Luke created!” Jayden looked up and saw Luke’s Force ghost standing behind the Masters nodding and smiling to her, and a tear streamed down her cheek. She picked up Jax’s body and turned to leave the room. She hadn’t realized that several Jedi now stood behind her and were watching her with awe. As Jayden walked out they each placed a hand upon her shoulder. They followed Jayden as she carried Jax’s body to the Jedi Temple Pyre room. It was the room where she watched her parents cremated. It was the room where she watched Master Skywalker cremated. She stood there as the memories hit her and she let the tears flow. Dozens of Jedi Knights poured into the room and she watched as each one grabbed a piece of wood to build the pyre. Jedi could easily build pyres by using the Force, but it was their custom to build it by hand to honor the hard work of the fallen. After they finished she gently placed Jax’s body on top.
Moira grabbed one of the torches that lined the wall and handed it to Jayden as she reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. Jayden looked at her and sadly smiled.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jayden said, then stepped forward and walked around the base of the pyre, lighting several sections, then placed the torch back onto it’s spot on the wall. She slowly walked back to where Moira was standing and grabbed her hand, and they stood there until the last ember went out.
***
As Jayden and Moira walked back to their ship, several Jedi Knights were watching them. Before they reached their ship, a few of the Knights approached them.
“Master Kyrie, please wait.”
“I’m not a Jedi Master, just call me Jayden,” she responded.
“You are to us. You are more of a Jedi Master than any of those that sit on the Council. We have been talking for awhile now about this, none of the Knights are happy. We’d like you to come back to the Jedi Order and lead it. We have long wanted to establish a voting system for the Jedi Council, instead of the Masters just appointing who they think should lead us. Many of us would vote for you.”
Jayden released Moira’s hand and put her hands on the Knight’s shoulders. “That is a great idea. You were a Padawan when I was here, right?” He nodded. She couldn’t remember his name though.
“I’m Jun Hayuk. This is Vreen and Tograt’to,” he said as he pointed to the other two Knights standing on each side of him.
“That is definitely a great idea and I’m sure Master Skywalker would approve of it. But I am no longer with the Order. I am a Mandalorian,” Jayden replied as she reached out for her wife’s hand. “This is my clan. But, get as many Jedi together that agree with you and stand up to the Council. If all of the Jedi want this, then the Council won’t have a choice. I sense a change coming for the Order, and it’s up to you to make it a good one.”
“Yes Mas-, I mean Jayden,” he replied with a smile. Jayden knew he was young, but she felt a kindred spirit in him. She knew he had the potential to affect positive change for the Jedi Order.
“If you ever need help though, I’ll be there,” he nodded and Jayden and Moira boarded their ship.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jayden said with a sigh as the cargo bay door sealed.
“Where do you want to go?” Moira asked as they walked up to the cockpit.
“I don’t know…” Jayden said as she tugged on Moira’s arm and pulled her into an embrace. She looked deep into those beautiful green eyes. “Is there a planet with green oceans the color of your eyes?”
“I’m sure I can find one,” Moira said as she kissed Jayden’s tear-stained cheek. “Are you okay?”
Jayden gave Moira a quick kiss. “As long as I have you, everything is as it should be.”
“I love you,” Moira said as she hugged Jayden as tight as she could.
“I know.”
***
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