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“Alpha group what is your status” demanded Lord Raze. “We have begun bombardment of the main Jedi Temple, my Lord, and soon it will be destroyed,” replied the commander over the intercom. “Excellent…excellent…” said Lord Raze. High above the Coruscant atmosphere, Lord Raze commanded his planetary strike force from the Star Destroyer Devastator. As Raze looked out of the view ports, he could clearly see many craft trying to escape the attack on Coruscant. “Admiral”, commanded Raze,” if any fleeing ships come within firing range, I want them vaporized.” “Yes, my Lord” replied the Admiral. As Raze continued to survey the progress of the attack, he was suddenly jolted by a shockwave that ripped through his senses in the Force. He reached out and felt that something on the planet was very wrong. He sensed death and destruction where his strike team was located, but not the death and destruction of those being attacked by them. Without hesitation, he picked up the comm link. “Give me a status update on the attack, Alpha group” demanded Raze. “Alpha group, I say again, what is your status…Alpha group come in…ALPHA!” “Sir” replied the comm. Lieutenant,” alpha’s signal is gone.” “Very well…get my shuttle ready Admiral” said Raze as he turned about towards the hangar in a deep-seeded anger.
In addition to the attack from the Sith Gunboats, a barrage of green and blue light rained down upon the Jedi Temple. However, this wasn’t meant to destroy the temple. This was the group of 30 Jedi who had come to defend their sacred grounds. With slashes here and cuts there, they easily discarded of the Sith Gunboats. The Jedi were able to achieve this because the craft hovered just low enough for them to jump at them and strike in mid-air. “That seems to be the last of them,” said Zacom. “Very good” replied Lord Rusan. As she looked over the damage caused to the great temple, she wondered how it was that this attack had managed to elude her senses. This was the second event that escaped her senses in the Force. Zacom, looking over at Rusan, notices her look of extreme worry, and reached out to probe Lord Rusan’s feelings. Finally after a brief moment, she spoke to Rusan. “My Lord”, she said,” surely there is an explanation and a reason why we could not foresee this. Nevertheless my Lord…I did…have a dream that foretold of this event as well. I was just very reluctant to mention it earlier.” Impossible! Had Soran acquired the power of premonition? Rusan found herself questioning her faith in the Force yet again because of a disclosure by Zacom. “Perhaps your powers are not as attuned as you believe them to be, Lord Rusan,” mused Zacom. Sensing the arrogance and smug demeanor in her voice, Rusan turned to face Zacom. “Soran Zacom stand down. I will not allow a lower-ranking Jedi to doubt my ability as Jedi Lord. Young Zacom…you must learn to discipline your emotions as I have told you many times before. Your crude ambition also leads me to believe that you are dabbling in the dark side, young one. Given that my powers of premonition are near useless right now, only if you were a part of the dark side could you see the future as you do.” Shocked at this allegation, Zacom calmly responded “Careful Lord Rusan…now it is your thoughts that betray you. Remember that my premonitions came in dream form. I did not will them on my own.” Realizing that young Zacom was somewhat correct, Rusan merely gave her a nod of acknowledgement and said “Correct you are, young Zacom. I apologize, for in these uncertain times I am prone to cling to anything tangible that explains the rising power of the dark side.” “Apology accepted, Lord Rusan,” replied Zacom. Out of the sky came a sharp noise that pierced the moment of understanding between the two Jedi. All of the Jedi looked up and saw a single gunboat descending upon them. As soon as it was close enough, it seemed that they all leapt into the air, one after another, to cut this new intruder down. As each approached the vehicle in mid-air, they were violently thrown back away from it by some unseen force. Zacom, among those who attempted to attack the gunboat, landed on the ground hard. Dazed, she tried to stand up. She noticed blurry gunboat land for a few seconds, then speed off just as fast as it had come. As she finally regained her vision moments later, she saw a solitary black robed figure standing across the way from her and the other Jedi. “Hold your places” demanded Lord Rusan of the other Jedi. “Ahhh…you must be Lord Rusan” said the figure. “You have no idea how long I have waited to finally meet you and how for even longer I have wanted to destroy you. But that will come in time. I am merely here now to…display…my superiority over you and the Jedi Order.” “Reveal yourself fiend so that we may know the name and face of that whom we are about banish to eternal rest,” yelled Lord Rusan. “Hmmm…a simple enough request” said the figure as it removed its hood. “I am Darth Raze…Dark Lord of the Sith and heir of the lineage of Darth Vader. If I were you, Lord Rusan, I would learn the name well, for it is the clarion call of your death!” “I don’t think so…”said Lord Rusan with a steel resolve. She raised her hand to signal all the Jedi to ignite their lightsabers. And then she signaled the Jedi to attack. With a sly grin and a calm about him, Raze reached over to tap a few buttons, which lay on a wrist apparatus he was wearing. Then in a swift motion, he wrought his open palms into the air above his head, as if summoning something from above. A dark energy field promptly enveloped him thereafter. The Jedi halted their charge, stunned at this newfound Sith power. And then the fire came from the heavens. Like a grand hailstorm, green blasts of energy descended down as rain upon the Jedi. They all ran for cover or tried to summon enough power to cast Force Protection over themselves. Raze then let out a maniacal laugh that made Lord Rusan cringe internally as she ran for cover.
After a few minutes when the hailstorm of green fire had subsided, the dust cleared and revealed the ground. It was littered with the bodies of dead Jedi who had succumbed to the blasts. Slowly, two bodies emerged form among the dead. Lord Rusan and young Zacom were still alive, hurt, but alive. Lord Rusan suffered a crippling injury, but Zacom had only been struck lightly in the arm. Rusan, too weak to even pick herself up, bade Zacom to fend off Darth Raze. This was quite a large task to ask of a newly knighted Jedi, but Zacom was bound by Jedi Oath to protect her leader. She got up and turned to face Raze. All the while, he had been standing there watching Rusan and Zacom. She felt a pang of rage flow through her as she looked upon Raze, the Dark Lord. “Surely, young Zacom, you don’t wish to duel me. I never looked upon you as being that foolish” said Raze in a mocking tone. “We will see who the foolish one is after I separate that ugly head of yours from your shoulders, Raze” replied Zacom. “My, my…such talk coming from a Jedi…especially after what happened on Zaloriis V” said Raze. I don’t expect you to back down, Raze,” said Zacom, her anger growing ever larger. “Very true young one,” said Raze as he ignited his darksabre. “I don’t back down from a challenge, though I doubt you will be much of one.” As Zacom ignited her blue blade, she and Raze began to circle each other. “Again I ask…do you remember what happened on Zaloriis V all those years ago” asked Lord Raze. Zacom silently acknowledged with a wincing movement. “Ah yes…I can see it now as if it were yesterday. Your foolish twin Joran. He thought he could defeat me in a duel, much like you believe you can right now. Muahahahaha. I’m sure you remember how that ended.” Zacom felt the rage inside her reach a boiling point as she tried to exude calmness. “I can sense your anger, young Jedi…and I know of your libations into the dark side. I have a secret that I have wanted to tell you young one. I HAD THE HONOR OF TAKING JORAN’S HEAD AND THRUSTING IT ON A SPIKE FOR ALL TO SEE!” And with that, she snapped. Zacom charged hard at the Sith, but he merely dodged her advance. She then calmed herself and turned to face Raze after she missed. The crack of lightning filled the air as their lightsabres met. Zacom was out of control, and Raze found it easy to parry and dodge her strikes. When his sabre locked into hers, he took the opportunity to mock her again. “Soran Zacom…you disappoint me. Your sabre skills are quite superior, yet you lack the control necessary to be a master swordsman. You shall suffer the same fate as your brother!” Then Raze quickly pulled out of the sabre lock and before Zacom could react, he thrust his blade right through her leg. With an ear-splitting scream, Zacom hit the ground hard and was paralyzed by excruciating pain. With a grin and a laugh, Raze positioned himself above her and positioned his blade right at her throat. “You are quite lucky, young Jedi. If I did not have more pressing business to attend to, I would remove your head right now…as I did your twin brother. You shall live to fight another day, but be warned…if you fight like this the next time we meet, you will meet your end swiftly and easily.” With a flick of his wrist, Raze deactivated his sabre. The gunboat arrived quickly and picked him up. Raze then sped off for orbit and for the Devastator. Zacom, confused yet somewhat in awe by Lord Raze, collapsed flat onto the ground in pain and exhaustion. As she looked at the lavender sky above her, she could slowly feel her consciousness slipping away.
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