Lightsaber sizzled against lightsaber, echoing out to the empty wastes of Korriban.

Inside one of the many sand-buried temple, green clashed against blue fast enough to blind. The air inside the mausoleum was stale, and sand rose as the two men spun and jumped around – each seeking advantage over the other.

Suddenly, they stopped. The one wielding a green lightsaber spun it on his hand, his blue eyes never leaving his adversary. He had red-brown hair, specked with the dust that seemed to cover everything in Korriban, and his robes – befitting a Jedi knight – were burned through and caked with sand.

Kyle Katarn took a deep breath, and let the force gush in again. The light side filled him – his love, his care and all the good feelings of humanity condensed, and turned into a ray of pure white energy. He sent it darting towards the young man before him.

Jaden Korr swung, catching the fork of Force Shock on his lightsaber. Fueling the hate inside him, he charged at Katarn, swinging his blade with one hand. The strikes went lightning fast, and the light illuminated the chamber again. The young Jedi - ex-Jedi – Knight darted again, changing stances and hammering down his former master's defense.

Suddenly, Kyle recovered, blocked a wild, falling swing, and held the blade there. He pressed the advantage and kicked Jaden hard on the gut, putting the Force behind the blow and pushing him away. The young man flew away, towards the cracked stairs of the Sith statue of Marka Ragnos. The Dark Jedi eased his fall with his powers, but still went down with force enough to crack a rib. Wincing, he extended himself again on the dark side, using his anger to fuel his hate, and his hate to fuel his healing. Jaden rose to his feet, still holding his lit lightsaber.

"Stop this, Jaden." It was Kyle's voice. His master had not moved, and his lightsaber was turned off. He walked with a sure pace towards his fallen apprentice. He looked to the side, to the mangled body of Tavion. "She is dead. Ragnos won't come back. It's over. Come back with us."

The dark Jedi felt his anger boil – anger without purpose, with so many reasons it turned into nothing at all. His voice was hoarser, and his irises flashed yellow – all with the power of his hate, that reverbed through the Force like a comm-transmitter sending a primal shriek on the highest volume. "Why should I, Kyle?! I'm tired of having masters, I'm tired of obeying – I'm tired of you, you old sack of useless knowledge!" He leapt again, his blade coming down at the Jedi's face.

Kyle felt the motion on the Force, and ignited his lightsaber. He blocked once, twice, but then the green blade made an unexpected turn and sheared him on the left wrist. His skin felt like it was cut with a thermic laser, and he barely had the time to swing around and block Jaden again. The dark Jedi smelled fear, smelled weakness – and swung repeatedly, battering his old master down. Katarn retreated, and Jaden swung in a wide arc – catching his blade with full strength and sending it flying away. Katarn found himself unarmed, and facing his angry apprentice. Concentrating with all his strength and centering on the Force, and moved forward.

As much of a celebrity Jaden was in the Academy for his lightsaber skills, he was still lacking in corporal combat. Kyle held his ex-apprentice's wrist as the blade fell in another attack, and blocked the other one that darted forward in a punch. Korr felt his wrist snap, and screamed with rage and pain. He dropped his lightsaber, and the green blade disappeared on the way down. Not losing a moment, however, he brought his head forward, and Katarn felt his eyes fill with tears as the head-butt broke his nose. He pushed Jaden away again with the Force, and he slid back a few steps. Again, they battled over control over one another. Kyle took the opportunity again.

"Jaden, Tavion is dead, and her Sith are disbanded. I know you're angry, but we can stop this now!"

Jaden shook his head. He still heard the voice of Luke Skywalker lecturing him to suppress his anger and draw force from his good feelings, but there were none to be had. He had been betrayed, and killed his best friend over a fit of rage. Now, this was the only way he saw. He felt a pinch of remorse, but replaced it with more blind anger. He brought his arm up, the broken wrist still sending blazes up his nerves, and forced a grip around Katarn's throat. "I'm past that now, Kyle." The surprised Jedi Master failed to react in time, and Jaden pushed him away. Kyle sailed through the air, landing hard against a pillar, feeling his chest shake and his wounded wrist hurt even more.

The Dark Jedi then extended himself on the Force, motioning for the Scepter of Ragnos. It flew towards his open hand. There was so much raw, untamed power inside the staff that Jaden felt his lips curl into an involuntary smile. The Force flowed through him, and his wrist popped back in place, his ribs mended perfectly; he felt like he was fresh out of an entire day inside a bacta tank. He thrust the staff on the air, against the rocks above Kyle, and a ray of scarlet lightning destroyed the masonry.

The broken stones fell over the Jedi Master, forming a huge cloud of dust. In the Force, Jaden felt Kyle's surprise. It turned into pain, despair… Then, nothing.

Smiling again, Jaden extended himself on the Force again. Victorious, he took more energy from the scepter, and blew a way out of the pyramid. With a jump, he started on the way back to the light.

A burly man, clad in pieces of plastoid armor and dark-brown clothing, jumped after the figure clad in black. A green lightsaber snapped into life, and from the attacker's hands, a red one. Kal, the last of the Reborn masters, swung his lightsaber with the potency of his muscles, aiming to crush Luke's defense.

It was of no use. Skywalker dodged the blow easily, and with a sure swing, cut the emitter clean off Kal's weapon. The Dark Jedi stood there, dumbfounded, and backed off a few steps. "Surrender. This is your only chance." Luke would never kill an unarmed man. But he knew that any Reborn that survived this long possessed many more ways to kill than using a lightsaber.

Kal grinned, and put his hands up… Only to bring them down, flashing blue Force Lightning. The Jedi Master did not even flinch; he caught the forks with his lightsaber, and closed in for the kill. In an instant, a head went flying to a side, and the air was filled with the stench of scorched meat. Closing his eyes for a moment, in respect for the life he took, Luke Skywalker nodded, and kept walking through the complex of tunnels that laid under the sands of the Valley of the Sith Lords. By his side, Jedi Knight Kyp Durron lit the way ahead with a glow rod. Luke extended himself on the Force, feeling the remaining Cultists of Ragnos running towards the Jedi presences, or running away from the carnage. They all had felt Tavion's death, and the following chaos that succeeded their mistress' killing. Most had embarked shuttles towards the unnamed Imperial-II-Class Star Destroyer that orbited the planet, but many were still rooted in the Valley. Jedi Knights ran the perimeter up and down, accompanied by Masters, wary against surprises. So far, none had died.

At least, none against the Cultists.

Jaden Korr, however, had turned to the Dark Side on Taspir-III. He had been a prodigy student, strong with the Force and terrific with a lightsaber. At least half a dozen Jedi Knights had stood in his way to Ragnos' tomb, and they all suffered a terrible death at his hands. It didn't help Luke's conscience that twice that number of Cultists had also met their end on his blade.

Luke stopped for a moment, and put his face between his hands. He immersed himself in thought and meditation in the Force, thinking where he failed with the young man full of potential that had arrived at the Academy with a lightsaber crafted already, so eager to be a Jedi.

He was shaken off his thoughts, however, when he felt Kyle Katarn stop on the Force. He stopped for a moment, unable to breathe, and then felt that he was still alive – only unconscious. And probably very hurt. He then felt a great disturbance – the large, sudden bursts of Force energy that came from Ragnos' tomb.

- Luke… - Started Kyp. He frowned with concentration, feeling Katarn's apparent demise.

- I feel it too, Kyp. – He assured the Jedi Knight. -Let's hurry. - With the Force, he augmented his speed, followed closely by the Jedi Knight, kicking the sand on the enclosed space. Suddenly, however, their way was blocked by red lightsabers, as three cultists descended from an ambush spot. Another one, hidden away, threw a thermal detonator through a small gap on the stone, but with a simple exertion on the Force, Luke launched it back the way it came from. He rushed ahead, ready to escape the radius of the explosion and debris, and realized that Kyp could not come with him – he was already dueling a cultist ferociously, while the two others came at Luke.

- Look out! – Skywalker pushed Durron away, back to the corridor they had come from. The Cultists stood, confused, until the baradium detonated and the tunnel was filled with blinding white light. Debris fell down, blocking the way between Knight and Master.

– Kyp! You allright? – Luke coughed after some moments, as the dust settled down.

- I'm fine, Luke. – He heard the young Jedi Knight cough too. – Listen…

- I know. Kyle is in trouble. – Luke clipped the lightsaber to his belt, and took a deep breath. – Find your way back to the X-Wings, will you? I have a Master to help.

- Carl?

- Huh?

- Are any X-Wings supposed to be flying away now?

The two tripulants of the ChaseMaster anti-fighter spaceship that orbited Korriban sat on the small, cramped control bridge. Carl, a bearded man wearing a Corellian coat, slid his chair half a meter to go side by side with his fellow gunner. He frowned as he saw the sensor detect a quickly rising craft.

- With that speed, it can only be a starfighter. We know that the Remnant doesn't have anything that fast. Must be a Jedi.

- This soon? They were all supposed to fly off together after noting us at least an hour in advance.

Carl sighed. Greenhorn. – Okay. Check the transponder code, then.

The man nodded slowly. He tapped away at a screen, and a series of names showed up. – It is registered as the "Crow's Beak"… However, the system shows it up as a cover-up name for Jaden Korr's zee-ninety-five Headhunter.

-See? Jedi. Now don't break comm silence. Keep watching. – He rolled his chair back to his spot at the weapons array.

Kyle Katarn, bruised, burned, wounded and feeling a whole galaxy's worth of pain, stirred under the rocks. The movement sent a jolt through his torso, warning him that so many ribs were broken that he might have punctured an organ. He decided to keep still, and expand his presence in the Force – carefully, as to not let Jaden know he was still alive. After some moments, however, he noticed that he was already far away. Must have taken a starfighter. Must… Must warn… Luke. He tried to exert himself in the Force, to heal some of the damage done on him, but he suddenly felt weaker than ever – not only because of his battered body, but his broken heart. Jaden was like a son, the kid he never had. Now his hopes felt like they had been stripped, thrown on the floor and stomped on by a rancor.

A Light Courier dropped down on a stone landing pad, the whine of its engines dying slowly. The sand of Korriban was thrown around in a whirlwind, until it too died and the Valley of the Dark Lords fell into silence again. The cockpit opened, and a small woman with an oversized blaster rifle dropped from it. She punched a locking sequence on a control panel, and then dropped down. Blowing a lock of hair from her face, she stared at the man waiting for her.

Jan Ors frowned. She expected Kyle to come greet her, and perhaps that apprentice of his. Instead, she was welcomed by a tall, bearded man, with the looks of a Corellian. A lightsaber hung on his belt, and by the calm confidence he exhaled, it was obvious – a Jedi Master. She hung the rifle back on her shoulders and waved a hand at him. "Ayo."

He nodded at her. "Hello, Miss Ors. How was the trip?"

She snorted. "As good as it can get. Where's Kyle?" Straight to the point. She did hate lollygagging. The Jedi Master, however, hesitated. It was no more than a slight flinch, but enough to make the pilot narrow her eyes in wariness.

"Kyle is… hurt, Miss." His tone bristled with Corellian accent. She snorted again, this time in rage. From that tone, Kyle might already be on his way to a graveyard. Punching the safety lock on the blaster rifle, she shook her head.

"What are you waiting for, then? Take me to him! And I swear, if you Jedi had him lose an arm or the sort, I'll take double from each of you!" The man raised an eyebrow. He nodded quietly, however, and started walking towards a tall, looming entrance. Jan, with no other choice, followed him, always trying, unsuccessfully, to feel Kyle through the Force – as he said he loved to do with her.

She was surprised about how clean the medical field was – In such a sandstorm, not even vacuum-closed cockpits seemed to avoid freckles of sand. Something felt wrong, however – mainly on how the Jedi behaved. One Twi'lek Jedi was crying hopelessly on a corner, over a body covered by a sheet. A Rodian, dressed in the same robes, consoled her. As she followed the Master through the tent, she counted at least nine bodies – all who seemed from Jedi, from the scraps of robe she saw. Next to the corner, black-robed Master Luke Skywalker sat on a cot, next to a lightly-built Mon Calamari, and – oh.

Kyle was bloodied in all the wrong places, his torso and left arm completely immobilized, and his face – oh, his nose was crushed and an ugly puncture, now sutured, marked his forehead. She refrained herself from lifting him from that bed and hugging him, but not from letting the tears stream down. "Who did this to him?" No one answered. Skywalker put his head down, hands on his temples, silent. "By the Force, if whoever did this to him isn't dead, I swear I'm getting on the Raven right now and I'm going to hunt that karking son of a bantha to the depths of-" She ran out of breath, and could only sob. Kyle was hurt like never before. She felt someone guide her out of the tent, and surprisingly, found herself going along.