LOTF: Resurgence/Chapter 7

Decien watched from the helm of a Star Destroyer as he emerged from hyperspace over the red planet of Dathomir, quickly followed by several other Star Destroyers and an Interdictor cruiser. "The fleet is ready, sir." Sumad's voice informed Decien.

"Good. Begin the assault."

As Decien made his way to his ship, his plan went into motion. The Interdictor raised its field, preventing any ships from making hyperspace jumps. Three dozen TIE Fighters were also launched to capture Qorbin and the rebels. The rest of Decien's fleet, mostly Star Destroyers filled with TIE Bombers, would lie in wait to destroy the temple of the Nightsisters after he was finished with it.

As for Decien, he had a simple plan to get the information he needed, via a technique he had in fact developed during his time with Qorbin. He was able to extract information from a victim's mind as they approached the brink of death, and, in theory, he could get everything they knew when they died. Decien knew he was powerful and he had been trained well; the Nightsisters would not pose a threat to him.

Decien walked into his small, private hangar where his polished, black TIE Advanced awaited him. This was his fighter of choice, and he had named it the Phantom Stride, due to its nearly unmatchable speed and advanced cloaking system. The hatch on top opened, and he leapt up into it, landing swiftly into the pilot's seat inside. He closed the hatch and then began to ready the fighter for takeoff, before he lifted off the deck of the hangar and exited, heading for the surface below.

...

The Star Destroyers came out of nowhere, with almost no warning. One second, Ranulph had been simply cruising the skies, monitoring Yula and Ghenste's conversation, and the next, he'd had to quickly take the reins of the Fortune Destroyer to engage the groups of fighters pursuing him. Praxon and Asura were manning turrets, but the TIE Fighters' pilots were clearly good, and they had a significant numbers advantage.

He careened through the sky, performing all sorts of dodges and spins and turns at angles he would never have even conceived performing such maneuvers at while green and red lasers danced around him. In the cockpit, at the co-pilot's seat, was Hans, who was now using the comlink. "Yula," he shouted, "We need to get you now!"

"I'm hurrying!" Yula responded.

A bolt hit the ship from the right side, sending the Fortune Destroyer briefly spinning off to the left before Ranulph regained control, miraculously not taking any additional fire. The shields were still up, for now, but there was no way he could make it. Ahead of him, he saw one of the gunners score a direct hit on a TIE, only for another to immediately swoop in, firing as though nothing had happened. "I'm really open to suggestions right now!" Hans yelled to Ranulph, panicked.

"Hang on!" Ranulph responded, albeit somewhat redundantly by this point. He brought the ship to a straight vertical climb, spinning horizontally as Cade and Asura picked off TIEs on either side. ''"I'm in position!" ''Yula told him. Ranulph tightened his grip on the throttle, then pushed it all the way forwards. Diverting as much power as possible to shields and letting gravity accelerate his fall, Ranulph steeled himself for the stunt he was about to pull off. The ground approached closer and closer until finally Ranulph leveled the ship up and opened the bottom ramp. Hans opened a small camera feed zoomed in on the Temple, where Yula stood waiting with her lightsaber drawn. "What the..?" Hans gasped. He zoomed out the camera to reveal the Inquisitor, clad in full red and white robes, approaching Yula with his crimson double-bladed lightsaber drawn.

"Yula-- what's going on down there?" Ranulph frantically called her.

"Abort! Abort! Get out while you still can!" Yula demanded. Ranulph closed the ramp and flew past the duo as shots flew past once more. However, he wasn't giving up that easily. He turned the ship again and took aim at the Inquisitor as he fired, coming within range. "Three...two...one..." Ranulph launched a proton torpedo.

The man turned towards the ship and raised both of his hands, and Ranulph actually saw a kinetic wave approach the ship and torpedo and suddenly freeze in the air, shoving Hans and Ranulph hard against their harnesses, as well and causing several loud crashes and bangs in the back of the ship. "This isn't working, Ranulph!" Hans exclaimed. Ranulph quickly pressed his thrusters to full power and pulled on his throttle, but the ship refused to budge as the man slowly turned the proton torpedo with the Force. Shots poured in left and right, and the shields went down almost immediately; the shots then stopped, and a swarm of TIE fighters flew around the Fortune Destroyer. Suddenly, the Inquisitor was cut off by Yula rushing towards him to engage in a lightsaber duel, and he let the ship go, sparing it from the torpedo but sending it into the horde of TIEs.

...

On the surface, Decien quickly parried a series of swift strikes from Yula. His stunt on the rebel ship had left him somewhat drained for energy, but he couldn't let up now. He retaliated with blows of his own, sending Yula on the defensive, looking for any weakness in her defenses he could exploit. Before he could find it, a wave of hooded women-- Nightsisters-- ran out of the temple's entrance and attacked with bows and scimitars, providing Yula an opportunity to escape. This attack, however, presented Decien with an equally, if not more important opportunity. Two Nightsisters charged at him and Decien shocked one with lightning, paralyzing her as he decapitated the other swiftly. He raced towards the other one, quickly putting up a weak barrier in the Force to prevent any interruptions, and choked the life out of the Nightsister as he probed her mind for information. However, instead of anything inside her mind, Decien instead felt another entity curiously watching him back, then nothing as the Nightsister passed on. He let the body go and again immersed himself in combat, deciding to find the source. At last, Decien stood in front of a field of corpses, at the threshold of the Dathomir Temple.

"We've captured the rebels, sir." Sumad's voice chimed in.

"Good. Bring them home. I'm almost done here." Decien ordered.

He proceeded forward into the temple, down dark orange hallways while Nightsisters attacked from the shadows but never managed to so much as touch him. Along the way he tried to tap into the minds of a few more, only to feel that same presence blocking him out, and now that he was in the Temple, he felt it at the same time luring him in. At last he found himself in the flame-lit enclave where Yula kneeled in the middle of the room, facing him as she meditated. Watching from afar behind him was a Nightsister, but Decien could feel this one was the one whose presence he had been following. She was an unforeseen factor in his plans, but she didn't seem to be interfering in this fight.

"Greetings," Yula welcomed calmly him. "I am Yula Ardinn, Jedi Master and Keeper of the Binding."

Perfect.

Yula continued. "I don't know who you are or who you serve. I don't know why you tortured Sen Qorbin or why you've hunted me down here, but I will promise you this: I will not allow you to succeed." She stood, activating her lightsaber and preparing for her final battle. "Destiny is on my side. What chance do you have?"

Decien chuckled as he drew his lightsaber and ignited it, casting a crimson glow across his body. "My name is Decien, and I serve the Emperor. I know of the Shadow Assassins and the Binding, and I know this, Yula Ardinn: Destiny is not on your side. It is on mine."

Decien glanced back at the Nightsister, who continued to watch silently. However, he felt no threat from her now merely curiosity. Both he and Yula entered combat stances and tensed up, gathering energy for the fight ahead. Decien already knew what the outcome of this fight would be; Yula had been on the retreat since he had arrived, but she would not go easy.

He attacked violently from the very beginning of the fight, attacking Yula with a flurry of spinning strikes that she could barely defend against. Sparks from deflected strikes quickly flew left and right as the clashes of the lightsabers echoed in the chamber. Eventually their sabers locked, Decien's pushing straight down on Yula's, the yellow glow covering part of her face. "Ghenste!" She yelled. "Help me!" Ghenste merely laughed, but Yula gave a powerful shove that sent Decien stumbling back. Yula moved in to attack, but Decien quickly fired off lightning she was forced to absorb with her lightsaber, leaving them again in a moment not peaceful but without an attack.

Decien pieced together an idea of Yula's weakness, not one of physique, but mentality. "Why do you think she laughs, Yula?" he asked. Yula refused to reply, instead gripping her saber harder and rushing Decien with attacks. Her attacks were rushed and sloppy, and easily parried, but they came in such rapid speed that he was unable to do anything but retreat until at last Yula had backed him up against a wall. She quickly raised her saber and lowered it incredibly fast, almost catching Decien off guard. He quickly rolled out of the way and Force pushed Yula hard, sending her careening across the room past Ghenste into the opposite wall. She took the impact with full force, her lightsaber deactivating and falling out of her hand, and didn't rise up again.

Decien cautiously approached her, holding his lightsaber to her neck as he waited for any sign of consciousness. Finding none, he deactivated his weapon, clipping it onto his belt, and took hers. He turned to Ghenste with Yula's lightsaber still drawn and approached her. "She's not important to you, is she?" His question was met with no answer, which was exactly what he had been expecting. "Who are you?" he asked.

She chuckled. "It matters little. Through you the prophecy will come to pass."

Decien walked closer. "What prophecy?"

She gestured to Yula's body. "You'll know."

Decien activated the lightsaber, now merely a foot away from her. "I won't play your games. Tell me or I'll find out the hard way, witch."

Ghenste smiled emptily, a hideous act that extended the drawings across her face. Enough was enough. Decien stabbed her through the gut, reaching for her temple with his left hand to take her memories. However, instead, he only felt her mocking presence echoing at him from afar once more as it blocked him from her mind. Confused, he retracted himself and discovered in the Force that Ghenste, though her body was still dying, was no longer there. "What?" He muttered to himself. After a brief moment, he opened another comm channel with Sumad.

"Sumad, we're through with this place. I'll be returning shortly."

"Copy that, Decien. We'll be waiting."

The captain had heard his name. Interesting that he would be listening, moreso that he would reveal it. Contemplating this along with other things, Decien picked up Yula's body and began to carry her back to his ship.