Igniting the Stars is the fourteenth installment in Sakaros's Untitled New Sith Wars series. Circumstances form an unlikely alliance of Sith and Jedi against an enemy to them all: the renegade Sith Lord and mass murderer, Darth Vandak.
Publisher's summary[]
Excerpt[]
| Source: Igniting the Stars | Attribution: Sakaros |
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A scream jolted Boryn Thalsyk and turned his sprint into a bent-forward lurch; he hit a decorative credenza in the corridor and went down hard, gasping in pain and clutching his knee. As he rolled on the floor, tears in his eyes, he heard the report of heavy blasters behind—the screams continued, but they were getting quieter. It took a few seconds of whimpering pain before he realized that was because fewer voices were making them; the realization had a remarkable palliative effect on his knee, and he clambered to his feet, limping on. It had admittedly been a good many years since Boryn had served in the Republic Navy, and if recalled to service he thought his fitness test prognosis would be grim and his uniform a few sizes too small. But he did not care to think of himself as a sedentary man, and abject terror had worked wonders for his ability to run besides. And so it was with considerable trepidation that he realized, even with half a dozen security guards fighting in the delaying action and no obstacles save stationary furniture to obstruct his sprint, he still might not make it. The dark did not help, of course; the assassin had cut the power. Where alarms should have blared, only screams served as advance warning of the monster that had come among them. Then there was only one voice, half-scream, half-war cry of defiance that drowned even the blaster fire. And then there was silence. The tall windows ahead looked out over a river and a public park; in daylight it was a lovely view, and at night the riverwalk lights sparkled on the water. Granted, the view was lost on Boryn, but he found himself looking that way—and giving a shriek two octaves higher than he had ever known his voice could go—when one window shattered inward and two figures swung through on cables. Landing before him and unhooking themselves with professional ease, they drew long hilts from sheathes on their backs and, with synchronized presses of power studs, produced razor-sharp blades on both ends. The blades trembled, though whether from vibration or the heat that made them glow like flame, Boryn did not know. Nor did he care. Accepting a hand up as the breeze ruffled his robe, he breathed freely at last. "Took you long enough! Where's the rest of the team?" "Holding off the second intruder, sir," one of the silver-eyed Echani said. Like all his people Boryn had ever know, the mercenary had white hair, a svelte physique, and armor so light it seemed almost decorative. "Step aside, please." Boryn hadn't known there was a second intruder, but he was no longer concerned. When the Chancellor's Office had rejected his request for a Jedi bodyguard—a request he now planned to renew, with what he thought was compelling new evidence—he had dipped into the fortune that years of service on corporate boards and in the advisory sector had amassed to hire bodyguards of his own. The Firedancers were said to be the last remnant of a sect so old it had become an archaism, but the same had been said of the Sith, and they seemed to be doing well enough for themselves. Huffing as he jogged past his mercenaries, Boryn reached the turbolift, but of course the buttons were dead. He turned instead and saw the two Echani advancing, whirling their burning weapons like double-bladed lightsabers. At first he thought they were merely adopting a defensive position, but then he saw his pursuer had caught up—had, indeed, come within meters without making a sound. Boryn had time for a sliver of trepidation before the fight began. | |
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| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
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Droid models
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Plot Summary[]
On Commenor, Governor Boryn Thalsyk flees from an assassin from Darth Alecto's Brotherhood of Shadows, but Thalsyk, the assassin, and Thalsyk's bodyguards all fall prey to the mad Darth Vandak. Darth Saleej, who has been allowing Vandak to ravage the Republic without interference, receives Lady Erinyes, a Sith Lord from the Furies, a secretive order tasked with eliminating rogue Sith. Erinyes gives Saleej the option to deal with Vandak or allow her to do so, but Darth Alecto persuades her master to tip the Jedi off and let them deal with it. Tirien Kal-Di and Narasi Rican receive the order on Alderaan, but are too far away to intervene in time.
Eight Jedi meet on Gyndine Shipyards: Jedi Master Kirthi; Jedi Knights Lishedra Nakaana, Lukkad, Grayv Proscuul, and Cienis Favand; and Padawans Elmir, Bekli, and Krajjey. Guided by Cienis, the Jedi Watchman of the Circarpous sector, the Jedi ambush Vandak in a large commercial area, but Vandak is clearly the superior swordsman and, despite his madness and taking several wounds, slowly but surely cuts down the Jedi, leaving only Elmir and Bekli. The two Padawans—who are also lovers—rely on their Force bond to fight on, and in the end they are able to kill Vandak.
Darth Saleej rewards Alecto with new Sith Acolytes and dark side adepts to reward her ingenuity, but though Erinyes departs from the Unquenchable Fire, on the way out she gives Alecto an alternative: service as one of the Furies. Tirien and Narasi receive the report, but are troubled by the omission of the six slain Jedi from the public story. Master Kussam Bnodd knights Elmir and Bekli, who plan their futures together as Knights.
Behind the Scenes[]
The dark is generous and it is patient and it always wins – but in the heart of its strength lies its weakness: one lone candle is enough to hold it back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars.
—Revenge of the Sith novelization
Igniting the Stars was named for the above quote from Matthew Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith.
Sakaros chose to include the Echani Firedancers in Igniting the Stars as a hat-tip to one of his favorite fanoneers ever.
Narasi's philosophy that Jedi could "get further with a kind word and a lightsaber than with just a kind word" is a reference to a quote (perhaps mistakenly) attributed to gangster Al Capone.
The climactic duel between the Jedi and Darth Vandak was originally envisioned exclusively as a lightsaber duel; Sakaros wound up incorporating a variety of dark side Force powers to demonstrate Vandak's mastery. In the duel itself, Vandak employs all nine marks of contact: sun djem (destroying one of Cienis's lightsabers), shiim (several times, including multiple times against Krajjey), shiak (stabbing Cienis through the head), cho mai (cutting off Lishedra's sword hand), cho sun (cutting off Kirthi's sword arm), cho mok (amputating, among other things, Elmir's leg and one of Lishedra's lethorns), sai cha (beheading Krajjey), sai tok (cutting Kirthi in half), and mou kei (sweeping off both of Krajjey's legs).
Tirien's comment that "Only fully trained Jedi, with the Force as their ally, could conquer Darth Vandak" is a take on a similar comment from Yoda to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.