Revenge of the Jedi is the twentieth installment in Sakaros's Untitled New Sith Wars series. After the Battle of Eriadu, Tirien Kal-Di, Raven Kaivalt, and their allies plan to take the fight to Vedya Gasald.
Opening Crawl[]
Excerpt[]
| Source: Revenge of the Jedi | Attribution: Sakaros |
|
Cold. So cold. The malevolence of Docharvee, Eriadu's only moon, was subtle. Though too thin to support indigenous life of its own, Dorcharvee's atmosphere was the right mix of breathable gases for most sentients; standing still, one could perhaps exist indefinitely with no greater inconvenience than a slight shortness of breath, and even moving about the daily activities of life, the worst a fit being would endure was an occasional need to pause for as deep of breaths as possible. The rocky terrain just barely covered the rich veins of ore that, in eras past, had gone a long way toward feeding Eriadu's insatiable appetite for raw materials its planet-spanning factories could consume to excrete industrial goods. The thin atmosphere, too, meant weaker weather to trouble the prefabricated colony buildings that had expanded into prefabricated cityscapes, harvesting and concentrating oxygen to provide for Docharvee's mining towns and the facilities that grew up to accommodate them. Docharvee would be no one's vacation destination, but there were far worse places a mining crew could get assigned, and even a casual spacefarer who landed on the moon could manage a decent time if she stayed inside air-rich buildings or moved from one to the next at a meandering pace. Not so for a hunted Jedi. A Jedi Knight could not enter any building on Docharvee—not when the whole system had been subjected to news of Lord Darshkére's triumph over the Republic alongside his new master, and their jointly-offered bounties for any captured Republic prisoners or Jedi. A Jedi could not afford to stroll from one craggy dune to the next; bounty hunters had come to Darshkére's call like piranha beetles, and while most of them were combing the debris between Eriadu and Dorcharvee, several had seen the pockmarks and craters still smoking on the moon's surface and understood that not every Republic agent had fought the battle to its end—or been able to. A Jedi would have to flee at fast, even Forceful pace, day after day, straining the body's reserves all the while; a Jedi Knight could focus the body to process air more efficiently than any Forceless being, but not forever. In the end, Docharvee itself need only be what it was; a Jedi Knight's own body would kill itself, the breakdown and backup of biological byproducts poisoning the system until it reached critical failure. For the casual visitor Docharvee was palatable, if not pleasant, but for a hunted Jedi it was death. And death was cold. | |
Segments[]
Appearances[]
| Characters | Creatures | Droid models | Events | Locations |
| Organizations and titles | Sentient species | Vehicles and vessels | Weapons and technology | Miscellanea |
Characters
Dramatis personae
|
Other characters
|
Creatures
|
Droid models
|
Events
|
Locations
|
Organizations and titles
|
Sentient species
|
Vehicles and vessels
|
Weapons and technology
Miscellanea
Plot Summary[]
Aboard the Crescentia in the midst of the Battle of Eriadu, Slejux Nissatak attempts to reach the hangar bay, but foresees he will die there. Knowing he is lost either way, he returns to his quarters, using his last moments to protect Jedi Master Kwhuel's holocron with the Force.
Six days later, Tirien Kal-Di and Narasi Rican reel from the news of the massacre. Raven Kaivalt offers them sanctuary on Pelagon, but, against his advice, the Jedi proceed to Eriadu to search for survivors; their companions, former Sith apprentice Zaella Sabir and Jedi Service Corps deserter Jirdo Yushari, agree to accompany them. On the way, Tirien realizes that Ayson Sokos, whom he recruited from his homeworld, died at Eriadu, and enters a state of catatonic depression. Narasi takes command of the mission and successfully retrieves Kwhuel's holocron and orchestrates the rescue of Jedi Knight Yan Razam.
The Second Chance arrives on Pelagon, where Baron Miklato Kaivalt gives the group shelter at his family's ancestral island residence, Inimă Eserzennae. When the Jedi High Council instructs the Knights to stay in place, planning a defensive strategy rather than a counterattack, Yan, Tirien, and Raven all come to support a targeted assassination mission against Vedya Gasald. They are opposed by Raven's sister Raina, who believes they are honor-bound to obey and trust the High Council. Baron Kaivalt arranges a meeting with Master Chiron Brascel, High Lord of House Pelagia, who authorizes House Pelagia's Jedi Knights to participate in the mission; he does not command it, but intends to go himself, and his old friend and fellow lord, Lezascan Wisté, plans to go too. The Kaivalt family is split on the mission: Miklato and his brother, Vinton; Raina; and Vinton's daughters Kaelora and Cesylee refuse to participate, while Raven and Vinton's son Gaebrean plan to go. The group also includes Lezascan's son, Amaani, and his former Padawan, Sir Kobold Baliss.
Conflicts abound as Zaella, who has become Gaebrean's lover, joins the mission too; Tirien stands by her even as her participation drives Kaelora and Cesylee away. Tirien and Raina Kaivalt also argue; Raina believes Zaella remains committed to the dark side and is frustrated by Zaella's conflicts with her Padawan, Renata, while Tirien believes Raina's callousness and mistrust impede his attempts to redeem Zaella. Tirien works privately with Zaella to patch the "holes" Tarni Hadan put in her natural mental shields, but their closeness riles Narasi. Jirdo struggles to keep up with the group, feeling he is a naturally poorer Jedi. Tirien's old friend Harshee Nefkin joins the mission at his request, and though Mali Darakhan is unable to personally come to Tirien's aid, he sends a Republic Intelligence special operations team to them instead. The Jedi dispatch the spies to Allanteen to obtain schematics and boarding codes for Gasald's flagship, the Kiss of Death, while Harshee and Sir Kobold form a secondary team whose objective is to destroy the ship.
Meanwhile, Lord Celop Faro, Gasald's chief of intelligence, has grown frustrated with the favor Gasald shows to Darshkére, her newest Sith Lord, who defected to her and helped orchestrate the Battle of Eriadu. Faro approaches Gasald with word of the assassination mission, having been approached himself by a traitor from the ranks. Gasald opts to allow them to reach Allanteen for a chance to kill Tirien Kal-Di, one of the Jedi who disrupted her plans on Milagro a year and a half before.
The strike team's preparations continue, but become more aggressive and dangerous as the Jedi try to prepare for whatever the Sith Lords might throw at them. Jirdo confides to Zaella his fears that the dark side is infecting the preparations, though Zaella is unconvinced. At prodding from Raven and Tirien, Raina approaches Zaella, telling her of Donarius Kaivalt's fall and Kansa Rocca's redemption, and warning her that redemption does not just happen—it must be sought. Aboard the Kiss of Death, Republic spy Vesta is killed by Imperial agents, but not before passing off the codes to the droid B7-Q4, which relays them down to Allanteen, whence they are sent to Tirien.
Armed with the codes, Tirien orders the strike team to depart. Zaella tries to warn Narasi about the group leaning on the dark side, but Narasi is offended and resentful. After Kobold Baliss changed his mind and refused to participate in the sabotage team, Jirdo agrees to accompany the mission and help Harshee instead, and Miklato sends Bernius to help protect Raven and Gaebrean. Tirien sends a final notice of his action to Argus Z'dar and Kussam Bnodd.
Aboard the Allanteen shipyards, Tirien, Raven, Zaella, and Bernius discover they are expected, but Jarkun'eir'saikal, one of Z'dar's Gray Jedi Knights, has eliminated Celop Faro's hit squad to clear their path. Faro realizes it too late to stop the Second Chance from boarding the Kiss of Death, and Gasald organizes a hasty defense. The strike team divides aboard the ship, with Jirdo, Harshee, and a begrudging Bernius intent on sabotaging the destroyer's reactor while the other Jedi head to confront Gasald.
Though they reach Gasald's throne room, the Jedi are horrified when she reveals they were expected because Lezascan Wisté sold them out in return for her sparing him, Amaani, Kobold, and the Tapani sector. Kobold, who was reluctantly in on the betrayal, tries to persuade Amaani, who was not, but Amaani attacks Gasald. As battle erupts, she kills him.
The sabotage team cuts through a first Sith patrol, but realizes the sabotage team is expected as well. Bee Seven contacts them by shipboard comm, offering to help them if they rescue Neeric, the other Republic spy, who is being held aboard. The sabotage team successfully frees Neeric from Imperial detention and reroutes to destroy the Kiss of Death's shield generators; a battle has erupted at Allanteen, and they believe exposing the ship might be their best chance to destroy it.
In Gasald's throne room, Gasald and her Sith and White Guards fight the survivors of the Jedi strike team, abetted by Lezascan Wisté and Kobold Baliss. Using her manipulative powers, Gasald picks at several of their fears and turns Narasi against Zaella, but Gaebrean is able to intervene in time before he is killed by Baliss. Raven strikes down Celop Faro and challenges Baliss, disarming him, then killing him when he tries to recover his lightsaber. Lord Brascel and Jarkun die fighting Gasald, but after an immense struggle, Tirien overpowers her, though only by leaning on the dark side himself. Zaella finally makes Narasi see the truth of the dark side's influence when Yan hacks off one of Gasald's arms and Tirien strangles her almost to death. Only Narasi's intervention stops Tirien, and only a brief lightsaber duel between him and Yan stops Yan from murdering Gasald anyway. As the shield generators fail and the ship starts to take damage, a mutilated Gasald escapes, and the Jedi flee to the hangar bay.
Bee Seven volunteers to go down with the ship, and, since Darth Kra'all has moved multiple cruisers very close to the Kiss of Death to screen its vulnerable hull, Tirien instructs Bee Seven to turn the tractor beams on to maximum. At Allanteen, a fleet of reinforcements challenges Gasald's fleet—Z'dar and Bnodd, both responding to Tirien's notice, along with Essely Kalliot and Baron Obveluus Gonzed bringing ships from Milagro. The tractor beam strategy works, and the Kiss of Death is destroyed.
The survivors retreat to Pelagon, where they all try to make amends with one another before Tirien and Narasi depart to drop Harshee off in her home sectors—and tell Dorje Sokos of his son's death. Gasald escapes the destruction of her flagship in an escape pod, but is captured by unknown parties. On Coruscant, the High Council and the Supreme Chancellor struggle with how to process the aftermath of Allanteen. Tirien swears a Barash vow, setting aside his commission of Jedi Knighthood until he can sort out his path; Narasi, Zaella, and Jirdo all volunteer to accompany him into exile, and they use the Force to astrogate to an unknown destination.
Behind the Scenes[]
Revenge of the Jedi was an alleged working title of Return of the Jedi; George Lucas supposedly changed it because a true Jedi would not seek revenge. This was an intentional shout-out by Sakaros, as Revenge of the Jedi deals with a number of Jedi Knights flirting with the dark side to various degrees in pursuit of revenge.
Other shout-outs include:
- Zaella thinks of the Jedi war on the Sith as a "damn fool idealistic crusade", the way Owen Lars described the Clone Wars to Obi-Wan Kenobi, as quoted in A New Hope.
- When Tirien introduces Zaella as a former Sith and Jirdo as a Service Corps deserter, Miklato Kaivalt replies, "...your candor humbles me", which is Sakaros's favorite line from Knights of the Old Republic.
- Narasi's taunt to Zaella—"If you spent as much time practicing your saber techniques as you do your snark, maybe you wouldn't have that cut on your forehead."—is a take on Obi-Wan Kenobi's critique of Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber technique in Attack of the Clones.
- Tirien's description of an assassination mission against Gasald ("targeted, restrained, proportional, and eminently necessary to protect innocent lives") is a reference to the Caroline test in the international law of war.
- Tirien's catalogue of the types of physical pain—"deafening sound, a sharp cut, a blunt impact, intense burning, and deep cold"—is a nod to the Angel episode "Five by Five", in which renegade Slayer Faith Lehane describes "the five basic torture groups" as "blunt, sharp, cold, hot, and loud".
- Zaella's comment (implied and intended, though not explicitly stated, to be about her breasts) "they're real, and they're spectacular" came originally from the Seinfeld episode "The Implant".
- Jarkun's expression "by the Cold" is a shout-out to Kardue'sai'Malloc's common exclamation in The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett, from Tales of the Bounty Hunters, Sakaros's first exposure to Expanded Universe material.
- Zaella thinks of the Sith recognizing Tirien or Narasi, "it would take only one".
Sakaros is indebted to these Reddit commenters for some of the tactics discussed by the Jedi killer team Celop Faro assembles.