Star Wars: The Untold Adventures of Kajin Savaros

Chapter 6

Kaj plummeted through the darkness. He gathered the Force around him and tucked into a ball. When he landed, he stood up and brushed himself off. Thanks to the Force, he had no broken bones—or bruises. Not even a scratch. He looked around. He was standing in a spotlight—the only light in the room. Beyond his lone light, there was only darkness.

"You are alone," a voice rang out. Tesla's voice. Kaj whirled around, looking for his enemy, but the voice was coming from everywhere—and nowhere. "There is no one else."

"There's you!" Kaj retorted. "And Vader, and Jax."

The voice spoke again. "Jax cannot help you. You are alone."

Another voice spoke. "You are the last Jedi." It was one of the Inquisitors from earlier.

"No, there's Jax! And Laranth!" Kaj replied.

"The Paladin—Laranth Tarak—will be dead."

"What?" Kaj couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No, that's not right. You didn't capture her!"

"You're correct in assuming that she is not in our hands. But we have sent our top spies after her–and that agent. They will not be able to escape us for long."

Kaj laughed, directing his voice at the unseen target. "Yeah, good luck with that. Laranth is way too smart to fall for any of your tricks."

"We shall see," was the response. "Unfortuantely, your Master was not as smart as the Paladin. He will soon be dead."

"What?" Kaj asked slowly. His voice was low, and deadly quiet. "What?!"

"It is true. Your Master, though he has saved others, cannot save himself. How pitiful. His wounds are not healing fast, and supplies are being wasted on him. The Empire has no reason to heal traitors."

"No! The deal was that if I surrendered, Jax stayed alive! That was the deal!" Kaj shouted. He was beyond caring about his emotions and hiding them. Electricity started to crackle in his hands, conceived from the Force that was so strong inside of him.

"You don't get a say in the matter," Tesla replied. "He dies, unless...."

"Unless what?!" Kaj shouted. "Tell me!!!"

But there was no response. A Holovideo suddenly appeared in front of him, illuminating the darkness around him. He saw medical droids hovering around a body. The droids moved away from the figure. Kaj gasped. "Jax!" The electricity in his hands died as Kaj stepped towards the life-size video of his Master, unknowingly putting a hand out in despair towards the familiar figure, as though he could touch the video and everything would be alright.

Jax was unconscious, and was barely breathing. Kaj could see his Master's chest moving slowly. His tunic was stained with blood, and Kaj could see an unmistakable lightsaber wound in his chest.

"Your Master is pathetic," the cruel voice of Tesla resumed talking. "Unfocused and undisciplined. A weakling."

Kaj couldn't respond. His eyes were glued to the image in front of him. "Jax," he whispered forlornly. He sank to his knees, still staring at the image in front of him. "What have I done?" He asked himself, putting his head in his hands, but still watching the video. "I could have helped him duel Vader, could have prevented this! Instead, I ran. He didn't even ask me to, or order me too; I just ran from him. It shouldn't have been him; it should have been me. It should have been me!"

Kaj stood up, feeling something run through him. Some type of energy. Something dark.... And powerful. "IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!" He screamed his anguish to the darkness that should have been the sky. Scary blue electricity formed in his hands as the rage inside of his body, his heart, his soul, filled him. All he could think of with how he had failed his Master, of how he had abandoned him. Kaj felt the electricity begin to flow from his hands, flow around him. Within seconds, he was surrounded by a ball of windy colbalt energy. His clothes fluttered around him with the wind, and his hair blew in his face. He knew he was on the edge of the dark side. He knew he had reached his breaking point. But Kaj could only think of how he had failed. He felt like he could crush anything or anyone-even an entire planet. He was intent on blowing the place to bits—and himself with it.

An evil laugh rang through the cold air. "Good, good," Vader laughed. "Kill the Inquisitors, kill Tesla. I can show you how to use your power to your full advantage. Release your anger."

And Kaj wanted to. Kaj wanted nothing more than to obey Vader, to let his anger rip the place apart. But some small part of him—something uncorrupted by his rage—wouldn't let him. Would Jax want you to? It asked. Would he want you to do this? To join the dark side?

No. No, he wouldn't. That was all it took for Kaj to let the electricity die in his hands. But as soon as all of the energy was gone, he felt weakness overcome him. His legs gave out from under him and he slumped to the ground, still under the spotlight. Surprisingly, no anger came from Vader at his failed attempt to turn him. Instead, he felt a sort of amusement come from the Sith's Force signature.

He felt himself slipping into unconsciousness as the sound of heavy footsteps met his ears. He began to fight to stay awake, then stopped. It's better this way, Kaj told himself as the footsteps came closer and closer. At least unconscious, they won't get anything out of me. The footsteps stopped beside him just as the his vision and hearing left him and he ceased to think.