Anakin Skywalker had never been to Yavin IV before, but he had heard tales of it's connection to the Force. The jungle moon offered a breathtaking view of the gas giant Yavin as Anakin piloted his single-man Jedi starfighter through the atmosphere.
"Look at it, Artoo," he said to his mechanical companion. "It's beautiful."
Artoo chirped a response.
"We're going to a temple on the far side of the moon. What do you mean you have a bad feeling about this? You're a droid."
Artoo beeped and blurted.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I know you can be a bit sensitive sometimes, so I'm sorry."
Artoo whirred.
"No, I'm not being passive aggressive. Look, we'll talk about it later. Right now, let's just finish this mission and go back to Coruscant."
The Jedi Council, in a combined meditative state, had sensed a dark power on the moon, and with everyone on equally important missions, the task had fallen to Anakin.
Snips would have loved this place. I hope she's okay, wherever she is.
Storm clouds grew on the horizon, blotting out the view of the gas giant.
"Well that's ominous," Anakin said to himself.
The clouds grew darker and stretched out toward him. Massive bolts of lightning arced through the clouds.
"Artoo, I think you may have been right about that bad feeling."
Anakin's danger sensed flared, and he jerked his ship hard to the right as a bolt of lightning missed him by less than a meter. Alarms began to flare in his cockpit as his instruments went dark.
If that thing would have hit us, we would have been destroyed.
The hairs on the back of his neck went up. Surrendering himself to the Force, Anakin began a series of evasive maneuvers, dodging the bolts of lightning. Anakin's eyes went wide as a huge tree flew past his viewport.
"What the," was all Anakin could say. A cyclone several kilometers wide formed in front of him, and he had no choice but to go through it. The vortex sucked him in.
Arms stretched out, head turned toward the sky, Exar Kun used the Force to turn the jungle itself into a weapon against this intruder. He was a Jedi, no doubt, but there was something unique about him. He could either be an ally, or a most deadly threat, and he chose to deal with him as the latter.
It had been some time since he had mustered up a Force storm of this size. Using the dark side to manipulate the environment was a rare talent, but one that he was more than proficient in.
If the Force lightning didn't take down the ship, this cyclone would. There was no way that any person could successfully navigate a starship through such a storm. Either lightning would blast the ship apart, debris would smash it, or the winds would slam the ship into the ground as hundreds of kilometers per hour.
He would kill this Jedi without having to draw his blade.
Kun heard the sonic boom as the starship broke the sound barrier. He dropped his arms and stared in shock as the ship hurtled towards him. At the last minute, it arced up, the pilot leaping from the top hatch, the ship darting away on auto-pilot.
The Jedi landed like a sand panther, crouching low and igniting his blue lightsaber.
"Well done, Jedi. I'm most impressed."
"I don't know who you are, but since you tried to kill me, I'm going to assume that you are my enemy."
"Exar Kun. Sith Lord. And you are?"
"Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Mas...Jedi Knight."
"Aw, did they not grant you the rank of master?"
"That's no concern of yours."
"Trouble with a Padawan, perhaps?"
"Bite your tongue, Sith," Anakin said in a low voice.
"It must be like sand in your undergarments."
With a roar, Anakin charged at Exar, who was smiling smugly. Kun blasted a bolt of Force lightning at Anakin, but he somersaulted over it, bringing his blue blade down across Kun's neck.
But Kun had already drawn his lightsaber, and held Anakin's powerful blow, albeit he stumbled back for a moment.
"Oh, you are strong," said Kun. "And there's a darkness in you. I can feel it...I can smell it."
Anakin pushed hard with his blade, enough to create distance between himself and Kun, and then spun around, bringing his blade in a low swipe at Kun's legs.
Kun ignited the other end of his lightsaber, blocking Anakin's attack. Anakin's eyes widened, not prepared for the secondary blade. Kun twirled his blade, forcing Anakin to roll backward's, lest he lose his head. He sprang to his feet, and readied himself.
Thrusts to Anakin's midsection were easily parried, but then Anakin had to worry about the additional blade coming back around. He batted Kun's attacks back, dodging the deadly double blades when he could.
Kun had to admit, this Jedi was strong. Stronger than any he had ever faced. And his Djem So was absolutely flawless.
Kun jumped toward's Anakin, twirling his blade overhead, preparing to swing down, hoping to break Anakin's steady guard.
But Anakin did not meet the blades. He ran toward's Kun, and slid under the attack, the brought his legs back around, scissoring Kun's legs and bringing him down to his back.
Anakin kipped up and swung his lightsaber down at Kun's head, hoping to end the fight quickly, but Kun had already rolled to the side. Anakin stopped mid-swing, and kicked Kun hard in the ribs, sending him rolling even further.
Exar pushed off the top of the temple with the Force, spring himself high into the air, and then landed on his feet.
Anakin advanced again, using elements of Ataru in his strikes, spinning around as he landed mid-strength strikes to Kun.
Kun's Niman ensured that Anakin would not break his guard, but he also wasn't able to find an opening to attack the young Jedi. Anakin was fast.
Kun had other tricks up his sleeve, however.
Kun sank deep into the dark side, allowing his body to basically fight on it's own. Using Sith alchemy, he summoned up a fearsome beast, imbued with the power of the dark side.
Leaping from the jungle floor, straight to the top of the temple, the beast was ten meters tall, and twenty meters long. It resembled a segmented worm, combined with a rancor, and long, crustacean like claws.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Anakin as the beast roared and charged at him.
As Kun swung at Anakin with his saberstaff, Anakin blocked and jumped above razor sharp claws meant to cut him in half. The rancor-worm was fast and reckless, at one point bowling both Kun and Anakin over with it's powerful tail.
Anakin could see that Kun was struggling to control the beast with the Force, as he strikes were not nearly as ferocious as earlier. However, Anakin could not capitalize on this as he was busy avoiding becoming lunch.
Anakin jumped onto the top of the creatures head and struck down with his lightsaber, looking to pierce the beast's brain and end it. His lightsaber didn't not penetrate.
With a shriek, the beast lurched it's head upward, mouth gaping wide. With a cry, Anakin fell into the mouth of the great creature.
Saberstaff held at the ready, Kun stared at the beast as it swallowed the Jedi whole.
He threw his head back and laughed. "Stupid Jedi. You may have skill with a blade, but you cannot combat my Sith magic." He extinguished his lightsaber and turned to walk away, but stopped when the creature made a low whimper. He turned back just in time to see the Jedi slice burst through the abdomen of the rancor-worm, covered in slime.
"And I thought...they smelled bad...on the outside!" Anakin exclaimed.
"What? The creature didn't have an odor. It was made from dark side magic. How could it have smelled bad on the outside?"
Anakin shook his head and pushed out with the Force, blasting him in the chest and sending him flying back.
"Your Sith magic is no match for the power of the light side."
Exar heaved himself to his feet, trying to catch his breath.
"I've known both the light and the dark, Jedi. Once you go black, you never go back."
Anakin cocked his head in confusion.
Kun held his hand out, palm up, and a dark green flame appeared in it.
"You could learn wonderful things, young one."
A fireball the size of Anakin's head launched toward's him from Kun's palm, and Anakin barely dodged in time.
This guy is ridiculous!
They clashed blades again, this time Anakin having to dodge the occasional green fireball. However, Anakin was landing punches and kicks against Kun. Drawing so heavily on the dark side appeared to have drained the Sith's strength.
Kun thrust his lightsaber at Anakin's face. Instead of blocking the blow, Anakin stepped to the side, spinning around and brought his blade up to cut the saberstaff in half. He cut it in such a way that both blades went out, and Kun was left without a weapon.
Anakin snapped Kun's head back with a strong side kick, sending Kun to the ground.
Kun landed hard, but immediately raised his arms, preparing to blast Anakin with lightning. Anakin was faster, though. With one quick motion, he severed both of Kun's hands at the wrist, standing triumphantly over him.
Do it! a voice said in his head. Anakin hesitated. He could not violate the Jedi's ways like this, killing an unarmed prisoner. But, there was no safe way to bring him back to Coruscant. Reluctantly, Anakin drove his blade through Kun's chest, down to the hilt, and watched as the life left his eyes.
Anakin extinguished his blade, and stood, watching as his starship came back to him, piloted by Artoo.
The hatch opened and Anakin jumped up, landing inside.
Artoo beeped and chirped.
"Yes, the mission is over."
More beeping.
"You found a what?"
A couple boops.
"A beach? What? No, I don't want to go to the beach."
Beep.
"You know why."
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