Dawn of Forever, Part XL

The Oracle paused in her physical examination of the hypermatter reactor. "Something's wrong," she said. Ben, she said in the Force. What's happening? Have you killed them?

Her brow knit in fury at the lack of reply. Yes, he was here, and conscious, but he'd changed. So, she thought bitterly, you've betrayed me.

You deceived me, Ben thought back. I'm just returning the favor.

"Mareth, Shodah," the Oracle said. "You two are closest to the firing room. Get up there and stop whatever Garak's doing. If Ben tries to stop you, kill him."

"Yes, master," they said.

The Oracle glared at the overloading reactor, but there were limits to even her power. If you steal my prize, Ben, you will learn what true suffering is.

The Alliance fleet dropped out of hyperspace over the Vong planet. As expected the probe droid's presence had caused the Vong to tighten their defenses, but not to withdraw from the world. Bioships swarmed before them, but it would all be moot. "Let me know when you have a firing solution, admiral," Sebastian said, watching the activity beyond the window. The Vong were already firing and the Alliance defending themselves, but hopefully this would all be over in a moment.

"Firing solution ready, prefect," Admiral Cirule said.

Sebastian didn't hesitate. After all this war had demanded of him, there was nothing to make him pause. If blowing up a planet was what was needed to end this, then it would be done, and there wasn't going to be any second-guessing. "Fire."

The green beam lanced from the front of the Enterprise and tore through the horde of bioships. It reached the planet and met the shields. The shields flickered, but the planet remained.

Sebastian ground his teeth as he stepped closer. Why am I not surprised? he thought. "How long is our recharge rate?" he asked.

While some were gaping in astonishment, Cirule was always on task. "Thirteen minutes, prefect. We're already recharging."

"Is the shield still up?"

"Yes, but it's very weak. Another blast and they'll be done for."

Sebastian nodded. "All right then, admiral, I'll leave you to your work." He limped a short way away while the admiral saw to the battle. Cirule was a good leader, so he'd prepared for this contingency even though it seemed there was no way the Vong could stop them. Taar would have been proud one of his student's took his Borg lecture to heart. "Thirteen minutes," Sebastian said in a low voice. "A lot can happen in thirteen minutes, Janet."

"Mr. Skywalker," Janet said, "remember that the Vong bioships managed to destroy an Eclipse before." She left the implication there for a moment. "Should I have your shuttle readied, prefect?"

"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?" Sebastian gave her a wry grin. "I don't think it'll do much for moral if the prefect flees the battle."

"You're too important to lose, Mr. Skywalker," Janet said.

"Thanks, Janet, but if we can't win this thing with an Eclipse, then we just aren't winning it. We stick it out, and if the Enterprise goes down, then we go with it."

"Yes prefect."

Sebastian lifted her chin so she was looking into his eyes. "Don't be afraid," he said with a warm smile. "It'll all be all right."

Janet sniffed and rubbed her eye. "I know it will," she said, and managed to force a smile to her face.

Molly sprinted around the corner and bolted for the firing room. Ben must have shaken off whatever had happened, so perhaps they wouldn't have to report failure to the Oracle after all. She entered the room, however, and quickly skidded to a halt. This wasn't what she'd imagined. Ben was fighting Mareth while Calrissian was working the controls; nearby, Shodah was lying on the floor without her head. "Molly!" Ben shouted. "Listen-"

"No, don't listen!" Mareth shouted over him. "He's betrayed us! Kill Calrissian while I keep him distracted."

"No Molly," Ben said. "We were wrong to help her. Let Calrissian finish this station off, before the Oracle uses it again!"

"Help me, Molly!" Mareth said. "Together we can kill him! Then you'll be the Oracle's second!"

"Molly, I've been there," Ben said. "You've seen what it's done to me. The Dark side doesn't have the answers any more, all it does is take until we don't have anything left!"

"He's weak!" Mareth said. "And you know what happens to the weak among the Sith."

Molly lit her lightsaber and ran up, stabbing Mareth between the shoulder blades. The Romulan screamed for a second before collapsing on the floor. Molly looked up at Ben, saturated with fear. "What's going on, Ben?" she asked, as if the universe suddenly turned itself inside out.

"I've been stupid," Ben said, "that's what. What have we been fighting for? Just to fulfill the dreams of the Oracle. There's no concern with what we want, just her. She's going to blow up your world just to help her in some headgame against Sebastian." He stopped; there was so much he had to say it seemed to be fighting to get out. "I have to stop her, Molly. Will you help me?"

"But everything you taught me-"

"Everything I taught you was wrong," Ben said. "Open your eyes and you'll see it too."

Molly took a deep breath. "Is this a test?"

"No!"

"Thank God! Ben, this has felt wrong for a long time. I was afraid- I-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Lando said, "but the reactor passed the point of no return. We don't have much time if we want to get off this station alive."

"Where's the nearest escape pod?" Ben asked.

"What escape pod?"

"Terrific," Ben ran his fingers through his hair as he thought. "The Oracle's got the main docking bay covered, but there's only a token guard at Garak's back-up shuttle. We can get out that way."

"Are you sure, Ben?" Molly asked. "I mean- you weren't able to defeat Mareth without my help." She looked into his face expecting to see that look of fury, but all there was was a little twinkle in his eye. "You were holding back? Why?"

"Because I know you're a good person, Molly O'Brien," Ben said. "I just wanted to make sure you realized it. Let's go."

Alema Rar straightened as she heard her master's voice in her mind. Yes?

We're leaving, the Oracle said. Ready the ship for launch.

Yes, my master. She rushed to do what she was told, never bothering to ask why. She felt a disturbance in the Force, and if the Oracle felt it enough to justify leaving, there was no point in trying to find out the details at the moment. Minutes later, the Oracle came up the ramp along with the two Mistryl. "Take off," she ordered. Again, Alema never asked about their companions. If the Oracle wished to leave them behind, it wasn't her concern. The shuttle lifted off and slipped off into space. "Fortunately, we still have Seven," she mused aloud. "It's time she started being an asset instead of a liability."

Seven bioships were concentrating their fire, and the Tactical Cube finally yielded under the combined fire. It exploded, the shrapnel escaping with such ferocity that the debris shredded two nearby Romulan warbirds. A star destroyer moved through the debris field, blasting the bioships to pieces in retaliation.

"Prefect," Admiral Cirule called. Sebastian quickly limped over. "Our sensors indicate the Vong shield is back up to full strength."

"Already?"

"I'm afraid so."

Sebastian looked away, unable to believe things were turning out this badly. "When we hit them, the shields did drop, at least for a moment. What if we concentrated fire on the shield during that time, try to damage the ground installations."

"That may be our only option, prefect," Cirule said. "I'll alert our commands." He went off to ready for the next attack.

"We're so close, Janet!" he said under his breath. "I don't understand it! This thing's power output..." He thumped the floor with his cane.

"But the Vong do have the combined energy of all those worlds they've stripped," Janet pointed out. "I guess they must have known we'd try something like this eventually."

"No wonder they didn't move," Sebastian said. "They've dug in here. But maybe that'll be their downfall... maybe we can hit them harder than they think."

A star destroyer outside the window flared, then exploded. "I hope so, Mr. Skywalker," she said in a meek voice.

Garak was hiding in the shadows near the secondary docking bay. The Oracle figured out his plan, of course, but if Lando was successful these two would be on their own shuttle and making for hyperspace before long, leaving him free to make his own exit. It was a pity Calrissian would have to die, but you couldn't expect to play galactic politics without having to make a few sacrifices.

The two Sith lit their lightsabers and for a moment Garak wondered if they'd spotted him, but then he saw Molly and, surprisingly, Ben Skywalker engaging them. He wasn't sure how long the distraction would last, but he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass. He broke from his cover and made for the ship.

"Not another step, Garak."

Old instincts that had let him be old enough to have them told Garak there was a weapon trained on his back. He slowly raised his hands and turned around. "Well, this is a most fortunate turn. But, tell me, why exactly are you pointing that blaster at me, Calrissian? In case you can't tell, time is rather a factor here."

"We're going," Lando said. "But not as colleagues. Our partnership's over Garak."

"I see," Garak said. "And what will you do with me, Mr. Calrissian?"

"I'll take you to the Alliance, let them decide what to do with you."

"The Alliance?" Garak grinned. "I'm the head of state of the Cardassian Empire, Mr. Calrissian. You can't turn me over to them like I'm some criminal. Besides, your hands are just as bloody as mine."

"I know," Lando said. "But I'm tired of this, Garak. I'm tired of living with this. If they decide to hold me accountable for everything, then I'll accept that."

"They will hold you accountable," Garak said. "Because no matter what you'd like to pretend, you are a murder, Calrissian. You're no different than I am... just a cold-blooded killer."

Lando swallowed, then nodded. "You're right," he admitted, "I am." Then he pulled the trigger. He kept firing into Garak's chest until the body lay twitching on the floor. Molly pulled the gun from his limp grip. "I am," he said.

"Come on," Molly said. Over her shoulder Lando could see Ben finish off the remaining Sith guard. "This ship is our only chance-"

"No," Lando said, twisting from her grip. "No, I'm staying."

Ben and Molly looked at one another. They'd committed their own share of horrors... "We need to stop the Oracle," Ben said finally.

"You two can do that without me," Lando said. "Go on, and good luck... you're going to need it against that witch." Molly and Ben raced up the ramp. Lando took a seat on some crates and watched the ramp close, and the ship lift off. When it had left the docking bay, he got up, walked over to Garak's corpse, and pulled it back, propping it up next to him. He pinched the bridge of his nose; the exhaustion and stress had given him a nasty headache. "I'm sorry, Garak," Lando said eventually. "You're right... I'm just a petty little businessman who let his pride blind him. At least you wanted a better life for your people... as evil as your acts were, your motives were always better than mine." The station trembled as support beams began failing. "I'm just trying to atone for as much of the evil I've supported as possible... that includes this station as much as it does you." There was another severe jolt. "You know, it's refreshing to talk to you like this, without your condescension and double-talk and bottomless lies. I probably would have gotten on better with you if we'd done this years ago." He laughed, and the docking bay was engulfed in a fireball.

Expanding energy met shields and metal, and energy won out. The Death Star was consumed from the inside out until it reached the surface, and the fireball expanded until it was spent, sending vapor and shrapnel flying off at tremendous speeds, but not fast enough to catch the fleeing ships.

Ben reached out with all his senses, and caught the unmistakable presence. "There," he said, pointing towards a dot and pushing the ship to its limits. "The Oracle's on that shuttle."

"I'm not sure we can shoot it down, Ben," Molly said. "Not with this lot."

Ben nodded, because he'd reached the same conclusion. "We just need to get their shields down." He moved in. "Then you can beam me over there."

"Ben," Molly said, realizing what he meant, "you can't defeat the Oracle, you can't! She's just too powerful."

"I know that," Ben said, and despite the change to his nature, admitting that was still hard. "But I can sabotage the reactor from the inside... blow up the ship. Even she can't survive that."

"Neither will you!"

Ben hesitated. "I manipulated you into joining with me... with the Force. I played with your mind." He could see Molly turn and stare at him out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry."

She seethed. "You mean-"

"You're a good person, Molly; I'm sorry I tried turning you into a bad one." He took a deep, steadying breath. "Sisko said I'd die for my crimes... it's about time that happened. If I can take the Oracle down at the same time, so much the better."

Ben could sense Molly was torn by this. "I'm not sure what to say."

"There's nothing to say," Ben said. "Just help me get on board that shuttle. Help me finish this."

Molly took a few deep breaths, then kissed him. "I forgive you, Ben," she said quietly, and returned to her panel. "I'll get you on that bloody ship one way or another, Ben," she said. "You just make sure you kill that old witch."

"I'll do my best," Ben said.

The weapons of the shuttle struck the shields of the escaping ship. It wasn't much, but it was enough to knock them down briefly. The cockpit vanished and Ben found himself on the opposing shuttle - but he wasn't alone.

"I was expecting you to try this," the Oracle said with a voice like ice on steel. "You're such a pathetic failure Ben. You could have had it all, but you were weak... weak and stupid."

Ben gave a lopsided grin and chuckled. "After all the lies you've fed me, I'm not going to listen to anything you say." His arm moved in a flash, bringing his lightsaber up and igniting it to catch the Force lightning.

"I should have known better than to turn to some angry child for aid," the Oracle said. More lightning came, and it actually forced Ben back.

"Your mistake in picking me," Ben said, holding the lightsaber with both hands to hold the lightning back, "was in thinking... you could beat..." the lightning finally gave out, and he grinned, "...a Skywalker!"

There was a sound like the tearing of the firmament, and the Sith sword appeared in the Oracle's hand. "You couldn't beat me in the darkness," she said. "You have no hope to do so in the light."

Ben licked his lips as he readied himself. "We'll see."

The dark side meant aggression, so the Oracle struck first. Ben caught the furious strikes, still amazed at how the huge sword could move as if it had no weight to it, yet strike like the blows of a sledgehammer. He caught an upward swing and skidded his sword up the blade; the Oracle had to swing her head back to avoid losing it. She responded with a pirouette, and even though Ben caught the blow on the end, it still managed to knock him sideways, leaving him backing off to avoid the strikes that followed.

Ben tried a brief offensive strike at her legs, but she caught the blow and knocked him briefly off balance. The Oracle swung hard, pushing Ben's blade aside, so he pivoted and drove his shoulder into her face. She snarled at him and blasted at him with Force lightning; with his lightsaber locked with her he was forced to duck, and the lightning struck the wall behind him. Panels burst free, exposing whirling blades and bars that could rend flesh like a food processor. Power conduits were now open and sparking with deadly energies. Pipes radiated scathing heat or frosted over at superlow temperates. But still, Ben and the Oracle battled on, ignoring the environmental threats for the far more deadly one that stood before them. Ben gave a Force strike to her face again, and she responded by nearly stabbing him through the stomach; he escaped by centimeters by diving and rolling to his left.

As Ben pulled himself back to his feet she was already on top of him, sword moving impossibly fast. He had to continually move to stay ahead of her. His shirt got caught in a spinning blade, but he managed to tear it free before either it or the Oracle finished him off. He brought his saber up and she caught it, and the two pressed off for some time. Sweat was running down Ben's face. One thing was true: she had beaten him before, and it didn't look like it was a fluke. At the end of the day, light or dark, she was the stronger one.

Ben shoved her back. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to go down fighting. He panted a little as she righted herself and stared at him like an offensive insect. His mother used to look at him just like that, but of course, things were different now-

Ben smirked, just a little. Then he tossed the damaged panels at the Oracle, who easily battered them away as she approached. He swung, but defensively, giving ground as she pushed him until his back was literally against the wall. He was quick, and young, and powerful, but against a master, that just wasn't enough. There was the opening, and she brought her sword around and up, towards Ben's heart. Escape would be impossible, even for a Sith... or a Jedi. But instead of fear, there was a small smile on Ben's face, and one last word passed through his mind.

Sucker!

As sword pierced flesh Ben's hand was thrust into the open power conduit. Energy poured into both Jedi and Sith and discharged off into the walls, floor and ceiling. Smoke filled the room and the two screamed as one until the energy proved too much and the conduit exploded. Afterwards, there was nothing at all but silence.

The star destroyer Enterprise hung before the Vong planet as the Alliance ships tried valiantly to hold back the tide of bioships. Time... just a little more time...

Admiral Cirule looked up from the console. "In range."

Sebastian nodded. "You may fire when ready."

Cirule turned back. "Commence primary ignition." The bridge crew went about their tasks in silence as the switches were flipped, buttons were pushed, levers pulled, and dials adjusted. Sebastian watched impassively, both hands on the head of his cane. The words "stand by" were heard several times. Janet's knuckles turned white as she gripped her datapad. "Stand by."

The superlaser blasted out, and again the Vong shield flickered and fell for a brief time. The Alliance ships blasted during the window before the shield was up, but- "It's still too strong for our weapons to penetrate, sir," the admiral said, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"Are the Vong regenerating the damage to their shield network?"

"Yes, prefect. The Borg are projecting that it will be optimal in less than eight minutes."

Sebastian thumped his cane on the deck in frustration. Minutes! That's all that separated an end to this war from defeat. "Alert all commands," Sebastian said. "Fall back."

Cirule looked ready to protest, but just for a second. "Yes, prefect," he said.

Sebastian started towards the turbolift. "Janet," he said sharply, "contact the Borg. I want them to be looking over everything, and I mean everything. We did not come so close only to stumble on the finish line. We have the greatest minds at our disposal, I want them tapped to find a way through that shield and finish the Vong off for good!"

"Yes, Mr. Skywalker," Janet said.

"And I want my shuttle prepped so that we can depart as soon as we rendezvous with Cube Prime," Sebastian said. "We've lost the element of surprise, we don't have the luxury of wasting any time."

Though there were a few protests, the fleet recognized that the attack had failed, and together they turned and vanished into hyperspace. Despite what they had allowed themselves to believe, this war wasn't over, and there was a question of when it would ever end.

The Oracle opened her eyes, though it took great effort. Her limbs trembled, and getting up was difficult. The discharge had been incredible, turning her Sith sword into a pool of cooling metal; but it had saved her life. She could remake it, but it would cost her. She would have to put some of her own power into it to forge it properly, but she would need such a weapon to stand against the Jedi and anyone else who opposed her. Lost power could be reclaimed in time, and as the master of time that presented no problems.

She put a hand to her head. The next move... the Jedi would... she was having trouble remembering. The discharge caused damage to her nervous system, so she may have suffered some brain damage. A small concern in the end; she had the techniques to repair even that. None of this was anything more than a setback. She wouldn't die... couldn't die... not with so much left to do.

The Oracle looked down at Ben's remains. He'd taken the brunt of it; his body reduced to a charred lump. He'd died as most of her enemies had, for nothing. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She kicked the corpse, and it broke into pieces. "Did you... did you actually think... that after all I've done... I would possibly let it end here?"

Go To Part XLI
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