Jedi Insurgency 249

The battle for Coruscant reached its breaking point. Above the world, the Force Storm had grown into a planetary apocalypse. Entire sectors of the megalopolis encompassing an area no less in scale than the North American continent had disappeared into the ravenous anomaly. 

Where towers once stood, only spiraling voids remained. Black tears in reality had left behind wounds in space that consumed light, flesh, and all kinds of matter. Billions fled in terror through burning skies clogged with debris and falling ships. Oceans of durasteel folded inward as gravity distorted unpredictably across the planet. Anyone who could fled to the other half of the planet, where there was a chance at survival. Those ships that could had fled into space, clogging the area as they rapidly jumped into hyperspace. As for the Imperial fleet stationed just above this celestial phenomenon? It too suffered a catastrophic defeat, falling into the all consuming maw. 

For the first time, millions of the wretched poor, and mutants from the lowest bowels of this cesspit megacity saw the sky. For some, this was a terrifying nightmare, for those disillusioned with life, working in the dark as a slave in all but name, this mindless act of destruction acted as a release. These bitter memories acted as the finest elixir for the Darkside, its presence constantly expanded on Coruscant, almost as if a new Nexus was about to be spawned into existence. 

Although the actions of Corvus, Jax, and Windu had somewhat stabilized the situation at the periphery of the storm, at the center, Palpatine was like a font of power, absorbing everything that came at him. So long as the anomaly hanging overhead existed, a seemingly unlimited amount of power acted as his energy source. 

Floating on a piece of torn rubble, the Emperor’s body radiated enough Darkside power to make the Force itself howl. Scarlet lightning coiled endlessly around him in country-spanning arcs visible even from orbit. The life essence of billions now coursed through him alongside the stolen vitality of the Zillo Beast.

He had become something monstrous.

Dare he say, something beyond Sith.

Yet for all this power, three obstacles remained before him. Two ants had continuously nipped at his heels, whilst Revan was tampering with the storm. Clarity was fleeting, and he knew that he had to gather himself before he lost his mind completely…these pests were truly beginning to irk him! Flicking his hand, he sent his latest attacker downward. 

Lord Hoth slammed into the ground hard enough to create a crater several kilometers wide. Molten stone exploded upward around him. The ancient Jedi rose slowly, his spectral form was flickering like a holoprojection that had shoddy connection. Cracks of blue light spread across his ghostly armor where Palpatine’s latest [Force Drain] had wounded him. Portions of his body destabilized intermittently, phasing in and out of existence.

Yet Hoth laughed, proud to have vexed this Sith for so long. “A good hit!” He bellowed, spitting spectral blood onto the ruined ground. “Now fight properly!”

Above him, Palpatine descended slowly from the storm of floating debris.

“You are already dead.” The Emperor said coldly, holding up a hand in preparation for the next attack. 

“Cheeky bugger.” Hoth replied with a smile that was all teeth. He then unleashed every fragment of strength left within him.

Djem So was a fighting style that was the purest expression of power! Hoth was not some Jedi who convinced others with words! No, the strength of one's muscles, of his willpower was what a man, a Jedi, should aspire for. His blue blade struck with enough force to crack the subterranean bedrock of Coruscant itself. Shockwaves erupted continuously as he hammered against Palpatine with unmatched aggression.

Battle premonition flooded Hoth’s mind in blinding torrents. Millions of: futures, deaths, failures…there wasn't a single eventuality where he crushed this sniveling slime, and it made him PISSED! 

The death of Coruscant hardly mattered to him, all he wanted to do was wring the neck of that scrawny pencil pusher. Hoth roared, and attacked with a renewed fury, intent to go out with a bang. 

Palpatine’s eyes narrowed as the ancient Jedi deliberately overcommitted into strikes no sane warrior would attempt. Hoth absorbed wounds willingly now, forcing the Emperor to expend precious moments countering him.

A crimson blade pierced Hoth’s shoulder.

He ignored it.

Lightning burned through his chest.

He ignored it.

Palpatine severed one spectral arm at the elbow, and Hoth headbutted him again! 

The Emperor staggered, disbelief coloring his face. Never would he have imagined that the Jedi would sacrifice his arm…to headbutt him again! 

“You primitive fool!” Sidious snarled.

“That's two'an oh.” Hoth laughed wildly.

Then Hoth did something unexpected, threw his lightsaber, and as he closed the distance, spammed [Force Stun]. 

Palpatine’s eyes widened slightly as he found all of his paths of retreat blocked off. The ancient Jedi tanked a thrust to the chest, and  seized the Emperor bodily. Hoth wrapped an arm around Sidious and locked him in place. Palpatine unleashed torrents of lightning directly into him, and worked his lightsaber, only to find it was trapped within this ethereal body like a boot trapped in thick mud. 

The blue specter began to disintegrate due to the accumulated damage, and fresh wounds. Chunks of Hoth’s ghostly body tore away into streams of glowing ash. Still, he held on.

“A little longer…” Hoth rasped, trying his hardest to buy as much time as possible, whilst also satisfying his own urge to strangle the Sith. 

One bear-sized palm reached out, totally encompassing Palpatine’s face. The Emperor’s expression finally twisted with fury.

“LET GO!”

Lightning erupted even fiercer as Palpatine’s skull was slowly squeezed. The Dark Lord was using all of his telekinetic might to keep his brain from being smushed. 

Hoth’s beard burned away into blue flame. His armor shattered apart piece by piece. His entire spectral form began coming undone beneath the unimaginable power pouring through him.

And still…

He smiled.

Because through battle premonition, he had seen it. His efforts to buy time were not in vain. The Light still had a chance. Perhaps today, or tomorrow, the Jedi would one day reemerge as protectors of the galaxy. 

Hoth looked toward the distant green figure meditating amidst the swirling Force currents, and the old warrior’s eyes softened. Then he glanced off into the far off distance. 

“Well fought…little master…I only wish, I got to fight that masked bastard…” 

Then he tightened his grip one final time. Palpatine screamed in rage and unleashed a catastrophic burst of Force energy, unwilling to have his skull crushed like a grape. As a result of his rage, a miniature sun erupted beneath Coruscant. The underground foundations vaporized for kilometers in every direction. Entire districts above collapsed inward as the blast punched upward through the planet’s layers.

Lord Hoth smiled at the incoming light, and then faded away without another word. There was no fear on his face, or screams of revenge at the tip of his tongue. Relief after a thousand years of pitched combat had finally come. 

A blue light scattered peacefully back into the Force. Not even the [Force Storm] could capture this soul. 

Palpatine stood motionless amidst the destruction, breathing heavily. He didn't even have a second to catch his breath, as Kaan made himself known. Previously holding large portions of the storm back, now that Corvus & Windu had weakened it, the founder of the Brotherhood of Darkness had an opportunity to join the fight. 

The ancient Sith emerged from the smoke like a crimson phantom of wrath incarnate. Glancing at the spot where his long time rival had perished, a complex expression of guilt, hatred, and envy crossed his face. Cursed to do battle with that big oaf on Ruusaan for a millennia, Kaan had come to respect the wild Jedi. Then, staring at his ‘compatriot’ he snorted. Between Sith, there was no mercy. 

Then the entire battlefield twisted violently around him. Thousands upon thousands of floating landmasses rotated through the air under his telekinetic command, forming a colossal orbiting storm around the Sith Lord. Rivers of steel spiraled through the maelstrom forming complex geometric shapes. 

Kaan’s crimson eyes burned with hatred.

Not hatred for life.

Not hatred for the Jedi.

Hatred for Palpatine.

“You insignificant little parasite.” Kaan hissed. “You are unworthy of testing wills with Lord Hoth, much less me. Before long, you will become nothing more than a mindless tool.” He taunted as Palpatine’s loss of sanity became ever more apparent. 

The orbiting debris then collapsed inward simultaneously. An entire artificial moon of destruction crashed toward Sidious from all directions. Palpatine answered with raw Darkside supremacy.

The Emperor spread both hands outward, and reality cracked. That incoming debris field that could break apart a fleet disintegrated midair into molecular dust. Kaan roared and intensified his assault. Raw, telekinetic pressure descended upon Sidious with enough force to flatten a mountain.

The ground beneath Palpatine folded inward, space distorted, and gravity inverted. Yet the Emperor countered with his own might. 

Walking forward, the Emperor was like a leisurely man going for a stroll. Yet anyone so unfortunate as to be caught between the invisible duel of psychic power would instantly become flatter than a coin. 

Kaan’s expression darkened as he realized that even if all three of them had actively attacked, the result, ultimately, would have been the same. 

For the first time in centuries, sadness crossed the ancient Sith Lord’s face. “So this is how it ends…” He murmured.

Palpatine smiled cruelly.

“You died forgotten once already, Kaan. You will die meaningless now.”

The Emperor thrust one hand forward, [Force Lightning] erupted in torrents. Not only was Palpatine able to counter Kaan's psychic might with one of his own, but he also demonstrated his prowess by going on the offensive whilst still matching minds. 

Kaan intercepted the blast telekinetically, but this left him open during this contest of wills,  driving him backward through a chunk of collapsing terrain. His spectral form flickered violently beneath the assault, forcing him to retreat. 

Meanwhile, Palpatine advanced step by step. His posture was dominant, his chin held high in victory. 

Kaan stared at him through the storm.

Then slowly began to laugh. It was a soft, almost tired, world weary laugh. 

“You know…” Kaan said quietly. “I truly wished to see Hoth's face when defeat finally came. But I suppose you shall do.”

Palpatine frowned slightly, speeding up his advance. 

Kaan looked toward Yoda. The little Jedi Master still sat amidst spiraling cosmic currents, hands rotating slowly as the Force itself bent around him.

Understanding dawned in Kaan’s eyes.

“Ah…” The Sith Lord smiled faintly. “So that is your game.”

Palpatine sensed danger instantly.

“What are you doing?”

Kaan’s crimson aura began expanding rapidly.

The ancient Sith spread his arms wide, his entire spectral form started collapsing inward like a dying star.

Palpatine’s eyes widened.

“No.”

Kaan began to darkly chuckle, a smirk of schadenfreude spreading across his face. 

“You are not the culmination of the Sith, Sidious. You are merely its final mistake.”

Palpatine hurled colossal waves of the storm at him, but it was too late.

Kaan self detonated, and the resulting explosion was apocalyptic. A sphere of pure crimson Force energy erupted outward and consumed everything nearby. The foundations of Coruscant split apart for hundreds of kilometers. Entire subterranean districts vaporized instantly, and lava erupted upward as the very depths of the planet were plundered in this final, all out attack. 

Even the [Force Storm] above flickered violently, threatening to come undone as a jet of pure orange-red Darkside imbued fire gushed into the sky. 

Palpatine was caught directly at the epicenter of this attack, unable to dodge in time. The Emperor screamed as he was launched into the air, unable to fully block this attack. Burns scorched his arms, and the youthful handsome visage he wore rapidly aged, then de-aged as he continuously cycled between healing, and pulling upon the ever shrinking storm. 

The shockwave tore through his Darkside aura and ripped enormous quantities of stolen life energy away from him. The Zillo Beast’s essence howled as portions of it were violently stripped free.

Eventually, he got himself under control, and then-floating on high once more-glared down at the green munchkin. 

Lord Hoth was gone.

Lord Kaan was gone.

Only Yoda remained.

Turning his hand slowly, entire galaxies of luminous energy rotated between his palms. Vast streams of blue and gold light flowed inward from unimaginable distances, converging upon the ancient Jedi Master.

Yoda finally opened his eyes fully. And the Force itself seemed to awaken with him. 

Before Palpatine could make a move, he felt the warm rays of the sun upon his back. Night had only just begun two hours ago, his storm clouds created an effect producing the darkest black. Eyes going wide, he finally understood what had taken place. This entire time, Yoda had been rotating Coruscant, rotating the entire planet so that it would face the sun. 

Yoda's eyes glowed white-yellow-gold with what could only be described as a ‘heavenly light.’ However, despite this, he tiredly sighed, his body ached as the power he pulled upon threatened to tear his soul apart, such that it couldn't even be a ghost in the Force, and yet, this time, The Tired Persistence was unwilling to yield. 

Upon his exhale, a solid thick beam of yellow-white energy-a pillar as thick as a skyscraper-instantly pierced the [Force Storm], and caught the Dark Lord in the back, pressing him down into the planet’s bedrock, attempting to vaporize every molecule in his body every second. 

The ultimate Jedi technique of destruction: [Wall of Light] had manifested. 

“Revenge, the Jedi Way it is not…” Yoda said, closing his eyes for a moment, then slowly smiled. “Grandmaster, I have already resigned.” 

An instant later, second pillar of light came crashing down upon the first. 

A new day had dawned on Coruscant, and one way or another, Yoda would have his due. 

~~~~~~~

AN: Fans of DBZ basically know what was done to Palps: