The Empire begins with the Fourth Scourge.

2820. The Demise of the Ghost (Part 2)

During the fierce clash between the two lightsabers, Kennen Jarras' lightsaber suddenly trembled—not because of the suppression of power, but because he suddenly realized that what was in front of him was not a person, but smoke, or the void.

He unleashed his full power and was finally able to sense the blurry figure opposite him—a young woman!
It was obvious that her swordsmanship was inferior to her own, but she only kept pestering and harassing him, never making direct contact with Kennan Jarres.

At that moment, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Zebu, who was completely covered up and was tall and incredibly strong, crashed into them like an armored vehicle.

"The Serarians are here!" Zeb roared.

However, at that moment, the four escort ships in the sky suddenly shone their high-powered searchlights on us! The blinding beams of light cleaved through the night like swords, locking onto Kennen Jarres' location!
"Damn it! Quick! Let's go!!" Kennen Jarres drew his lightsaber and shoved Zeb into the maintenance tunnel. He then rushed forward and helped Sindura, Sabin, Ezra, and the others over.

“Ezra! Watch out! There’s an invisible man nearby!” Kennen Jarres yelled as he covered the rear.

However, they clearly underestimated General Karani's determination. Suddenly, an explosion rang out from the dense crowd! Screams and wails filled the air as the crowd erupted into chaos, instantly losing control and scattering in all directions. Trampling and shoving tore apart the last vestiges of order.

The Serai Special Forces personnel were blocked in the middle of the crowd.

Kennan Jarres was stunned. "What are they doing? Is this the fulcrum coming? No! This will cause massive civilian casualties!"

At this moment, the sense of crisis from the Force pierced his mind again like a needle, and he saw that invisible smoke attacking again!
"No! They're trying to lure us in! This is a trap!!" Kenan Jarres realized instantly.

Kennan Jarres swung his sword with all his might, forcing the invisible man back, and then he heard Sindura's cry. He quickly turned and rushed into the tunnel.

Upon entering, they saw Ezra Bridger had already drawn his lightsaber and was guarding the entrance to the passage with extreme tension; the tip of the sword trembled slightly but remained motionless. Sabin had already set up his blaster, and Sindura had also drawn his weapon.

Opposite them, Zebu's tall figure stood with his back to them, motionless.

“Zebu?!” Kennan Jarres’s heart sank – the figure’s back was abnormally stiff, even the rise and fall of his breathing had disappeared.

Then, Zebu's body slowly fell to the ground, and he remained silent.

The person who had been blocked by Zebu's figure appeared in front of them.

“Run…” Kennan Jarres said softly.

“She killed Zeb!” Ezra cried out.

"Run! Go anywhere! Just run! The tunnels here are interconnected. As long as we go deep in and run around, they definitely won't catch us! Then leave it to fate! Just run! Run!" Kenan Jarres looked at the figure standing in front of him.

The figure wore a long, loose brown robe, but it was still clear that she was a woman. Under the hood was a silver mask that covered her entire face.

Kennan Jarres' body trembled slightly, and he roared with all his might, "Run!"

Ezra Bridger grabbed Sabin's wrist and pulled him backward, his lightsaber trembling as it drew a blue-green arc; Sindura had already raised his gun and fired, buying himself some time as he ran deeper into the mine.

Kennan Jarres looked at the man before him and said in a trembling voice, "You have finally come before me. Depa Bilaba... Master."

His gaze immediately sharpened. "No...traitor!"

The priestess didn't speak, but instead raised her hand and a crimson lightsaber suddenly appeared. The next second, she vanished, reappearing before Kennen Jarres, the lightsaber instantly unfurling—the seventh technique, Vapard!
Kennan Jarres was unable to resist and could only retreat repeatedly, using the third move of his sword technique, Soresu, to buy as much time as possible and give Ezra Bridger and the others more opportunities to escape.

……

On the other side, Xiao Yan was fighting a mysterious person at the entrance of the passage.

All that could be seen was that this mysterious person was holding two lightsabers, one long and one short, and they were very rare white lightsabers. This person's swordsmanship was extremely superb, and Xiao Yan could hardly resist him.

Another sword slashed down, the white lightsabers crossing and drawing a cross in the air! Xiao Yan was immediately forced to retreat by this powerful force and the Force, and she had no choice but to become invisible again, creating distance like smoke.

At the same time, she shouted through the Sky Squad's unique telepathic communication system, "Captain Talia! Come quick! There's someone else here, and I can't stop her!"

【We have to wait a bit longer! The scene is too chaotic, we can't get over there at all!】Talia's urgent voice came through telepathy.

[They started fleeing deeper into the mine! The terrain there is extremely complex!] Zhang Xucheng's voice appeared.

Xiao Yan looked at the person in front of her and said through gritted teeth, "Your righteous alliance is full of benevolence and morality, but in the end you still rely on creating terrorist attacks and harming civilians to create opportunities for your escape!"

The mysterious figure, whose face was concealed by a cloak and hood, said coldly, "What if I said I didn't do this explosion?"

"Stop making excuses! You're all a bunch of hypocritical scoundrels!" Xiao Yan was furious. Her figure vanished again, disappearing into the void. However, the white light sword opposite her followed her like a shadow, never leaving her side.

Just then, the mysterious person suddenly looked into the depths of the pit. Startled, she abandoned Xiao Yan and ran inside.

……

Inside the mine, the battle between Kennen Jarras and the priestess was already fraught with danger. He was clearly no match for the priestess and could only barely hold his own.

“You were once my pride, Caleb Dume (Keanu's former name),” the priestess said coldly, “but sadly, you chose to perish with that corrupt Galactic Republic.”

“You have clearly forgotten what loyalty is.” Kennan Jarres gritted his teeth, pointing his sword forward again, assuming the stance of the third move of the Soresu sword technique, determined to buy time.

"I have chosen a path to establish a new order in the galaxy." The priestess casually brandished her crimson lightsaber. "Even if establishing this new order means the deaths of billions of people, I am willing to do it."

"Then, you are no different from the Galactic Empire!" Kennen Jarres said, "You..." Before he could finish speaking, the priestess's lightsaber slashed down fiercely, and Kennen Jarres couldn't utter the rest of his sentence. He only saw the priestess's Vapard sword technique become increasingly powerful, and Kennen was completely unable to defend himself. With a whoosh, his hand holding the sword was severed!

“It’s over, Caleb…surrender,” the priestess said coldly.

“No… I am Kennen Jarras! A member of the Rebel Alliance and the Ghost Squad! I will witness the destruction of your tyranny!” Kennen roared.

The next second, two white sword lights flashed, and another mysterious person wearing a cloak was seen wielding a lightsaber to meet the priestess in a fierce battle.

With a flash of light, the mysterious woman quickly dodged, but the hood she was wearing was swept away by the aftershock of the lightsaber, revealing her wheat-colored skin and hair-like tentacles—she was a Togruta woman.

“Asoka Tano. I didn’t expect it to be you.” The priestess said coldly, “Your swordsmanship has improved rapidly. It seems you learned a lot from Anakin Skywalker back then.”

"Compared to my swordsmanship, your depravity is what disgusts me," Ahsoka-Tano said coldly, shielding Kenan Jarres behind him.

"This is merely a necessary sacrifice to establish a new order," the priestess said coldly.

However, at this moment, the air suddenly distorted, and Xiao Yan appeared beside the priestess, whispering a few words.

The priestess snorted and ordered, "Go after the others, I'll deal with her here."

"Okay!" Xiao Yan said, and quickly turned into smoke and disappeared without a trace.

"First you caused explosions that harmed civilians, then you colluded with the Blood Warriors. Ahsoka-Tano, why do you, who speaks so righteously, seem so despicable?" The priestess's tone was icy cold.

“I told you, I didn’t do it,” Ahsoka-Tano said in a deep voice.

The next second, the two were locked in combat.

……

At this moment, the chaos continues in the meeting place outside Monad outpost.

"Zhang Xucheng! Use your Force to appease the civilians as much as possible! Kleist, you go help too!" Sky Squad leader Talia flapped her wings and swooped down from the sky at high speed, jumping precisely onto a hovermobile. The engine roared and tore through the air, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

She sped up while gritting her teeth and muttering to herself, "Damn it! We've fallen for their trap! This is a diversionary tactic!"

Just now, she received an urgent notification that Hilka, the second governor of the planet Losar, had been attacked by Blood Warriors! This news struck like a bolt from the blue—Governor Hilka was the second governor of Losar after the assassination of the former governor of the Given people, Kobori.

If Hilka is assassinated again, the assassinations of two governors within less than a year will undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to the stability of the planet Losar. At the same time, it will severely damage the Given people's confidence in the Kingdom of Dawn.

Talia quickened her pace, pondering the matter. She increasingly felt that the whole thing was an elaborate conspiracy! And the target of the assassination was undoubtedly Governor Hilka herself!

They had just received intelligence that the Ghost Squad, core members of the Rebel Alliance on Losar, would take advantage of Gladiator's Night to escape through the underground mining network of Monard Outpost.

When the news arrived, there were less than two hours left before the Gladiator's Night began. Talia led the Sky Squad to the scene to set up defenses. However, even though Kleist immediately pulled up a topographical map of Monard Outpost, it was already incomplete. This was a mine abandoned during the Galactic Empire's rule, and it was impossible to find complete topographical data.

They could only spread out around the venue, keeping watch at the few entrances they had already identified. Meanwhile, Zhang Xucheng was tasked with using his Force ability to hear the sounds of everything to carefully locate the Ghost Squad.

After searching for a while, Zhang Xucheng finally sensed the direction the Ghost Squad was heading. The Priestess was closest to them, so she first entered the pit to block it, then ordered Xiao Yan to immediately flank and drive the Ghost Squad into the mine. This way, their battle would avoid the crowded civilians in the area.

But at that moment, an explosion suddenly occurred on the other side of the venue, instantly killing hundreds of people and causing chaos. This blocked Zhang Xucheng, Talia, and the Serarui Special Forces soldiers they brought, who were preparing to arrive, completely cutting off their support route.

Then Ahsoka-Tano suddenly appeared; she wasn't on the list at all, and nobody knew when she arrived. After joining the battle, she quickly repelled Xiao Yan, leaving the priestess unable to hold off the Ghost Squad alone, and the situation began to spiral out of control.

But worse was yet to come. Just as they were concentrating their efforts on eliminating the Ghost Squad, they received an urgent report that Governor Hilka had been assassinated!

The whole thing finally became clear!

The Ghost Squad was merely a pawn, a decoy! Their real target was Governor Hilka!

……

"You've realized it too, Ahsoka-Tano? You're just expendable pawns," the priestess said coldly. "Now I can confirm it: the person who sold your whereabouts to us must be from within your rebel alliance. And this person has extensive cooperation with the Blood Warriors. I think you know who it is, don't you?"

"This is none of your business!" Ahsoka-Tano gritted his teeth, wielding two white lightsabers at high speed to block the priestess's barrage of attacks, but she was also being pushed back step by step.

"You say we're like the Galactic Empire? Heh heh heh..." the priestess sneered, "No, in my opinion, you and those madmen Blood Warriors are no different."

She unleashed more than ten sword strikes in an instant. Ahsoka-Tano couldn't block them and had nowhere left to retreat. His back was already hitting the cold rocks of the mine wall.

Just then, Kennen Jarres, whose arm had been severed earlier, suddenly sprang into action, wielding his lightsaber with his remaining left hand and slashing fiercely at the priestess's back!

"Asoka! Run!" he shouted.

The priestess reacted swiftly, easily blocking Kennen's attack as her lightsaber pierced his heart! Kennen coughed up blood, but with his last strength, he gripped the priestess's lightsaber tightly, roaring, "Run!!!"

Ahsoca-Tano didn't hesitate any longer; she quickly turned and ran.

The priestess looked at the blood-soaked Kennen Jarras and sighed, saying, "It was an honor to see you off, Caleb Doom. Regardless of your position, your actions did not dishonor the honor of the Jedi Order. I am proud to have been your mentor."

“But I… am… ashamed of it…” Kennen Jarres stared intently at the priestess, then breathed his last. (End of Chapter)