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| - Garrin loomed ahead of the Silver Moon II, casting a dark shadow across the ship. As they came closer and closer, Lontan became anxious as he noticed small pinpricks of light on the planet. This was bad, because the flashes of light were turbolaser bolts. The black Sith warcruiser had presumably landed and unloaded the ground troops, and now they were annihilating Garrin's population - innocent or not. "Master, do you think Kanato could be down there?" Lontan asked Master Arkan shakily. "It's hard for me to say, Lontan. And if so, it means he has truly turned to the Dark Side, slaughtering innocents like that..." he trailed off, and Lontan shuddered. After another hour or so, the Silver Moon II finally touched down onto the surface of Garrin. As soon as Lontan lowered the ramp, he was terror-struck by the horrific sight. The Sith troops had obviously stormed through here, and had laid waste to everything in their way. Smoking corpses littered the ground and homes were left in utter ruin. Jurvo swore, and Lontan was overcome by a chilling prickle running down his shivering spine. Arkan bent down and examined one of the corpses, realizing with a stab that many of them were killed by a lightsaber blade. "Lontan, I think the killer was Kanato. I'm sorry." said Master Arkan. Lontan nodded sadly, but ignited his lightsaber when a blaster bolt whizzed past his left ear, almost searing it off. "Jedi!" shouted a rough, harsh voice. Several Sith soldiers came into view, with various weapons slung over their belts and chest. One held a thick vibroblade while another wielded a pair of blaster pistols. A third was lugging a heavy shotgun, while a fourth was carrying an electrosaber. Everybody else activated their lightsabers, and prepared to engage the assassins. Jurvo made the first move, lunging into battle against the soldier with the vibroblade. Right when it seemed that Jurvo had won, the Sith soldier revealed that the vibroblade had just been a distraction, pulling a new S-37 blaster pistol from his jacket and firing several shots at Jurvo. However, the skilled Jedi Master deflected every single blast back into the Sith soldier who had fired them. The soldier collapsed to the ground, dead. Next, Arkan engaged the one with the electrosaber in a vicious duel, and he emerged victorious, slicing off the soldier's hand. After that, the Sith soldier with the shotgun lunged at Lontan, firing off several blasts. The Gungan leaped out of the way, somersaulting and landing behind the soldier's back. Lontan swiped with his emerald lightsaber, and the Sith soldier's head toppled from the body, bouncing when it hit the ground. The Sith soldier with the blaster pistols fled, scrambled down a rugged cliff and sprinted away, but Arkan felled him with a short Force push. The soldier tumbled to the dusty ground and reached for his blaster pistol - only to have Jurvo's double-bladed lightsaber sever his arm. Howling in pain, the Sith soldier surrendered. After shutting the wounded Sith soldiers in a temporary holding cell aboard the ship, Arkan, Jurvo, Lontan Aron and the others swiftly made their way across the harsh desert, towards the smoke and flashes of light. Several times they were attacked, until only Lontan, Jurvo & Arkan were left unharmed. The others were either dead or had to return to the Silver Moon II to recover. After nearly another five hours of trudging across the blistering grains of sand, the Jedi finally reached the battle, and were shocked by the utter carnage. The dusty ground was littered with bodies that were stacked more than five feet high at the lowest. They completely covered the ground in small dead hills that were almost part of the terrain. The setting sun cast a bright red-orange hue across the faces of the survivors, and at a certain angle it looked like blood. Though there were enough Sith bodies to fill the cargo holds of four ships, the Sith were still numbering in the hundreds and were slowly gaining the advantage, laying waste to all in their way. Lontan, Arkan, and Jurvo simultaneously activated their lightsabers, leaping into battle against the Sith as the surviving Republic troops looked on. In moments, the three Jedi had carved through half of the Sith soldiers, quickly decimating them and giving the Republic troopers time to gain the advantage. Lontan's emerald blade slashed left and right, slicing through metal and flesh. Suddenly, Lontan was thrown forwards. He tumbled over the bodies, landing on top of a dead Bothan. Confused, he clambered to his feet, only to realize with a jolt of panic that Kanato had revealed himself. He was cloaked in a black tunic that hung loosely from his muscular build. All four of his limbs had been replaced with black sinister-looking cybernetics, and his teeth were bared in an evil snarl. His eyes gleamed yellow like miniature suns. There was absolutely no doubt that Kanato had turned to the dark side. With an echoing hum, Kanato ignited his crimson lightsaber. Lontan Aron was stunned at what his former Master had become. He had gone from being a well-known and respected Jedi, and the Grand Master of the Jedi Order. But now, after pledging himself to the Dark Side, Kanato was a downright evil monstrosity. Arkan and Jurvo quickly rushed to Lontan's side, realizing what was going on. "Join the Dark Side, Jedi, or be destroyed!" warned Kanato. "Master Rindall, this isn't you!" insisted Jurvo. In response, Kanato used the Force to hurl him away. Jurvo flew through the air before crashing into a mound of bodies and tumbling over the other side. Kanato snarled evilly. "I am not Kanato Rindall! I never was him! I am Lord Gallow!" he screeched. He leaped into the air, somersaulting and landing in front of Arkan. With only a slight movement of his fingers, Kanato threw Arkan backwards. Arkan slammed into Jurvo and they both toppled to the ground in a writhing heap. Lontan decided to charge, swinging his emerald blade at Kanato. However, the new Sith calmly parried his blow with his own red lightsaber, and brought Lontan to his knees with a sharp punch from one of his robotic arms. He then flung Lontan at Jurvo and Arkan. Lontan felt like a speeding mag-lev train when he collided with Arkan and Jurvo. Pain quickly ripped through his body and he staggered to a halt, panting. Summoning more Force energy, Jurvo bounded towards Kanato and slashed at him with his sky-blue blue double-bladed lightsaber. Kanato lunged forward, and their blades clashed. Jurvo broke out of the saber lock and twisted his lightsaber at the handle. In less than a second, his double-bladed lightsaber was gone, replaced by two separate ones. Calling on the Force, he attacked faster than a modified podracer. If Kanato hadn't known better, he would have thought Jurvo was attacking with six or seven lightsabers, not two. The beefy Jedi Master quickly gained the upper hand against Kanato, swinging both blades like scythes. Looking to even the score, Kanato dodged Jurvo's lightsabers, getting under his defenses and delivering a sharp kick to his chin. Jurvo stumbled backward and spat blood on the ground. Pressing the attack, Kanato lashed out with his scarlet blade. Jurvo barely had time to defend himself from the lethal swipes, and gave more ground. Just when Kanato was about to deliver the killing blow, Arkan and Lontan seemingly leaped out of nowhere. They deflected Kanato's strike, twirling their blades and then whirling back to Jurvo's side. Kanato bared his teeth, and his eyes flashed. Surging forwards like a titanic gust of wind, Kanato thrust at Arkan. Arkan rolled out of the way, but still felt the fiery heat of Kanato's lightsaber as it buzzed just past his chest. Lontan and Jurvo made their move, striking as one. They compensated for each other's weaknesses and amplified their strengths. Their blazing swords flashing like lightning, they carved and slashed and lunged. Arkan quickly leaped back to his feet, joining the duo of Jedi. Together they forced Kanato back. Although the new Sith could beat any one of the three Jedi alone, when they attacked as one he didn't have time to launch any attacks of his own. It took all of his skill just to keep himself from being impaled or having a limb sliced off. Allowing the other two Jedi to cover him, Lontan attacked. He thrust his emerald blade forward, then twisted it to the side - halving Kanato's lightsaber hilt and rendering the weapon useless. Kanato had to throw himself onto a deceased Rodian to avoid an uppercut from Jurvo, and the new Sith quickly surrendered. Lontan bent to his side, looking into his cold yellow eyes. "Kanato, please, return to the light! We can help you to redeem yourself and rejoin us as a member of the Jedi!" coaxed Lontan. "Make me!" snarled Kanato. "Look at yourself! Look at what that sick, twisted being has done to you! You're attacking your friends!" added Arkan. As he said this he prodded Kanato's mind with a soothing tendril of the Force. Kanato glanced at his hands, and his eyes seemed to dim a little. "Please, we will assist you and help you restore balance to the Force!" continued Lontan, tears streaming down his face. Kanato's eyes lost more of their yellow hue, and he dropped his evil snarl. "It's your destiny, master." he finished. "Wait!" pleaded Kanato as Lontan began to trudge off. His eyes had returned to their normal blue color, and he seemed to be just a ragged, sad man. "I-I... I'm so sorry..." Kanato whimpered as glistening tears welled up in his clear azure eyes. "A-at first I was just feigning allegiance to the D-dark Side, so I could s-save myself and r-retrieve some v-valuable information... But he seduced me, and t-turned me into this monster... I am so sorry." Lontan smiled reassuringly, glad that his old master was back. "I forgive you, Master Rindall." he said.
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