"It is his turn..."


Those were the four simple words that were uttered from Zeta's own lips, and they were meant for one specific man, Gash Jiren. Once a man to almost achieve Sith Lord status, but he had thrown it all away to become a Rogue Jedi, a Rogue Jedi that now called himself a Rogue Jedi Master.

It sickened Zeta. Jiren had shown so much promise, he had held great power in the palm of his own hands, now that power was gone, gone and replaced with a new found power. A power that Zeta did not believe served Jiren to his fullest capabilities.

So he set out now, on the hunt for the great Rogue Jedi Master known as Gash Jiren. His first destination, Yavin 4, if he did not find the Rogue Jedi there, he would continue to keep in search. After all, it was Gash's turn, and everyone at some point in time had their turn with Zeta, it just couldn't be avoided.

Yavin 4

Even before Zeta's feet firmly pressed themselves against Yavin 4's territory, he could feel his own anger slowly boiling up within his body.

He did not like to search for what he wanted. He felt it was a waste of his own time, when he could be doing other things. However, in this case, he didn't mind, it was a challenge for him, and Zeta liked challenges.

As Zeta began to walk, he reached out with the Darkside of the force, reaching out and seeking out Gash Jiren's force presence to the best of his ability. He would find Jiren...

Gash sighed quietly, shutting off the comlink system, abruptly ending D31's tirade about something or other. The Jedi Master hadn't really been paying attention to his droid aide's uncontrolled rant; he'd been distracted.

It wasn't altogether uncommon for someone to arrive on Yavin 4 in the hopes of killing him. Most found themselves bound, gagged, and shipped right back off the planet in about ten minutes; others found that Gash was off planet, and instead met a fate far worse at the hands of Gash's Jedi students.

Of course, this time, the visitor was of a completely different variety. The comm light blinked with the maddened ferocity of an enraged D31 attempting to call Gash back, but the Jedi Master ignored it. He reached out to Zeta in the Force... yes...

He recognized the presence. His son, Xireon, had sent him another package a few month's prior, detailing various events in his wretched, evil life, one of which was a meeting with Zeta.

Zeta, Sith of the Naboo Sith Order... get off my planet. This is a place for learning. Unless you wish to learn what lies after the end of your own life, come no further towards me or my students.

A tight evil smile crossed Zeta's lips upon receiving Gash's force message. Zeta kept on walking...

You should know better than to threaten me, Jiren, for it is a waste of your own time, it fulfills no purpose for you. It is not your students I seek, Jiren, but you. Did you not think your new chosen path would not make it so? Every choice comes with some sort of price, something undesired.

[i]I am that price, Jiren. It is your time to face me, it can not be avoided...


Yes, he was in Gash Jiren's territory now, his land. He would expect Jiren to defend his land, not with the help of his own students or those who worked for him. No, he did not expect such a thing from a Jedi such as Gash Jiren. He expected more from Jiren, and he knew that if Jiren was the Rogue Jedi he claimed to be, he would not allow anyone else to do his dirty work for him.

Oh, Zeta. Believe me, I would very much like to kill you. However, it is bad form for a Jedi to simply kill without warning. I think you should know better than to threaten me. Do you think I have somehow weakened, Zeta, and that I will now allow you to stride across my planet and put the Rogue Jedi Order at risk?

Gash stood, sliding smoothly out of the room, ignoring protests of secretaries and assisstants. His own mind muffled their requests for reason, and he reached the stairwell in a moment or two. One glance down it told him that it was too slow a method of descent; without a second thought, he turned back towards the hallway. It was a stone-walled corridor, another original portion of the Great Temple converted for their use. He sprinted the length of the corridor in seconds, leaping straight through the transparisteel, as the clear metal shattered and fell to the ground far below.

Gash, however, did not fall; catching himself with the Force and propelling himself forward at a breakneck pace, the Jedi Master rushed through the clammy Yavin 4 air towards Zeta's approaching form. The ground below closed in on him, and he met it running, using the Force to propel himself faster than the eye could follow. Bringing his prosthetic arm's communication's console to his face without slowing, he muttered orders back to his cool-headed humanoid reptile assisstant, Garen, in Krick

"Tst en shmeslk sttss tterrrs en tsstyi. Rsi D31 tsuillin, tse rsi tre rsshinn."
[Get the students inside the temple. Keep D31 there, and keep him subdued.]

With a deafening silence, Gash continued sprinting, straight off the duracrete and into the jungle brush. Though he was visibly obscured from Zeta, he was sure the Sith could sense him; he leapt, straight into the air, aiding his limbs with the Force. He cleared even the highest Massassi tree, and landed only two feet behind the assaulting Sith.

"How nice to see you, Zeta... would you like the guided tour of Yavin 4?"

Zeta quickly turned around to face the Rogue Jedi Master.

"Well, it's about time you showed up, Jiren, I was beginning to question your own morality...I know you're much bigger than to let your students do your dirty work for you."

Zeta laughed, though the anger he felt towards Gash was still evident in his face.

"Such hospitality..which tour do you plan to give me, Jiren? The full length tour or the five minute tour? I hope it's the full length tour..I'd love to see what a traitor such as yourself has done for himself."

Gash smiled pleasantly, a facade for the innerworkings of his mind, which was quickly preparing for battle, evaluating Zeta's physique and possible techniques.

"Ah, only the best for tresspassing Sith, Zeta. Perhaps you would like a sampling of our special 1 BBY Alderaan brandy... the last of the brandy ever to ship from Alderaan, thanks to your beloved Palpatine.

"Come on, Zeta. You're here to kill me; why don't you get to it? Why are we playing these games? Is the brave Sith getting cold feet? Hmm?"

"I sense a lack of patience on your part, Jiren. What fun would it be to kill you quickly? I want you to die a slow and painful death, Jiren."

He looked at Gash coolly.

"Your son...he will be a great warrior..I once could have said the same for you, but now...no longer. Now you just sicken me. You held great power, Jiren, a power unlike no other. I know a good Darksider when I see one, and you were top line, Jiren. You decided to throw it all away...why?"

Gash put on the winning smile he'd practiced as a child Prince. The gesture, normally reserved to be performed by a handsome man, was marred by Gash's brutal facial scarring. Not that the Jedi Master was ugly; on the contrary, he was quite attractive. At twenty. At fourty, he was scarred, and more machine than man.

The mention of his youthful son just made this sink in further. Xireon was a reflection of what Gash had been. Evil, twisted, young... ready to throw away his most precious gifts for petty desires like... power.

"Oh, but Zeta, I still am top of the line. Better than you, in fact."

His smile turned into a sour grimace.

"Now get off my planet. I became a Jedi so I wouldn't waste my life and die cold, and alone. Like you. Leave."

A tight smile crossed his lips.

"Ah, the Rogue Jedi Master thinks he is better than me...So full of yourself, so proud, so confident. Yet that scare upon your face...that says something too, doesn't it?"

The wind outside had picked up now, a cold air seemed to present itself to the two force users.

"I'm not leaving until I'm damn well good and ready, Jiren!"

He gritted his teeth together.

"..And I'm not leaving until your blood is spilled upon my hands!..."

He paused, laughing lightly...

"..That is, if you have any blood left in you...You seem to be more machine than you are part man.."

Zeta raised both of his hands, drawing upon the Darkside of the force. He toyed with the air around his hands, manipulating the air to increase in speed, messing with the air molecules. He was trying to break the bond of fire, and after a still moment, he succeeded. Out of each palm of each hand seemed to grow a ball of fire, Zeta allowed each ball to grow until they were no more then medium in size. Then he raised each hand higher and then sent each ball of fire flying off in different directions towards Jiren, blasing chunks of metal material that made Jiren what he was known to be, more machine than man.