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Kyp Durron was not a happy man. Considering that he'd just destroyed a nebula, two star systems, and his only brother, this was logical. Now, his Sun Crusher was perched above the dying remains of a red dwarf, once home to an Imperial shipyard. He planned to continue his drive Coreward, but not yet. Right now he was numb in the aftermath of destruction... and even Exar Kun's silky voice was silent.
"Ouch! Sithspit!"
Kyp turned suddenly at the sound of a new voice. It was a blonde-haired woman. Her green eyes were angry as she tucked a stray blonde braid behind her ear. The motion revealed exotic flower designs framing her eyes. The reason for her exclamation was a pair of blue- and silver-highlighted black wings. They were too small for the confines of the Sun Crusher.
"Sithspit," she cursed again, this time rubbing her wing where it had crashed against the bulkhead. "If you're going to do something stupid, why couldn't you do it in a bigger place??"
She scared him. Not as much as Exar Kun, but the black-winged woman scared him. There was an awesome power that surpassed the Force radiating from her body. Kyp raised his hand to defend himself from her. He shot Force-lightning at her, desiring to engulf her body in the Dark power.
The woman's silvery black and blue bows didn't even ruffle as she caught the energy with a silver tipped wing. "Making me angrier is not a good thing," she warned as she smoothed out her silvery blue and black miniskirt. Her eyes softened for a brief moment. "Hey. It would be worse. You could be getting a visit from the Guardian of Destruction. Not pleasant."
Kyp's eyes were wide. She'd just absorbed his Force-blast! That had to be impossible. "Who... what are you?"
Her tattooed framed eyes hardened as she leaned forward a little. "I'm the Guardian of the Stars, and I am this close -" she held her black gloved fingers less than an inch apart "- to killing you."
~*~*~*~*~
Han Solo and Lando Calrissian were feverishly hunting for the renegade Jedi before he did anything stupid. More stupid. So far, the kid had showed that he was more than willing to destroy everything on his vengeful path. Han had half a mind to give up and just let the kid destroy the Empire. Kyp could do it with that Sun Crusher. It would be easy...
The Corellian shut his eyes as his vision was suddenly filled with the image of an exploding star screaming out in pain. He shook his head and considered swearing off brandy.
~*~*~*~*~
"But I'm not allowed to kill you. Even the Dark Sailor has to follow someone."
The Guardian's frustrated words brought no relief to Kyp. "Why not?"
The woman frowned. "Destiny won't allow me to kill you."
"Why don't you just kill me? Isn't that the perfect punishment for someone who's taken so many lives?"
"Sorry." The woman sounded anything but. "You don't get the coward's way out this time. You have to face up to what you've done."
"Wipe my memory, then. Like I did to that scientist," he begged. "Take away my memories of my brother... the Jedi... the..."
She didn't let him continue. "I have the punishment in my hands." The faint sound of a bell echoed in the room. "You have disturbed my Guardianship, and for the Kyp Durron, you will be punished. Death will not be your escape. Amnesia will not be your defense." The woman paused in her speech to arch her wings as best she could. "You will remember," she shouted into the sudden wind that curled around the two.
It seemed to Kyp that between her wings a star formed. It was as if he was watching the billions of years it took to bring a star to the point of birth in an instant. The woman grasped the star between her hands and held it out.
Kyp was not going to touch it. He started to back away.
"For the stars I guard," the woman shouted over the harsh and unnatural wind. She concentrated, and the star in her hands exploded. As it did, Kyp could feel the pain radiating from her. It seemed to be an eternity before she screamed and the star fizzled into a post-nova black hole.
The young Jedi hadn't realized he'd fallen to his knees. He gasped for breath, trying to understand what had just happened. Looking up, he noticed the woman had changed. Her wings were gone, her skirt was plain blue and pleated, her bows were plain gray, and her body suit was still black. "I'm sorry," she murmured as she held out her hand to help him up.
He jerked away from her, and she shrugged. "Fine then. You know what you have to do." She gestured to the screen that was home to a familiar Corellian ship. "Make your decisions wisely."
She blew him a kiss, and then she was gone.
Kyp Durron didn't understand what had happened, or who the woman was. He felt a silky dark presence in the back of his mind and turned to face Han Solo.
