From where he slumped against the wall, Darenal watched with dazed awe the battle playing out before him. The Jedi danced, each thrust and slash of his lightsaber languid and smooth, the blue blade hissing through the air with a grace and precision that testified to his years of study and practice with the weapon.
Yet Vader toyed with him, his red blade thwarting each of the Jedi's attacks effortlessly.
At the sound of barked orders and armored boots, Darenal turned his head to see a squad of the black Stormtroopers standing ready in the doorway. One of them, having dragged the injured trooper into the opening, grabbed the unconscious man's remaining arm and hoisted him over his shoulders, disappearing down the hallway at a jog. The others stood motionless, like tensed hunting dogs, focused on the duel. Darenal could see the red and blue tints reflected across their helmets and armor as the lightsabers clashed with cracks and sputtering hisses.
The Jedi's attacks were furious now, desperation manifesting as increasing recklessness. No longer displaying his fluid grace, the Jedi swung his blade as if it were a metal pipe. Vader did not even take a step back, fending off this new primitive onslaught with the same deadly proficiency. The Jedi swung at the right side of Vader's head, then he twirled the blade over his head and brought it down to strike at Vader's left knee- only to be met by Vader's parries. Then the Jedi pivoted, twirling his blade at his side as he back stepped. The Jedi brought his blade forward as he turned the spin into a lunging thrust forward, straight for Vader's chest. At the moment the Jedi had committed all his momentum to the attack, Darth Vader finally moved.
Forward.
Knocking the thrust aside with his blade, Darth Vader advanced, thrusting out with an open palm as if to push his opponent's exposed chest.
To Darenal, it seemed as if the very air in the room rumbled, shook with power, as the Jedi was sent flying across the room to crash into the opposite wall, his blue blade disappearing with a hiss as it fell from his grip.
As the Jedi slid onto the floor, Vader began to walk forward, deactivating his weapon and replacing it on his belt. The Jedi immediately began climbing shakily to his feet coughing up bubbles of blood and saliva. Visibly bracing himself, the Jedi thrust out both his shaking arms and with an answering burst of power sent a small table flying toward his advancing foe.
In dazed wonder Darenal watched the table freeze in mid-air, not even halfway to its intended target. Just as Vader was only a few steps away from it, it exploded outward, pelting the Jedi with chunks and splinters of wood. As the Jedi covered his face with one arm, he threw his other out to his side, and with a glint of metal his lightsaber flew back into his grip and thrummed into life. The blue light of his blade now illuminated his face, blood streaming down his already bruising, broken features. His expression was twisted with agony, but the man stood his ground as Vader's shadow, cast by the light streaming in from the doorway, fell over him.
Vader stopped then, no more than five paces away from his enemy, as if considering something. The room was now silent but for the broken, rattling wheezes of the Jedi, and Darth Vader's steady, measured, mechanical breathing. Then, the moment ended. As Vader raised his hand, the Jedi lurched forward, trying to hold on to his weapon as it was pulled from his grip. With a soft hiss the blade vanished, and the blood stained handle spun end over end through the air to land in Vader's waiting hand. Beaten, weaponless, the Jedi's legs began to tremble, then wobble violently, and with a violent outburst of bloody coughing he fell to his knees. As the Black Stormtroopers rushed into the room, shackling the man and pulling him roughly to his feet, Darth Vader turned and walked to the door. He hadn't spoken a single word.