Part 4

Jaina gathered all the might that she could muster in such a short window of time, and swung her lightsaber at the exact spot where an outside, though familiar force was telling her to defend. Having trusted the Force, her bright violet blade crashed into her brother's vibrant red lightsaber with just as much momentum as he had attacked her with. Since neither was prepared for the resulting impact, both combatants were knocked out of position.

The daughter of Han Solo took that moment to step back and gather both her breath and the focus she had lost in the flurry of strikes Darth Caedus had thrown at her upper body. Never before had the so-called "Sword of the Jedi" faced such a foe. She had stricken down many gifted adversaries, a good portion of which were more powerful than her in combat. The only way to win against such warriors, Jaina knew well, was to use their strength, and often arrogance against itself.

But as the soreness began to lap at her muscles, the unfortunate fallibility of the human body already making itself known, Jaina Solo had become painfully aware that no such weakness existed on Darth Caedus. This was because of the fact that he knew the combat style and strategy of every creature in the galaxy that might stand even a moderate threat to him. Most of these aforementioned threats were Jedi, the training of which Jacen had either been a part of or personally overseen in some way. For the potential adversaries that Darth Caedus hadn't witnessed the education of, his skill in mental invasion and manipulation would be more than enough to be ready for any attack coming his way.

"You know you can't win," Caedus spoke, his voice nearly as calm as before the first attacks had been made. "This is foolish of you, sister."

Jaina tossed her hair over her shoulder, sending the first of what would be many beads of sweat into the air. "You were always the smarter one!"

She then brought her 'saber back in what looked like a wind-up to a powerful horizontal slash, but instead swiftly shifted her wrists, directed the point of the blade at her brother's stomach, and thrust. Darth Caedus cast the approaching beam of violet away with ease, but Jaina immediately shifted into a clockwise spin and allowed the momentum of Darth Caedus' parry to carry into her spin. She couldn't tell if he had been expecting the move as he brought his lightsaber around to block the strike, his face betraying neither worry nor confidence. Jaina's blade had barely touched her brother's before she brought it around in an upper strike, which he blocked as well.

She struck at his right shoulder now. He met her blade. Now at his left shoulder. He met her blade. Bringing her lightsaber down in a quick arc, she struck at his left knee. He met her blade. The Dark Lord had yet to use his left arm for anything other than counter-balance.

Taking the initiative, Caedus pushed her blade aside and allowed the momentum to carry his crimson blade around, over his head and toward his sister's face. Once again, Jaina had to take a step back to grant herself enough time to defend against the vicious attack. There was now a mere three meters between her back and the room's door. It was safe to assume Jacen had programmed it to lock once she had entered.

Her brother launched into a surprisingly quick trio of strikes at her leading leg. With each block, Jaina's 'saber wavered a notable amount to compensate for the sheer strength behind each swing. As the third slash met her lightsaber mere inches from her knee, that same familiar voice in her mind shouted at her to leave her current position. Summoning a strength that was not her own, Jaina leapt to her left just as Darth Caedus' other hand finally rose from beneath his rippling cloak and opened palm-out. The door directly behind where she had been crumpled inward.

Without a moment's pause, as if he had known such a simple blow couldn't do Jaina Solo in, Caedus reeled back and hurled his lightsaber toward his sister. From her perspective, it looked as though he had launched a compact cyclonic storm of pure Force from the palm of his hand. Finally seeing the opportunity she had feared would never come, Jaina used the leverage of her crouching position to launch herself and flip over the glowing rose disc. Landing on her feet with surprising grace, she gathered the living Force behind her and launched into a sprint, lightsaber ready.

She had just enough time to register Darth Caedus' gloved right hand appear centimeters away from her face before she was suddenly in the air, and just as suddenly her spine made solid contact with metal. The air rushed from her body and every muscle she could still feel extended and contracted without her consent.

Jaina couldn't tell if she was still breathing or not, her entire mind caught up in the cacophonous noise reverberating through her head. Vertigo had taken over, and she wasn't sure if she should be trying to keep her balance or if she was already on the floor. She summoned the strength to look up, only to find that the room's artificial lighting had taken on a burning intensity. Before she had to close her eyes again, Jaina had snatched a quick look at the room around her. It was still the same command observation deck, but now it seemed nearly three times as large. If her fingers and toes were still intact, she certainly couldn't feel, much less control them. She was beginning to question whether they had ever been there in the first place.

As the ringing began to give way to a spear-like pain above the tip of her spine and between her shoulder blades, her ears picked up a dull, slow thumping. It was precise and increasing in volume, leading her to believe it was her heart finally catching up to the rest of her body. As it became clearer, she noticed a metal hint to the beats, and by the eighth pound, she realized it was actually the sound of boots hitting steel floor.

And then every ounce of mental strength she had reined back from the bottomless depths was captivated by the signature sound of an activating lightsaber, followed by an intense red light, brighter than any star she had ever flown by, penetrating her closed eyelids. She didn't dare open them, for fear she be blinded.

"Don't… you will always… stop. Try… Falcon, not to… stay…" Her brother was speaking to her, but between the dull ringing in her ears and the overwhelming pain piercing her skull, what she could pick up was fragmented. After a few moments of silence, the same sounds of boots striking metal began again, but quickly grew quiet. She assumed he was now by the room's massive glass viewport.

Jaina, recalling her most basic of Jedi training exercises, tried to forget about the world around her. Focusing upon her breathing and touch of her clothes upon her skin, what she could sense and feel of the room began to disappear. Suddenly, the pain in her head and back weren't overwhelming and frightening, but basic bodily reactions to the otherwise minor damage her physical self had received. And she remembered that it was just that: a physical reaction to a physical problem. She was not just a physical entity; she was not just a shaken brain and a bruised spine. Jaina Solo remembered that she was a luminous being, even more-so with the Force on her side.

And suddenly the pain was gone, a vague weariness the only symptoms still left of what any medic would surely diagnose as a major concussion and significant spinal trauma. As feeling finally returned to her hands and feet, Jaina found her lightsaber still firmly within her grasp.