Chapter 9:
Esstran Cluster - Outer Rim- 3962 BBY. Aboard of the Ishtravmas - flagship of the 318-th republican strike fleet- 14:23 Coruscant time!
Cold and hardened eyes stared at the empty void outside the protective glass of the battlecruiser. The male twi'lek's eyes narrowed threateningly when all that he saw were only the tiny stars which were thousands of light-years away from his fleet.
-"Flight Lieutenant status report! Do we have any readings on mandalorian starships or any-others on the matter in the region!?" -he asked.
-"Negative Sir! The fleet's sensors aren't picking anything out of the ordinary in the sector. Only the immense power surges from the sun's solar flares!" -answered the FL after analysing the data from his console. The twi'lek smacked angrily the end of his chair.
-"Blast! This is the third time we have received false intelligence. I am beginning to wonder if MI hasn't been compromised somehow!"
Captain Gaeeph Perkor was usually a very calm person but even he had his limits. For the past week he had received two false transmisions sending his fleet chasing ghosts in territories which were far beyond his patrol perimeters but he had never ignored or disobeyed an order before. This time he had received a warning of mandalorian ships breaching republic space. The only reason he followed the coordinates given to him was because he knew that the republic was having small confrontations with them from some time now and he didn't want to be responsible if an suicidal enemy fleet snuck in republic space on his watch. Frustrated he took one last look at the empty void before turning his attention back to the flight lieutenant:
-"Alright. Order the fleet to make one last scan on the system and forward a hyperspace route to our original destination." -he ordered and leaned back in his chair.
-"Sir! We are detecting several ships entering the system just in-front of us." -suddenly said a mon-calamari ensign from a console at his left side. The twi'lek captain straighten immediately:
-"Any indications on these ships? And how many?" -he activated the data-stream on his terminal.
-"They are mandalorians Sir!" -came the answer. -"Captain I am detecting more ships coming in."
-"Put the fleet in yellow alert and give me status report on the mandalorians." -the captain turned towards his comm officer.
-"We are detecting approximately three thousand destroyers and a few hundred cruiser class starships." -said his XO with a rather relieved tone but Perkor only frowned.
-"Something is wrong here!" -he tapped his terminal to check the readings from the scans. "What are the mandies planing!? Three thousand destroyers and a few cruisers? That's not even enough for a recon unit" -he thought to himself.
-"Captain! They have deployed starfighters and are now on an intercept course with us!" -suddenly said with confusion the executive officer.
-"What? Are they suicidal or something?!" -the captain had stood up from his chair in disbelief. Only the destroyer class ships in his strike force were around fifty thousand. And he had heavy cruisers, battlecruisers and even dreadnoughts. -"What in the void's name are they planning!?"
-"Sir, their fighters are coming in an attack formation."
-"Launch first trough seventh fighter squadrons to intercept them and put them on the speakers. If they are looking for a dogfight we will give them one. And they will regret it!" -he ordered. The comm officer nodded and turned towards his screen.
-"Fighters are launched! Engagement in one minute. Enemy warships are staying out of firing range. I do not detect any activated weapon platforms so far." -informed them one of the officers in the bridge. The captain nodded and looked at the large battlescreen as a large swarm of green dots departed the bulk of his fleet towards the fewer in count red dots headed their way. He raised his head and saw trough the bridge's window the small lights which were his starfighters.
-"The fighters have engaged the enemy sir." -said the comm officer but Caprain Perkor already knew that because many of the red dots had started disappearing from the battlescreen in the center of the bridge.
-"Gold leader reporting in sir!" -came a voice from the comlink.
-"What's your status Gold leader?" -asked the captain.
-"Sir! There is something strange going on here. The mandalorian fighters are just dodging and evading us. They are not firing at all. It's like they are remotely controlled, Sir!" -spoke the pilot with apparent confusion in him. Perkor startled and his brows furrowed once again. Then realisation hit him and he shouted:
-"All squadrons pull back immediately! The fight..." -he couldn't finish his order because the dark void which was the space outside of the ship where his starfighters were currently engaging the supposed enemy forces suddenly lit like a supernova.
-"Explosions from warheads detected all around our fighters Sir!" -shouted someone but the captain almost didn't hear it. His facial expression had twisted itself in to pure rage. -"Captain, the enemy forces are pulling back." -said the same officer.
The twi'lek jumped on to his chair and shouted:
-"Order the whole fleet to chase after them! I am not letting those sons of bitches get away with murdering my people like that! A fair fight I can understand! But using empty fighters filled with warheads... They are going to pay for that!" -he said with cold steel in his voice.
The dark space became alive when the wave of gold, silver and red began it's advance. One hundred thousand dreadnoughts, cruisers and destroyers moved as one towards the miniature retreating mandalorian force.
"Blasted animals! We have been exchanging blows with them for over ten years! IF high command had some balls left they would have ordered us to exterminate them whenever we encountered them... Not proceed with caution and patience.. We are not blasted jedi damn it!" -the captain continued to curse. He looked trough the bridge's window. He was able to spot some of the mandalorian destroyers now and his face twisted in to a vicious smile.
-"When we get in range open fire with the heavy and quad heavy turbolasers. After we are finished all that I want to see out there is scrap!"
-"Copy that sir!" -answered him a bith lieutenant standing on the firing controls.
-"Captain I am detecting multiple jumps from lightspeed inside of the system!" -shouted suddenly the navigation officer. Perkor turned his head sharply on the battlescreen and his jaw dropped wide open. Thousands ... no hundreds of thousands red dots were appearing in-front and behind of his strike force. He took a look outside in the black space. The three thousand destroyers along with the few cruisers were now surrounded by uncountable number of Kyramud battleships, Kandosii dreadnoughts and Venator warships. He swallowed hard.
-"By the Force!" -came a faint whimp from his executive officer. -"The gods forsaken sun must have interfered with our scans. There is no other explanation how they hid from our deep space sensors."
-"All ships battle-stations! Code red!" -shouted the twi'lek immediately. In front of him the mandalorian armada began advancing. Hundreds of thousands starfighters and basilisks leaving their carriers eager to engage the small republic fleet. -"launch all fighter squadrons!" -his crew were staring him as if he had lost his mind.
-"Sir!? We can not survive a battle against such force!" -shouted the comm lieutenant.
-"I know damn it! This is a trap! A full invasion fleet. Our way back is cut off if you haven't seen already! All we can do is send a message to the nearest fleet and fight with hope that some of us will escape!" -the captain shouted in return his face had transformed from dark blue to almost white.
-"I can't believe my eyes! The mandalorians are riding these machines like animals. They are right out in open space." -shouted one of his lowered level officers.
Perkor looked outside and saw the basilisks with their armored riders engaging his forces and swallowed hard. He always knew the Mandalorians were crazy but to actually see it first hand was another matter entirely.
-"A message sir? The only large enough fleet that can help us is fifty thousand light years away from here. No way they can reach is before we are annihilated!" -the comm LT was beginning to loose it.
-"I know that also damn you, now shut up and follow your orders! The following message is
"This is Captain Gaeeph Perkor - commander of the 318-th border strike fleet to Republic High Command- identification code zeta-sixter-three-eight-alpha!
Message Priority Delta-niner-alpha-six-three:
Approximately 1500 hours Coruscant time were engaged in a small dogfight with mandalorian forces in the Esstran Cluster in republic space.
The mandalorian forces used warheads loaded on to empty and remotely controlled starfighters eliminating ours with what turned to be the intention to bait us to pursue them.
At 15:15 hours the 318-th heavy strike unit was ambushed by a full invasion Mandalorian fleet.
The prologue is over!I repeat - The prologue is Over! The mandalorians are breaking out on the outer rim. The Mandalorian War had begun!
This is Captain Gaeeph Perkor to Republic High Command- I am sending this message to the nearest patrol fleet and after it I will engage the enemy forces -over!"" -he finished and silence filled the bridge. Everyone knew that there was almost zero chance for them to leave this system alive. Then the silent moment was broken by the alarms indicating incoming fire. The ship shook violently.
-"All forces return fire!" -shouted the twi'lek captain and sat steadily on his commanding chair.
The star system was a light show. Hundreds of thousands starfighters engaged in deadly combat surrounded by the titanic silhouettes of dreadnoughts and battlecruisers. Turbolaser fire going in all possible directions. Frigates being torn to pieces. Cruisers launching proton and assault concussion missiles at each other. Perkor watched with excruciating tightness on his heart as his fleet was being decimated in-front of his eyes. The Mandalorians were suffering casualties as well, but the numbers were times smaller than he had estimated. "Blast High Command to hell! They should have given us more forces. The mandalorians are tearing my fleet apart with such ease." -he thought as he watched another of his dreadnoughts explode to pieces. It seemed that after that battle the only things remaining in space were going to be only pieces of debris indeed. Just like he had planned. The only problem was that it was his fleet being decimated and not the other way around as he had planned at the beginning.
-"Sir we lost The Verge, The Peer, The Gomer and The Salgulnavgo!" -reported his XO.
-"Send the second heavy division on the left flank, and I need fighter squadrons at the center YESTERDAY!" -shouted the twi'lek while his ship shook violently again.
-"We lost decks eight trough thirteen! Most of the forwards batteries are down along with six heavy turbolasers." -came a panicked yell from somewhere.
It was chaos all around them. Outside of the bridge's window seven more cruisers and destroyers disappeared along with unknown number of starfighters - vaporized by nuclear warheads. "Half of my fleet obliterated for mere hours." -the captain gripped tightly the end of his chair. "At-least we send that blasted message in time!" His ship shook again. Screens all around the bridge were turning red and the alarms weren't stopping anymore.
-"Heavy cruiser on the left starboard sir... opening fi..." -The captain turned his head in the direction from where the ensign had called him just to watch the console in-front of which she was positioned explode and a piece of metal from it almost cutting her in half.
-"Return fire as much as we can!" -he shouted and the ship began firing in close range with the enemy's cruiser. -"Somebody extinguish this fire NOW!" -his ship was going down and he was perfectly aware of that, but he wasn't going without doing as much damage as possible. -"Fire controls order every missile battery, and all laser platforms to open fire at the center of that cruiser. If we are going down we are taking him with us!"
Turbolaser fire and hundreds of missiles erupted in a single barrage from the dying battlecruiser. For a second there was nothing but a neverending red light in the space between the two ships. Then the volley hit it's target. Hot plasma tearing trough durasteel and plasteel sending large pieces of debris floating in all possible directions. The hull of the mandalorian cruiser couldn't withstand the concentrated fire of the larger ship and broke in half with a large explosion. Captain Perkor had just enough time for a small vicious cheer before three more dreadnoughts close in on him. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes was his bridge going out in flames and ship personnel flying all around him.
Dantooine:
Meetra was exhausted. Her whole body was numb on the left side. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to figure out where she was. Judging by the medical droid stationed near her bed and the large healing kolto tank positioned near the opposite wall she deduced that she was lying on a bed in a clink of a sort. The padawan raised her left hand slowly. She couldn't feel a thing so she supposed that the pain-killers they had used hadn't worn off yet.
Her hand wasn't a pretty sight. Large and still red scars were marking the spot where one of the kath-hounds had bitten her. She also remembered what had happened with her leg and decided not to examine the damage done to it and let the wound heal some first. A faint cough from her left side got her attention. She rolled her head to see a concerned Atris sitting on a chair half a meter away from her bed.
-"Hi there! How are you feeling?" -she asked.
-"Shouldn't I be asking you that? The last thing I saw before we were rescued was You lying on the grass severily bleeding." -Meetra answered her with a question of her own.
-"Well, yes! It seems I lost consciousness almost instantly because of the pain. It turned out that my would wasn't very severe. The animal barely touched my artery with it's fangs. But you on the other hand... it is a miracle that you survived. Two severed major arteries in your leg and arm, broken bones and so many other smaller wounds." -the knight shifted uncomfortably on her chair: -"The others said that when they arrived they found you standing near my body fighting the kath-hounds severely bleeding all over. They said that if it hadn't been for you the animals would have torn me to pieces before they arrived." -Atris looked at the padawan in the eyes: -"Thank you! I do not know how you managed it because the last thing I remember was when you fell down while being jumped by two of the beasts but I would be dead if it wasn't for you. Thank you and I am sorry!"
-"Wait!? What are you sorry for?!" -Meetra asked surprised.
-"Because I am a jedi knight and you are a padawan. It was my responsibility to protect you out there and I failed. Instead of me saving you, you saved me." -said the older girl. The padawan remained silent for a while. Suddenly the door to the med-room opened and two figures entered.
-"Hello Meetra! It's good to see you awake. You got us worried there for a couple of days!" -said Alek. The Revanchist just nodded. Or at-least Meetra thought he nodded because his everpresent hood just shook a little. "What a strange person he is." -she thought then blinked surprised.
-"Wait!? Two days? I have been out for two whole days?!" -The tall jedi shook his head in agreement.
-"Yes! You suffered many fractured bones, severed arteries and severe blood-loss. The Force favors you padawan Surik!" -spoke the hooded jedi. Meetra didn't fail to notice his strange tone. -"When you get better I wish to speak with you in private.." -he started but Alek threw him a frown -"...but we are here now to see how you are feeling and to wish you fast recovery." -he finished and his tall friend smiled warmly at the bedridden girl.
-"Thanks! And thank you for saving us!" -thanked them the padawan.
-"Oh!? You were conscious when we arrived?" -asked surprised Alek.
-"Well yea, barely. By the way how did you find us, and most of all how did you know we were in trouble?" -Meetra looked curiously at the two jedi.
-"Shortly after we finished our meeting we saw a farmer complaining about some hunters which had angered the kath-hounds this morning. Master Dorak was passing by us when he heard him and then told us that knight Atris and you had plans on doing some-kind of a research in the supposed area. Master made haste immediately after saying something about a mating season!?" -he looked at The Revanchist and he nodded.
-"Yes! I know that now is their mating season and they gather in rather large groups. And the area you were in is usually quite heavily populated by them so I dragged him along in the nearest landspeeder and made our way to your coordinates." -he explained and the padawan shook her head in understanding. -"When we were relevantly close to your speeder's tracker I felt a strong surge in the Force and managed to determine your exact position. We reached you just as you blasted away the animals which were surrounding the two of you and proceeded to help." -finished the hooded jedi.
-"Indeed. That was quite the performance you showed us there Surik." -said Alek.
-"Well, we all get lucky once in a while!" -answered the padawan.
-"Do not underestimate yourself padawan. I sensed great potential in you the first time we met and in the light of recent events it seems that I wasn't wrong." -told her The Revanchist. -"There is something I wanted to ask the both of you." -he said and looked at Atris. -"I felt a strange presence in the area where we found you. Could you explain to me..." -his thoughts were interrupted by a beep coming from his friend's robes. He looked at the tall man and he pulled out a holocomunicator activating it in the process. The small figure of the jedi master which had talked to The Revanchist two days ago appeared above it.
-"Good day knight Alek." -he greeted the tall man and then turned to the shorter jedi. -"Good, you are with him! Urgent news came a few minutes ago from the Jedi Temple on Coruscant." -he said hastily. Meetra saw the faint stiffening of the hooded figure's body. The jedi master was very upset about something.
-"What urgent news? Has something happened?" -he asked.
-"Approximately seventeen hours ago a republic strike fleet in the outer rim has been attacked by the mandalorians."
-"And? The republic has been fighting with the mandalorians in the outer rim for nearly ten years so far but nothing major. Our plans remain the same. Our scouting party will depart at the end of the week as scheduled." -said The Revanchist but the master raised a hand.
-"Then it will interest you that the whole republic fleet has been annihilated!" -he told him with a calm tone.
-"WHAT!? The whole fleet? But a strike force is consistent of at-least around a hundred thousand ships!?" -said the hooded jedi with disbelief.
-"Indeed! They were ambushed by an entire mandalorian invasion fleet. Judging from the last transmission received from the strike force the enemy's forces have been approximately around a million ships. Cruisers, heavy Cruisers, Battlecruisers and Dreadnoughts! A few hours later they received two more reports of our fleets engaged in combat in two other sectors around our borders. The senate made a public announcement. The Republic is now officially in war with the Mandalorian Clans and the fleets are mobilizing as we speak!" -the jedi master finished finally.
-"Then we have no more time!" -The Revanchist said and took a quick glance at Alek who gave him an knowing look before turning his attention back to the projection. -"We are changing our schedule and leave tomorrow. I will go and inform the others immediately." -the master nodded and cut off the link. The shorter jedi turned to the padawan. -"It seems our plans have changed a little. I knew that the war was inevitable but I didn't expect this Mandalore The Ultimate to attack on three fronts at once. I am sorry padawan but we must cut our visit short. I heard that they will release you in an hour or two so I will find you around the enclave tonight, we have something to discuss." -then he clicked his head in Alek's direction and the two jedi left in a hurry.
Meetra looked at Atris.
-"So the war has finally started." -she said quietly and took a look at the closed door. -"So their theories proved correct despite what everyone else thought."
-"So it seems." -answered the knight. -"I wonder what actions will the jedi council take."
Meetra looked at her friend as she had grown a second head:
-"What do you mean "You wonder"!? Of course they must join the war and help the republic. That is the only rational thing to do in a situation like that." -she said heatedly. Atris looked at her with a faint frown.
-"The Jedi are the protectors of the peace. We are the guardians of the Republic, not soldiers and warriors to jump in to a war blindly."
"Yes. right... and stopping this war as quickly as possible isn't doing exactly that!?" thought the padawan baffled by the short shortsightedness the knight was displaying but decided not to waste energy in to pointless debates, which were certain to arise if she opened her mouth. It seemed enough time had passed for the painkillers to wear off and she noticed that she could finally move her left leg and decided that it was time for her to leave this medbay or whatever this room was.
-"Here, help me to get up and put some clothes on myself! I want to get out of here." -she told Atris and stood up from the bed.
-"Are you sure are feeling well enough to be moving around?" -asked surprised the older girl.
-"Force, no! But I will get my strength back faster if I do physical exercises." -said the padawan and Atris knew that the decision her friend had made was final. She stood up from her chair and went to the wardrobe to pull Meetra's robes.
After a quite a lot of painful groans the padawan was finally dressed and in an acceptable condition, so the two girls left the infirmary and headed towards the central garden of the enclave. It seemed like the news of the war had spread quite fast because the whole academy was in a stir.
A few hours later in the central garden:
Meetra could not not get just a little irritated by the constant whispering around her and the often looks of admiration the younger padawans and even some of the knights present in the gardens were giving her.
-"I don't get what the big deal is!? We barely survived out there. If Alek and his master hadn't come to our aid we would be dead by now." -she whispered to Atris. The knight threw her a quick glance:
-"Barely or not, it's a fact that you managed to kill more than hundred kath-hounds before you went down." -she said quietly and the padawan threw her a startled look. -"Not that I am happy or approve of what we have done but even I can't deny that, that was quite the feat you accomplished. And that is without mentioning -you saving my life- again."
-"Well, alright. Now i get a fraction of what Master Kavar must feel when everyone stairs in him." -said Meetra with faked amusement in her voice. The older girl raised a brow:
-"Oh!? And what do you feel?" -asked the knight intrigued. The padawan forced an serious expression on her face and turned to her friend:
-"Irritation. And a lot of it actually." -she answered and frowned at a small group of passing younglings, who looked like they were awestruck, by the tree where they were siting.
-"Come on now, must I remind you how you spoke of Master Vima Sunrider while you were under her tutelage?" -said the knight and a faint smile appeared on her lips while she was remembering something. Meetra's frown deepened:
-"Well.. yea.. I was rather heated that time wasn't I? But I never stared so impolitely." -she answered and her face saddened. Atris immediately regretted for reminding her friend about the only master beside Kavar that had ever praised her.
-"I am sorry!" -she apologised. -"I couldn't find a clue about where the order has sent her and on what mission." Meetra looked at her friend and just waved her hand dismissively:
-"Naah, don't worry about it. I learned quite a lot from her in the brief time she was my master and I am grateful for it. I doubt that without her training Kavar would have taken me as a pupil."
-"What's that now? Vima was your master for a time? I wasn't aware of that. How interesting!" -came the voice of master Kavar from a few meters behind them. The two girls turned over and saw him walking slowly towards them.
-"Good evening Master!" -"Master Kavar, good evening!" -said both girls at the same time with courteous bows after standing up.
-"Padawan, knight Atris. It's good to see that you are both alright. I learned just now of what had transpired two days ago. I am beyond relief to see you up and running... so to speak." -said the master with a small smile and a warm voice. He turned to his padawan and pulled out the small holocron from his robes: -"Here! It seems Knight Alek found this near you when they rescued the both of you and gave it to his friend who in turn turned it to master Tokare. Master Vandar gave it to me, and now I am returning it to you." -he passed it on to her.
-"Thank you Master, I hadn't even noticed that it was missing." -thanked the padawan and dropped the small cube-like thing inside one of her pockets. She instantly felt the cool breeze around her "So you are alive jedi. I thought that the beasts had ended you. I was picked by a rather gifted individual when we lost contact but he didn't even try to access my data. I was rather disappointed but what can we do, the world does not obey our laws and wishes. If we do not manage to force it of course." - said the familiar voice in her head immediately. The padawan just ignored him for the time being, there was plenty of time for her to acquire the knowledge inside the holocron later.
-"Soo.. It seems the other masters in the council forgot to mention that Master Sunrider had considered to take you as a padawan." -said Kavar.
-"Well.. I do not know if she had considered such a thing but I did learn a lot from her. I trained mainly the arts of battle with her. She had to leave before we had a chance to practice force techniques. She was the only master who stayed with me for more than a few months." -answered him the younger girl. The master raised an eyebrow amused:
-"Believe me. Vima never trained anyone if she wasn't certain that they didn't have what it takes. I take pride in saying that you have come a long way in the past year as my padawan. You should too!" -his face quirked a little as if he had just remembered something: -"Padawan, tomorrow we have some business together, I will expect you at the council chamber by noon. Don't be late! Now if you excuse me, I will leave you to rest and go on my business." -he said and turning with an elegant spin on his foot disappeared from their sight.
Meetra turned towards Atris:
-"I thing I will also retire in my room for the day. Good evening Atris, see you later!"
-"Alright, I have some work with Master Dorak anyway, good buy!" -said the knight and the padawan left the gardens.
Around an hour later in the bedrooms:
Meetra was seated in the center of her room. She was keeping the small holocron standing in the air at neck length unmoving. She appeared to be in deep thought. The levitating object flashed with blue energy but she ignored it. The padawan opened her eyes suddenly and grabbed it without moving it. She concentrated and send a strong surge of the force in it.
She found herself in the white space again. The girl turned and saw the tall force user standing behind her.
-"So... This time you have managed to come on your own I see." -said the hooded figure with faint amusement. -"What do you want Jedi!?"
-"I want to be stronger! I want power!" -said the padawan with determination and an alien menace in her voice. She saw as the face of the hooded figure grew in to a vicious smile:
-"Good! I can give you such knowledge. I can help you achieve strength and power! But how far are you willing to go for such knowledge!?" -he asked her.
-"Very far! But I do not want to become a sith!" -spat the girl at him. -"Are you a Sith Lord?" -the man kept his eyes at her for a long time.
-"My creator was a Jedi Master! He was also a Dark Lord of the Sith!" -he said, and as Meetra started to open her mouth he interupted her with a raised hand -"But I am neither! My creator was the most powerful force user on his time. He became a Sith because the Jedi are short sighted fools and hypocrites and exiled him along with his followers. He waged war with the Jedi Order but it wasn't a Jedi that killed him. A few years before he died he understood that there are no Light or Dark sides of the force. IT is one entity and if you master both - nothing could stop you. I was created with all of his knowledge just before his closest friend betrayed him and killed him."
-"Typical Sith if you ask me! Your kind always betrays one another!" -said Meetra with disgust. To her surprise the hooded figure nodded in agreement with her:
-"I agree! The sith are weak. They preach about power, control and rulership trough Anger and Hate! Bah!" -the man spat: -"They are as blinded as the jedi. Anger clouds their minds and actions yet they surrender to it so easily. True power comes from controlling one's emotions and turning them in to weapons which you can control in whatever way you wish to. Not let them control you and make you loose perspective of the real world." -he continued to stare at the girl: -"I can teach you to master your emotions, to turn them in to weapons at your choosing. I can make you invincible!" -he said with heated voice.
-"I want that power! Teach me!" -Meetra said her eyes turned in to a blue blaze. Another vicious smile appeared on the hooded man's face:
-"Good!" -suddenly Meetra felt the hilt of a lightsaber in her hand.
The tall man also pulled out a lightsaber and took the stance of Juyo. It was her turn to smile viciously and putting her left leg a step forward she rolled her hilt backwards in her hand taking on the stance of TrĂ¡kata. The two figures engaged their lightsabers at the same time. Meetra didn't even blink at the sight of the two red lightsabers. Her opponent's sword was humming horizontally to his face while hers was standing vertically behind her right arm. A faint sound of surprise came from the tall figure.
-"Well, well. That is quite the surprise little jedi. Let's see how will I do against my own stance!" -he laughed and jumped at her.
