Some Random: Okay, Chapter 12 and part 2 of the girls Hoth mission. Thankyou to everyone that reviewed, I really appreciate it. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got bogged down by block exams in the last week of school, I went on a school Ski Trip and had a really busy holiday...which included my birthday...on the 7th of July...so now I'm sixteen!!! Oh, and I think the language has upped a little. But probably just for this chapter...I think. Hopefully I don't have to move it to the M section as that might put off some of my readers. Anyway...on with the chapter!!
Chapter Twelve - Hoth…planet of ice and snow…and whole lot more….part 2!!!
Alara landed smoothly on the tunnel bottom after falling down the hole. Moving forward, she looked down the tunnel and then heard Jaden come crashing down behind her. Turning around, she saw her lying on the ground. Suddenly Dantia came down the hole and crashed into Jaden.
"Nice." She said and got off Jaden. Both then got to their feet.
"Okay, what now?" said Jaden.
"Down the tunnel." Said Dantia.
"State the obvious much?" remarked Alara. No reply from Dantia. The girls made their way along the tunnel, lightsabers in hand, ready for anything. Then the tunnel dropped off. Looking down, they saw that it led to the top of a large crate. Falling down onto the crate, they crouched down on the top of it when they heard footsteps. Jaden crawled over to the edge and peered over it. Standing on the ground beside the crate were three snowtroopers. One of them had walked up to the other two and that's why they'd heard footsteps.
"Anything to report?" said the snowtrooper that had walked over, the third one.
"No sir." Replied one of the two other snowtroopers.
"Keep sharp. We've lost contact with the perimeter guard. Could be the storm or wampas." The third one paused, "You don't want one of those things surprising you." Jaden stifled a giggle, knowing full well exactly what had taken out the perimeter guard. Dantia and Alara turned around just to see Jaden jump off the crate, lightsaber activated.
"Here's you're perimeter guard annihilator." She said, before killing all three snowtroopers. Alara and Dantia jumped off the crate and walked over to her.
"What are they doing here?" said Dantia, looking down at the dead bodies of the snowtroopers. Jaden shrugged.
"I don't know either." Said Alara, "But we need to find out." The other two nodded. They ran through the storage area and then came to a door. Behind the door were more snowtroopers. Killing them, they continued on.
Soon they came to what appeared to be a medical bay. The second one they'd come across so far. Killing all the snowtroopers there, they forged on, killing any snowtroopers that got in their way. Then they came to a lift. Going down it, they found more snowtroopers and killed them as well.
"How many of them are there?" complained Jaden, "They seem to be crawling around all over this base."
"I don't know." Replied Alara, "But its better if we get rid of them."
"And the more we find, the closer we get to the one in charge. Then we can find out what they're doing here." Said Dantia.
"Ah. I see." Replied Jaden. They kept on going, killing snowtroopers along the way.
Pulling her lightsaber out of a snowtrooper of a group that they'd come across, Dantia flicked her hair out of her eyes.
"Where exactly are we?" she said, turning to Alara, who was consulting a data pad with a map.
"According to this, we should be coming up to the command centre. Maybe we'll find what we're looking for there." Jaden nodded in agreement.
"Let's go then."
A little while later, they reached the command centre. Jaden was about to go rushing around past some consoles when Dantia grabbed her arm.
"Hold it." She whispered, "Someone's in here. And we might need these." Her hand reached for her lightsaber. Using the Force to scan the room, Jaden then sensed the dark presence that could only mean one thing. A Dark Jedi was in the room with them.
"Okay, then something important must be happening. They wouldn't bring one of these guys if there wasn't." she whispered. Both Dantia and Alara nodded. Alara was about to speak when they heard the Dark Jedi speaking.
"Command centre to Alora." It was obvious he was speaking in a comlick as they'd sensed no other presences in the room.
"Alora here." A voice coming from the comlick replied to the Dark Jedi. A woman's voice. The name Alora sounded very familiar to Alara. Where had she heard that name before? Not for years, that much she knew.
"We've
just finished downloading the data." The Dark Jedi was speaking
again, "The Rebels must have erased everything during the
evacuation. Fortunately, the computer kept logging their flight
information."
"And?"
"And we found Rogue Leader's flight trajectory when he left Hoth. From it we've been able to determine that Skywalker went to Dagobah." The three girls' eyes widened at the name Skywalker.
"Dagobah? That sneaky little Jedi." The conversation then ended. All three girls stood in silence, taking in the information.
"Alright." Whispered Jaden finally, "First things first. We need to kill the Dark Jedi."
"Agreed." Whispered Alara and Dantia in unison.
The Dark Jedi was feeling pretty pleased with himself, and then he heard the sound of three lightsabers activating at once. Three presences in the Force resided around the other side of the consoles. Although the odds were against him, power would see him through. Boy was he wrong. He walked around the corner, facing them.
"You will die." He said and activated his lightsaber. The blonde girl attacked first, but he blocked her strike effortlessly. He moved his 'saber round in time to block the strike from the Twi'lek and turned again just in time to block a second strike from the blonde. This fight was slightly difficult as he had to keep track of both of them. But where was the third one? It didn't matter at that moment, separating the two attacking him was what was important.
Alara felt a surge in the Force in her direction and went to block it, expecting a normal Force Push. But when she felt the pain of the Force Lighting strike her, she was thrown completely off guard. Jaden heard Alara scream in pain and made the mistake of glancing over to her. She turned back just in time to block a strike from the Dark Jedi. But where was Dantia?
There. That was it. One was subdued, for the moment. But he would be ready when she would recover. He knew she'd been anticipating a Force Push, but he was beyond those parlour tricks.
Pain wracked her body, as she tried to get to her feet. She'd never felt anything like it. Her body felt like it was on fire, but she still tried to move. Jaden was good with a lightsaber, but the guy was a Sith. And if he'd managed to get past her, he might possibly get past Jaden. Although she hated to admit it, Jaden was just that notch higher then her in talent and skill with a lightsaber.
Jaden gritted her teeth in annoyance. She hated being on the defensive. But try as she might, she could not change states. This guy was good. Offensive was where her talent truly lay, not in the stupid moves in defence.
'Dantia, wherever you've disappeared to...it might be good to reappear...'
Just when he had the upper hand, a purple lightsaber came flying at him and he swung to block it. It retreated back to its owner's hand. The third girl, the dark haired one. There was something familiar about her face, like he'd seen it before. But where he did not know. There was suddenly a burning sensation in his leg as the blonde hit him with her lightsaber and he cursed mentally as he soon became on the defensive.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" she said, excitedly and he soon saw why. The girl...was good.
'So offensive moves is where she succeeds, hey? Fine. Now all I need to do is get her back on the defensive.' He thought, but that proved harder then he had anticipated. Then he noticed a slight slip up and was just about to get the upper hand when there was pain in his chest. Looking down, he noticed the yellow lightsaber blade. The one that belonged to the Twi'lek.
"I'm not one to be taken out so easily." Said Alara, and pulled out her lightsaber. The Dark Jedi crumpled to the ground.
'Beaten...by a bunch of teenagers...' was his last thought. Deactivating her lightsaber, Jaden turned to Alara.
"Great timing. I think he noticed an advantage from a messy strike but you got there before he could use it. Nice work." She said and Alara smiled. She lent against one of the consoles just as Dantia walked over.
"You okay?" she said, noticing it. Alara nodded.
"You sure?"
"I'll manage. After all, I'm not about to let some Force Lightning stop me."
"What was it like?" said Jaden, curiously.
"Painful. I'll say that." Alara straightened.
"What we heard isn't good. We'd better find this...Alora." Her voice cracked slightly over the name. It sounded too familiar. But she knew that when they found Alora, she'd probably know exactly how familiar the name was.
"Let's go then." Said Dantia and then headed down the corridor.
They'd only gone a little way when they heard something roar.
"Oh man. Not another wampa." Complained Jaden and they all activated their lightsabers. Running into the next room, they saw a wampa attacking a tauntaun.
"We have to help it." Said Dantia and the other two nodded. Getting close to the wampa, Jaden threw her lightsaber at it, cutting one of its arms off. Roaring in pain, the wampa turned to face her and then swiped its claws at her. Dodging it, she kept its attention as Dantia and Alara moved closer. Alara then struck at it with her lightsaber and it turned to face her and Dantia. Swiping at them with its claws, the wampa roared angrily. Alara dodged its strikes but Dantia wasn't so lucky. She dodged most of them, but then one hit her in the side and she went flying. While it was distracted, Jaden threw her lightsaber again, beheading it and ran over to Dantia with Alara as it fell to the ground dead behind her. Sitting up, Dantia then clutched at her side in pain. Removing her hand, she saw blood on her fingers. Looking down, she saw where the wampa's claws had hit her, leaving gashes in her side. Jaden helped her to her feet and once up, she swayed slightly, but caught her balance in time.
"I'm fine." She said, waving away Jaden's hands as she tried to help her.
"You sure? Or are you being all stubborn like Alara?" Alara glared at Jaden.
"Hey, I'm just worried about you two."
"Honestly, I'm fine. It could be worse." Finding some fabric in a pack on the tauntaun, they bandaged Dantia's wound and then Alara noticed a door.
"Something tells me that we should go through there." She said, pointing at the door.
"Let's see. Maybe it's the Force presence behind it." Remarked Jaden.
"Another Dark Jedi?" said Dantia and Alara shrugged.
"Maybe. Or it could be..."
"Alora." Said Jaden, finishing Alara's sentence.
"Yeah. Her."
"You okay Lara?" said Dantia, using the nickname her and Jaden had made up for Alara a few days ago.
"I'm fine."
"You sure? You just seem a little concerned on the Alora issue."
"I'm fine. Just drop it Tia." At the use of her nickname, Dantia dropped the subject.
"We done here?" said Jaden, "Cause I'm itching to see what's behind the door." Dantia smiled.
"Let's go then." The three of them walked through the door and into a large area, maybe a hangar or some other kind of storage area. Abandoned of course. And sitting on a large rock in the centre with a long tube above it was a red Twi'lek. Both Jaden and Dantia noticed Alara's eyes widen. She opened her mouth to speak when Jaden clamped her hand down over it.
"She hasn't noticed us yet." She mouthed and Alara nodded eyes still wide. Dantia noticed her mouth one word and raised an eyebrow.
"Alora."
'How the hell could she know that?' she thought, 'Unless she's seen her before...' Then the Twi'lek spoke.
"Yes Master. Dagobah. Skywalker didn't mention it in his journals. He must have been trying to protect something." The Twi'lek was speaking into a comlick and Jaden's eyes widened.
'So she's the one that hacked into Master Skywalker's journals...the bitch!' A voice came from the comlick and both Jaden and Alara saw Dantia's eyes widen.
"Well done my apprentice. Meet me there."
'That voice sounds familiar...almost...almost like the one in my dreams...' Those aforementioned dreams she hadn't told anyone about were usually of what she guessed to be her early childhood. One specific event where a dark haired woman was addressing some men and the voice sounded almost like that.
The Twi'lek then shut off the comlick and then, to the girls' surprise, turned towards them and smirked. Both Jaden and Dantia noticed Alara glare at the Twi'lek and were confused as to why. But both knew not to concern themselves over that at that moment, they could ask Alara later.
"Ah, you three must be the saber wielding troublemakers who neutralised our perimeter guard." Alora said, looking at each in turn. Which one was the Dantia she was supposed to bring to her Master? Then she remembered. When she'd asked her Master later as to which one she was, she'd been told it would be the dark haired one. Dantia watched as the Twi'lek's gaze drifted over to her. Of course, she stayed still, showing no sign of her emotions raging beneath her calm appearance. Out of the three of them, she would probably be the weakest, with her recent injury. Alara seemed completely fine, as did Jaden. Her side was aching, from the pain of where the wampa's claws had dug into it, but she wasn't about to show weakness in front of this Dark Jedi. That could be fatal.
"It's nice to know that you noticed." Said Jaden, her tone neutral. Alara stayed silent.
"And who do we have here?" said Alora and Dantia almost breathed a sigh of relief when her gaze drifted to Alara.
"I'm surprised you recognize me. As I remember, you left me for dead." Jaden and Dantia looked at Alara, surprised.
"Now I know why the name sounded familiar. It's my wonderful older sister that left me for dead on that god forsaken ship in the middle of nowhere." Continued Alara, still glaring at Alora.
"Yet, you survived."
"You weren't going to get rid of me that easily. After you helped kill our parents, I wasn't about to let you kill me as well."
"Hold it." Said Jaden, "Hate to cut this little trip down memory lane short, but unfortunately, we have a mission to complete." Alora saw the green blade of the blonde girl's lightsaber go up.
"Are the Jedi stretched so thin that Skywalker sends children to battle the Disciples of Ragnos?" Alora activated her lightsaber, revealing the blood red blade. The yellow and purple blades of Alara and Dantia's lightsabers went up soon after.
"You think you can beat me?" said Alora, smirking.
"It's three against one Alora. Stand down." Said Dantia.
"But I have the power of the Dark Side. You are no match for me." She charged at the three of them. Dantia and Jaden spilt off and Alara's blade connected with Alora's. 'Saberlock.
"You're just like those other Dark Jedi." Snarled Alara, "Relying on the Dark Side to help you." Alora laughed.
"And you think you find faith in the Light?" she smirked as Alara glared at her, "Face it little sister, the Light can't protect you. Sooner or later I'm going to kill you." Alora's blade titled Alara's closer towards her. Alara gritted her teeth.
"I'll...never...let...you..." she said, through her gritted teeth and forced the blade upwards, pushing Alora's back. Jaden and Dantia skirted around them, unsure on what to do.
"We need to help her." Said Dantia.
"No problem." Said Jaden and Dantia saw her run at Alora.
"Whatever happened to three against one?" said Alora, her gaze focused on Alara.
"This happened." Said a female voice behind her and Alora tried not to cry out in pain as a green lightsaber burnt her leg.
"Go Jaden!" shouted Dantia and then she saw Alora use Force Push to break her 'saberlock with Alara and turn around to face Jaden.
"Crap." Muttered Jaden and she blocked Alora's first strike. 'Why didn't I guess that I'd end up on the defensive? Jaden you idiot...'
Dantia knew that she had to do something quick, knowing Jaden's weakness in defensive moves. Throwing her lightsaber, she narrowly missed one of Alora's lei. When Alora turned to face her, she knew that her distraction had worked. Alora charged at her and she blocked her strike with ease. Unlike Jaden or Alara, Dantia was even in defensive and offensive, so she had no difficulty in slipping into her defensive moves. The only difficulty was keeping up with Alora.
'Let's hope she doesn't think she can get rid of me so easily...after hearing what she did to Alara, she ain't getting away with anything easily...' Anger suddenly filled her, and she tried to push it down. But it was hard, harder then she had originally expected. Sure, she'd expected some sort of conflict within herself with the Dark side, but this was different then she'd imagined it to be. That alluring voice in the back of her mind...it almost made her feel sick.
"Yes...give in to your anger...you know what she did to Alara, your friend...punish her..." Put off by the voice, she almost missed blocking a strike to her leg and moved her concentration back to the red blade dancing in front of her.
'Calm Dantia...anger and dark voices do not rule you...' Taking a deep breath, she thought over her situation.
'This seems familiar. Ah ha! I know what this battle reminds me of and I think I know exactly how to get on the offensive and kick some serious Alora butt...I hope...' Taking another deep breath, she slipped into her kata, but not quite as easily as she had when she'd been battling Damien all those weeks ago. But the result was still the same.
It appeared that she'd misjudged the dark haired girl. She'd slipped into kata almost indistinguishably and now Alora had to dodge and block the purple blade.
"Not as easy as you expected, huh Alora?" the dark haired girl said, and for a spilt second, in those dark eyes, there was a flicker of recognition for Alora. The look of triumph the girl had, it looked almost familiar. Those same dark eyes then flickered in several directions and then Alora had to contend with three lightsabers.
"Like I said, three against one." The dark haired girl spoke again, "You should have stood down." Alora gritted her teeth in anger. She could come back to this, find them again and finish it. Yes, what mattered most was what her Master had told her to do. Get the girl. Get Dantia.
"I'll enjoy continuing this later Alara..." she said, signalling through her lei, "But how lucky will you be with only two of you against me...not three?" Alara looked puzzled for a second before Alora dodged their strikes and grabbed Dantia. Caught off guard and momentarily disabled from the pain in her injured side as Alora grabbed her, Dantia dropped her lightsaber, which Alora grabbed as she ran along, deactivated it and clipped it to her belt. Deactivating her own lightsaber, Alora jumped up the mountain in the centre and up the tube at the top, with the blonde girl named Jaden and Alara at her heels, their lightsabers missing her by millimetres. Stopping on some metal piping on the tube, high above Jaden and Alara, she looked down at them. The two of them had stopped at the top of the mountain and were looking up at her. While Alara jumped back down, Jaden still stood there.
"We'll meet again. Whelps." Alora said, holding Dantia tightly. The girl was struggling to free herself from her grip, hitting her arm and side with her fists but to no avail.
"I can't wait." Said Alara, looking up at Alora. Then Alora jumped up the tube, still holding Dantia. As they disappeared, Alora heard Jaden shout out one thing.
"Dantia!" Then they were gone. Jaden jumped down off the mountain but didn't seem to coordinate her landing very well and landed rather roughly on the ground. Falling to her knees, she held her face in her hands.
"Why her? Why Dantia? She could have taken any of us." She said, tears running down her cheeks. Alara stood silent. The only sounds in the room were the sound of Jaden crying and the sound of Alara's lightsaber deactivating.
'You really know how to get on my nerves don't you Alora?' She turned to Jaden, whose head was buried in her hands once.
"Come on. Get up." Jaden felt Alara nudge her with her boot and looked up at her, her face tear stained. Getting to her feet, she wiped away the tears in the sleeve of her tunic.
"We need to get back to the Academy." She said, "Now." Alara nodded and the two ran out of the area.
Some Random: Whoa, what a turnaround. And Alara's met up with her evil older sister. You weren't expecting that were you? Sorry I haven't updated in ages, I had block exams at the last week of term at school, I went on a school Ski Trip for the first week of the school holidays, I had my birthday to contend with on the 7th of July (I'm now sixteen by the way) and now I'm back at school and have annoying schoolwork to contend with. Anyway, thanks to all of you that reviewed and keep reviewing and to those that haven't, please review! That's all from me for now, Some Random out!
