CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

All Battles End

Talus stretched himself out on the floor. Every nerve ending in his body screamed with pain. The Force attack had ended but the pain took longer to subside. Darth Vuull would let him recover. A quick death was not one of the possible outcomes for Talus.

"Did you truly believe you could defeat me?" Vuull asked incredulously.

Talus tried to push the pain away to call to Anise. Vuull let out a satisfied sound when he saw his badly wounded apprentice approach dragging the semi-conscious Jedi by one leg. She dropped him near Talus and took a position standing over him.

Talus rolled onto his hands and knees but made no effort to stand. He focused on his bond with Anise. He opened the bond fully. He sent his pain to her.

The bridge was silent as everyone was watching Lenora die. The quiet gasp from Anise may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

"By all means," Darth Vuull said to Talus, "prepare yourself."

Talus called to Anise through the Force, 'Anise, I am dying. I need you.' He funneled his pain across their bond, his hate, his anger, his fear.

The pain bent Anise over. Her eyes danced around in all directions as she tried to find a way to stop it. She groaned loudly. Confusion swept the bridge as eyes bounced between Lenora on the floor and Anise who had spontaneously started to stagger from some unknown stimulus.

"I am most curious," Darth Vuull continued, "How did you manage to get a Jedi Master to assist you? Feel free to explain with your dying screams."

Vuull and his apprentice exchanged a glance that served as a cue. They both unleashed Lightning attacks but not meant to kill, only to inflict the most pain a body could feel.

Talus didn't try to defend himself. He used what power he could muster to keep the bond with Anise strong. He let the pain ravage his body until the agony grew so great he thought his bones were breaking. All he could do was scream.

Anise buckled to the ground and matched Talus' cries. The sudden high pitched squeal startled the entire bridge.

Some crew members dropped back to their controls, many covered their ears to protect them from damage.

The Sith lost his grip on Lenora's throat momentarily. It allowed her to take one quick breath before he clamped it shut again.

Darth Vuull and his apprentice stopped their respective attacks. Talus laid on the floor. Smoke rose from his clothes, his gray armor riddled with black dots. He rolled onto his stomach and managed to get partway up to his knees before his strength failed him.

Anise he called out.

Anise's head snapped up the instant the assault stopped. She moved slowly into a standing position. Her hair fell away from her face revealing two glowing yellow eyes. Dark energy swirled around her forming a thin black pulsating cloud that passed through her. Her body surged with power, touching everyone on the bridge with the Dark Side. It overflowed across her bonds with Talus.

Talus felt the power surge in him through his bond. He directed it to heal just enough to return the strength to his body. He left the pain intact. He used it to focus his hatred.

"You have grown strong," Vuull said to Talus when he felt his sudden surge of power. "You have mastered your hate. But now you must die. You and your Jedi ally."

Vuull struck out again with a Lightning attack. Talus did not allow the arcs to strike him again. He raised a hand and caught the power, absorbing it back into the Force. The apprentice added her attack. Talus caught hers as well. He worked his way back to his feet.

"You underestimate me, Master," Talus said.

Lenora's quick breath was all that kept her conscious. She felt her body tremble under the Sith's grip. Parts of her mind were shutting down. She could feel the power around Anise. She called out to her again through the Force.

Lenora suddenly felt her power increase. She felt like her mind was being poked and prodded by an invisible power. She grabbed onto it as a if it would be her last act. Immediately the feelings of hatred overpowered her mind driving out nearly all conscious thought.

She could no longer remember her own pain. She ignored the grip on her throat that remained as new power fueled her body. She forced herself off the floor up onto her knees.

Her eyes were bulging and bloodshot, her body was still desperate for air. She reached out with one hand and her lightsaber flew into it and ignited.

The Sith renewed the power of his grip. He thought he must have slipped again but he didn't. It merely no longer had an effect. Lenora braced herself for another act of strength and stood fully erect.

The Sith released his grip and charged at Lenora. He took one swing at her. She blocked the attack but the impact knocked her several steps back. Her saber felt heavy in her hands. The Sith attacked again with the same result, she blocked successfully but staggered away from him.

She stared at Anise. She could physically see the power around her. She felt it in her own body, every muscle fiber pulsating with it.

The Sith struck again. This time she barely got in position to block. Her body was full of power but somehow it would not use it. Her muscles were growing weaker. He sensed her weakness and unleashed a flurry of strikes, the last driving her hard backwards into the wall.

She looked desperately at Anise again, still a tornado of energy. Anise's power burned inside her. She called to Anise through the Force when she saw him move in to renew his assault. He struck high towards her head. She defended herself but stayed against the wall. She realized too late the move was a decoy. With her defenses high, he kicked her in the stomach under their sabers. Pressed against the wall when hit she could not move further back. She fell forward instead. The Sith moved away letting her fall back to her knees.

He slashed at her again cutting through her saber hilt. The blades vanished and the two pieces fell to either side. He kicked her hard in the chest knocking her backwards against the wall again. Her head and shoulders took the brunt of the impact.

Lenora called to Anise again. The energy in her body surged even more, so much her hands shook because of it, but still her body would not obey her.

The Sith moved in closer holding his weapon like a javelin. Her body trembled with useless energy. She didn't have the strength to move away. She raised her hands up in defense. The violet saber blade started towards her chest. She had no means to block and no strength to move. She tried to throw this useless energy at him.

Purple energy erupted like lightning from both of Lenora's hands striking the Sith in the chest. The blast stopped him immediately. He lost his grip on his saber as his body contorted and it fell to the floor. Lenora stared in shock at the power leaving her body. The more the energy left her body the stronger she felt. She didn't want to stop the outflow of energy even though the Sith was dead from nearly first contact.

Her body grew stronger as she directed all of the energy she could out of her hands. Lenora stood up driving more power into the Sith's body. She continued the outflow of power as long as she could until finally drained she dropped again to her knees and stared back and forth between the blackened corpse and the sparks that jumped between her hands.

Talus absorbed the power from Vuull and his apprentice. He wouldn't allow them to stop their Force attacks and the absorption quickly changed to draining their strength as well. The apprentice first realized the power was being drained from her and attacked Talus with her saber.

Talus caught her wrist in one hand and smashed his fist into her charred skull. She screeched and tried to drop to the floor. He kicked her on the way down leaving her on the ground stunned. He summoned his lightsaber back to his hand.

Vuull and Talus locked sabers briefly and then started to exchange blows. Vuull struck out in desperation. Talus merely brushed his attacks aside. The apprentice recovered and joined the saber duel from Talus' rear.

The three moved around the chamber, Talus turned continually between them. He landed a kick into Vuull's chest that left him on the ground and out of the battle. Alone with the apprentice Talus quickly drove the saber from her hand and beheaded her.

Vuull recovered enough power to attack Talus again with Lightning. Talus allowed it to hit him. He stuck his chest out to catch the energy. His body merely absorbed it with no ill effects. Vuull stepped backwards.

"How have you become so powerful," Vuull accused Talus.

Talus drove Vuull's saber from his hand and grabbed him by the throat.

"Let me show you," Talus answered.

He drove his saber through Vuull's heart. He stared into his eyes and watched his life go out. He let his body fall to the floor and kicked Vuull in the face, as if his death alone was insufficient.