20.
Darth Rasur laughed a deep, growling laugh as he approached the fallen Jiias. The young Jedi's body had actually broken the stones of the pillar when he hit it, and now the boy lay broken among the clutter of stones. Kicking the Jedi's lightsaber away, Rasur lifted his own and brought it down to cut the pathetic Jedi in half.
Instead, it was blocked by a bright green blade than knocked him aside. Rasur turned to his new opponent and grinned. "Skywalker. The Sith have awaited this confrontation."
He swung his lightsaber in the same overhead slice he used to drop the boy, but Luke knocked it aside. He tried again, but again, the Jedi Master parried his attack. Exploding in a rage, Rasur leaped through the air, throwing out attack after attack, overhand, from the side, from the other side, and even underhand. But without little noticeable effort, Luke kept deflecting the blows. He tried a straight thrust, but Luke spun and performed a leaping kick, catching Rasur in the ribs, and causing him to flip in the air, crashing hard onto his back.
Luke held his weapon at a low angle with one hand, but he cautiously approached the Sith monster. "Maybe you should've waited a little longer."
With a hiss, Rasur lifted himself to one knee and glared. Luke braced for another assault, but instead, Rasur lifted his free hand in a, 'come here,' gesture. But it wasn't to Luke.
Suddenly, several dozen Nek troops rushed over, blaster rifles firing. Luke spun around, deflecting the blasts, and redirected them back at the thugs. Standing, Rasur roared and lunged again at the Jedi Master's back, but a golden blade this time blocked his.
"Not today," Aulric said.
With a growl, Rasur pulled his blade loose and swung it sideways. Aulric blocked several blows, but Rasur charged close and slammed his elbow into Aulric's skull. He then swung his weapon and sent the Jedi flying off his feet. Aulric landed in a roll, and crouched, he preparing for the monster's next attack.
"We shall see, Jedi," Rasur smirked.
Sala rounded a corner to see a thug holding a sniper rifle, aiming directly at Master Skywalker. With the Jedi Master deflecting the shots of several nearby troops, there was no way he could see that shot. Without a thought, Sala rushed forward, yelling, "No!" as she held out her hand.
The thug's rifle shifted enough for the shot to completely miss Master Skywalker. Dropping it, he spun around and pulled out his blaster pistol, pointing it at her as he squeezed the trigger.
"Stop!" she said, more out of reflex than anything else. To her surprise, the confused thug released the trigger. "You don't want to do that."
"I don't want to do that," the thug repeated, lowering his weapon.
I wonder if this'll work, Sala thought, before saying, "You want to do something else with your life."
"I want to do something else with my life."
"Something that doesn't involve killing."
Still confused, he repeated, "Something that doesn't involve killing."
"Like growing a garden."
"Like growing a garden." Dropping his blaster, he smiled. "Yes, a garden. What a great idea! I'm going to grow one right now! Thank you."
He took off past her, disappearing between the buildings. Sala watched him for a moment, then turned and continued running.
Regaining control of his fighter, Krell spun it around to rejoin the fight. Ahead of him, his squadron, now all-too visible, were still holding their own against Republic forces, but it was mostly because they still outnumbered the enemy. If they could keep the numbers game in their favor, they could still win this battle.
A flash of green below him caught Krell's eye, and he tilted his fighter to get a better look. Circling, he saw his troops closing in on a figure with a green lightsaber. Considering he was holding his own against numerous troops, he had to be the Jedi Master Skywalker. Narrowing his eyes, Krell flipped his fighter over and dove for Skywalker. With a sneer, he armed his proton torpedoes and awaited a lock. His own troops might be too close to the impact, but luckily Lord Rasur looked like he'd be out of blast range.
A series of beeps told him his torpedoes were locked and he smiled grimly, closing his fingers on the trigger. "Let's see you deflect these, Skywalker."
Suddenly, shots from a blaster cannon struck his fighter and caused it to spin out of control. He swung his ship up and away from the ground. "What the hell was that?"
"Payback," Han said as the Millennium Falcon entered his view.
Krell's eyes blazed. "Solo. So you've come to enter the fight, old man?"
"I've come to see if I'm still young enough to whip your hide. You up for a duel, General?"
"I've wanted this for a long time, Captain," Krell said, bringing his fighter around. The Falcon twisted in the air, but Krell brought his fighter right behind it. The Falcon shot forward at its top speed, but Krell kept in the chase. "Well that was easy, old man. I guess your ship isn't so fast after all."
Kalthar growled at him over the comm. "Is that the Wookie I captured? I see she's free from her metal prison."
Aboard the Falcon, Kalthar rumbled a comment. "No, keep talking," Han said. "I've got an idea." He looped the Falcon around couldn't shake Krell's fighter. "That's right, Krell. I saved her. Sorry I can't say the same for your base, or rather what's left of it."
Krell fired his blaster cannons, but the Falcon's shields absorbed most of the damage. "I must apologize, Solo, but the carbonite chamber I used to freeze your friend was in pretty bad condition. No doubt, she wasn't in any comfortable hibernation." He fired again, noting on his screen that the Falcon's shields were weakening. "You know what it's like, don't you Solo? Trapped in metal, not being able to move, not being able to breathe, not being able to scream, not being able to die."
"Are you granting me that now, Krell?" Han asked as he brought the Falcon through another loop.
"I think I've tortured you both enough," Krell answered. "You won't take this victory from me."
The Falcon then looped and dove straight toward the ground. "You expect me to fall for that, old man?" Krell asked. Instead of following, he circled in the air above it.
Suddenly bolts from blaster cannons struck his fighter again. "What the?" His eyes darting around, Krell rolled his fighter and noticed the Falcon had fired its quad cannons backward, and since he hadn't been trying to evade, the bolts scored direct hits. He swung his fighter around, trying to regain control when his sensors blared that the Falcon was right behind him.
"Looks like you did," Han said. "I said this to one of your peers, years ago, but General, kiss my Wookie!" With that, he fired his weapons.
Krell laughed as he spun his fighter to avoid more blaster fire before realizing nothing was striking his craft. A new alarm blared, alerting him that the Falcon had missile lock. He slammed his hand on the eject button but was one second too slow. The Falcon fired a concussion missile, and Krell and his fighter vanished in a cloud of smoke and fire.
"Thanks General," Han said. "I'm feeling younger already."
Lightsabers blazing, Aulric and Rasur continued to attack each other. Aulric held his own, using his speed and strength to keep the monster at bay, but Rasur kept knocking him around. Out of the corner of his eye, Rasur saw Leia approaching, her own weapon ready to fight. Aulric turned for a half-second to look as well, and Rasur took advantage of the distraction. Lightning shot from his fingers and struck Aulric, who screamed, dropping his lightsaber. Still blasting him with the Force lightning, Rasur lifted him off the ground and sent him crashing into Leia.
Sala ran over to check on them, and Rasur laughed as he approached, leering at the young Jedi in training. To Leia and Sala's surprise though, the Sith monster turned off his lightsaber and placed it on his belt. He then closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. Everyone watched as he stood there in silent peace.
Suddenly, he threw his arms out, hands wide open, eyes glowing like flames, and let out a deep-throated scream. The scream, backed by the Dark Side, struck everyone like a tidal wave. Leia threw herself over Sala and the two covered up, but Aulric, lying on his back directly in front of the Sith, was struck dead-on by the blast, froze in place. His own troops even fell to the ground, and those who were far enough away turned and ran.
Luke, however, stood strong, ignoring the Dark Side blast of hatred. "Forgetting someone?"
Turning, Rasur approached the Jedi Master, and the two circled each other. "No one will forget this, Master Skywalker, well no one who survives." Iginiting his lightsaber again, Rasur roared and lunged forward.
Luke met the Sith's blade with his own and parried it. The two exchanged a series of attacks and deflections while everyone else watched in shock. Rasur called on the Dark Side to build his strength, throwing more and more assaults at the smaller Jedi Master, but Luke kept dodging and deflecting them.
"You're fighting a losing battle, Skywalker," Rasur said swinging his club-like blade sideways.
Luke leaped over it and met the monster's blade again.
Growling, Rasur threw his blade in a series of underhand to overhand strikes. "You can't block forever. Soon you will fall, as will the Jedi."
He slammed his blade forward, but Luke blocked it. Standing over the Jedi, Rasur used his strength to driver his blade down against Luke's forcing him down to one knee. "You've already failed; you just don't know it yet. The Sith will succeed with your loss. You're nothing, Skywalker. You're the last of the old, dead Jedi Order."
"No," Luke said. Releasing his lightsaber, he suddenly slammed the palm of his hand against Rasur's chest. A blast of Force energy struck the Sith monster, sending him flying into the air. "The first of the new."
Rasur's roar turned into a scream as he was hurled through the air. He barely disappeared from view before crashing through the windows of the top floor of an apartment building in the distance.