Chapter

25

The heel of one of Jaina's boots brushed against Luke's cheek as she passed, but he seemed to pay it little heed. She didn't sense any pain coming from him, or indignation. She didn't bother to apologise.

Ahead of her were Zak and the imposter. Zak had both blades of his lightsaber on now and spinning as he danced back and forth around the man in black, slashing.

The other remained steadfast, only twisting and spinning to keep up with Zak's position, but not taking one step off the spot. The ruby blade of his lightsaber flashed left and right, always in Zak's way.

To her, it seemed as though this opponent, this strange imposter, was as skilled as a Jedi Master. He was calm as he faced off against Zak. In fact, he was too calm. He wasn't Sith. The darkness in him wasn't overwhelming him, nor was it being drawn upon. He was relying purely on his skill with the blade, using the Force only inasmuch as to keep Zak out of his mind.

How he was able to accomplish such a feat when even Luke couldn't keep him out sometimes was astounding.

Jaina soon reached the pair of them, throwing the blade of her lightsaber into the fray. She was deliberate in her timing, arriving on the imposter's left a split second after Zak passed it by to assault him from another vantage point.

Her lightsaber lashed out like a coiled viper, aiming for the imposter's leg. It seemed open. She thought she had the opening.

If she could deprive him of his leg, it would hinder his movements. Even if he used the Force to keep himself on his feet, it would be much, much harder for him to avoid the two of them. Eventually, he would catch one of their lightsabers as it passed through another limb.

Or his heart.

She made the mistake of looking up, up into the face of the imposter, which was so much like Zak's. She hesitated, and that hesitation gave him the time he needed to get his lightsaber over to hers after knocking the one of Zak's that had been threatening him skyward. His other blade, as a result, impaled the platform by his feet, slowing just enough that it threw him off, forced him to take a step back and pull his weapon free before repositioning.

The imposter's lightsaber slapped hers to the side, and she spun with the momentum of the forced swing and brought her lightsaber blurring in a wide arc. Altering the trajectory only slightly, she aimed her blade for his neck this time. If she could, she would take off his head.

The man that wasn't Zak ducked under the blade and spun, his leg catching hers and taking them out from underneath her.

She rolled backwards with the fall, switching her blade off until she was back on her feet so she wouldn't accidentally impale herself. When she was upright again, her stance regained, she flicked the blade back to life and stood, waiting for his next move.

But he just stood there, glaring from Zak to Jaina to Luke, who she now realised was standing still a few meters to her right. He twirled his lightsaber around his fingers, mocking in a way. Then he smiled.

"Is this all the Jedi have to offer me;" he asked, "an uncertain whelp, his trollop, and an old man? HA! What a kriffing laugh!"

"Who the hell are you?" Luke demanded. Jaina thought he sounded angry.

"Who am I?" The imposter laughed; a cruel sound that echoed above the rain. "You attack me, without provocation, and then demand to know who I am? Wow, that's some pretty great manners—"

"WITHOUT PROVOCATION?" Jaina and Zak screamed at the same time.

Zak got to the imposter before she did, slashing first with one blade of his weapon, and then the other before holding it laterally and spinning on one foot to send his bare foot crashing into the imposter's gut.

He reeled, backing off a few steps. He sucked air greedily through his lips, trying to regain the breath that had been stolen from him. When he looked up again, he was glaring once more, growling angrily. He charged forward, lightsaber coming around from the left.

Jaina stepped in front of Zak, slashing down and driving the imposter's blade down through the durasteel. He wrenched it back out, grunting, and came at her again.

Jaina stepped back when she caught her uncle in the corner of her eye coming in to take her place. Green blade flashing, her uncle launched himself into a series of rapid strikes, designed to drive his opponent back. And to some extent, she saw, it was working. Luke pushed him back to the edge of the platform, right to where it scooped up into a makeshift guardrail at about thigh-height.

Then the imposter stopped, tucking his left foot back behind him to brace against the raised durasteel. He pushed off.

Luke retreated a few steps to give himself time to adapt. His opponent was coming at him with an aggressive style now; he was surprised when he realised it was Vaapad, the offensive style that Zak favoured. But it was different to how Zak utilised it. It was more feral, wilder. The one-handed strikes came at him in random flurries that took him by surprise more than once. Often, his quick Soresu defensive parries weren't quick enough to get to where he needed them, and he was forced to jump over or duck under the stranger's blade in order to avoid losing his head or his legs.

But Luke had not become the Grand Master of the Jedi Order for nothing. With Jaina and Zak allies by his side, victory was inevitable. It was only a matter of time before their opponent—this strange, dark imposter—became overwhelmed by the sheer, collective power of the three of them.

Even so, Jaina was surprised that this dark man had been able to hold his own against them so far. She was astounded that he could face Luke on seemingly even ground. For a common foe, such a thing was highly unlikely. She could only assume that this man was no common foe.

The darksider pushed him back a few more meters before Luke took advantage of an opening in his swing. Jaina watched as her uncle's blade slipped through the gap. The tip was aimed straight for the stranger's gut, where it would pierce through flesh. The wound would not be fatal, but it would be debilitating. He wouldn't be able to pull off some of the evasions and twists he had been pulling off so far against the three of them. They would be able to corner him, disarm him, interrogate him.

He was theirs.

Until he wasn't. A split second before Luke's blade made contact, Jaina saw the darksider smile at her before sidestepping to avoid it altogether. He brought his blade hammering down on Luke's, driving the plasma into the platform near his feet.

Thrown off balance, the elder Jedi stumbled past, wrenching his weapon free of the durasteel. But the darksider's lightsaber was already on a path to his neck, and the Jedi Master would not be able to get his lightsaber around in time to stop it.

Jaina rushed forward, and she saw from the corner of her eye that Zak was coming in from the other side.

Her lightsaber got to him first. She swung straight up to batter the incoming blade out of the way before she spun on the heel of her left foot and drove her right into the darksider's chest. She heard the grunt of pain as he sailed through the air away from them to crash against the signal tower near the edge of the platform.

Zak was on him in an instant.

Twin orange blades rained down on the darksider; one side and then the other swung at the strange man with little pause. All he could seem to do was bring his lightsaber up to deflect the blows. But he couldn't get an opening. He couldn't find a way through the hail of plasma coming down on him.

Jaina dashed over, slashing down at the darksider's legs when she thought him too occupied with Zak's blades to do anything about it. She was confident she had him that time.

But, once more, he surprised them. He altered the speed of his swing toward Zak's incoming blade to reach it sooner, hammering it aside. In the half-second that followed, his lightsaber spun down to deflect Jaina's. Then he ducked his head to avoid the recoil swing of Zak's second blade coming around to his neck.

He grinned at them before thrusting out at both of them with his hands.

Jaina put her efforts into erecting a wall to protect herself. It wasn't strong enough to prevent the invisible wave of Force energy that lashed out at her, sending her flying backwards from him, but it was strong enough to lessen the effect. After only a couple of meters, she felt her feet touch back down on the platform and she pushed off, charging at him again.

She felt the Force swell around Zak. He was arresting his own flight, though not to the same degree of success she had had. He still went over the edge of the platform, gripping it with his free hand.

Much as she wanted to help him back up, she knew that she couldn't divert her attention thus at the moment. The darksider would take advantage of such a distraction. Even if Luke pressed him to keep him occupied, it wouldn't take him long to slip through and do something to prevent her from assisting Zak.

And, she knew, he was capable of getting back up on his own. She had long come to the realisation that she should stop underestimating his powers. He was quite strong in the Force for someone who had not trained for nearly as long as she. He could do things she couldn't even imagine. And he took risks that she never would have.

Such as what he did next.

She felt him pull himself back to somewhat adequate footing on the edge before launching himself in a high arc toward them. She, meanwhile, coordinated her strikes against the enemy with her uncle, determined not to let him out of the spot where they'd cornered him.

The Force gathered around them all, and she rolled backwards and chanced a look up to see Zak flinging his hands out toward the darksider, one at a time, as he sailed high through the air toward them.

Her uncle jumped backwards as the first of the Force blows slammed heavily into the darksider. He grunted as he was slammed against the relay tower again before shaking his head of whatever dizziness it had caused and flinging himself off to Jaina's right.

The second, third and fourth Force blows slammed into the tower, each of them damaging the durasteel more than the last, buckling the tough metal until that one spot was no thicker than a sheet of flimsiplast. The tower toppled backwards over the edge of the platform, the metal tearing with a wrench that might have been heard if not for the rain.

Jaina whirled around, swinging her lightsaber to block the blows coming from the darksider. He backpedalled on the third deflected blow and grinned at her, licking his lips as he eyed her up and down.

"Got to say …" he started, "I think I prefer you without the coverings."

A scream of rage from behind her preceded the dark blur that was Zak speeding past her as he went after the antagonist. Jaina dashed in as well, leaping over the darksider and attacking from behind as Zak went in from the front.

Lightsabers flashed as the darksider swung at them both; red against orange and violet.

A green blade of ionised plasma came slashing in from Jaina's right. She ducked, and the blade went sailing past over her head to bounce heavily off the darksider's blade. Jaina took the opportunity while she was down to sweep around with her leg. She felt contact, which surprised her mildly.

She heard him gasp as he went down; surviving by chance the dual swings of Luke and Zak that otherwise would have had him. She cursed herself silently and rolled off to the side, out of the immediate battle zone.

When she got to her feet again, he had recovered and flung himself some distance from the two men fighting with her. He looked at them all with a calm sense of self-worth, smiling at something she was obviously missing.

What was he up to? she thought to herself with eyes narrowed as she considered his next move.

"Well, my friends," he started, his tone laced with amusement, arrogance, a little frustration but not much, "you've provided me with quite the bout of entertainment for tonight. I thank you."

The hand not wrapped around his unusual lightsaber dipped into the left side pocket of his pants. Jaina's lightsaber came up, expectant of some treachery. When the hand came back into view, her eyes went wide, and she dashed forward at him without thinking.

He was holding onto a detonator. As he watched her dash between the stunned Luke and Zak, he flipped the red safety cap with his thumb and pressed down hard on the button beneath.