CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

War on Tesor

Each day for a week Lenora was met at her door with a request to go to the throne room. Each time she expected to see Darth Talus waiting to execute her in front of everyone. Instead she had a line of natives waiting to swear loyalty to her. It kept her busy and involved in matters of state. Before she could return land she needed to know if it was being used and if so for what purpose. Some land could not be returned and so money was offered as compensation. The natives were satisfied with that compromise. The decisions were stressful and took a toll on her nerves. She looked forward to being alone for dinner.

Lenora removed her mask and voice box immediately upon entering her chambers and tied her hair back. After eating she reclined on the couch in her living room trying to find some mindless entertainment on the holo. Anise sat silently next to her. Nabrina was busy cleaning the kitchen.

It was a typical, quiet evening in Tesor, until a loud explosion rocked the building. It came from the lowest level. Immediately following the explosion was a chorus of blaster rifles. Another explosion came from just outside the building.

A call came in on the console from the command room. Lenora had Nabrina accept the call, not wanting anyone to see her without the mask.

"The base is under attack. Please, we need lord Kae to come to the command room," the voice announced.

Nabrina responded she would call her master and disconnected. Lenora heard the words and no explanation was necessary. She just nodded and sat quietly on the couch listening to the escalating fighting on the lower levels of the building.

The fighting outside was getting louder. She couldn't see the fight from her room. The windows were facing into the wilderness and the fight was from the town center and inside the building. Another call came into the room. Nabrina answered again and offered the same response. Lenora stayed out of sight. She wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps Talus would come, although she hadn't seen or heard from him for a number of days. It was possible he wasn't even on Kote.

The fighting was getting closer still. Blaster fire was heard on the upper floors. Whoever had attacked had penetrated the building, perhaps even won control of the first few floors. She started to wonder what would happen if the Imperials lost control of the building. How would she escape?

Nabrina sat on the floor in front of the couch where Lenora and Anise were. She looked nervous and confused at the inaction. Lenora felt Nabrina was in more danger than herself. The sound of blaster fire started going off on her floor. The fight had come to her door.

A tone went off indicating a caller was at the door. Nabrina got up to answer it. It was immediately followed by fists banging on the door. Shouting could be heard on the other side.

Nabrina pressed a few buttons on the console and opened a communication channel to the outside. The sounds of screams and several loud blaster discharges burst into the room. Nabrina quickly closed the channel. A heavy thump fell against the door. She was too afraid to open it.

She ran back into the living area and kneeled in front of Lenora.

"Master?" she asked meekly.

"I know," Lenora answered.

With a deep breath and a heavy sigh she stood up. She pulled on her mask and voice box. She took her lightsaber in hand and walked to the door. The fighting was severe outside. The walls were shaking from the ricocheting shots and with trepidation she pressed the control to open the door.

Smoke poured in from the hallway. Muffled shouts became clear and deafening. A soldier retreated into the new opening. He nearly fell on top of her. She moved aside and let him fall to the ground.

She looked down and recognized the sergeant she had spent a week with. He had taken two blaster bolts into the midsection. His light armor was shredded and blood filled the wounds and threatened to overflow. She instinctively got down on her knees at his side. She yelled for Nabrina to bring a towel.

"My lord," the sergeant said through desperate breaths, "we've failed you. We've lost Tesor."

Nabrina ran to her master's side with a clean towel. Lenora took it and covered the soldier's wounds. She told Nabrina to keep pressure on it and she did so with a minimal amount of squirming from the injured man.

A rebel appeared in the doorway. He was a native man, small and dirty with a menacing look in his eye. Seeing the injured soldier on the floor and uninterested in the two women at his side he raised his rifle to his shoulder to finish him off. Lenora ignited her lightsaber and deflected the bolt back into the rebel's face. He fell to the ground without a sound.

"You saved me!" the sergeant exclaimed. Lenora grabbed him by the arm and pulled him further into the apartment away from the open door. Nabrina stayed on her knees at his side applying pressure to his wounds.

Lenora poked her head outside the doorway. There was an intense battle taking place in a nearby intersection. The Imperial soldiers were firing while retreating in her direction. The soldiers who could not get outside the building were retreating toward the Sith master's quarters.

She dashed down the hallway toward the heaviest fighting. Pausing for the briefest instant to get a feel for the enemies she stepped in front of her soldiers using only her lightsaber as cover. She deflected several blaster bolts sent her way, two of them going straight back to their originators. As they fell and the remaining rebel stopped to look at his fallen brethren Lenora sent a concentrated Force Push down the hall. The telekinetic attack hit the man's chest. The force of the blow caved in his chest cavity as he flew backwards into the wall dying. And just like that the intersection was quiet.

She turned to the soldiers and ordered, "Hold this line."

With renewed vigor they took up positions to be able to fire on anyone approaching. Then Lenora ran to the other end of the hallway. There she saw Imperial soldiers running away from another fight.

"Hold your ground," she demanded.

Immediately the soldiers ducked out of the line of fire and straightened their rifles. She let them take a second to compose themselves and then stepped into the line of fire. She deflected several blaster bolts back and the soldiers stepped into the hallway behind her firing as fast as they could. Several rebels died in the renewed fire from the soldiers and from the deflected bolts. The rest retreated down the hall.

The sound of battle continued to fill the building but the immediate hallway outside her quarters were secure with both sides of the hallway covered. More retreating soldiers reinforced the small patch of territory.

They were momentarily safe but were pinned in this section. Lenora tried calling the main control room from her doorway but there was no response. She kept her head down staring at the floor. After a few seconds she looked around her apartment finding Nabrina's eyes. She was still tending to the fallen soldier. She looked afraid. The soldier moaned.

Lenora walked briskly into the room and grabbed Anise by the hand. She pulled and dragged her into the hallway. Without giving any orders to the soldiers outside she moved quickly to one end of the hall. Pushing Anise out in front of her she moved into the intersection.

Blaster fire immediately filled the area coming from only one direction. Anise spread a shield to absorb the attacks. Energy burst from the edge of the shield and killed several rebels. As the fire slowed and some tried to retreat Lenora sprinted into their midst. She killed two rebels with one swing and chased the rest into a stairwell, killing one more as the door closed on her. Having secured new territory a few soldiers moved to defend the doorway.

Taking Anise again, Lenora repeated the sequence, killing and driving all the rebels from the top floor. She completed the circuit and returned to her quarters. A few injured Imperial soldiers were grouped in front. She ordered them inside and put Nabrina in charge of the triage. She then assigned another two soldiers to guard the door. She exchanged short range communicators with the highest ranked officer and told him to wait for further orders. Then she made her way down to the fourth floor with Anise at her side.

The fighting was intense. She counted at least a dozen rebels that Anise had killed to get to the entrance of the command room. The door was sealed and not responsive to her attempts to open it.

Inside General Besnik saw Norah Kae on the monitor and ordered the door opened. She rushed in and the door was closed behind them.

"We are grateful you have survived, Lord Kae," Besnik exclaimed.

"What is happening, General?" she demanded.

"Rebel attacks, my lord. They hit three outposts simultaneously. They waited for us to send reinforcements out and then hit Tesor. They've overrun the building. Only this room remains in our control."

"We have the top floor as well. I left about twenty soldiers holding it."

"With the six in here, that is the entirety of our manpower. It's not enough to drive the rebels from the building, and having taken the outlying towns more rebels are reinforcing the assault against us. We're trying to hold on until the soldiers from Heques arrive."

"How could we have lost so quickly?"

"They've never used these tactics before. Never been more than brute force. And they're better armed than ever as well. These are our weapons they are firing at us with."

"We must stop their reinforcements."

"There's nothing we can do from here."

"Can we open a window to get me outside?"

"We can vent the room there," he motioned to large slots at the sides of the broad window facing the center of the city.

Staring out the window they saw a dozen figures running toward the capitol building.

"I will stop them from entering. If the rebels send men out to meet me, order the soldiers on the top floor to fight their way down. We will drive them out of Tesor."

"As you command, my lord," Besnik said with a bow. Lenora cringed at the words, then took Anise and worked her way through the vent to the outside of the building. She dropped Anise over the side then braced herself for the four story fall. Shielding herself with the Force she stepped off the edge.

She landed safely but had no time to retrieve Anise who had wandered off after landing. The approaching group of rebels started firing at her as they came into range. Her violet blades turned rapidly in her hands deflecting the blaster bolts back into the crowd. A few rebels fell injured, several others ducked to the ground giving Lenora a moment to sprint into the center of them. In melee range she killed quickly. Armed only with blasters the rebels were defenseless against her onslaught. One by one they fell. Her conscious mind retreated as the rush of battle left her dropping into a near trance as the Force flowed through her. She fought without mercy, every swing meant to kill. Every deflected bolt directed back at her attacker. Her power continued to build up the longer the battle continued. Almost without thought as the last rebel tried to flee she raised one hand and directed her power at his back. Purple energy burst from her fingertips with a sharp pinch, surged through the air and snapped at his back. The rebel fell to the ground writhing in pain for only a second before dying.

Lenora stared at his body and then at her own hand. It felt like a natural flow of the battle. It wasn't a conscious decision but hardly involuntary. It just happened. And it left her feeling uncomfortable.

There was no time to dwell on it. She felt danger approaching. She gave a quick glance to find Anise. She was at least a hundred yards away. When she turned back toward the command building she saw a rebel running towards her alone. She kept her gaze moving around to find another source of the danger but her attention returned to the lone rebel. She was female, which was unusual, but something else seemed out of place. She watched her still charging. She was too tall, too clean to be a native. Lenora started backing away from her almost in disbelief. As the rebel got closer her facial features became more recognizable. The disturbance in the Force, a light side presence, drowned out the surrounding sounds of battle. She heard the distorted sound of the word 'no' in her ears as a green blade of light slashed at her throat.

She deflected the attack automatically, and the rest of a series of strikes. Two more rebels ran out of the building. Suddenly aware of facing a Force user, she could sense that both of the 'rebels' running by were Jedi. She panicked for a second at the thought facing the three of them but they ignored her and ran away from the fight. She was fighting one on one.

The 'rebel's' name was Ira. Lenora couldn't remember her last name. She knew her from Tython. Ira was about ten years her senior. They had sparred several times over the years. Now she stood before her trying to kill the Sith Apprentice, Norah Kae.

Lenora wanted to get out. To tell her she was a Jedi too. She asked her to wait several times as she defended her barrage of saber thrusts but Ira was in battle mode. She would not allow anything to distract her, especially not the robotic voice barking at her.

Lenora's mind raced trying to find a solution that would save both of their lives. Ira was an experienced duelist, which was why she sparred with Lenora, the best from her class. She had beaten Lenora every time but one. The last try.

Ira had an aggressive series that she invented. It disguised several strikes well and she claimed no one could stop it. Having used it twice before to end their previous sparring matches, Lenora was prepared the third time she saw it and successfully countered. She was confident she could do it again.

She was having trouble keeping up with the veteran Jedi. She had to hold on for the familiar sequence. The fight dragged on for a few seconds more. Lenora decided to make a counter, something that looked aggressive but easy for the Jedi to defend, to build Ira's confidence.

Lenora stopped giving ground and struck back. Ira defended the blow easily, but not so easily as to become suspicious. After the parry and resetting her feet she moved into the sequence Lenora was waiting for.

She was waiting for the final move of the sequence. It was the best disguised part and since Lenora would be expecting it, she knew Ira would be left over-extended. Lenora disguised her defenses as well, not wanting to offer any indication that she knew what was coming. It was a difficult balance. More than anything she just wanted to be sure Ira would finish the sequence. She didn't think she could beat her straight up otherwise.

The final move of the sequence came as expected. She finished one thrust and feigned a retreat before spinning hard on her forward heel and lashing out high with her lightsaber. Lenora ducked under the attack the split second Ira had her back turned. Lenora's violet saber was waiting and sliced through Ira's saber hilt. The green blade vanished as one half of the hilt and Ira's index finger fell to the ground. The shock of the injury lowered Ira's defenses and she took the full brunt of Lenora's fist right to her jaw. She fell hard to the ground in a daze. Lenora bent halfway to the ground almost apologizing not meaning to hit her so hard. She had hoped to knock her down, not out.

Remembering the other two Jedi she looked around to find them. Her senses turned her in their direction. The sun had nearly set and it took a second to focus on the shapes approaching their target. They spread into flanking positions and as they split up she saw Anise standing between them. They each lit up blue lightsabers and attacked her at the same time.

Lenora shouted 'no' again and ran as fast as she could toward Anise. Before she could cover the distance Anise had dodged both blades, leaping over one and under the other. As she landed with a raised hand one Jedi was levitated into the air struggling for breath. The other tried a second strike. Anise used her other hand to catch his wrist and drive the blade into his chest. The Jedi in the air was launched headfirst into the ground.

Lenora stopped running for the final few steps. It was too late. They were both dead. She turned the bodies over and was at least a little thankful she didn't recognize either of them. She took Anise by the hand again and ran back to Ira who was shaking off the haze. Now Lenora didn't want her to know who she was. There were two dead Jedi. How could she allow that report to go back to the Council? She had to stay in character.

She lit her lightsaber and held it close to Ira's neck.

"Stay down, Jedi," the robotic monotone ordered.

She hesitated to obey but unarmed and hurt she had no choice.

"I am your only chance of survival. I wish to see you leave this planet alive. You do not need to understand why this is so. Use your senses. You know I speak truthfully. Two of your allies are already dead. Do not make me destroy you as well."

Ira let her guard down and laid flat on her stomach. Transports filled the sky overhead. The reinforcements from Heques arrived. Rebels ran out of the command building and scattered in all directions. Lenora let a few run right passed her and escape. She called Besnik on the communicator she took earlier and reported her position and a need for restraints then turned her attention back to her prisoner.

"How many more Jedi are here?"

"I won't help you kill any more."

Lenora didn't bother trying to convince her. She had another way. When the soldiers arrived she directed them to cuff Ira's hands behind her back. She didn't resist. Lenora took Anise away from the small group around the prisoner and knelt in front of her.

"How many Force users are nearby? I need to find the other Jedi."

"There's one more Jedi on the planet, but not close by."

"What about Talus?"

"He's not here."

"So Force users, just me, you, the Jedi over there, and one more?"

"Uh-huh."

"Can you take me to the other Jedi?"

"Ok."

Norah Kae demanded a small transport be brought to her. The bodies of the two fallen Jedi were wrapped and loaded onto it. The rest of the soldiers were dismissed and she was alone with Ira again.

"We are going to your final Jedi ally. Obey me and you will both live. If you attempt to flee or attack me you will both die. Do you understand me?"

"Why should I believe you?"

"I could kill you now."

"You could just want to torture me," she accused her Sith captor but there was something about this Sith that was different. She believed her words.

"No. I have already defeated you. Now I want this conflict to end."

"I won't resist. If you will let us go, then we will go."

Norah Kae had Ira blindfolded and loaded onto the transport. She put Anise in the front cockpit and asked her to point which direction to go.