An Unexpected Disclosure
Upon exiting the taxi, Shahn received another call on her personal holo-transmitter. As the taxi pulled away, Shahn looked at the caller tag to see who could be calling her this time. Shahn's head spun as she tried to settle her mind.
She was in turmoil. Between having come dangerously close to getting slain by her master, and Darth Nox's domicile having been destroyed in a targeted Republic attack, and Khem Val's furious declaration, 'We are at war,' she was in quite a state of shock.
A droid had approached her and gently prodded Shahn to move, telling her, "My lord, it is not safe to remain in the taxi way, please move to the passenger staging area."
Shahn didn't hear the droid, but subconsciously complied with the droid's suggestion as she finally understood that it was Darth Nox who was attempting to contact her. She froze in her tracks again, answering the call.
"Dark Lord, I live to serve you. What is your will?"
She hoped that her obsequious manner would help to soften his anger towards her.
Darth Nox clearly struggled with speaking in a neutral tone. Shahn could tell that he was trying to keep a calm exterior, but his fury was percolating out from beneath his quickly fragmenting facade of calm.
He said through clenched teeth, "Juuldis has failed to return my calls. Find her, and return to me with her." Then he growled out, "You'll probably find her at the spaceport."
Nox cut the communications before Shahn could reply.
Whatever the case was, Shahn had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She walked back to the taxi kiosk, cutting ahead of the line of waiting passengers.
She told the droid there, "I need a taxi to the spaceport."
The droid promptly ignored the businessman it had been attending, and turned its attention to Shahn. The businessman, wisely did not complain as he listened to the droid attend to the petite Sith lord.
"My lord, that will be a mere one hundred and twenty five credits. Will you pay now, or do you wish to be billed?"
Shahn wordlessly presented her credit card and paid the fair. Soon, she was in a taxi on her way to the spaceport.
Shahn was filled with dread. Her whirling emotions, fears, and doubts clouded her thoughts as she began speculating.
She thought to herself, "What if Juuldis called in the air strike, and not Acina?"
She worried that it could escalate the low-grade feud between Nox and Acina into a full blown Kaggath. Khem Val was very likely gearing up to strike directly at Acina's powerbase. Thinking of the Dashade gave her a measure of relief that his call to her was not what she had initially feared. She was almost glad that Acina had struck at her master.
Shahn thought, "Perhaps I can ease his fury with me if I kill enough of Acina's followers."
Remembering why she was on a taxi-droid to the spaceport, she returned her thoughts to Juuldis. It occurred to Shahn, that if Darth Nox had sent her to the spaceport after Juuldis, he probably already suspected her. Shahn had to forcibly stop herself from speculation so that she could order her thoughts. Her mind was a mess, and she knew that she could not face Juuldis in this state. Shahn was determined to be ready when she confronted Juuldis.
Unlike her very short taxi ride from The Citadel to the City Center, this trip was a very long one. She wondered about the wisdom of building the spaceport so far from Kaas City, but she decided that what was done was done.
After the hour long ride, she was finally dropped off at the taxi depot just outside the main entrance to the spaceport. She had spent nearly the entire time on the taxi ride meditating and preparing herself for battle. She was excited and ready for action, but she was composed. She had turned her fear into hate, and had cleared her thoughts of all doubt. Shahn saw her opportunity to trick Juuldis into following her to the mind trap.
As she neared the gate, spaceport security forces comprising an Imperial Soldier with his three battle droids approached her. The soldier and his medium duty battle droids looked down at her small stature as they came to a stop in front of Shahn.
The Imperial soldier asked her, "My lord, are you Lord Shahn?"
Shahn, surprised that a stranger would know her name, became guarded as she replied, "I am."
The soldier, snapping to attention, reported, "My lord! The dark lord, Darth Nox, instructed us to keep watch for Lord Juuldis and to inform you if we have seen her."
Shahn nodded her head, relaxing a little since it was her master who had instructed the soldiers to look for her coming.
Looking up at the tall Imperial soldier, she asked expectantly, "And?"
The soldier continued his report to Shahn, "Currently, she is at the ticket counter attempting to book passage off world. Per Darth Nox's orders, we have delayed her as long as we could, but soon she will likely figure out that we have been keeping her."
Before the soldier had finished speaking, Shahn had already rushed off to the spaceport's main entrance in an attempt to reach Juuldis at the ticket counter. She rounded the end of the interior blast wall and stopped at the top of the hundred meter wide ramp to look over the expansive concourse. She scanned each ticket counter until she spotted Juuldis at one of them. Shahn hadn't noticed all of the Imperial soldiers circulating amongst the travelers, service droids, and civilian workers at their various shop kiosks scattered throughout the concourse.
Juuldis had her finger in an officer's face as he stood rigidly to attention, shouting, 'Yes, lord!' and 'No, lord!' to her unheard questions. The officer was doing his best to stay alive and complete his mission of delaying her departure.
Shahn let her feelings of frustration and anger wash over her entire being, and used the flood of dark emotions to fuel her growing resentment and hatred of Juuldis. She felt the power of the Dark Side increase within her as her hatred grew.
During her taxi ride, Shahn had built up her mental defenses against Juuldis' Force Persuasion techniques. She'd heard from Darth Nox of her prowess in that regard, and she didn't want to get caught unprepared. Shahn had carefully hid her presence from Juuldis until she was about thirty meters from her. She could hear Juuldis' angry voice.
"What's taking so damned long to get the system back online? I need a ticket, and I do not want to miss my flight!"
Shahn said to Juuldis' back, "Acina attacks Darth Nox's personal domicile, and you run away from the coming war? Or was it you and the Galactic Republic that set up that attack? Either way, you're not better than a coward."
Shahn spat out that last word with utter disgust in her tone.
Juuldis spun quickly as she grasped her sabrestaff. Her surprised look was quickly replaced with a look of disgust. The Imperial officer, having accomplished his mission and having survived the fury of a Sith lord, saluted, did an about face, and ran from the coming battle.
Juuldis let him escape. She didn't want to be distracted. She'd learned, for the first time, just how strong Shahn really was. The two women, so focused on one another, did not notice the throngs at the spaceport had rapidly thinned out. They were almost the only people left in the entire concourse. Only a few shopkeepers, hurriedly closing up their kiosks, remained in the concourse along with a couple dozen soldiers who rushed about completing their tasks, as the last of the remaining travelers had been shepherded away to the adjacent concourses in the spaceport.
Juuldis said to Shahn, "From the start, you had me under your spell! When I heard for myself what you were up to, I realized I was such an idiot!"
Shahn was taken aback. Confused, she asked, "What are you talking about, Juuldis?"
Juuldis replied, "Don't play stupid with me! I snuck in behind you, and I listened to your conversation with Darth Nox. I learned the truth of that Rakata relic from your own lips, and of Nox's plans for us both and that - mind trap!"
Shahn felt a sinking feeling in her gut as she listened to Juuldis disclose that she'd learned the truth. Shahn's plans for her own survival had come undone. She knew that it was over for her if she failed to bring Juuldis back to The Citadel and stick Juuldis in front of that mind trap - before returning to Darth Nox.
She said nothing to Juuldis. There was nothing for her to say. Shahn drew and ignited her sabrestaff.
Juuldis shook her head in disgust at herself. She thought to herself, "She's armed with a blasted sabrestaff, and she killed Framm! How could I be so stupid as to let myself get suckered into underestimating someone that skilled?!"
She drew her own sabrestaff, and ignited it.
Juuldis tried one last bit of negotiations, telling her, "Shahn, Darth Nox will sacrifice you to the mind trap to retrieve - Zash, was it? Why don't you run with me? We can both escape."
Shahn, dropping all pretense of weakness, countered, "There is nowhere in this galaxy that we can hide from him. Darth Nox has eyes and ears everywhere. Even if we lived out our lives as hermits, Darth Nox would find us through The Force. He would already have found someone else to sacrifice to Zash. All that he'd want from us then would be our deaths."
Above all else, Shahn feared Darth Nox. Her encounter with the dark lord earlier, taught her there was a whole other level of power to reckon with, and that her power was that of a small child's in comparison. She was not going to disobey him again, but more importantly, she wanted that power for herself.
Shahn had resolved to herself, "I swear, after I get Zash into her body. I will not cross the dark lord again!"
During their brief conversation, spaceport security had finished evacuating the concourse of all remaining service droids, civilian personnel and travelers. They had quickly and expertly established portable protective shield barriers around the ticket counters and the various shop kiosks in the area. The concourse itself was cordoned off with portable shield barriers so that the battle would be contained there and not spread to the other parts of the spaceport.
That security measures meant to protect against terrorist attack was being used in this manner, showed that this sort of thing happened quite a lot more often than terrorist attacks did. The spaceport security forces also showed that they were quite practiced at this as well. The evacuations were completed, and the barriers were set up in a very short time.
Shahn extended her free hand towards Juuldis and let loose a torrent of Force Lightning. Juuldis easily deflected it with her sabrestaff, jabbing one end of it into the metal plated floor of the spaceport to route the electrical current into the floor. She leapt back to increase the distance between them both, and then vanished from Shahn's sight.
Shahn used The Force to open her mind and broke Juuldis' Force Shroud technique. Looking this way and that, Shahn pretended not to see her, as Juuldis quickly encircled Shahn to approach from behind.
Shahn spoke, nearly shouting, as though Juuldis was still a distance away.
"Besides, the spaceport is locked down. The security forces have orders not to let us off world. Darth Nox made sure of it."
When Juuldis had closed to within ten meters, Shahn turned quickly to face Juuldis and used a Dark Force ritual that locked Juuldis out of control of her own body. Juuldis collapsed like a sack of root vegetables to the polished metal floor. Her sabrestaff deactivated as it struck the floor after leaving her hands. Shahn then used another Dark Force ritual that began to drain Juuldis' life force.
Juuldis fought furiously to escape from Shahn's trap as she felt her strength quickly leaving her. After a monumental effort, Juuldis finally broke free of Shahn's grip and used Force Push to send Shahn flying away end over end. Shahn recovered in mid-air and landed on her feet, but her face, chest and hands stung smartly from Juuldis' Force Push attack.
Shahn had her sabrestaff up, just in time, to parry Juuldis' sabrestaff as Juuldis landed in front of her. Juuldis quickly attacked with the other end of her staff, but Shahn expertly parried, and then executed a counter attack of her own. Juuldis blocked it and leapt back to open the distance between them by thirty meters.
The two women stood on guard, watching the other and panting for breath. Shahn was trying, very hard, to think of another way to pin Juuldis down so that she could overcome her. Shahn reflected that their size difference gave Juuldis the advantage in their lightsaber duel, in terms of reach. Shahn also had to acknowledge that Juuldis was also physically stronger than she.
Shahn finally began to wonder why Juuldis hadn't attacked again, when a tiny voice in the back of her consciousness told her that she should probably move. In a panic, Shahn threw herself to the left, just as Juuldis thrust her sabrestaff at her back. Shahn continued to roll to the left, to gain distance from Juuldis before regaining her feet, again.
Juuldis missed Shahn's back, but grazed her right upper arm. Shahn surmised that somehow, Juuldis used a combination of Force Shroud and Force Persuasion to deceive her into thinking that Juuldis stood before her, and then got behind her. Shahn now understood what Nox had faced in his battles against Juuldis. Shahn had also, at that moment, worked out how Juuldis accomplished this technique.
Shahn grunted in pain from the searing burn on her arm. It was as though she'd been scorched with a branding iron. She tried to block out the pain, but it really hurt.
Shahn reached into a utility compartment on her belt, with her free hand, and took out a tiny squeeze bulb. She bit off the tip of the bulb and spat it out. Then she squeezed out the ointment at her burn through the hole in her scorched armor. It was a combination of a numbing agent and kolto, made as a single use spray to deaden pain and to promote minor healing. She cast the expended bulb aside.
Laughing mockingly, Juuldis taunted Shahn.
"Owie! That really hurts!"
She laughed at Shahn again, but said nothing more. She was still breathing hard and did not feel her strength returning. Shahn had really drained a great deal of her strength and Force energy in that last attack. She realized that if Shahn caught her like that again, that she would not be able to break free a second time.
Looking around the spaceport concourse, Juuldis caught sight of some open air cafe furniture and ran for it. Shahn ran after her, but kept her distance. She realized Juuldis was up to something, and so remained alert.
Juuldis used The Force to rip one of the tables from the floor and sent it hurtling at Shahn. Shahn leapt to the side to dodge it, but the table followed her movements. Shahn deactivated one end of her sabrestaff. Keeping the ignited end of her weapon pointed outward to one side, she tucked the hilt in with her arms as she ducked and rolled forward, to avoid the table.
However the cafe table smashed into her, cracking a rib and knocking the wind out of her. Shahn barely caught sight of Juuldis in midair, flying at her, with her sabrestaff already swinging downward. There was no way Shahn was going to block it in time with her own weapon.
Shahn, used The Force to keep rolling forward. While rolling, she activated her personal shield generator on her belt, just before Juuldis struck her squarely on the back with the broad side of her sabrestaff. Juuldis, landing on her feet, pivoted quickly and struck Shahn a second time, on her left thigh, with the other end of her sabrestaff as Shahn continued to roll past her.
Shahn used Force Push against the floor to propel herself away from Juuldis, thus escaping Juuldis' continued attacks. She then reactivated the other end of her sabrestaff as she came to land unsteadily on her feet. She staggered back and fell onto her buttocks, but quickly scrambled back onto her feet, her weapon at the ready.
The pain was searing. Shahn grunted and let out a low growl at the pain on her back and left thigh. Fortunately for Shahn, her shield generator had absorbed most of the sabrestaff's energy from both strikes, preventing the sabrestaff from cutting all the way through her flexible body armor. Shahn's burns were painful, but not crippling as long as she used The Force to aid in her movements.
Juuldis watched as Shahn retrieved a kolto injector from her utility belt. She watched as Shahn injected two doses of it into herself. It was dangerous to use too many doses during battle.
While it deadened the pain quickly, too much kolto also made the body sluggish and uncoordinated. Juuldis decided she would use that fact to her advantage. Juuldis watched as Shahn cast the injector aside and then quickly eject the spent battery from her shield generator and replace it with a spare.
Watching Shahn's very quick and deft movements with her free hand, as she quickly treated her wounds and changed the shield generator battery, and thinking of Shahn's devastating Dark Force attacks, made her realize why her former padawan, Framm, had been defeated by Shahn.
Then Juuldis thought to herself, as it finally hit her, "Shahn is Sith!"
Juuldis realized that Shahn had likely killed a lot of Sith throughout her life as a Sith lord, and very likely killed at least a few other Jedi, besides Framm.
Thinking of Framm's death at Shahn's hands, Juuldis thought to herself, "This explains her expertise, demonstrated here."
As Juuldis resolved not to underestimate Shahn again, she realized she'd just been standing there staring at Shahn. In an instant, Juuldis Force Leapt straight up into the air as she cleared her mind of the Force Persuasion clouding her thoughts. Shahn had used Juuldis' own Force Persuasion technique against her.
Shahn was not where Juuldis had been watching her. As she came back down, she found Shahn had snuck behind her, but instead of preparing to impale her with her sabrestaff, Shahn had both hands stretched towards Juuldis, still high in the air.
Juuldis again, felt her mind becoming separated from her body, and watched herself helplessly, limply, collide with the floor. Oddly, the impact with the metal plated floor didn't hurt. She then felt her Force Energy and her life force leaving her body.
As her world faded to black, she thought to herself, "This is how she killed Framm."