Chapter VII – Bonds of Destiny
Anina did all she could not to tremble in fear. She'd been in service since she was of age, always working hard and pushing herself to her limits in service her government. It was for duty, it was for honor, it was to be a part of something bigger than herself. But she was not prepared for this. As the cloaked man, the same one whom had slaughtered her crew aboard her freight ship just less than 24 hours ago, marched toward her with his ominous crimson red plasma blade, she stood in dissociative disbelief behind the two young stranger whom she'd just met.
"Anina, look out!" Lucas yelled as he ignited his vibroblade and slashed the sizzling short sword in front of her, making contact with Cello's crimson blade just before it hit the soldier. She didn't know what to say, and she surely didn't know what to do. She felt powerless, more powerless and cowardly than the moment she had abandoned her own ship at the behest of her crew. This was surely how she was meant to die. All of the emotions, all of the trauma that for the last 24 hours she had compartmentalized and been able to put away suddenly came rushing back to her. She recalled her studies, including those of the archaic Jedi Knights and their mortal enemies, the Sith.
"A Lightsaber." She proclaimed aloud, trying to muster what little courage she could to dictate a full sentence.
"He's using a lightsaber." She added, grounding herself into the sand as she whipped out her blaster and pointed it directly at Cello.
She added; "You may be able to take me on alone, but you can't take all three of us."
Just as the girl had finished her sentence, a blast came from behind Cello, forcing him to push Lucas back to quickly deflect with an almost 360-degree spin. Lena was standing behind him with a solid grin occupying her facial expression. When Lucas charged back at him, he met the boy's charge and deflected that with his lightsaber once again, but before he could rest, another round of lasers came at him, forcing him to deflect them both before matching Lucas' blade again.
"A challenge? I like it." The masked stranger admitted as he continued to simultaneously deflect laser blasts from both directions Lena and Anina had been shooting at him from, all while continuing to clash blades with Lucas' vibroblade in between. The ease at which Cello was accomplishing this was unmistakable, and while the three continued to attempt to overwhelm him by alternating their patterns, the cloaked figure had decided it was time to go on the offense and suddenly jerked forward and dashed under Lucas' blade, slashing the hilt and forcing Lucas to drop the weapon to avoid damage to hands as it was slashed to pieces. Once Cello had landed firmly on the ground, he pushed his free hand out toward Lena and communicated with the force, sending her thrusting backwards and causing her to lose her grip on her blaster. Once that was taken care of, the man stood up and swiftly slashed the front of Anina's blaster as he walked toward her, causing the captain to fall backwards onto the ground.
"Enough games. This is it, girl." He proclaims as his plasma blade shifted to within millimeters of Anina's face. The crackling of the blade only intensified the heat the ignited saber was releasing almost directly onto her nose.
"I am genuinely through with this day already."
Lena and Lucas both watched the scene in horror as both remained powerless against plasma blade. They were trained in combat, but not particularly against a lightsaber, or in whatever form of sword fighting this monster was using. Lena looked around, and with no other option, leaped forward as she hurdled herself in front of the blade Cello had begun to swing. She seemed so far away from the girl, at least a few yards, but as she leaped toward the captain, the world seemed to slow around her. Until suddenly she could hear a voice, it seemed distant, and yet, as she continued to make her way over to Anina, it seemed to draw closer.
"There's been no one for so long." An elderly women's voice proclaimed as she adjusted herself to her steed, standing outside of an obviously rundown ranch. It the same one the group had just met in, though it seemed to be in even worse shape than the current condition of the homestead.
"Who are you?" She asks, both with genuine curiously, and suspicion.
"I'm Rey." A young brunette woman replies, seemingly startled by the question, if not by the prescience of the elderly women in general.
"Rey who?" She asks, a reluctance revibrating in her withered voice.
"Rey Skywalker." The brunette proudly proclaims after a short moment of pause. The elderly woman seems to in conflict over something.
"I don't know of a Rey Skywalker." She admits, a bit more hesitant than before.
"But I do know a Luke Skywalker." She confesses.
"You knew Luke Skywalker?" Rey asks.
"I did, once, yes." She responds.
"Did he send you here for the boy?" She asks conservatively.
"The-What boy?" Rey asks, a puzzled expression filling her face.
"His son." She emphasizes.