Hello everyone! So, here we are with chapter nineteen. As I once said, this act was originally going to be ten chapters, ending with chapter twenty, but I decided to extend the act and add a few chapters I thought would be interesting, or would spice up what has largely been a rather passive act in comparison to the first one. This means that chapter twenty-five will be the final chapter of act two. This chapter and the last one, the ones taking place on the actual surface of Loukhamii, are among those additions I made. Anyway, the point is that we at least have another few months before a hiatus, assuming there even will be another hiatus with this story. We shall see.
Secrets of The Outer Rim.
Act II.
The Heart of Darkness.
Chapter XIX.
The Wrath of The Inquisitor.
A warehouse full of deactivated battle droids was suddenly alive again, an Imperial craft escorted by gunships was arriving, and we were trapped here, on the surface, at the mercy of the Loukhamii resistance. They had our ship, and, considering what was going on here, they have us surrounded as well. Senator Cenetta is still in the tower, the droids are standing there, activated but currently silent, and Cenetta's backup team is out there, somewhere, ready to pounce on us. At least, that's what I assumed was going to happen, and why wouldn't I? Cenetta lied to us about the purpose of the mission and now she had a whole division of activated battle droids at her disposal. We were the only thing standing in her way and she could try and buy the Imperials off with us, why wouldn't she try and cut off loose ends? I didn't think it would work, of course - I was confident in Phanza and I's ability to crush these battle droids, especially with the assistance of a pair of heavily armed Mandalorians - nor did I believe that any bargain between the Imperials and the Loukhamii resistance would actually work. I am simply suggesting that this is what the Twi'Lek Senator is going to try, and, in response, I held my lightsaber at the ready, adrenaline still flowing through my veins.
I turned to the tower to see two jetpacks fire off and leave the control center. A moment later, Ceyla and Yevenna landed next to us, both of them holding their blaster pistols, but neither of them were raising them quite yet. The Mandalorians knew that Cenetta was hiding what exactly she did up there, they knew that she was being dishonest with us, but they were going to let Phanza take the lead. I was inclined to do that as well, for a number of reasons here. The fact is that I don't know what we should do to Senator Cenetta here, I don't know if the situation is already lost or if there is a peaceful solution here, and I didn't want to be the one responsible for whatever happens here. I know that was a weak answer, I know that, as a Jedi, I should perhaps be doing more, being more of a leader, and sticking up to the values and ideals I used to preach, but I just couldn't find myself doing that anymore. The Jedi were already far from what I wanted when I was a member of them, now I'm supposed to rebuild them in a hostile galaxy against an evil Empire hunting us down? I couldn't do that and that's probably why I felt so much relief simply by calling myself a former Jedi. Besides, I thought to myself, Phanza handled the Nar Shaddaa situation just fine.
"You lied to us." Phanza spoke as soon as Cenetta exited the elevator at the base of the tower. The red-skinned, tattooed Nautolan facing down her blue-skinned Twi'Lek Senator counterpart. I glanced at the battle droids again, they were clearly active, they were even looking at us, but they were doing anything yet, and that was a bit of a relief, at least for now. I'm assuming that this means that Senator Cenetta is in control of these droids and can turn them against us at will, but is currently choosing not to. I hope that Lady Attam can manage this situation the right way, though I must admit, starting with an accusation like that doesn't seem to be the right way to go here. I hoped that Phanza was fully in the moment here and that she wasn't bringing in her anger over Operator Rahlkann, over being used by the separatists. Right now, we need Phanza the diplomat, not Phanza the Sith Lord.
"So did you. Not only are we harboring enemies of the Empire, but we're harboring Jedi. Do you have any idea what kind of attention that is going to bring on us? Do you have any idea what those three ships could mean?" Senator Cenetta countered, referring to the arriving ships. I noticed that Phanza didn't correct her when she said we were Jedi, and I supposed that was for the best - this wasn't exactly the time to explain that Phanza's a Sith Lord but not like those Imperial Sith Lords, she's a different kind of Sith Lord, we swear - that wasn't exactly going to go over well. At least Phanza was handling that part well. The craft, meanwhile, were making a landing not far from this base, the gunships hovering down and the unique Imperial ship coming in for a landing between them. The long, sleek wings angled up so they were pointing straight up as the ship lowered back down, and I'm sure this was for moral effect as well. The sleek craft looked far more modern than anything on this planet, it flew with these wide wings out to produce a chillingly large shadow, and then, when it landed, the wings stuck straight up so that they could be seen from a great distance - alerting everyone that the Empire was here.
"But you knew that already, didn't you?" Phanza called Cenetta's bluff, something which I even found surprising. I knew that, because of the robes, we definitely appeared suspicious - mainly because we were intending on being in and out of the space station without leaving anyone alive to question our clothing choices - lightsaber evidence was something we were less willing to leave behind, that would draw Imperial attention. Now, thanks to this unscheduled detour on the surface of Loukhamii, we were clearly dressed as Force users in the presence of these separatist holdouts, and that is what Phanza is counting on. Senator Cenetta knew what we were and agreed to use us accordingly, we did not, however, know that her true plan was to reactivate confiscated battle droids. Phanza was counting on this fact to keep the peace with Cenetta - she lied to us but we didn't lie to her, simply omitted a few things - and, hopefully, that would keep this fragile alliance together for long enough for us to repel the Empire and get off this world.
"And you already knew that attacking an Imperial headquarters was no way to stop further reprisals. The loss of a space station and a ground base will absolutely draw more Imperial attention, not less. So, you know this wasn't our real mission. Our real mission was to recover additional troops to help us survive the fallout of your actions in space." Senator Cenetta countered, playing on the fact that we had our own suspicions about her mission - and, at least in my case, she was absolutely right - so, ultimately, we both deceived each other and we both knew we were deceiving each other. This could now go one of two ways: either we will go ahead and acknowledge the fact that we were both suspicious of each other, working together anyway, or we'll both recognize that both of us violated the terms of this fragile alliance and there was no reason to maintain the illusion of peace anymore. Personally, I was hoping for the former because, with Imperials here, us fighting was a suicidal idea. Palpatine would like nothing more than for enemies of the Empire to destroy each other.
"You do know that battle droids aren't a match for clone troopers, right?" Ceyla countered, pointing out that ordinary clones are tactically superior to the ordinary B1 battle droids. The critical difference of the Clone Wars was that the B1 droids were far cheaper and thus mass produced to a greater number than clones could be grown, meanwhile, the stronger units of heavier battle droids further strengthened the hordes of cheap infantry. B1 battle droids were clearly designed with conquest in mind, arriving in overwhelming numbers at a relatively low cost and crush the resistance - a single B1 is worthless, but thirty B1s are a force a challenge for an ordinary squad of clone troopers - elite units, Jedi commanders, or EMP weapons would be needed in such circumstances. In this case, using a very limited number of battle droids to bolster the existing resistance seems ultimately inconsequential. The Empire sent a space station and diverted three star destroyers to Loukhamii before we got involved, now, the true Imperial response will be completely overwhelming. I don't see a battalion of clankers having any effect against the full brunt of the Empire coming down on this insolent resistance to Palpatine's reign over the galaxy.
"I am acutely aware of this, but it's also a start. We are a resistance movement, we make due with what we get and we make it so that the resources the Empire will need to spend on keeping this world outweigh the benefit of taking it." Cenetta replied, revealing that, in the long term, it would be guerrilla warfare, subterfuge, and sabotage. If these droids can be used to hazard Imperial occupiers and make their lives difficult, then that was good enough for the resistance. It seemed...desperate to me, a horrible, bloody, and cynical struggle for survival. Is that what this galaxy is now? A choice between suffering under the thumb of Palpatine and his Empire or living a horrible life of running, fighting, and rebel in a hopeless struggle against said Empire? The Jedi had just existed and now, just a few months later, people were already going to these lengths to survive. Except, it's not like that, because these people were already doing that long before the Empire even came into existence, for the people of Loukhamii, this is merely a continuation of the Clone Wars.
The people who would become the Confederacy of Independent Systems had to make a difficult choice: do they accept dwindling autonomy, reduced significance, and be forced into a minority bloc in the Senate, or do they partner with corrupt business interests and tyrants in the hopes of achieving better conditions through secession? The people of the separatist alliance already chose a bitter struggle against the Empire and, while they too were played by Palpatine, perhaps their more well-intentioned members saw what was happening to the rest of us before it really happened. Palpatine was growing in power ever since the Naboo Crisis, the Jedi were increasingly detached and dogmatic, and the Senate became dominated by our own corporate interests, by allies of Palpatine, and, as the Clone Wars began, by belligerent war hawk parties that played into increased military spending and autocracy. Palpatine had, in reality, destroyed every single ideal of the Republic and everything that we were supposed to stand for long before he formally declared himself Emperor. Now, Palpatine was deploying his instruments of autocracy and subjugation across the galaxy, instruments which were here and now, presenting a very real threat to all of us.
"Look, we both lied to each other and we both had our reasons, but can we discuss this after escaping the Imperial base?" I finally interjecting, spelling out the urgency of the situation to my comrades, now that it seemed we were in imminent danger of killing each other anyway. My friends and allies stopped their little staring contest and got a grip on the present situation. Our speeder was fine and ready, but the route back to the capital would intersect the Imperial landing site, that meant that someone would need to face the Imperials while the others escaped. There were two obvious candidates here, ones capable of doing this mission: the first was a surprise attack by Aela and her reinforcements, who were still waiting in reserve. This idea would catch the Imperials off-guard and give us all the opportunity to escape, but it was also likely to result in a great number of separatist casualties. That would also raise the question of how they are going to get these droids out of here without help from the relief force. We don't have the time to hold off the Imperials for long enough for these droids to march out of here. That left us with the second option: Cenetta, Ceyla, and Yevenna escape, the reserve forces takes the droids, while Phanza and I face the Imperials. We would have to expose ourselves, but we were also the most capable ones here, at least when it came to fighting large groups of enemy troops.
"Right, you and your droids get out of here. Our Mandalorian companions will protect you. Zaliza and I will go face the Imperials." I wasn't sure if Phanza independently came to the same conclusion as I did or if she picked up on my thought process through the mental link, but either way, Phanza gave the order and no one argued with her, everyone immediately snapping into action. Ceyla and Yevenna prepped the speeder and turned it around - making sure it was ready to go - while Cenetta contacted Aela and the other reserve team to help collect the droids. Phanza and I, meanwhile, left the base and started walking towards the Imperial position. Darkness had, by now, descended over the brown rock and dull green shrubbery of Loukhamii, and temperatures were plummeting quite a bit, setting the stage for a night battle here on the rocky hills of this chaparral world. Chaparral which provided Phanza and I with some cover for a moment as we observed the scene in front of us: clones were slowly but methodically getting off of the gunships and establishing a defensive perimeter as the landing ramp of the black vessel descended.
The ramp hit the ground and, in what was perhaps a coordinated bit of Imperial pomp and circumstance, nothing happened for the next moment. Perhaps it was designed to trigger fear, anxiety, and build suspense amongst the local populace, the enemies of the Empire, and, at least with me, it worked. Who was on this vessel? Was it more clones? Was it Vader himself? Was it some kind of unique unit of clones specifically designed for putting down resistance movements? I knew that the Republic and Kamino were exploring various types of special forces and unique clones by the end of the war, why would that change now? My head was filled with various horrifying possibilities as Phanza and I waited for someone to finally come down those stairs, but I think the truth ended up being far worse than any possibility I thought of. The first sign of something being wrong was a single pair of feminine boots, and my brain immediately went to the worst possibility possible. If this is what I feared it was, then that was absolutely horrible, because this was an encounter I wasn't ready for, this was a person who I wasn't ready to save yet. The second sign that something was wrong was the ring lightsaber on the hip - confirming that this was an Inquisitor - and at this point, I took a sharp inhale. The last alarm went off when I saw a pair of Lekku, making me ask the question: what are the chances that there are two female Twi'lek Inquisitors in Palpatine's arsenal? Please, let it be more than one, please...but, the familiar, if twisted, signature in the Force confirmed it. Thonna Ai'sunn, the Third Sister, was here on Loukhamii, right in front of us.
"You take the clones, Thonna is mine." I told Phanza through our link as the sound of two speeders - presumably the other belonged to Aela and the reserve force - came from the base. If we were going to be the distraction, it was now or never. The Nautolan seemed a bit surprised by me taking the lead, but she nodded and accepted it, the two of us stepping out of covering and making ourselves known. Thonna's attention immediately fell on me, the violet-skinned Twi'lek Jedi turned Imperial Inquisitor was taken aback, not only by me being here but by my brazenness. The clones were confused, but didn't seem to immediately make us as Jedi, raising their guns at us but waiting for the Inquisitor to give an order, deferring to the chain of command. That all changed when, after initially following me, Phanza veered off to the left and ignited her lightsaber, making herself known.
"it's a Jedi! All squads attack!" a clone ordered, the identical voice crying out, the very voice that I heard so many times from my comrades, now calling out against me, against us, to attack us. Behind me, Phanza was dodging shots, swinging her lightsaber, and electrocuting clones, her movements graceful and deadly as she proved that the Makashi form - while focused on saber combat - was more than capable of destroying swarths of blaster-armed enemies in the hands of a skilled duelist, but neither Thonna nor I were thinking about that. We both looked at each other, both of us concealing our faces in a way, concealing what we were. My red-skinned face and my purple eyes were in the shadow of my hood, while the mask of an Inquisitor covered my friend's face. I had to conceal myself to survive, hiding from the Empire, meanwhile, the Empire forced that mask on her, just like they forced her to wield that lightsaber, and just like they forced her to hunt down her former masters, friends, and peers. We were both victims of the Empire, we both had to hide what we were, but there was no reason to hide what we were to each other. Yet, right now, as we slowly circled one another, sizing each other up, the gap between us felt monumental.
"We don't have to fight." I spoke first, ceasing my circling and trying to stop this. I didn't know how to save her, but I knew that I wanted to save her, and I knew that she was going to suffer under Vader and the Empire more if we didn't save her. I hoped that, being peaceful, trying to avoid a fight, was going to be a way to protect Thonna Ai'sunn, to save her, but I was wrong.
"But we do Zaliza, we do. I warned you on Nar Shaddaa to remain away from the Empire, I tried to save you...I'm sorry." Thonna spoke, her voice weak and tragic, almost remorseful. Perhaps I should have taken that as a warning, perhaps I would have if it was anyone but my former friend, but I didn't. The Third Sister ignited her double-bladed lightsaber and thrusted at me. I just barely managed to dodge it, falling on the ground in the process. I became acutely aware of the fact that I was out of practice at this moment, but, as I ignited my own lightsaber, purple blades coming to life, I felt the instincts flowing back towards me. I remembered every training and practice duel I had with Ullara Avdune, I remembered the time I had to fight for my life against a MagnaGuard while on a mission on Ryloth, and I remembered effortlessly cutting through battle droids in every battle of the Clone Wars. I may have been a Jedi, but, as a product of my circumstances, I was raised to fight, I was raised for war, and out of practice or not, I was ready to fight Thonna, even if I didn't want to.
"She's another Jedi, attack!" another clone shouted as I scrambled to my feet, lightsaber in hand.
"The Third Sister has her, focus on the other - " another clone responded before being cut off by Phanza's lightsaber. If there was any more conversation between the clones after that order and that death, I missed it, because I focused in on the Third Sister, who was charging me again. This time she swung at me, something which would have been a decapitation strike had my own weapon not caught it, and, for the first time, I actually became scared for Thonna. What if I was too late? What if the damage the Empire did to her already erased the light in her? No, that couldn't be the case. The fact that she took so long to actually attack me, the apologetic tone in her voice when she finally did, and what happened all the way back on Nar Shaddaa served as a reminder of the good left in her. I was going to fight, I was going to disarm Thonna, and I was going to help her through this, the reminder of her light motivated me to keep going. I stayed on the defensive for now, seeing Thonna come swinging up with her lower blade, and meeting it with my own, double-bladed lightsaber against double-bladed lightsaber.
The Third Sister twisted backwards and disengaged, changing tactics. This time she she swung for my legs, hoping to either cut me down by the legs or at least catch my robe, setting them on fire. Instead, I leapt over the swing, but fire did come as her blade cut through the dry shrubbery, the hot blade turning the natural plant life of this world into kindling. I came down on a clear patch of land behind the fire, seeing it between Thonna and I. I was in a kneeling position still, my fall a bit imperfect due to the uneven terrain, and that gave the Third Sister the opportunity to stay on the offensive. A Force push sent fire and embers at me in a hellish wave, a deadly and overwhelming attack that could have resulted in a horrifying death for me. I leapt back again as more shrubland was caught in flames, noting again that the Third Sister attack me with what very well could have been a fatal blow. It wasn't though, and I think that's what prompted my reaction, responding with my own Force push and showering Thonna in flame as well. The Third Sister was somewhat arrogant in response, standing dead still other than an arm she raised, using the Force to split the shower of flame to either side of her. It was an impressive display, but it wasn't perfect, because all it took was a single ember catching a piece of black cloth, part of her outfit. The whole hillside was now in flames, but, between all that, I could see Thonna's clothes catching on fire, the Inquisitor dropping to the floor, rolling in an attempt to put the fire out. All the attacks and maneuvers of this fight aside, I rushed over to the Twi'lek, needing to help her.
After seeing Force pushes cause all of this, perhaps it was ironic that I used a stronger Force push to extinguish the flames on her clothes, blowing them away. A smoking Thonna came to her feet and, while I wasn't sure what I was going to see, I was surprised to see that the burned away clothes just revealed plain black armor - no violet skin was going to peak through, no humanity - the Inquisitors would remain faceless instruments of the Empire regardless of how much damage we threw at them. The flames on her clothes were extinguished, seemingly without major damage - while she did drop and roll, Thonna didn't release any cries or screams or anything else indicative of having received major burns - but the fire was still raging all around us. That means that, the last thing I was expecting at this point, was for the fight to continue, but the Third Sister ignited her circular double-bladed lightsaber once more, and I was forced to follow suit. Once again, Thonna attacked aggressively, swinging with her upper blade, then her lower blade, the combined frenzy forcing me back. I scrambled past a low smoldering fire and escaped the burning part of the hill, some space between the Third Sister and I now.
The Inquisitor evidently took advantage of the space between us and activated a different function on her lightsaber. All of a sudden, on the ring hilt of the lightsaber, the blades rotated in a deadly spinning motion. The all consuming circle of death slowly approached me as Thonna's black boots crossed the black, smoldering patch of burned out shrubs, the actual fire still raging behind us, engulfing the side of the hill. Somewhere on the other side of that fire, Phanza was likely finishing up with the clones, too busy fighting to really notice what was going on between us, but I knew that she must have at least been aware of the fire. That being said, with a spinning double-bladed lightsaber coming ever closer, I didn't exactly have much time to think about Phanza and her situation. As the Third Sister finally got close enough, she actually stopped spinning her lightsaber and instead thrusted her lightsaber at me, trying to catch me off guard by changing tactics. I caught the thrust with the upper blade of my lightsaber, forcing it up, then, using the lower blade of my weapon, I swung it through the dirt, forcing it up at the Third Sister. Dirt and dust filled the air as I disengaged for a moment, retreating off the hill, not wanting to feel the weight of Thonna pushing down on me anymore. My plan did serve to distract the Third Sister, but only temporarily, as she positioned herself on top of a rock, staring down at me.
I was trying to escape the hillside, to escape Thonna bearing down on me for above, but instead, all I did was surrender any type of height, giving the Third Sister the complete advantage and letting her decide how to attack. Thonna just stood there for a moment, contemplating, but then I realized that was a ruse - because the Third Sister was preparing her lightsaber - my eyes widened as I realized what was happening. Thonna activated her lightsaber and made it spin again before throwing it, a deadly red disk coming at me. I closed my eyes and tapped into the Force, tapping into the limited precognition granted by my power, and, with it, I stuck my own lightsaber through the red ring, catching one of the blades. The hilt fell to the ground with a thud, deactivated and temporarily disarmed. I turned to Thonna and deactivated my own weapon, hoping that we could talk now, but, instead, the Third Sister leaped at me and attacked hand-to-hand. For the umpteenth time in this fight, I went on the defensive, blocking her punches and blows, shocked that she was going so far as to attack me with her bare hands. In what was, admittedly, a smooth maneuver, Thonna went into a low spinning kick, knocking me down with her leg while she simultaneously reached down and gathered her lightsaber back up. The Third Sister came over to me with her lightsaber ignited as I panted on the ground, quickly growing tired.
The Third Sister impaled the ground with my lightsaber while I rolled away, rolling on the ground on my side to get away. I was just abut ready to spin into a kneel and get back up when I hit a wall. I pulled myself up against it, shocked to realize I was already all the way back against the wall of the compound. Thonna was heading close to me, but behind her I could see the hillside in flames, I could see the wings of Thonna's vessel peeking out from above the wall of fire in between us, and I noticed that the sound of the speeders had completely faded away, Cenetta and Aela had already escaped. If nothing else, our mission was a success, but, considering how many times my former friend tried to kill me, with me just barely getting out of the way, this didn't exactly feel like much of a success. Knowing that, realizing that, I decided to plead with Thonna, to get through my old friend who still had to be there beneath all that fear and all that Imperial conditioning. I hate whatever it is that Palpatine did to her, but I loved the person who was there beneath it all, before it all, and I had to believe that there was something left in there. The fact that I'm still alive and that she showed remorse at the beginning of this was proof of that.
"Stop, please!" I begged, which actually made Thonna stop her advance for a moment, genuinely surprised "I don't want to fight you Thonna, I don't want to hurt you, please don't make me do this. You're my friend Thonna, you're the only one of the Jedi I knew that's still alive. It doesn't have to be this way."
"Zaliza...I don't have a choice. When that space station exploded the Empire dispatched me to investigate, suspecting that Jedi could have been involved. Palpatine and Vader don't send out Inquisitors lightly, I need to come back with something. You're here, I know you're the one that did it, and if I don't bring them proof of your death, I'll have to bring them something else. I love you Zaliza, but the alternative is killing innocents, slaughtering those separatists. I can't do that Zaliza. You know I can't do that...I don't have it in me Zaliza, not now...hopefully not ever."
"But you can kill me instead?" I asked, my voice low and scared. I heard the fear in Thonna's voice, I knew that she couldn't bring herself to kill innocents, and I knew that it meant that there was still light in her, but, on the other hand, with all the darkness around her, with the oppression of Vader and Palpatine coming down on her, she knew that she had to do terrible things. She was now a weapon of the Empire and she knew that she had to be wielded, but she was doing everything in her power to be the lesser of two evils, but right now, being the lesser of two evils meant killing me. I understood that Thonna didn't want to bring down the separatists, I didn't want them to get hurt either, not when they were innocent this time around, but I didn't want to die either. I didn't see why anyone had to die here, but maybe that was too idealistic of me, because...because if Thonna came back empty-handed, then she was going to be punished. Reprimanded, tortured, maybe even killed, I didn't know, but I knew that there wasn't an easy answer here. Thonna, out of fear for her own life and because of the knife the Empire had dangling over her throat, felt the need to find a culprit. Her choices were either me, the true culprit but her former friend, or punishing the separatist holdouts for a crime they didn't commit. It was a terrible, immoral choice and I could tell that the Twi'lek was struggling with it.
"Please...don't make this any harder than it has to be." I could almost hear that fact that Thonna was crying now, and, this time, I took it for the warning that it was. Thonna ignited her lightsaber once again and thrusted it to where I was, but I leapt over it, landing on top of the wall of the compound. My feet landed on the narrow wall as I struggled to catch my balance, almost falling backwards before catching my balance further forward. I ignited my lightsaber and used the Force to grab an antenna off a part of the wall, throwing it at Thonna. The Inquisitor cut it in half and then jumped onto the wall herself, taking a position to my right. I carefully turned around, putting one foot behind the other, and faced the Third Sister. The red lightsaber of the Inquisitor spun yet again, cutting up the wall in front of her as she came ever closer to us, the Twi'lek woman perfectly advancing, stepping into the gaps between the burning, orange cuts made by her weapon. Up against this coordinated advance, not having much room to move, and honestly scared of this weapon - the spinning was definitely more of a psychological tactic than an actual practical weapon, though clearly useful as well - I just backed away and tried to make a plan. I had to do something, but I didn't want to hurt Thonna either, though it seemed like the Third Sister was going to force me to do something dangerous.
I cried out and, instead of raising my lightsaber, I raised my hand and unleashed purple lightning on the Third Sister. Thonna was caught completely off-guard but, thanks to the way she was holding her lightsaber, she was quickly able to stop the spin and caught the lightning. The Twi'lek was not going to be electrocuted, not today anyway, but the force of the lightning did cause her to fall, and it was a rather painful fall too. First Thonna landed on the burned she created over the wall, and, having either run out of fire protection on her clothing from earlier, or simply a result of the flexible armor on her Lekku not protecting as much, Thonna cried out in pain. It was a horrible sound to hear, but it was even worse because she then fell off the wall and onto the metal ground of the Imperial compound, falling face first. I climbed off the wall and rushed over to check she was okay, for the second time this fight no less, but it seemed she didn't need any help. As soon as I made it over, Thonna rolled over onto her back and activated her lightsaber, but I wasn't going to let her take the offensive yet again.
I wanted to end this and, to that effect, I activated the upper blade of my lightsaber before the Third Sister could even get up, and I brought it down on her weapon. The Inquisitor laid flat on the ground, holding her lightsaber up to defend herself as I battered her with my own weapon. I was keeping her down, but I wasn't disarming her, so, as I continued putting the pressure on her, I thought of a new plan to end this fight. She threw her lightsaber at me earlier and I managed to catch the spinning blades to defend myself, but, if I managed to catch the ring instead, I could have actually destroyed her weapon and permanently disarmed her, and, right now, I had another opportunity to do just that. I raised my lightsaber again, making it seem like I was going to bring it down on her blade again to keep her down, but, instead, I swung at her hilt, cutting it clean in two and matching as her blades fizzled away, deactivated. I switched positions really quickly and, then, I was aiming my purple blade right at her throat. The message was clear: she had to surrender.
"Fine, fine, you win. You'll get away and they'll kill me, and that'll be it." Thonna cried, retracting her mask, revealing the face of the hurt, scared young girl beneath the featureless black mask of an Inquisitor. I remembered the lonely girl in the Jedi Temple cafeteria, I remembered talking to her while our ships were refueling, and I remembered Thonna sitting there, caring for me after I passed out on the Dxun mission. She was my fellow Padawan, my friend, and, not very long ago, we were both Jedi. Now look what's happened to us, she was an Inquisitor, forced to work for Palpatine and Vader, while I was traveling with Sith and using Force Lightning, by choice even. Look how far the Jedi have fallen, and look at the fact neither of us are trying to fix things. Instead, we're swinging at each other, burning each other, even being so petty as to punch each other, despite the fact that we were both living Jedi in the galaxy after Order 66. Burden or not, being ready or not, being capable or not, I knew that this isn't what Master Avdune would have wanted of me.
"They won't kill you. We can protect you. We can take you to a planet the Empire doesn't even know about and we can rebuild the Jedi, rebuild our friendship. It doesn't have to be this way Thonna, we both know that." I pleaded, kneeling down next to the purple-skinned Twi'lek and trying to fix things, to really make things better. The two of us could go to Taaszon, and, while it wasn't perfect, it was at least safe, and it could serve as a place where we could start rebuilding the Jedi, even if it wasn't going to be a permanent home. I couldn't think of a better way to heal than rebuilding the Jedi, for both of us, that is. Thonna could avenge whatever crimes she did for the Empire and she could work off the guilt by teaching the next generation of Jedi, the generation who will return to Coruscant and take Palpatine down. While, by finally becoming a Jedi Knight, a Jedi Master, even the de facto leader of the new Jedi Order, I could avenge my master. I would make sure that Ullara was proud of me, and that her sacrifice was not for nothing. It was a perfect dream in my mind, the perfect future for both Thonna and I, rebuilding and healing, but that's all it was, really, just a perfect dream.
"Can you bring back all the people I had to kill? Can you erase the horrible memories I have? Of things I've done, things I've seen, and things that have been done to me?" Thonna asked, her question hitting me right in the heart, showing me just how much my friend has suffered. For all my dreams of saving Thonna and us rebuilding the Jedi, I never really considered what the Imperials must have done to her to turn her into the Third Sister. Thinking about it now, for real, the unspeakable things they did to her...I wasn't sure if anyone really healed from that. My silence, apparently, was deafening to my Twi'lek friend, who now sat up and looked down at her destroyed clothes and lightsaber. I sat down with her, in the ruins of this Imperial base on a planet neither of us had any business being on, and realized I really didn't have any answers. Thonna then spoke again "I didn't think so. Zaliza...this isn't something we can fix. The Empire demands results from me, and, the only way both of us survive this is if I bring the heads of all the separatist leaders to Palpatine. We both know that can't happen. Only one of us is going to leave this planet alive, and if I can't beat you, then...then you're going to need to kill me."
"What? No! No Thonna! I can't!" I cried out, appalled by even the idea of doing that. I'm not going to kill my friend. I've fought her. thrown fire at her, and shot lightning at her, but I never wanted to hurt her in this fight, let alone kill her. I especially couldn't do that now, when she was defenseless and crying in front of me. That absolutely is not the Jedi way! Nor is it my way! I don't know if I'm a Jedi or not, I don't even know what alternatives there really are, but, whatever I am, I know I'm not somebody who executes the weak and defenseless.
"It's the only way Zaliza...and besides, I would rather you do it than the Imperials. I know you'll make it quick, and I know you won't enjoy it either. I can't say the same about Palpatine, Vader, or the other Inquisitors." Thonna revealed just how terrible her situation was. If she returned empty-handed, not only was she going to be tortured and perhaps killed, but it was going to be slow, painful, and it would be her own companions doing it. Her new masters and her fellow Inquisitors were going to be the ones to punish her, and the worst part is they were going to enjoy it, to relish it. I couldn't kill Thonna, I knew that, but I absolutely couldn't let that happen either. I looked down at myself, and I thought about the price of what I was about to do. I suppose my head was a price too big to pay, after all, the idea was for both of us to survive this, but a finger? Maybe even my whole hand? For the both of us to survive...that was a price I was willing to pay. Now I just had to make sure this incredibly stupid idea of mine was actually going to work.
"What...what is it that you need to present to Palpatine as proof of my death?" I asked, voicing the lunacy of my plan. I saw Thonna's eyes widen as she realized what I just asked, though she did answer the question.
"I need to present them your lightsaber. They know that no Jedi would part with it." Thonna said, and I felt my shoulders slump. It may seem ridiculous that, after being willing to cut my own hand off to make this work, I'm sad to hear that all I need to do is give up my lightsaber, but it isn't that simple. Like Thonna said, no Jedi would part with their lightsaber, that's because it really is an extension of ourselves. This lightsaber, I built it myself, I found the purple crystal deep in the caves of Ilum, and I remember being so happy to find a unique color when all my fellow younglings came back with green or blue crystals. I thought that made me unique, and I thought that my choice to make a double-bladed lightsaber made me unique as well. I can feel the crystal in the Force, and, on one hand, yes, it is just an object, but, on the other hand, it's an object I can feel, can sense, and that I am connected to. It's both tied to me and it symbolizes who I am, a reflection of myself, and now I have to give it up. It's a depressing thought, but not as depressing as the idea of losing Thonna or letting her loose on the separatist holdouts we just helped. I hated doing this, but it was the right thing to do and the best option we had right now.
"Fine, take it then. Take this too." I handed over my lightsaber and, as if that wasn't enough, I pulled out my Padawan braid. The slim silver and purple chain put into my hair by Master Avdune to symbolize my tutelage under her, I gave that to Thonna too. The combination of the lightsaber and the Padawan braid would kill two birds with one stone: it would give Thonna a culprit to blame all this on, fulfilling her mission, and it also gave the Empire proof of my death. This would perhaps give me more freedom out there in the rest of the galaxy. This would, hopefully, also save the Loukhamii separatists, who were innocent of the space station attack, and it would also conceal Taaszon's involvement. Instead, the Empire could think this was the action of a lone Jedi who was hunted down and killed. At least, that's assuming they haven't somehow figured out I fled to Taaszon, though I doubted that - if they knew the Grand Duchy was harboring at least one Jedi, I think Palpatine would have already sent the Empire there - the last thing the Empire wants are their enemies banding together.
"Okay...okay. I think this can work." the Third Sister sighed as I helped her up. The Twi'lek and I looked each other up and down, our tattered, burned, and charred clothes, our sweaty, scared faces, and our exhausted, trembling bodies. We stood there in silence for a moment, other than the panting breath of both of us trying to recover from the fight, but then Thonna hugged me, wrapping her arms around me. I felt the Twi'lek's tears flowing down my shoulder as she spoke again "We can't keep doing this Zaliza. The more you try to fight the Empire, the more it draws Palpatine's attention. They sent me here without any proof that a Jedi was even involved, that means something. Now, after this, if they see you...they're going to question me. Stop trying to fight the Empire, it's not going to work. Just...just promise me that you're going to hide and that you're going to live. You're alive and you're free, don't squander this by getting yourself killed."
"Thonna...you know I can't promise that. I can't just sit idly by and see the galaxy suffer like this. I have to try and do what little I can, but, don't worry, I'll wear disguises and be careful. The last thing I want is for my actions to hurt you." I told Thonna, trying to come with a compromise that would work for both of us, but it was hard. The problem really is that Thonna doesn't have any hope, she sees resistance to the Empire as futile, and, so long as she has that view, she is never going to recover from the damage and the trauma that the Empire did to her. There isn't an easy answer to this, but I believe that, at least part of the answer, is hope. So I am going to keep fighting, and I hope that, sooner rather than later, my resistance, and the work of the Grand Duchy of Taaszon, will convince Thonna that there is a way. In the meantime though, I would make sure that my actions don't get her hurt or killed.
"Please...just don't die...and don't make me kill either, not you, and not anyone else." Thonna begged, not wanting our paths to cross again, not wanting to find a way out of a difficult choice like this again. I wouldn't have a second chance to give up a lightsaber and a Padawan braid, if we're going to meet again, either one of us will have to die, or someone else will need to be massacred to take the blame. Phanza and I will need to be careful then, because the Emperor is apparently getting more and more suspicious of any attacks on the Empire, to the point that he's sending out Inquisitors on just the possibility of Jedi being involved. The message is clear: Palpatine is trying to crush any resistance to him. There are two options at this point: Thonna's idea, which is to give up, hide, and try to survive, is exactly what Palpatine wants, for us to passively wait while he hunts us down and has us all killed. The Empire wants to eradicate the Jedi, they're not just going to let the retired, harmless ones live. The other option, then, is to resist, to show Palpatine that the galaxy won't just fall into his hands, and to make every little action difficult for the Empire. The bright side of all this is, so long as we don't make it blatantly obvious that Taaszon attacked, Palpatine will suspect surviving Jedi.
"I won't." I promised. Thonna and I disconnected from each other at this point and turned to see Phanza entering the compound through the entrance, curved-hilt lightsaber currently ignited, but she deactivated it once she saw that we weren't fighting. Seeing that the situation was peaceful, Phanza walked over to us, the Nautolan once again following my lead on the Thonna Ai'sunn situation. She knew that the Twi'lek girl was important to me, she was my best friend in the Jedi Order, and, now that she was alive, I wanted to do everything in my power to protect us.
"Well, my armor and lightsaber is destroyed, the clones are dead, and I have your lightsaber and your Padawan braid. The other Inquisitors should take this as a major fight against a Jedi, one I just barely won. I think I can cover for you both this time, but you need to be careful in the future. I won't be able to lie forever without them noticing, and you, you aren't a Jedi. I don't even know what would happen if the Empire finds out about you. Be careful!" Thonna chastised us before sliding her mask back out, falling back into the role of the Third Sister, and jumping over the wall to return to her ship. Phanza, having just been warned about what would happen if a clone survives or if a different Inquisitor survives to tell the Empire about her. Vader isn't an idiot, he's already suspicious of Zapnha Tamat from our encounter on Nar Shaddaa, seeing the lightsaber especially. If he hears about another red-skinned Nautolan with the same lightsaber fighting the Empire...the Star Cluster casino will only be the first of his targets. We really do need to be more careful at this point. It doesn't matter if we're not leaving witnesses, we need to wear disguises on these missions, it doesn't matter if we're among allies, we can't keep leaving our real names all over the place, and it doesn't matter how many types of ship there are in this galaxy, we can't have the Ultimate being seen at every world we visit. We've been sloppy and complacent, now we need to correct this.
"Well, I suppose we should get back to the capital." Phanza sighed, we did our job and provided a distraction and, even though the Imperial response wasn't quite what we expected, we weathered that too. Now, I rather just get off this planet entirely. Too many near-death experiences, too many emotions, and too many clones were lying dead in either this compound of on that still burning hill in the distance.
"The Ultimate is repaired and ready to fly. The separatists didn't do a perfect job, lacking some of the materials and not exactly using the same precision equipment we have, but it'll get us back to Taaszon without a problem." Ceyla filled us in on the situation as we walked to our hangar, the two Mandalorians had evidently given the ship a once-over before we got back here. The four turned a corner and were about to enter the hangar when we saw Senator Cenetta and Aela standing there, the blue-skinned Twi'lek and the green-skinned Togruta holding hands. They were still an unlikely pair, but, they found love in this galaxy, and I suppose that counts for something, even amongst all the war, deception, betrayal, and oppression that has fined this era of galactic history.
"For now we've added the droids to our patrols and defense forces in the city. I suppose we should thank you for your help...and I suppose we should apologize for not being entirely honest with you." Cenetta acknowledged, trying to make peace.
"Well...I do suppose Aela did save us, and you did fix our ship. That's worth something." Phanza admitted as well, the two of them making peace. Aela smiled as well, the eccentric pilot ended up being happy with how all of this turned out.
"If you ever find yourself in the Loukhamii system again, we would be willing to help." Senator Cenetta added before the two of them left. We accepted their offer, but, honestly, I hoped we didn't have to use it. I didn't want to come back to Loukhamii after what happened today. Without much more to say, Phanza opened the hangar and we all boarded our ship again, ready to go home. Our mission here was a success, I suppose.
Ciao!