Sometimes a roaring blaze can only be fought with an inferno.
A rabid dog with a mindless beast.
There are those the Jedi wish to hide, those that do not adhere to the tried and true.
Those that raise the weak from their stupor…and lead them to glory.
There is no death, there is only the Force.
But now is no time to die.
From the Star Wars Eons Universe...
NO TIME TO DIE
0430 Hours – Jabiim
"Operation Shadowbreak" Phase III
Day 48
"You ever seen that holodrama 'Without a Trace'?"
Zule Xiss couldn't remember the last time she'd been able to sit through one, whether it be the commonplace shoddy acting or the melodramatic themes. Tears, tears and more tears, was all the rave these days, and her eyelids had become long dry of those. Even if they hadn't, the mud and rain she'd been bombarded with the past few days wouldn't let them fall. Part of her was actually glad for once that one of her arms wasn't real, and the prosthetic could care less for how much muck it was covered in.
"No," she said flatly, her arms crossed, the green in her eyes fixated on the distant, marching spider droid mowing down another settlement with its infernal red laser cutting through the black smoke of burning destruction. The alien natives fled in droves, screaming as their brethren were vaporized in whole groups at a time behind them. She didn't need the specs her irritating compatriot was still peering through in his prone position atop the hill they had commandeered.
"You're not missing much," he said, tuning one of the knobs with a mud-soiled gloved hand. "But it tells a story about how the marshal of a small town didn't act when some of his constituents' livestock were being poached by raiders. Said there were bigger things to worry about, like the potential of an incoming attack from the rival settlement. On and on his people begged, but he continued to do nothing, and more and more livestock was taken from their town."
He pulled his specs down, rising to his feet and turning to her, a thin outline of the device cut around his muddy face where it had been. She felt a glare come on, and didn't bother to hold it back. Usually that enticed others to cease whatever conversation they were trying to make with her, but it was a tactic that was proving useless against the likes of him.
"Hope you don't mind if I spoil the ending for you," he smirked, pocketing the specs to his belt.
"Do whatever you want," she hissed, keeping her gaze fixed on the trail of destruction the Separatist droids were leaving behind. "I don't care."
"Good," he said, crossing his arms. "Turns out the raiders that were stealing all the livestock had been hired by that rival settlement, and when the marshal's people had no more food to eat, those raiders came back. The marshal died in a blaze lit by his own people."
"Tragic," she deadpanned. "Why are you telling me this?"
The tattoo-less crimson skinned zabrak flicked his horned head towards the spider droid. "Just funny how much this reminds me of that. The Republic ignores Jabiim for so long that their nationalist sympathizers rise up…who turn out to be supported by the Confederacy. Now we have a bloodbath in our own backyard, and last night the field commander was assassinated by one of our own loyalist forces."
"You think that's funny?" Zule glared his way, finally turning her green eyes towards him.
"I think it's ironic. The poor bastards finally got what they wanted," he shrugged. "And they turn on us."
Zule felt her fingers clench around her elbows, her flesh hand digging her black, claw-like nails into the metal of her prosthetic. "Can't say I blame them. We've sat here and watched them die for the past four hours. I'd want to kill someone too."
"If we run in there right now, they chop us to pieces, just like those people. We can't help anyone if we're dead," the zabrak argued, and she could sense his own anger show itself in the Force as his little careless demeanor deteriorated. "And frankly, I plan on leaving this planet and seeing some friends of mine again."
Zule scoffed. "Whatever gets me farthest away from you, I'll be content with."
To her surprise, he actually smiled. "You're a real piece of work, aren't you?"
"I've been told."
It was somewhat ironic coming from a Jedi as prolific as Xur Eon, one who had a reputation for 'playing loose' with the Jedi Code. With a master as prominent as Mace Windu, his name got out of many tongues around the temple, mostly rumors…most of them negative. Zule herself didn't like people naturally, placing everyone on a negative scale straight out of the gate, and very rarely were others able to even it…much less bring it up to positive. She couldn't say she had many friends…perhaps any was the proper word, but she didn't need any. After her master was killed and her arm had been removed, she felt like she didn't have much left to fight for.
"That's alright," Xur shrugged. "I wouldn't want to be around me either, to be honest. Sometimes I worry my attempts to lighten the mood are more reckless than helpful."
Admitting a flaw was admirable. Point in his favor. Still had a long way to go, of course, but progress was progress.
"You know I can tell you're not very sentimental, but I'm sorry about your master. Ventress has been on my shit list since the war began, so if you want payback, I can offer help on that front."
Oddly enough, she had prepared a venom-laced comeback that would've tried to discourage him from his said sentimentality…but she paused. Most in the Order had merely tried to comfort her or offer her guidance to deal with the grief. He had merely suggested she gut the bald headed bitch on first glance.
Another point.
"I won't need help, but…thanks," she admitted, feeling herself cringe inwardly as she ran her gloved fingers through her soiled brown hair, pulling strands of it out of her eyes. "I've heard you're very formidable."
Xur snorted. "I try to be. More fun when your enemies are scared of you before you even begin."
"Yeah…" she nodded, now feeling somewhat suspicious. "Why are you doing this?"
Xur frowned, just as the distant battle seemed to die down for a moment. "Doing what?"
"Talking to me," Zule narrowed her eyes. "I've spent the last few minutes insulting you or showing you indifference, and yet you keep speaking to me as if we're friends. I don't get it."
The zabrak shrugged. "Never met a falleen before, but I've heard they use pheromones to attract those around them, even of the same sex regardless of species. I don't feel any sort of unnatural attraction towards you, so I was just…curious as to why you might be unwilling to express yourself."
She felt an urge to hiss, perhaps a mild reptilian reflex still dormant from her people's distant existence as such, but it was easily ignored. "We're in the middle of what the Republic considers genocide, and you're wondering why I don't emit pheromones around you?"
"It's not just that," he shook his head. "I can understand not wanting to talk to people, but everyone you do speak to, you meet with abrasion…sometimes even threats. My biggest question is why the Council even sent you here in the first place, and why I have to put up with someone who doesn't want to work with me."
That actually brought a little smile to Zule's face. "You must carry a pretty high opinion of yourself to be that self-centered. Maybe you're just boring?"
She could tell she'd caught him in a hole of logic, and her initial assumption that he was trying to 'get through to her' was now carrying more merit. There was nothing to get through to, and his own assumption that someone like himself was even worth her time was even more adorable.
And not in a good way.
"I think boring is probably a little harsh," Xur winced. "As for a high opinion of myself, you might actually be surprised."
"Maybe I would," she admitted. "Usually boys try to hide their internal insecurity with false confidence and arrogance, which, judging by your pheromone levels, you're trying to make yourself seem more in command of the situation than you actually are."
He finally looked away, now trying to play the hurt victim, an act she didn't buy or fall for in the slightest. "I wouldn't say it's that bad."
"No, of course not," Zule shrugged. "Just bad enough."
"If you're trying to irritate me, it's working," he admonished, which was just the cutest thing.
"Don't like being bothered, do you?" she stepped forward, closing her fists as her glare returned. "Now you know how I feel."
His frown morphed into a hard glare to match her own, but the chiming of his muck-covered commlink stopped his prepared reaction. With a wipe from his gloved hand, he cleared the emitter and answered it curtly. "Commander Eon."
The holographic image of Master Obi-Wan Kenobi fizzled before him, somewhat blurred, but the audio was strong. "Xur, it's time for you to make your entrance. Gather what forces you have and head to these coordinates. Once we're consolidated, I'll be sending you and Padawan Xiss on a mission to flank the Separatist front line. I'll get into details once you've arrived."
"Copy that, Master Kenobi," Xur answered with a level of maturity Zule wasn't expecting. Once the coordinates were fed through, he used a secondary projection to confirm the location, and in moments, he shut it off. "I see it. ETA twenty minutes."
"Speed is of the essence, Commander," Kenobi insisted. "The situation becomes more dire by the moment."
"I understand, General. I'll shave it down to fifteen."
"Thank you. Oh, and if you see Anakin, tell him I've ordered his return three times already. It appears his commlink is non-functional."
Zule got a hint of a smirk cross the zabrak's lips for a moment, before disappearing completely. "If I see him, I'll let him know."
"Yes…be sure you do. I'll see you here. Kenobi, out."
The image fizzled away.
"Well, bundle of joy, looks like we're stuck with each other," he said, and Zule sensed no trace of jest in his voice as he passed her by. "Why don't you help get our boys moving?"
She had nothing to say to him. The decision had been made.
They were stuck with each other.
"You'll want to be swift. The droids outnumber us about ten to one, and we're running low on anti-tank ammunition, so we won't be able to hold out for long."
Obi-Wan's assessment was nothing short of hopeless, dire and desperate. The Separatists had already seized the capital city at day break, and were now razing down whatever outlying loyalist pockets remained, regardless of citizen allegiance. Jabiim, effectively, had already been lost, and any chance at taking it back would require nothing short of an entirely new invasion fleet. That, unfortunately was completely out of the question…leaving Xur momentarily distracted from his soaked mop of black hair.
"So what is this supposed to do?" he asked, arms crossed as he looked over the hologram of current engagements by an astromech droid more mucked up than him. "If we're not retaking the city, is this to…cover a retreat or something?"
"Partially," Obi-Wan nodded, stroking his beard. "We're loading up what citizens we can into our transport ships and getting them off world before we pull out our fleet. Once that's done, we're next, which means once you're done, you need to be back here as soon as possible, or I fear you could be left behind."
"I'd like to avoid that," Zule added, who had been mostly silent thus far, to Xur's relief. Why he couldn't do this alone or with a small squad was beyond him, as his patience with the woman was being stretched to the brink. He didn't mind a little abrasion, as sometimes it was useful, but it was her indifference that struck at his core. That was a disease easily spread among people, and once his men let it seep into their hearts, they might as well surrender every battle at the start.
And he had zero tolerance for that.
"We'll do what needs to be done," he made clear, making it obvious he was indeed refuting her comment. "Are there any hotspots we can hit to sow a little chaos in their hierarchy?"
The Jedi Master's expression was grim. "Unfortunately, we have been unable to get scouts through the heavy flak the Separatists have been bombarding us with outside the city walls, so you'll have to manage on your own."
Xur was about to grimace visibly, until another presence made themselves known. "I wouldn't say that."
The voice drew the attention of their entire circle, and all eyes were now fixated on the cleaner-looking, albeit still soaked, Anakin Skywalker approaching with his blue-armored forces in tow. "Anakin!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. "Where have you been?! I've been trying to contact you for the past hour!"
"I was busy," Anakin shrugged as he reached their meeting, holding a data disk in hand. "And I've got an alibi."
"Is that a Separatist data disk?" Xur asked, feeling a little bit jealous. Thus far, he'd spent more time making sure his men weren't fed into a meat grinder than looking for valuable intel. Rewards such as that always made losses feel like they were worth something, and coming out empty handed was truly demoralizing for a commander. Anakin, of course, had managed to probably do both without much effort.
"Yep," the Jedi shook the tape in his hand for all to see. "Probably with a few of those hotspots Xur is looking for."
"Really?" Obi-Wan asked, not even bothering to extract a single ounce of skepticism from his tone. "And did you scan to make sure the data hadn't been wiped? It looks rather badly damaged."
"It'll work, trust me!" Anakin insisted, knocking on the astromech's head. "Hey! Plug this in a see what it's got."
The droid chirped affirmatively as Xur snuck a look towards Zule, only to find her expression carrying the same angry indifference it had before. Not even through the Force could he sense much from her…just some kind of perpetual desire for everything around her to get on with itself. It was almost…fatalistic in a sense, which was mildly worrying. Someone with little regard for their own life, in most cases, had little for those around them.
He never realized Anakin had made good on his promise.
"It looks like the droids get their orders from this command station here, about ten kilometers back from the front line," Obi-Wan pointed out. "If we could silence that, we could cut off immediate support, buying us enough time of disorganization before we extract from Jabiim."
"Sounds great. Who's going in?" Anakin asked, looking like he was itching for a fight.
"I am," Xur answered, and then shifted his head towards the falleen. "Along with my ray of sunshine for a partner."
Zule snorted.
"If the two of you have an ongoing squabble, I suggest you get past it," Obi-Wan pointed sternly. "Millions of lives are at stake."
"It won't be a problem, Master Kenobi," Zule insisted. "That forward post will be dust, just like you asked."
"No need to be so dramatic. We just need it disabled to a degree that it creates enough disorder," Obi-Wan corrected, still eyeing the two of them thoughtfully. He could feel his senses prying into his own, and he did his best to inconspicuously block any unwanted guests…but his command wasn't up to the task for a Jedi Master as skilled as Obi-Wan Kenobi, not really even close, for that matter.
"I can run chaperone, if you want," Anakin offered, and Xur just shot him a glare he didn't bother to hide.
"As enticing as that is, I need you here, Anakin," Obi-Wan denied. "Padawans Xiss and Eon are the only ones I can spare, which means the two of you will be on your own."
There really was no way around it.
"Yes sir," Xur inclined his head, just as Zule did the same.
"Fine."
Anakin winced. "It's a shame I can't come with. I can't imagine how much fun you two are together. You've got such a sunny disposition."
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan protested.
"Alright, alright, I'll get the troops ready to move."
Ten kilometers wasn't much ground for a Jedi to cover, especially in the physical prime of their life. Unfortunately, neither of those made up for the fact that they had to sneak past thousands of droids through an intense downpour. The mud was only a sporadic factor, as there were more shattered roads and urbanized areas to travel through down this path, but the roadblocks of fallen buildings or piling debris made up for that. The negative feedback piled up on and on, leaving them to about a two to three hour time of arrival.
Xur's strategic mind found that unacceptable, and thus worsened his mood considerably.
"We need to pick up the pace," he said, using a quick gesture to wipe away a black cloud of noxious smoke pouring out of a burst pipe. The dark sky didn't help much, as the destruction had blotted out the sun, but the blinding light from the brilliant battle behind them served well enough. For now they were traveling across an elevated tramway, long out of service of course, but its ditch was deep enough to hide them while also bypassing the obstacles below.
"You're leading the way," Zule hissed behind him, sounding no less pessimistic. "Move faster."
The zabrak let her comment drop, and instead did as she suggested, quickening his strides to a light jog, stepping around shattered duraplast and weaving thought tight pathways created by fallen power cables. He mixed in a few leaps and bounds as holes in the surface appeared underneath, gliding through the air as he manipulated the Force around him to propel his body beyond what his physiology was capable of. Each landing was softened by its embrace, and it worked to also skid him quickly to a halt before he went tumbling over the end of the line. A kilometer away he could see the other end, as well as the twisted metal far below was the tramway that used to stretch across.
"Path ends here," he gestured, sucking in a wholesome breath as Zule landed beside him.
"How insightful," she jabbed. "Got any other masterful observations?"
He felt his jaw clench just as his ears twitched, and he looked up. "Shit!" he cursed, grabbing her flesh and blood right arm and yanking her behind a tight debris cover, finding themselves in close proximity.
"Let me—"
"Shut up!" Xur squeezed her wrist tight enough to make her yelp as he knelt, pulling her into him very much against her will, infringing upon her with his unnatural strength perpetuated by the Force. She struggled, but she'd been taken so much by surprise that she didn't have much of a chance to escape before the distinct sound of vulture droids played out overhead. It was an entire squadron of twelve or more, either running a patrol path or moving to provide air support to the battle.
"You smell like piss!" Zule protested.
"That's probably you," he insisted, still holding her close in the tight space. To be fair, he couldn't smell the urine…meaning his senses were probably numb to it due to its immediate proximity. Still, she didn't smell great either.
Once the vulture droids had made their pass, he released her…and caught the metal fist she threw towards his head. "Don't do that," he warned, holding her wrist tightly. "I'm sorry I did that, but we had to say down."
"I have ears! I can find my own space to hide!" she spat, and he could see an infernal fury in her eyes. "Do not…ever…touch me again."
Xur held her stare, but admittedly, there was no viable defense for such an intimate gesture if it had been unwanted, even if it was for what he considered the greater good.
He released her wrist. "I'm sorry, Zule. I wasn't sure you saw it."
The falleen's rage persisted, and through her grit teeth, he saw a wound within her that he hadn't glimpsed before…one that had been torn open once more with their occurrence. There was a rabidness to her now, almost a traumatic uncontrollable reaction as her breathing intensified and muscles tensed tightly.
Xur sighed. "Look…I don't know what you've seen, or…or if this has something to do with how your master died, but I was just doing my job. I look out for people, even people I don't particularly like."
"That doesn't give you the right," she snarled, and he caught a glint of a tear emerging from her eye. "I don't need you!"
"Maybe not," he considered. "But right now, all we have is each other."
Zule fixed her gaze on his own, perhaps testing his truth, or even his will. She found no break, no second guessing, and with that, she finally looked away, hiding that tear he had seen. "Get up," she ordered. "I just want this over with."
Strangely enough, he felt no anger at her outburst, which would've been his natural reaction to any challenge to him. Zule at this point deserved nothing from him, but after gaining that brief glimpse into her heart, there was only one feeling that remained.
Pity.
"There, wait."
Zule casually dismissed Xur's suggestion as she ascended the hill of rubble, slipping in a few places where it wasn't as solid, but nonetheless reaching the top. Bits of glass and crumbling cement raced to the bottom, some kicking up into Xur's face to only add to the mud. So far she'd taken every petty chance she could to get back at him for the little stunt he pulled earlier, whether it be disappearing on him for a few seconds or just ignoring his commands. She was determined to show she didn't need him.
She didn't need anyone.
"Are you determined to get us caught?" he protested, reaching the top and keeping his head low. "Because you might as well just run out into an open field right now."
"Maybe I will," she growled, long tired of hearing his voice. If she could blow his brains out right now, she would, but judging by the speed of his defense when she had tried to punch him, as well as his potent Force signature, she probably couldn't best him in a straight-up fight.
Besides…killing him was perhaps a little over the top. Whether she admitted it or not, he had looked out for her, because she definitely didn't see those vulture droids fly by in time to duck. Still, he didn't have to admonish her or hold her so tightly…and he smelt awful.
She did too…but that wasn't the point. He still touched her inappropriately, and there had been no reason for him to hold her so close, no matter how tight the space was.
Internally, she grimaced. This was awfully childish of her, and even someone as undesirable as herself could see that. In fact her entire act had been more detrimental to herself than anyone else. All this time Xur had been doing his job, keeping his men safe while also trying to lighten the mood of a desperate situation, and all she'd done was berate him time and time again. That wasn't fair, nor did it make her feel very good, especially in hindsight. Part of her knew she was better than this…then again, part of her knew she wasn't.
Ever since she'd watched her master's static-expression head hit the dirt, his own blood oozing from every pore of his skin as his neck singed with cauterized flesh…
No. Not now. In fact, not ever. Why the hell did she even care anyway? It was obvious Xur could take a little heat, otherwise he wouldn't be in this position.
He could suck it up.
"Well, I'd rather not spend the rest of my days in a Separatist prison camp," Xur interjected her thoughts, just as she spotted their target sitting in the distance. "I don't like cuffs around my wrists very much."
She jerked, her keen eyes spotting the glint of battle droid durasteel fast enough for her to reach out for Xur's head and shove it into the ground. Falling even more prone, she tugged at him quietly, and as she suspected, he was smart enough to know to pull himself back behind the top of the pile.
"You could've warned me," he whispered, pinching his nose where it had been cut by the debris it had ran into when she had shoved his head. "But good call."
Her tongue whipped forward to prepare a nasty retort for him to be silent…but it curled back before the words were able to be formed. The droids below were passing by in a perfect formation, marching through the mud without any reaction to the outside world. Dismantling droids wasn't quite as satisfying as killing an actual opponent, but after seeing all they had done to this world, she figured she could make it work in this case.
Zule pulled her matted hair out of her face and peered towards the outpost. It wasn't too large, most of it dominated by a communications dish overhead, angled towards the front line kilometers behind them. There was no more than perhaps a platoon of droids, which was no issue for a couple of fresh Jedi.
Only issue was, they weren't fresh, not in the slightest, but Zule hardly cared by now. Desperately she wanted this to be over, this mission, this war, all her discomfort, pain and mental depreciation. Maybe it could be…right now, on this battlefield.
"A prison camp is worse than dying in a bar fight," she said, reaching for her lightsaber hilt and preparing to thumb it on. "But they won't take me alive."
"Zule?!" he gasped. "Stay—"
Her green blade was ignited, and her boots splashed into the mud beyond the debris hill as she revealed herself. Immediately the outpost's lights panned towards her, and the squad of droids jumped in surprise.
"Huh? Ah! Jedi!" they gasped, scrambling. "Blast her!"
Instinct had her hand flinching to the left, and a light spray of nearby debris hammered the droids, blinding their optical sensors temporarily as they struggled to wipe it clear, firing wildly at the same time. No stray bolt came even close to her, but she took advantage of her distraction, leaping loudly into the air and landing with a harsh thud in the middle of the blind droids. By then, it was too late for simple B1 units against a lightsaber, and she took pride in the burning metal she cut to pieces, the light drizzle around her steaming off the superheated slashes as each droid cried out in blind terror. The last freed itself, angling its blaster, but her prosthetic left hand jolted out and grasped its neck, before cleanly decapitating the unit with a swift stroke.
Danger sense raced up her spine.
Leaping out of the way, mud cascaded into her as she skidded to a halt, eventually to hear the booming crash of two heavy metal boots impacting the surface. Trained on her now was the arm cannon of a massive B2 super battle droid, its mighty free arm batting away a dazed B1 she had missed. Bolts erupted from its wrist, and Zule deflected each one with ease, even directing one straight back at its chest. It impacted, tearing open a hole in its armor, but the droid kept moving without a reaction, slowly marching towards her as more landed behind it. Now the oncoming fire was a hail, and she almost screamed as one bolt slipped through her defenses and tore through her hip.
The other B2 units spread out, surrounding her with more blaster fire as she tried to keep up, grasping ahold of her pain and rage…and squeezing. She tried to pull whatever strength she could muster from that wound, even using her metal arm to pound it into submission, crying out again as she embraced whatever anger it conjured.
Zule would not die today…they would.
Rolling away from the next volley, she swiped up a blaster rifle from one of the dismantled units and fired back, tearing into that original hole she had created. The droid pressed on for a time, but eventually her shots hit paydirt, and its central systems collapsed as its body followed suit. Deflecting two more shots, she fired at another, continuing a defend and attack rhythm as she occasionally cut in to deal finishing blows with her lightsaber.
Then she heard the clicking sound of an empty firing chamber.
Tossing the blaster aside, she was forced on full defensive, the droids now going fully automatic on their blasters until they landed another shot, this one plenty to make her scream as she managed to hold up her defenses around her vital areas. One cleaved through her false arm, rendering it useless and herself only able to defend effectively from one side.
Another hit, and she fell to one knee.
Just in time, a titian blade ignited from behind, cleaving through the back B2 ranks with ease. Immediately she felt a drop off in the volume of incoming fire, and used that to press forward…only to slam into the mud as her body refused to work. Her hips, shot to pieces, literally couldn't hold up her torso any longer, and no matter how much anger she put into it, there was no budge.
Then the pain really made itself known.
Xur wasn't sure if Zule was dead or not by now, but he never planned to let that slow him from jumping in. What she had done was utterly reckless and foolish, but now that the droids knew they were there, the entire evacuation of Jabiim now hung on his ability to turn a disaster into a victory.
Again.
Droids weren't going to be the hard part. The hard part was getting close enough to kill them all before they either shot him dead or finished off Zule, which, with her down, made neither of those choices a real option. He still needed to be able to get to the outpost and viably destroy or disable it. Ideally, he needed all his limbs to do that, not to mention the fact that they would need to escape.
Lots of things to work on.
Zule screamed from her face-planted position, and its ear-splitting cry drew his attention quickly, almost so much that he missed the metal fist the super battle droid threw his way. Cutting it loose, he threw a force-enhanced fist through its chest, utilizing the shatterpoint technique his master Mace Windu had taught him years ago to cut through the metal and tear out its vital systems. Sparking, it lugged into a heap in the mud.
Four B2 units…spaced apart, and too far to use his lightsaber effectively. The deflections he sent back at them while they fired only did so much damage, in fact they were hardly the powerful tool they usually were, which meant he would either have to dash forward to close the gap…or get creative. Since he wasn't as adept as utilizing the Force to increase his speed in a pinch, the latter was looking like his best bet.
There was a lot of debris, and maybe if he could spot something heavy…
Yeah, that will probably do fine.
Peering ahead into time far enough through the Force, most of his concentration transferred directly into his movements before he extinguished his lightsaber, sidestepped twice, and heaved. The movement confused their tracking long enough for him to feel the satisfying give of the heavy object he was clinging to.
The Force boomed as he swung his arms forward, carrying an incredibly heavy I-beam through the air and plowing itself through the B2 unit. A slight gesture of adjustment had the back end slam into its nearest counterpart, leaving two of his enemies now shattered and sprawled out by the heavy object. Now his saber came back out, using double vision to anticipate each blast with a spin, dodge and thrust that ended in a clean impale, and left only one droid left.
One that had snuck up from behind and plowed its metal fist into his face. Everything was a haze, multiple colors making themselves known as a shooting pain erupted from his fractured nose. By now he could feel the hairline fractures cutting into his skull, and the blood from his teeth soiled his tongue with its metallic taste.
More mud on his back.
He tried to roll over as the B2 unit cocked its arm into firing position, but white-hot green protruded from its chest before it could finish the job. With a pull, the green disappeared, and the droid fell aside to reveal a battered Zule Xiss, her prosthetic arm hanging uselessly at her side.
His skull pulsated with searing pain, and before he was forced to scream to earn some alleviation, he fumbled through his belt to pull out a healing stim, and stabbed it into his neck. Immediately he felt the sweet relief of his pain dissipating, already the wounds beginning to seal themselves as he lifted himself up.
"Thanks," he grimaced, then almost reared back at the first glance of Zule's face. He knew falleen could alter the pigment of their skin, as she had always elected to keep hers crimson, but she looked much more pale than he could remember. Perhaps that was just from her lack of strength…but her eyes had an amber tint to them that was undeniable.
"What?" she almost snarled, that tint expanding slightly. "You're welcome, asshole."
"That's what I…" he trailed off, and spotted the singed burns on her left hip, ones that looked plenty severe enough to render her incapable of moving. She almost looked like a zombie…kept alive but something unnatural.
The Dark Side.
"Zule…" he admonished. "You need to stop."
"Stop what?" she glared.
"You're using the Dark Side," he said, feeling a hint of fear well up inside him. "You don't want to do that."
"Why not?" she shrugged. "Without it, I'd already be dead."
"If you just trusted me, I would've pulled you out—"
Zule lunged forward, too quick for him to stop her only good, gloved hand from wrapping around his neck and shoving him violently against the nearest debris pile. The pointed ends dug into the back of his robe, and he winced from the pressure that he tried to press against…but was held back by Zule's violent, sickly gaze.
"You think you're so special, don't you? That you actually mean something?" Zule glared, maintaining her grip. "Do you have any idea how insignificant you really are? It doesn't matter if you're Mace Windu's padawan, Master Yoda's, or the Jedi stationed on fucking Tatooine, you're no better than the rest of us. You think you can just walk in, smile at everyone, beat up a bunch of droids, call yourself a hero and expect everyone to smile back?"
Xur shook his head. "Of course not."
"Then you listen to me," she tightened her grip, her eyes blazing with hatred. "I know who you are. I know what you are. Do not ever judge me…because you're no better than I am. I've seen things, experienced tragedies you couldn't even imagine, so don't think for a second that your pretty smile can just fix everything."
"You don't need fixing, Zule," Xur eased, and then revealed an open palm with a glowing green retractable syringe. "In fact I don't know what you need…but you don't have to let yourself hurt, not if there's another way."
She eyed that stim for a moment.
"I don't know what happened to you, or why you're the way you are. Frankly, it doesn't matter. You're here, I'm here, and we have a job to do," he said, trying to also infringe a feeling of authority into the Force. "So take the fucking stim and let me go."
At first, she thought she would just continue to glare and tighten her grip, but the amber in her eyes began to fade, and slowly, her grip left him entirely. Accepting the stim, she injected it into her neck…and relief flooded her troubled expression.
"Maybe I was wrong," she gasped, tossing the used device aside. "Maybe you are worth something after all."
"I'd like to think so," he shrugged, only to rear back as she pointed her finger.
"Don't let it get to your head," she warned. "You're not that useful."
"Okay, okay, relax," Xur held up his hands defensively. "I won't get greedy with your plentiful compliments, I promise."
Her teeth bore for a moment. "You…!" before she closed her finger into her fist and marched off. "Let's just keep moving!"
At four times magnification, Zule's scopes made one thing painfully clear: the Separatists had more guts than she expected. Around the outpost was an array of what looked to be native civilians…but as she pressed the zoom in function to its limit, she was able to see that they were loyalist fighters with individual marks. In their position, any frontal assault would have to tear through them to have any effective chance at succeeding. Anything else would be futile.
"Living shields," Zule noted, pulling down her scopes and peering over to Xur, who was still looking through his own. "Still think it's ironic?"
"You kidding? It's even more so now," Xur narrowed his gaze, pulling away for a moment before looking back through. "Although…wait. Do you see that? The yellow-marked droid officer."
Zule indulged his request, peering back through her scopes as she wiped the rain from her eyes. In moments she found what he was referring to, a group of B1s listening to orders as the yellow-marked gestured and directed with its metal hands. It was inaudible to them, but in a rather sudden move, the droids turned to each of the prisoners, and began firing upon the helpless bystanders. She felt her voice catch in her throat as each of them dropped dead, some trying to scramble away before joining their brethren, the distant cries and begs for mercy met with only more blasterfire.
"Oh my…" Zule gasped. "They're just…killing them?"
Her instinct was to rush in and start cutting the droids down, as that was what justice demanded…but to her surprise, Xur made no move to save them. In fact, she could've sworn he settled in even more as the killings began.
"Nothing we can do for them," he said. "And honestly, it makes our job easier."
Zule mock-shivered. "Cold-hearted, are you?"
"We'll avenge them," he half-growled, pulling his eyes away from the scopes again. "One way or another."
She searched for another retort, but found none. Truth was, she agreed with everything he had just said…even if this still felt wrong. There was an odd rebellious freedom to not be bound by the morality the Jedi preached so often…even if Zule would draw a line at killing civilians. Enemies didn't deserve any mercy, as they would not offer it in return, but innocent people had nothing to do with their conflict, and thus should be left out of it entirely.
Either way, blood called for blood, and the Separatists would have it.
"What the hell are we waiting for?" she seethed, lightsaber in hand…but none to keen of having a repeat of what occurred not too long ago. Her body aches and blaster burns were numbed by the stim for now, but she imagined how awful the pain will be once they returned.
Not to mention the fact she only had one good arm.
"Check again. Notice anything odd?" Xur asked, still looking through his scopes.
"We don't have time to play fucking guessing games."
The zabrak let out a tiresome sigh. "Look at the droids. They're clearing out now."
She felt herself blink, then pulled up her scopes again, zooming in on the base. Sure enough, she watched the B1 units scrambling to landing transport craft upon the orders of their tactical droid, who was lugging itself slowly behind them. "The fuck?" she cursed. "They're just clearing out?"
"Yeah, and I don't like it," Xur waivered…somewhat of an odd taste of fear in his tone. "We should head back."
Zule almost laughed. "Head back? You're kidding right? Our objective just became an easy score."
"No, it's become irrelevant," Xur corrected, now letting it be clear he was losing his patience with her. "Any time an enemy abandons an outpost, it's right before it's about to be overrun or they're about to put it on ice. We should turn back and warn our forces the Separatists are about to fall back or make a major push."
"That won't help Master Kenobi," Zule argued, biting back. "We need to go in there and figure out exactly what they're up to. All you'll give him is speculation."
"It won't matter if we're too late!"
"All the more reason to go now!" she leapt out from their position, and broke into a nimble, Force-enhanced run towards the outpost. For a Jedi praised for his military prowess, Xur Eon seemed to lack a sense of the moment or any sort of common sense. Perhaps that was the problem with tacticians…they always let it get in the way.
She was nearly to the base's entrance before the leaving transport craft opened fire, blowing the massive radar dish off its perch. Metal screeched and wined as she slid to a halt, now looking directly up at the shadow of the object now collapsing atop her.
Zule Xiss sure as hell wanted to top the premonition the Jedi Order had revealed to her…how they foresaw her ultimate death would come at the hands of the wrong person at the wrong cantina bar. Part of it made her now wonder about the true invincibility of the Jedi Council. They'd been wrong about how she would die…incredibly wrong, so what else could they be wrong about? Had they made a mistake joining this war? Were their warnings about fighting with passion and avoiding the Dark Side misguided? Were they just the same lying, scheming leaders all politicians seemed to be?
Maybe they were. Maybe they weren't. Didn't matter much now. She was dead, and it wasn't the way they promised.
That made her smile.
Only thing that confused her was why she was still alive.
"Why…are you…just…standing…there?!"
The massive, multi-ton radar dish was suspended above her, rattling as if it was on the brink of collapsing, and when she turned towards the voice, she noticed her zabrak partner was straining under the pressure of holding that object above her.
Maybe she should move.
The dish collapsed as he released it, once she was clear of its range, and Xur relented, going lightheaded as he fell to one knee. His breathing was heavy, yet still retaining solid health as he tried desperately to regain some semblance of calm within his body…but the blinding explosion of the rest of the outpost forced them both into action, conjuring a conjoined Force barrier to stave off the shrapnel and shockwave. The toll was heavy, but they managed to hold it off, as the damage had been done.
Xur spat out a wad of blood. "Do you think listening to me might be a good idea?"
Zule sniffed, wiping her face clear of the moist dust before it could become mud in the downpour. "Maybe."
He rolled his eyes, immediately activating his comm as she couldn't pull her gaze off him. What he did for her just now was more than just Jedi kindness. That radar dish was heavier than anything she'd ever been able to levitate, probably heavier than he'd ever tried…and yet he'd done it…to save her life.
Again.
Zule didn't like amassing debts, but right now, that was two she owed him.
Maybe he wasn't so bad.
"Hey…thanks," she struggled to say the word, but managed to cough it out of her throat. "I know that couldn't have been easy."
"Whatever," he dismissed, trying to get a signal. That response irked her slightly…but it was more than deserved, she assumed. Still didn't mean she had to like it. "Master Kenobi, this is Padawan Eon. Come in."
No response came, and he fiddled with the settings while she came up beside him, trying to hold up her heavy metal paperweight of an arm.
"Master Kenobi…come in. I repeat, come in!"
Abruptly, his image fizzled to life…and he looked about as awful as she'd ever seen him. "Padawan Eon! What's your status?! We have to leave, now!"
"Base is destroyed, Master, but it was the Separatists who did it. I think they're pulling out," Xur said.
"Pulling out?!" Kenobi gasped, swinging his saber in a protective motion, only to pause in confusion. "Wait…yes…the droids just began to pull out their forces. Anakin, get back here!"
Zule rolled her eyes.
"Fire off a flare as soon as you can. We'll send in—" Kenobi was cut off by the blaring sound of a vulture droid heavy bomber racing over their position, and sure enough, the Jedi Master had his eyes up seconds after it passed over their heads. "A single bomber? Why would—"
The comm died.
"Master Kenobi?! Master—"
It was like the sun had been dropped upon Jabiim, and Zule covered her eyes as a blinding light tore through the planet. The ground shook with the magnitude of a major earthquake, and she scrambled for cover once the light passed. Debris was kicked up into the air, the surrounding buildings finally giving way as they collapsed all around them, firing dust into the awful downpour that she tried to prevent with an outstretched hand.
That was when the deafening sound of a baradium detonation roared into her ears, and it was the last thing she ever heard.
Welcome. See you soon.