The assault raged on, with casualties mounting on both sides. Mandalore the Callous and Zarayvia's warriors had managed to root out the imperials and super commandos who were trying to make a break for it and warn their allies of what's going on, and proceeded to cut off all access points, sealing everyone inside. No one on the inside left and no one on the outside would be able to come in.
Had it been a war of attrition between blaster-wielding adversaries, the battle would in anyone's favor, however, both the empire and the Mandalorian insurgents had Force Sensitive assistance and they were busy contending with each other; save for Zarayvia, who was settling her score with Vaton.
In other words, the victor of this battle would depend on which Force Sensitives would walk away from their duels…
"For a guard, he's pretty strong with the Force," panted Vaukel, "even if he wields it like a brute."
"Want to switch partners?" asked Daralec.
"I'll keep you posted," said Vaukel.
The shadow guard came at Vaukel and spun his light pike, then he performed a sweep attack. Vaukel, anticipating the sweep, performed a tabletop jump, blocked and locked as the shadow guard tried to get him with a 360 spin.
"Hey pal, you want to know why light pikes are poor weapon choices?" asked Vaukel.
The shadow guard said nothing.
"Let me show you," he said.
Vaukel broke the lock and went for a thrust, but as he closed the distance, the shadow guard stepped the right and deflected the thrust, then he turned and sent Vaukel stumbling forward with a strike to the back from his pike shaft.
"In my head, I imagined that going-"
But Vaukel was cut off when he turned around and saw the shadow guard drew something from his belt: A heavy blaster pistol.
"CRAP!" exclaimed Vaukel.
The shadow guard started squeezing off shots, putting Vaukel on his back foot as he buckled down and started deflecting shots. Daralec, turned as he locked blades with the saber guard and gasped.
"Vaukel!" he called out.
Daralec broke the lock and kicked the saber guard right between his legs. The saber guard dropped his lightsabers and doubled over in pain, allowing Daralec to dash over, grab the man by his shoulders and drive his knee into his face. The saber guard stumbled back, now left in a daze. Daralec grabbed the saber guard again and put him in the Guillotine Choke Hold.
"Let's see your armor protect you from… THIS!" he barked.
Daralec jerked his arms and there was a sickening crack, then the saber guard went limp. Daralec dropped the saber guard, then he turned and charged at the shadow guard, jumping and going for his neck. The shadow guard, sensing the attack from behind, holstered his blaster and turned around fast, grabbing at Daralec's throat with the Force and sending him flying across the rooftop. Vaukel charged and went for a thrust, the shadow guard crossed his arms and threw them out to their sides, releasing a powerful Force explosion that sent Vaukel flying back and hitting the ground.
"What… The hell… Was that?" groaned Daralec.
"Ugh, guess this bastard's finally getting serious," Vaukel said as he got up, "I hate that…"
The shadow guard spun his light pike, performing one-handed spins to the left, right, and even behind his back before assuming a ready stance… No… He stood at attention and looked between the two boys, then pointed at the both of them before pointing down at the ground. Vaukel and Daralec looked at each other and nodded before coming at the shadow guard.
Daralec struck first, going for the shadow guard's neck, but he was met with the end of the light pike shaft to his face as well as a Force Push. Vaukel jumped high and the shadow guard turned and blocked his attack, then he shoved him back and forced Vaukel to back up as he performed a few quick spins with his weapon before going in for a few quick thrusts. Vaukel dodged the first seven thrusts, and got ready to go in for a riposte, but then he jumped over the shadow guard as he performed a sweep attack. Vaukel stuck the landing and performed a 'no-look kill' but the shadow guard ducked down low and unleashed a quick flash of Force Lightning to stun Vaukel and bring him to his knees.
"Okay! This bastard's really getting serious!" he groaned.
With the boy's duel heating up, over with Kayla and Keniala, the former had begun to use more and more of her Force Power to try and overwhelm her adversary.
"I've got to get some breathing room!" Kayla thought quickly.
She picked up a cluster of stacked trays and silverware, then she hurled them at the inquisitor. Fortunately for Keniala, since she had her helmet, the silverware clattered and fell to the ground, but the impact from the trays was enough to leave her disoriented, if not dazed. Kayla charged, jumped, and performed a flying spin kick, striking Keniala in the face and sending her stumbling back a few inches.
"You're going to regret that, you little bitch," hissed the inquisitor.
Kayla got in a ready stance again, she deactivated her offhand lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.
"Come on," she said, beckoning the inquisitor.
Keniala looked at her disc saber and unlocked the emitter ring, followed by deactivating the second blade and performing a quick flourish. The girls came at each other; when they met in the middle and Keniala swung at Kayla, she jumped over the inquisitor and landed on one of the tables. Keniala turned and jumped onto the table too, then the girls began trading swings with each other once again.
"I can't use my shield and burst counter strategy," Kayla thought as she tanked up, "I'm going to have to go pure defense, see if I can wait it out. Once she gets desperate and slips up, I'll go for the kill."
The girls began to ramp up their attacks and blocks, one taking one step forward, the other taking one step back and vice versa; one trying to overpower the other, six strikes per second, seven strikes per second, eight, nine strikes per second. Though she was sweating profusely, her muscles began to ache, and she began to find herself trying to limit the number of breaths she took, Kayla attempted to utilize her hidden talent to bolster her combat prowess.
Left, right, down low, up high, turn, left, right, turn, sweep; Kayla and Keniala's crimson blades had become nothing more than blurs of red. Kayla and Keniala locked blades and gritted their teeth as they attempted to shove each other back; but neither one of them could overpower each other and they broke away. Keniala growled and delivered three one-handed strikes, followed by a thrust.
Kayla blocked the three strikes and switched her lightsaber around, holding it in a reverse grip to deflect the thrust, then she switched it back around and swung at Keniala's legs. The inquisitor jumped over Kayla and landed behind her, then she kicked her off the table. Kayla hit the ground hard and started to get up, but she turned around and brought her lightsaber up as Keniala jumped and brought her disc saber down on her, the two girls locking blades yet again.
"You die, traitor," hissed Keniala.
Kayla felt Keniala push her blade closer and closer to her neck. She had to think fast. Kayla tried to blow Keniala back with Force Push, but the inquisitor grabbed her wrist.
"Wrong move," said Keniala.
"Wrong limb," said Kayla.
The initiate kicked Keniala in the shin and sent her stumbling back. Kayla jumped to her feet, spun around, and swung, slicing and breaking Keniala's helmet to pieces. The inquisitor, who was a woman that appeared to be in her early thirties, with blonde hair and green eye, slowly turned and glared at Kayla.
"Why you little-"
But Keniala was cut off as Kayla jumped forward and kicked her in the face, then she drove her lightsaber through her gut. Keniala looked down and dropped her disc saber. Kayla deactivated her lightsaber and stumbled back before falling onto a chair. Keniala dropped to her knees and chuckled weakly.
"Ehe, damn… And here I thought I could kill you and earn the master's favor," said Keniala.
"Wait… What?" panted Kayla.
"Oh… You didn't know? After you left, the other inquisitors, the brothers, and sisters… They saw a chance to become the master's favorite little pet," said Keniala, "just like he made you into his pet. His precious… Prized inquisitor."
"…I was never Lord Vader's pet," Kayla said slowly.
"You can't fool me, every member of the inquisitorius knew there was some kind of bond between you and the dark lord," said Keniala, "those times where he would pull you to the side for… Private lessons. The way he groomed you. The way he treated you. We all suspected that he saw something special in you. Hell… Even… Claeiva knew there was something special about you that Lord Vader saw."
"…I was only following orders… And killing Jedi to satisfy my taste for their blood after their arrogance got my father killed," Kayla said slowly, "…but for every Jedi I killed, I started to crave more…"
"…And Lord Vader gave you what you wanted… Because you were… His… Pet," Keniala said slowly.
Keniala fell over and went still, leaving Kayla alone with her thoughts as she thought about what Keniala said. Kayla looked at her left hand and formed it into a tight fist.
"…I'm not a pet…" she thought.
Meanwhile, Vaukel and Daralec were fighting in tandem against the persistent, if not troublesome, shadow guard, who was now using a combination of quickdraw shots and Force abilities in order to throw the boys off their game.
"This guy has got us by the balls," said Vaukel.
"I agree, he keeps mixing up his combinations… Wait a minute…" said Daralec, "combinations…"
Daralec looked at Vaukel.
"Follow my lead," he said.
"Wait, wha-"
But Daralec jumped ahead of Vaukel and swung at the shadow guard. The shadow guard performed a sweep attack with his light pike, then he followed it up with two quick thrusts, which Daralec dodged and slipped in to close the distance. Daralec was blown back with Force Push and knocked on his ass. The shadow guard spun his light pike and delivered a killing thrust.
"Now!" barked Daralec.
Vaukel jumped in next, lunging and delivering a powerful overhead chop. The shadow guard brought his light pike up and stumbled back when Vaukel's lightsaber struck the shaft. Vaukel delivered a flurry of high-aimed strikes to try and put the shadow guard on his backfoot; but with a quick parry, a spin and sweep of his pike, Vaukel jumped back. The shadow guard drew his pistol and put Vaukel on the defensive as he started firing off shots.
"GOT YOU!" barked Daralec.
The shadow guard looked up and saw the Revanite jump and prepare to deliver a powerful overhead chop. The shadow guard started blasting at Daralec, allowing Vaukel to flourish his lightsaber and lunge forward, stabbing the shadow guard in his left arm socket before he could switch targets. The shadow guard stumbled back, but before he could recover, Daralec came down and took off his left arm with one clean slice. The shadow guard stumbled towards the edge of the roof and struggled to stand.
"All yours," said Daralec.
Vaukel smiled and stabbed the shadow guard in the gut, then he blew him off the roof with Force Push. The boys looked at each other and smiled, then they high fived.
Meanwhile, Orthus was at the mercy of Xek.
"Good fight boy," Xek said as he held the young man at blaster point, "but I'm afraid this is the end for you."
Orthus smirked.
"…You didn't beat me," he said, "your desire to destroy the heir of Mandalore the Dark distracted you from your objective."
"What?" asked Xek.
"NOW!" yelled Orthus.
Lavok pressed the trigger, and the TIE fighters went up in flames as the detonators exploded, reducing the imperial aircraft to piles of smoldering scrap. Xek whirled around and gasped.
"NO!" he screamed.
Xek turned and got ready to fire when, he was met with a vibrosword that took his right arm clean off. Xek screamed and dropped to his knee as blood sprayed all over the ground. Orthus grinned under his helmet and tilted Xek's chin up with his blade.
"…I'll see you in Hell," hissed the super commando.
"Tell 'em who sent you," said Orthus.
Orthus delivered one clean swing and took off Xek's head, his body collapsed seconds afterward.
"I'm going to be feeling this in the morning," he winced as he clutched his sore right arm.
Last but now least, was Zarayvia and Vaton.
"We were sisters once!" Vaton roared as she and Zarayvia locked blades.
"Once," said Zarayvia.
With a quick headbutt to knock her back, Zarayvia followed it up with a left hook, a heel kick to her chest and an electro dart to Vaton's chest to stun her, then she knocked her down on all fours with a roundhouse. Zarayvia marched over and prepared to impale Vaton, but the super commando leader pulled out her offhand blaster and fired off three shots to get Zarayvia to jump back. Vaton jumped to her feet and delivered a spinning cleave, which Zarayvia met with a cleave of her own, followed by a low slash and grabbing Vaton's wrist as she took aim and tried to shoot her pointblank. Vaton started squeezing off multiple shots, all while she and Zarayvia locked blades and pushed against each other.
Zarayvia growled and kicked Vaton in her left shin, then she twisted her left wrist and disarmed the imperial Mandalorian of her blaster. Vaton grimaced and took Zarayvia's knee to the gut twice, followed by a headbutt to break their deadlock and a backhand strike from fist, cracking her helmet. Vaton growled.
"I'm going to kill you for that… Mandalore," she hissed.
"Olaror bat," beckoned Zarayvia.
These two vicious warriors, these women who were once sisters, delivered five power swings, two in the form of horizontal sweeps and three in the form of one-handed swings before locking blades again. Zarayvia growled and threw a punch, Vaton punched Zarayvia back and even kicked her right in the chest. Vaton went for a thrust, and Zarayvia caught her blade with her prosthetic.
"…No," said Zarayvia.
Zarayvia growled and tightened her grip on the blade, then she snapped it. Vaton stumbled back in shock, then she took a punch to the face from Zarayvia's prosthetic arm, and her helmet shattered. Vaton stumbled back and dropped to her knee; the super commando leader, who appeared to be in her late-thirties, early-forties, with short black hair, and blue eye, looked up at Zarayvia as blood ran down from her head. Zarayvia approached, with her lightsaber in hand, in silence. Vaton said nothing, expecting her execution to be quick, but Zarayvia deactivated her lightsaber, reached up and took off her helmet, then she let it fall to the ground and ignited her lightsaber again.
Vaton said nothing as Zarayvia got in a ready stance, gripping her lightsaber with two hands. No words were said as Zarayvia looked right in Vaton's eyes and sliced right through her neck. Vaton's head rolled off and hit the ground, her body fell over seconds afterward. Zarayvia picked up her helmet, flew to the top of the nearest building and looked down at the survivors of the assault. With her helmet tucked under her left arm, Zarayvia raised her lightsaber into the air.
"Parjai!" she called out.
Zarayvia and Mandalore's warriors erupted in a unified cheer, the imperials, and their super commando support, could only look down in defeat. It was game over for them.
"Mandalore," Lavok said as he flew to Zarayvia, "we have small pockets of enemy forces inside of the base. What are your orders with them?"
"…Execution," said Zarayvia, "make sure Vaton's warriors are not given a Mandalorian's death."
"Acknowledged," he said.
Lavok left. Zarayvia sat down and looked up at the sky. Dawn would be coming soon.
"You've done it," said Mandalore.
Zarayvia turned to the left and saw Mandalore the Callous approach her.
"You've earned a great victory for your warriors, and you've ended your blood feud by your own hand," said Mandalore, "you're no Mandalore… Not in my eyes…"
Zarayvia made a face.
"…But when push comes to shove, you've shown that you can be something," said Mandalore.
Zarayvia gave him a small smile.
"I look forward to joining these Knights of Revan… And you," said Mandalore.
Zarayvia got up as Mandalore extended a hand.
"As do I," she said as she took it and shook it.
/\/\/\/\/\
"So, we are all in agreement?" asked Malakam.
"Your plan is bold, sneaky, well-planned out and there is a high chance that many people will die," said Mandalore, "you will have the full support of my clan, High Master."
"You will also have the support of my clan as well," said Zarayvia.
Malakam smiled.
"Then we welcome the two of you to the Knights of Revan," he said, "together, we're going to make the galaxy a better place."
Malakam turned to Ersanan.
"You've done well, my friend," he said.
"It wasn't just me, High Master," Ersanan said as he stepped to the right and pointed to Kayla, Vaukel, and Daralec, "those three were of a great help with the mission. Especially Kayla and… I apologize, who did you say you were again, son?"
"…Vaukel. Vaukel Savvare," said Vaukel, "knight of the Jedi-"
Vaukel stopped himself.
"…Knight of the fallen Jedi Order," he corrected himself.
"A Jedi Knight…? Who was your master?" asked Malakam.
Vaukel pointed to Kayla.
"Her father," he said.
All eyes fell on Kayla as she had a shocked look on her face.
"Is that true Kayla?" asked Malakam.
"So, you do know this Jedi?" asked Ersanan.
Kayla groaned and facepalmed.
"Okay, okay! I did know him-I do know him… Like… We didn't just fight he… Apparently, he's my step-brother," said Kayla.
The adults looked at each other. Daralec winced and looked away.
"…We shall discuss this… Later," said Malakam.
The Revanite High Master turned to Ersanan.
"Ersanan, I'm sending three assault transports to your location, they'll be out of range of the empire's sensors on the planet," said Malakam, "once they arrive, they'll send a cryptic signal to let you know to bring our new allies aboard."
"ETA?" asked Ersanan.
"Twenty-four hours. But forty-eight at the most," said Malakam.
"Understood," said Ersanan.
Malakam ended the call.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think a celebration is in order," Orthus said with a light chuckle.
"You kids are free to celebrate," said Zarayvia, "Mandalore and I must gather all of our supplies, ships, and remaining warriors before the Revanites come to pick us up."
"Indeed," said Ersanan, "and I wish to speak with you Kayla. You and your… Step-brother."
"Aw crap," she muttered as she hung her head.
/\/\/\/\/\
Location: Coruscant
She sat with her legs crossed in her bedroom, the young woman had her eyes closed and her head lowered as she was in deep meditation; and laying on the floor in front of the young woman was a disc saber. Her disc saber.
No sound was heard inside of the young woman's room, all that could be heard was the sound of the air conditioner running. Just then, there was a noise coming from her door. The young woman waved her hand and unlocked her door, letting a Purge Trooper walk inside.
"Inquisitor Ashrac," he said, "Keniala and Eleventh Brother have failed to check in."
The red-haired inquisitor opened her piercing yellow eyes.
"You have been ordered to go to Mandalore," said the Purge Trooper.
"…Let's not waste time," she said.
Author's note: It's almost time for the ultimate lightsaber duel