Last time: Kyr, Viran, Op, Cien, and the 3 loyal Sith Troopers stormed the ship to save Sasha.
Now: The climatic battle in the Throne Room.
Chapter 8- The Sacrifice
Viran followed closely behind Cien as they rounded another corner, the others on their heels. They came to a halt before a lift. He looked to Cien.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Viran asked.
"Yes." She said. "I used to live here, remember?"
"I just wanted to be-" He was cut off when the lift doors opened and a squad of troopers appeared on the other side. Viran and Cien charged forward and cleared out the lift on their own while the others provided cover. Once the lift was cleared, Cien used the Force and sent the bodies out.
Cien looked over at Viran. "She's in the throne room, that's where we're going." She said, stepping into the turbolift and waiting for the rest of the party to file in.
"Alright then keep leading the way," Viran said with a nod as he climbed in the lift with the others. After a moment, he looked at her. "You can sense her too right?" He asked her in a whisper.
"Yes." Cien stated, not meeting his eye. She pressed the key to bring them to the throne room.
Viran frowned at that and turned his gaze away. He could sense his wife and the pain she was in. Clenching his hand around his saber, Viran kept his anger in check for the moment.
"She has hope, too." Cien said quietly.
Viran nodded. "I know. I can sense that too."
The doors opened, and two full squads of troopers had their rifles up and ready. "Hands up!" The lead officer shouted.
Cien glanced at Viran. He met her gaze and gave her a nod.
As one they raised their hands and sent the troopers flying back as they swept forward, their sabers cutting through the troopers as behind them Oppie came forward, and Kyr poured out with the Sith troopers.
"Tac's in place." Kyr informed them, as he swept around a corner and shot at another group of troopers that were trying to flank them.
"The throne room is just down this corridor." Cien yelled as she ran forward, sending a spray of lightning out at a group of troopers that were stacking up to try and cut them off.
Oppie bounded past them, moving on to the next hallway to clear the way.
Kyr pressed forward, stopping at Cien's shoulder as the group moved up. As the Sith troopers moved up, Cien took off at a sprint, and Kyr ran after her, bounding up with Viran to the door. Oppie was holding the next intersection, and Cien, Viran and Kyr ran past, stopping at the dead end of the corridor where the throne room entrance was.
Cien stopped, it had been years since she had last stood here, and the familiar wash of memories of being called before Dracul flooded through her. Kyr discreetly brushed her arm with his, as he kept his blaster up, aimed out at the oncoming troops that were trying to move up. Cien glanced up at him but otherwise didn't acknowledge the gesture. Oppie ran up, followed by Cien's troops.
"This is the throne room?" Oppie asked, turning back to face the sounds of rushing boots trying to corner them.
"Yes." Cien said. Without further thought, she stabbed her saber into the door as deep as the emitter would allow, and started forcing her blade through the thick durasteel panel, taking a great deal of satisfaction in destroying the accursed door that had haunted her memories and nightmares.
Beside her, Viran and Oppie stepped through to help, the door was made of thick durasteel, and cutting through would take time. The two blue blades sliced in as well, and they cut a hole big enough to get through after a moment of driving their blades through. The three of them used the Force to shove the fragment of the door out, and rushed through.
"We'll cover you guys." The Sith trooper told Kyr.
"Thanks, cap." He said, as he ducked through the hole behind the Jedi.
Viran, Cien and Oppie stepped through, and into the obsidian room. The throne, a fair distance away, where Ikari was lounging, an officer at her side and Sasha, laying at the foot of the throne. There were two dozen troopers, two squads, arrayed on either side of the throne. Sasha looked up when they entered, a look of hope appearing on her face.
Cien sniffed at an odd odor in the air, and suddenly realized. She looked at Viran and Oppie next to her. "They dosed the room with a Force suppressant drug."
Viran cursed as he felt the Force slip away, but he didn't tear his gaze away from Sasha. She looked so pale and injured as she laid before the Sith acolyte. Their eyes met and a spark of hope flowed through him and as he stared, his eyes did drift for a moment to her midsection and he could faintly make out the bump forming. He then met her eyes again.
The four of them stalked forward, Viran and Oppie already feeling the effects of the Force suppressant but undeterred, their lightsabers at the ready, and Kyr had his rifle up and aimed. Ikari's troops had not fired, and they approached cautiously, not wanting to start a firefight with Sasha in the middle of it if at all possible.
Cien spoke first, as they crossed the distance to the throne. "Let Sasha go. You can have the Empire." She growled.
"Do you really think I'm just going to hand her over to you?" Ikari asked as she straightened up on the throne. She chuckled under breath. "Not a chance. I still have plans for the child she is carrying."
Viran snarled at her. "Release her now! We will not let you have either of them," he said in a demanding tone.
"You must be the father to the child," Ikari guessed. "Interesting. You were not what I was expecting. But like I told the former Empress, I'm not giving her up to you. If you want her back, just wait until the child is born then I shall return her to you," she then smirked at him. "In a body bag."
Viran shook with rage at that comment.
"How do you think this ends for you, Ikari?" Cien growled. "You should have taken your chance while you had it."
"Hm, let's see," Ikari thought out loud, her tone almost mocking. "I take control of the Unknown Regions, you and your 'friends' die at my hands, and I get the child to raise as my own acolyte. So from where I am sitting, I hold all the cards. You are not a threat to me. Not anymore."
Cien looked at the Sith guards arrayed around the throne room. "And is this what you want? To serve another monster, like Dracul?" She spat out.
"Dracul was not a monster," Mendax growled. "He was a fearsome and powerful ruler. You were nothing more than a weak link, just like Varden."
"To serve someone who is such an idiot that he doesn't think Dracul was a monster?" Cien continued, ignoring the traitorous general and still casting her gaze at the troopers in the room.
"They won't listen to you," Mendax added. "They never did. They are loyal to those who are not weak. To those with power like Empress Ikari and the late Lord Dracul. If you think you can sway their minds, then you are a fool." He raised his hand. The troopers raised their blasters. "And on my mark, they can execute you where you stand."
"So what will you do, Cien? Try to sway them to gain more allies or fall by our hands as Varden did all those years ago?" Ikari commented as she watched the scene play out with amusement.
Cien's full attention turned back to Ikari at that last comment, as she stared murderously at her soon to be dead Acolyte. "What?" She growled as she took a step forward.
"You really thought that pathetic excuse for a rebellion killed him?" Ikari asked before laughing like a mad man. "Please. We were the ones who did it. Actually to be more accurate, I came up with the plan and Mendax beautifully executed it." She placed a hand on his arm in almost an affection sort of way.
Kyr snorted at that. "Oh get a room, cupcake." Oppie turned and stared at him.
Ikari and Mendax shot him a glare at that. Mendax's hand produced his blaster from his belt and pointed it at Sasha's head.
"Call her that again and I'll end the Jedi's life here and now," Mendax threatened.
Sasha tensed up as she felt the blaster against the back of her head. She glanced behind her at Mendax then looked back at Viran, who she had been keeping eye contact with the whole time. He frowned at her, but still gave her this look that all would be okay.
Ikari snarled at Mendax as she stood from the throne. "We need the child alive. We don't need to kill her yet," she chastised him as he lowered the blaster before a smirk came to her lips. "But I wonder how they might react to a little… torture." Ikari then reached over and gripped Sasha's burned shoulder, digging her nails into it.
Sasha released a pained gasp as she felt skin break and blood drip out slowly.
Cien's hand shot up and she gripped Ikari by the throat, and slammed her back into the throne. Ikari flew back and smacked into the throne with a grunt. She slumped over in the seat for a moment before glaring up at Cien.
"Take them down!" Ikari ordered as she produced her own lightsaber.
The troopers opened fire on the Jedi, Kyr fell to a kneeling position and started firing back, while Viran and Oppie, diminished by the Force suppressant though they were, still had a strong enough hold as it took its time to affect them that they could deflect the blasters and try to push forward, toward Sasha. Cien swept her hand and sent a handful of the troopers flying back, and also stepped forward, trying to make her way to Sasha.
Ikari turned to Mendax as she grabbed Sasha by the arm and pulled her from the floor. "You handle these fools. I'm taking the girl."
Mendax nodded as he raised his blaster, preparing to join the fray. Ikari dragged Sasha along the outside edge of the battle, away from the Jedi and Cien who were trying to get to her. Due to Ikari's shorter stature, Sasha was struggling to keep her footing as her legs were still wobbling underneath her. But unlike when Mendax dragged her into the throne room, Sasha actually attempted to break Ikari's grip as they moved along towards the exit, but to no avail. Her grip was ironclad.
Cien ran for Ikari, and slammed her with a Force push, trying to separate her from Sasha. Ikari went flying, and slid across the polished obsidian floor, and Sasha collapsed to her knees. Cien started running, trying to get to Sasha. Ikari sat up with an annoyed groan as she looked towards Cien. The former Empress was closer to the Jedi than she was. But Ikari knew that Cien and the others would not win this day, and the mother would soon be back in her grasp. So for now, Ikari scrambled to her feet using this as a momentary distraction and ran for the exit while the chaos of the battle continued.
Meanwhile, Viran fought alongside Oppie as they dealt with the troopers. He had noticed Ikari taking off with Sasha and was trying to push through the troopers to get to her with a bit of difficulty as they were putting up quite the fight. However, he could care less about these troopers. His goal was to make his way to Sasha even though it was taking him a little longer to do so than Cien, who he had noticed was the one to save her from Ikari.
Kyr was standing beside Oppie who was deflecting blaster bolts coming to them while Kyr picked off the troopers with quick, precise fire, shifting aim between his targets. All the while they were moving to where Sasha was.
Mendax watched the scene with a scowl on his face. His men were being picked off like they were nothing but simple minded droids. He had about enough of this. Looking across the room, Mendax noticed the Jedi girl on her knees within range of him and his blaster. He knew that these fools wouldn't give up the fight unless he did something drastic. Something he knew that Ikari would be mad at him for, but he could always blame it on the former Empress. A villainous smile came to his lips as he raised his blaster and pointed it directly at Sasha's head.
"This ends now," he said under his breath before pulling the trigger and sending a burst of three blaster shots at the girl.
Cien's senses reacted to Mendax's shot, his blaster leveled at Sasha and the bolts came flying out. She rushed forward, and deflected the first two with her saber, but missed the third as it just barely grazed past her lightsaber blade. It hit Cien rather than Sasha and she fell backwards, sliding to a stop on the smoothed floor.
Sasha, who had been watching the fighting from the floor, looked up when Cien protected her from Mendax. But when that third shot hit and she watched Cien fall, she felt her chest tighten in that moment.
"CIEN!" She screamed, her voice breaking a little as she scrambled forward in an awkward way to her fallen friends side.
As Sasha screamed, Kyr's head shot over to see what had happened. He saw Cien laying on the floor, and turned his gaze to Mendax.
He threw his left arm up, sending his grappling hook at the blaster in the general's hand, the claws shooting out, embedding themselves in his palm and crushing the blaster in his grip, and Mendax grunted in pain, and Kyr retracted the line and he came flying back as Kyr reeled him in. As he came within Kyr's reach, Kyr punched him in the face, once, twice, a third time as the general collapsed to the floor, his face a bloody mess. Kyr kept punching him, until he was no longer recognizable, and then unsheathed his knife, and cut him across the throat so deeply he nearly beheaded him.
Kyr looked up at the troopers that remained alive. "Any of you want to be heroes?" he growled in a voice dripping with menace.
As a unit the survivors threw their weapons down, and tried to figure out a way to get to the door.
Kyr didn't care, he ran to Cien's side, skidding to a kneeling position next to her. "No," he whispered, "no, no."
Cien was laying on her back, the shot she had taken to her chest, just above her heart, it was a horrible wound, a burnt hole across her lungs and windpipe, she was gasping for air, and looking between Sasha and Kyr.
She looked at Sasha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything, Sasha heard projected into her mind.
Sasha, who was on the other side of Cien, looked down at her as tears fell down her cheeks. She could hear Cien's voice fill her head. Reaching out with her left hand, as her hands were still bound together, Sasha took Cien's into hers.
"Please don't apologize," Sasha begged, her voice shaking with emotion. "I forgive you. I already forgave you. Please, hang on. Save your strength. It'll be okay. You'll be okay."
As Kyr knelt at her side she lifted her hand up to his helmet, trying to reach for him. He moved to grasp her hand, and he realized his gloves were still covered in the blood of her murderer. He tore his right glove off and he reached for her without thinking, and her hand shot over to take hold of his.
There was a flash of darkness, and Kyr found himself back at Haven. In the dining room, as light from the twin moons streamed in from the night, and the stars glistened in the sky like a million jewels, far brighter and more glorious than they ever looked in reality. The lights were out, and the moonlight bathed the room in shades of dark blues. He was next to the chair he had been leaning on when he had spoken to Cien that night.
He looked around in surprise, trying to understand what happened, how he had been transported here. He remembered Cien taking hold of his hand as he looked at her, gasping for breath around the horrifying wound she had received. He looked through his visor around the scene, trying to understand where he was, how he got there. He looked down and he saw two half eaten cookies laying together on the table, and that only added to his confusion.
He heard soft footsteps, and he looked to the entrance to the room, and took a step back in shock. Cien was walking to him, but not the Cien he knew. Her hair was loose in wavey sheets, not tied up, not held back, it curled down around her face and to the small of her back. And she was wearing a gown, not her usual tunic and robes, but a white gown made of layers of diaphanous smooth fabric that flowed with every movement. The way she caught the moonlight she looked like an angel, and he faltered seeing her. This was Cienestra before him, not the Cien he knew, and she was so beautiful that it made his heart ache.
"Take that buy'ce off." She softly commanded as she glided into the room towards him with apurpose, her gown flowing behind her.
He took another step back from her intensity. "What is-".
"Oh shut up Kyr." She said as she stalked forward. In one quick, smooth motion she used both hands and scooped his helmet off over his head before he could react, tossing it aside with a forgotten clatter on the table. She embraced him with an arm around his shoulders and the other around the back of his neck, her sleight weight pushing up against him so hard that he nearly fell backward, needing to take a half step back so they didn't tumble, and her lips pressed against his in a deeply passionate kiss.
After a split second of utter shock Kyr embraced her in return, wrapping his arm around the small of her back and cradling her head in his other hand as his fingers tangled in her hair. He closed his eyes, the only thing that mattered was her heart beating against his, and the feel of her lips against his. He lost track of time how long their kiss lasted.
She pulled away, resting her head against his shoulder, and he rested his cheek against her soft hair while they still embraced in the moonlight. They both held their eyes closed, trying to enjoy this moment.
Kyr felt tears coming to his eye, realizing this was an illusion, the mindspace that she and Sasha had talked about. That this was a last way to say goodbye before she had to go.
"It's okay." She said quietly.
"I'm sorry." He said, shaking. "I'm so sorry I left."
"It's okay Kyr." She said quietly. "I have something to ask of you." She whispered.
"Anything, cyar'ika." He whispered back, around tears. "Anything."
"Stay with me," she whispered as she pulled away slightly, so she could look in his eyes, her own edged with fear. "Stay with me until the others are away and safe, and stay with me until you need to go. Please don't leave me alone." She whispered, afraid.
"You will never be alone again." He whispered hoarsely. "I promise." The hollowness of that promise as she lay dying in that other place echoed in his mind, but he meant every word of it.
She smiled, a smile that shone in her eyes, a smile he never thought to see from her, a smile that was without any caution, or tainted with shadows of the past. Whatever darkness had always haunted her, whatever memories pained her washed away in this moment, as they embraced in this beautiful place she had brought them both to. She hugged him tighter, so tight he wasn't sure he could breath, as she rested her head against his shoulder again, and he hugged her tighter as well, rocking back and forth gently.
He lost track of time as they stood in their embrace. It felt like it was only a few heartbeats, but it also felt like an eternity. The light of the stars faded as they winked out one by one. The moons eclipsed and went dark. Around them the details of the house faded, until it was just the table with the two cookies and the few chairs around them. Finally those too faded out, until they held their embrace alone in the closing darkness, lit dimly by some unknown light from above. He closed his eyes against the inevitable, and hugged her tighter. And she did the same.
He slammed back into his body like he had been kicked, still aboard the Bloodstorm, Cien still gasping for air through damaged lungs and windpipe. He tore his buy'ce off and tossed it aside, and it clattered away, forgotten. He knelt in front of her, holding her hand, looking into her eyes as her gasps slowed. "I'm here cyar'ika. You are not alone." He whispered hoarsely.
Sasha had watched with shock at Kyr's reaction then remembered their conversation and her heart thudded painfully against her chest. Sasha turned her attention back to Cien.
She looked to Sasha, and then she stared at Kyr as she gave her last labored, quiet gasp, and then faded, her eyes closing as her body fell still.
"No, Cien," Sasha pleaded as she died. "NO! Cien! No…" Sasha dropped her head as sobs wracked her body.
Viran brought a hand to his mouth as he had moved to stand behind his wife and watched the scene before him. Tears threatened to escape his eyes as he realized what Cien had just done for Sasha.
Oppie came up behind Kyr, who was kneeling at her side still. He remembered his surprise at seeing him and Cien in the meadow, remembered back to what he had said about her in the cockpit and the depth of emotion behind his words, and what he had walked in on in the shuttle just an hour or so before. He didn't have any idea what to say.
The Sith troopers took this as their chance to get away, having seen what happened they didn't want to be here when the Mandalorian and the Jedi noticed them. They reported up the chain that Mendax had been killed, as had the former Empress, and they ran.
After Ikari had fled the throne room, she hustled to her fighter. She knew that Mendax could handle those weak fools who were trying to save their friend. She also knew that he would succeed in bringing her the girl to their second tier Star Destroyer. And once she knew he was clear with their prisoner, then she would give the order to blow the Bloodstorm to smithereens.
As she reached the hanger, her commlink buzzed. Mendax, she guessed. She grabbed the comm and answered the call.
"Do you have the girl, General?" Ikari asked, assuming it was him.
"My lady, I apologize, but General Mendax has been killed," a trooper said on the other end.
Ikari froze in place, her face unreadable as she took in that information. She stood silently for a moment before she climbed into her fighter. Mendax was dead… A man that she loved was dead. And he was killed by her enemy. Guess he really was a weak link to her, she mused as she took a seat in the cockpit of her fighter.
"His loss will not be in vain," Ikari said flatly as if she was not just told her beloved was murdered by her enemy. "Abandon ship and leave the girl. She is a lost cause now. And so is the Bloodstorm."
"Yes, my lady," the trooper said, but he didn't hang up the call.
"Is there more?" she asked, irritated.
"Before the General died, he killed the former Empress," the trooper informed her.
A dark smile appeared on her face. So maybe he was good for something. "Excellent news." She said then hung up the commlink by crushing it with the Force.
Ikari then tossed the broken commlink behind her and started up her fighter. She left the hangar of the Bloodstorm and flew away, towards another of her Star Destroyers. As she flew away, she activated the commline to all Star Destroyers in range.
"All ships, open fire on the Bloodstorm. It has been taken over by traitors and intruders. Blow them into oblivion," she ordered. "And prepare for my arrival."
She hung up the commline and flew away as the Star Destroyers opened fire.
Poor Cien… Poor Kyr… Review...