Chapter 5 – End Game
Fountain Palace – Chume'dan, Hapes
Through a crack in the door, Jacen saw that Tenel Ka was indeed sticking with her usual Tuesday routine. For a few moments, he simply observed as she punched a speed bag. Even one-handed, she was fast enough to make the bag sound like a repeating blaster, the rattatta-rattatta reverberating around the small gym. A fresh wave of depression washed over him and Jacen found himself fighting back tears as he watched the copper-haired queen get even faster on the bag. Briefly, he considered backing out of his plan and returning to Coruscant—maybe he could find a different solution to what needed to be done. No, it has to be her. Intellectually, he knew that she was the only one who would understand what he was trying to achieve; she alone would understand that this sacrifice was for the greater good—he could only hope that Allana would understand in time.
Wiping his eyes, Jacen visibly stiffened and reached out cautiously through their Force link, a link that he could never break. As he lightly brushed her mind, Jacen almost recoiled at her frustration and anger—both directed at him, and had to physically fight the urge to rush in and give her a reassuring embrace; to tell her that he loved her and that everything would be okay. For the second time since he boarded the Olympic, it occurred to him that only now did he find his humanity again: only at the end did he fully realize just how much he loved Tenel Ka Djo. For almost two decades, she had been the one constant in his life, the one thing that he could count on. And how had he repaid her friendship and love? Pain—nothing but endless pain. Shamelessly, he allowed the tears to come. On some level, he was glad that he could not do this without feeling remorse; it felt right to know that this hurt. Unconsciously, Jacen had backed away from the door, as if preparing to leave the Palace. Grimacing, he took a deep breath, took a step forward and pushed open the gym door.
_(_)_
Whump. Over the sounds of the speed bag, Tenel Ka heard the door open and immediately tensed, knowing whom it was. Jacen. The Palace staff always announced themselves before entering, and it was much too early for either her father or Allana to be awake. Stopping the bag, she threw off her boxing glove and turned to face her friend. Time seemed to stop as Tenel Ka stared at Jacen. For the briefest of moments, upon seeing the face of a man who was not Jacen, Tenel Ka thought she was wrong—that this stranger was someone new to her staff. Jacen's Force presence gave him away, however, and his new look only increased her sense of foreboding. Seeing his look of determination, Tenel Ka called her lightsaber to her hand.
The last time he had visited, she could feel that something was amiss but could not bring herself to ask about it, telling herself that she would get better intelligence about the situation and then confront him. Apparently, she had missed her chance: this strange man standing before her had destroyed the Jacen she loved. Horrified, she immediately grasped that this imposter could only be here for one of two reasons: either to convince her to join him, or to steal her daughter (not their daughter—this man was not Jacen.)
Tenel Ka found the first option repulsive and the second was beyond comprehension. Her heart breaking, she ignited her turquoise blade and launched herself at this facsimile of her best friend, swinging viciously at his left arm.
Surprised, Jacen managed to get his green blade ignited, raising itto block her blow-he had forgotten just how ridiculously fast Tenel Ka was. Growling at his block, his best friend leaned forward into his blade and swung the stump of her left arm, catching him across the face. Pirouetting, she kicked out with her left leg, catching Jacen in the sternum, launching him back a meter and crashing him against the door.
Wincing, Jacen slumped slightly against the door—he had heard the distinct 'pop' from his rib cage when she kicked him, and he realized that had definitely forgotten how fast his Dathomiri friend really could be. With her spin kick, Tenel Ka had seized the initiative, and she quickly stepped forward to press her advantage. After three quick parries, they found themselves once again leaning into each other's blades, Jacen's back against the door. Needing more space to defend himself, more space to maneuver, he pushed out with the Force, earning a frustrated snarl from Tenel Ka as she skidded three meters into the center of the room.
Holding his sabre in a one-handed en garde position, Jacen allowed a small smirk as he slowly moved to his right, circling his friend. Carefully, hoping that she would be too preoccupied to notice, he again reached out through their Force-link and sent her even more strength and fed her fury. Jacen had to be careful, his plan relied on her not being able to see his real goal until it was too late.
Glaring at this impostor circling her like a predator, the red-haired Queen became incensed when she saw his smirk. Using that anger, she launched herself at him, feinting another blow at his left arm before countering with a complex attack of three moves, the last of which Jacen could not quite get out of the way, earning a cut across his right arm. Tenel Ka's anger towards Master Skywalker and his ridiculous ultimatum inspired another complex four-stroke riposte that raked Jacen across the abdomen, drawing more blood. Long pent-up anger at her dead grandmother resulted in a two-pronged attack and another spin kick that Jacen did not see coming. Hearing another of his ribs crack, the Queen mother felt giddy.
Now, it was her turn to smirk as she continued to land kicks, blows with her left arm, and even a head-butt, all while assaulting him with her lightsaber. Combat skills that she thought dormant jumped to the fore as she wailed away on her former friend, Jacen barely able to keep up with her onslaught. Tenel Ka's frustration and anger at his actions over the last few months made her want to inflict as much bodily harm to him as she could and she became a torrent of parries, thrusts, and kicks.
This is for trying to make me laugh. Jacen was not quite quick enough to leap back from a well-disguised parry that gashed his left thigh. This is for allowing me to kiss you. Again, Jacen was a shade late to react,resulting in another gash on the left arm, this time on his bicep. For falling at Cloud City. Tenel Ka fired off another three-stroke attack that Jacen managed to anticipate, but failed to recognize it as a feint, receiving a knee to the groin from which he only partially twisted away. Hearing his grunt of obvious pain, Tenel Ka felt ecstatic.
For getting captured. She used his block as a pivot and smashed the pommel of her lightsaber into his left cheek, feeling the bone give way. For leaving me alone on this stupid planet. Tenel Ka attacked low to his right hip and again used his block as a pivot, crashing her sabre-handle into his left hand, cackling haughtily at the sound of breaking phalanges.
Screaming like a banshee, the Queen Mother launched a final crescendo of speed and violence. This is for chopping off my arm. Hiding behind a vicious smirk, her grey eyes burning with raw power, she launched a five-stroke attack. With a flick of her wrist, Jacen's lightsaber flew across the room, half of his hand still attached, shutting down with a hiss-snap and landing with a sickening 'thump' against the far wall. Spinning her lightsaber like a baton, she looked into his face and made a final swing. And this is for letting me fall in love with you.
_(_)_
Growing up, Jacen had heard stories about the fighting ability of Dathomiri women from his uncle, but he had just assumed it to be hyperbole. Now, seeing Tenel Ka in full battle mode for the first time, he had to admit that she was scary. Back when he taught lightsaber classes at the Jedi Academy, students always asked who he thought the best swordsman of the Order: Jacen would smile and say diplomatically that Luke Skywalker was the best since Windu. Apparently, he had lied to his students; the Hapan Queen Mother was far and away the best swordsman he had ever faced.
Jacen had long prided himself on being able to tolerate more pain than anyone else alive, but nothing had prepared him for the type of pain he now felt. Through his link with Tenel Ka, he saw the images she used to fuel her anger. The memory of her 'surprised now?' kiss on Yavin, the memory of her rushing eagerly toward him when he had returned to Cloud City; these were two of his most favorite memories, and she was using them as a weapon. The woman he had loved since he was thirteen hated him. Worn down from all of the cuts and broken bones, from the incredible speed of her attacks, and from the certainty that he no longer meant anything to her, Jacen could no longer keep up with her onslaught. With a flash of pain, he saw half of his right hand fly against the wall, his fate sealed. Bravely, unashamed to be overcome by grief, he looked into her eyes one final time and tilted his head away from her oncoming blade.
Tenel Ka stopped her swing centimeters from Jacen's neck, noticing for the first time since their encounter began that his eyes were…brown. Not that sickly yellowish-brown that they had been the last few times he had visited, but brown…her brown. For a long moment she lost herself in her favorite color, the only sound being the hum of her lightsaber.
Tilting his neck closer to the blade, he hid a grimace as his skin started to blister.
"Do it." He whispered and saw the shock in her granite eyes at what had just transpired and realized he was out of time; if she did not act now, she never would. He again moved fractionally closer to the turquoise blade, pain ripping down his being. "Please."
Tenel Ka continued to stare into his eyes, the full impact of what she had done to her friend becoming apparent. He was bleeding from several cuts on his face, his nose broken, and his left eye was swollen shut. Additionally, he was clearly favoring his right leg, his left hand was almost twice the size of normal, and his right hand ended with a cauterized stump. Horrified at her actions, she closed down her lightsaber, hooking it to her stretch pants.
"No." she replied quietly, "I have taken your part of your hand; that is enough."
Reaching out cautiously through their link, she let out a small gasp when she felt how much pain he was in; physical pain, yes, but mostly emotional pain. Anguish that he had hurt her, anguish that he had let her down, and the intense heartache that could only come from love. Understanding dawned on her face as she realized what he had been doing. He wanted her to hurt him; he needed her to hurt him. He was the reason that she had felt invincible. He had fed her frustration, turned it into a blinding rage, and she had welcomed it. She relished the feeling of power that it had given her and was afraid of what it meant.
As her eyes searching his, she whispered, "Why, Jacen?"
His eyes fell as he answered quietly, "I deserved it." Plan A had failed, but he knew that it only had a limited chance at success; Tenel Ka was much too forgiving. Time for Plan B. As he felt her reach out with the Force, he flooded their link with memories: Memories of what had happened on that asteroid near Bimmiel, images of what he had done while flying with his sister, the memory what had happened while he was interrogating Mirta. He showed her the vision of Luke that he had seen before he killed Nelani; he showed her the vision of someone, probably himself, whispering 'Mine!' the last time he came to Hapes; he showed her visions of a dark man sitting on a throne.
She tried to withdraw, but he literally grabbed her Force presence and showed visions of the galaxy burning, of chaos, of Allana joining the Sith. Showing her his 'Plans Bravo, Charlie, and Delta', he let her know what he was doing in her Palace at this early hour. For the good of the galaxy and the safety of Allana, Jacen Solo had to die.
Finally, he let her go, adding in a flat, emotionless voice, "This is what I see. This is what I've become."