"Xahx." Jocasta hisses, halting. Behind her, she can feel the entire group freezing, the troopers that they've just rescued doing so in a way that reminds Jocasta of badly beaten tooka more than the brave people they are.
"Well well well, what's this?" A Dathomiri that can only be Ventress sings, her two lightsabers held out before her. "A little prison break? Come to try and rehome the mastiffs, Jedi?"
Wolffe stiffens in the Force, hard enough that Jocasta can feel it ringing through her. Imik comes up behind her, to the side, acting as another line of defence between the troopers and the Sith.
"I do beg your pardon, who are you again?" Jocasta asks lightly. Just because this woman has harmed her troopers does not mean that she needs to get angry with her. After all, she means little in the grand scheme of things, and she is unimportant to her as all she is is a barrier between her and leaving.
As expected, the Sith scowls, offended. "Did your little pets not tell you, Jedi, or are they sending you out without even the barest of knowledge now?"
"Oh, I don't need to be told what I don't care for." She shrugs, using the movement to conceal the way Imik steps closer, reaching out to her with the Force.
'Madame Jocasta.'
'Yes, I know, Imik.'
"Ahran." Wolffe warns.
"I am Asajj Ventress!" The Dathomiri snarls, lightsabers rising. "How dare you claim I am unimportant?"
"Because you are." She shrugs again.
'We need to get the troopers out.'
'I believe there was a back way through this corridor?'
"Ah, Dooku's little assassin!" She adds, in tones of great realisation. "Of course."
'That would leave you alone.'
'She's taught by Dooku. I can handle that.'
"So you have heard of me."
"Mostly because you're quite hopeless."
"Ahran-!"
Jocasta smirks, gesturing lightly with one arm. The motion of her cloak covers up her palming of Imik's lightsaber, and it's slipped away up her sleeve to sit in the carefully concealed holster there well before it could be noticed.
It's a risky move, because Imik's now without their lightsaber; however Imik also carries several other weapons including two very nice blasters, according to their mentioned mission equipment, and they'll have the remaining troopers to help them. They just need to get out, now.
Jocasta, meanwhile, has the hard part.
"How dare-"
"You're a Sith Acolyte, yes, certainly, but we've never heard of you before the war started." Jocasta points out, to cover the way Imik shuffles back. "And that means two things; either one, you're incredibly competent, or two, you're incredibly new. And in case you've forgotten, mission reports exist, as do people who can read between the lines. You're incredibly new, not particularly skilled in the ways of the Dark Side, and you're covering for that with bravado and the fact that your Master was once a well known Jedi Master before he went, kriffed off, Fell to the Dark Side like the yhua'ythun that he is, and is now running a war against the Republic because apparently running a planet wasn't all it was cracked up to be and now he's mad about it."
It is distinctly possible, Jocasta admits to herself, that she still has some pent up rage about Dooku that she needs to address.
Dealing with a Sith is not the time for that, however, as Ventress snarls again and lunges forward, both lightsabers out. Jocasta barely twitches, her own 'saber already in her hand and lighting as she predicts the move, catching both 'sabers on her own and forcing Ventress back with a flick of her wrist.
At the same time, Imik starts moving, weaving their way to the other side of the group and leading the charge down the other end of the hall. Jocasta approves; even if it turns out to be a dead end or something, they're at the very least putting as much space as possible between them and the Darksider hanging around.
"How dare-!"
"Will you please find some new material, I understand that you're offended but honestly, Dooku was much more eloquent than this and if he's failed to pass that down then I truly fear for the state of your other skills."
Ventress shrieks, slicing forward with both of her 'sabers again. Jocasta, again, catches them.
It's allegedly Makashi, using Jai'Kai instead of the single saber that is actually standard for that form as a duelling form. Jocasta says allegedly, because she grew up with Yan, and she knows how he fights. She watched it develop, from the day he decided he despised Ataru to the day the Battlemaster had finally acknowledged his skill. She sparred against him more times than she can count. It is, certainly, something that Dooku has passed on, with the way the movements come more from the wrist and the way it focuses more on the 'saber.
Jocasta has assisted Cin with Initiate demonstrations that were more graceful. Saying that this was an insult to Makashi users was like saying that Dagobah was a little wet, or that Tatooine was a bit of a nasty place. It just isn't capable of encompassing all of the facets that go into the true make up of the situation.
Jocasta is not impressed. She legitimately cannot believe that Yan Dooku has taught this woman. It's impossible, it simply does not compute with the rest of the Galaxy. There is not a single chance that he actually taught Ventress Makashi, because if he did, then clearly Falling did far worse to him than make him find amusement in suffering.
It's made him incompetent.
She is fighting a Jai'Kar Makashi user, this should be incredibly dangerous, and yet she is fending it off with single 'saber Shien.
The longer that she just stands there, deflecting every hit with the sort of bored patience that she'd usually use when a youngling is throwing a strop over not being able to eat in the Archives, the more angry Ventress seems to get. Her form shifts; no longer the faint-and-elegant wrist movements, and instead is more about overwhelmingly straightforward motions that seem to be trying to hammer her own 'saber through her.
"Oh, that's the issue." She says aloud, genuinely amused. "Juyo."
"Take this seriously!" Ventress snaps, hammering down again. Jocasta sighs, flicking Imik's lightsaber from her sleeve.
"Very well, I can do that." She ignites the green saber and slashes out, catching the blades and throwing them to one side again.
The problem with Juyo users, she contemplates as she steps back, still holding strong with Shien, is that their entire tactic is overwhelming force. Which is all well and good, really, but it's such a double-edged sword that Jocasta can't help but sigh. Certainly, overwhelming force can be good, pressing your opponent to exhaust themselves trying to defend against you. But all that you're going to do in the end is exhaust yourself as well, and if you tire faster than your opponent you're utterly kriffed.
Which is why Juyo is usually used by Darksiders. They can draw on the Darkness in combat more easily than Jedi can draw on the Light, which lets them augment their blows with the Force so that they can continue fighting without tiring.
Unfortunately, this doesn't help as much as it could when the Darksider in question is also utterly incompetent and cannot actually duel well.
With Makashi, Jocasta has some fairly limited options. She can either counter with Makashi, which is known for being the optimal way to duel against it because it's evenly matched by being made for lightsaber combat, or she can pull out the somewhat modified Djem So form that she once adjusted specifically to kriff with Yan when he was learning Makashi, because Djem So is also made more for duelling and thus counters it well. It just also counters it better when slightly mixed with pieces of Shien and Shii-Cho.
Yan had hated it.
Juyo, though? Literally the only way she could kark up against Juyo was with Niman, and that's because that form isn't actually a proper combat form. That was made for people who like to sit around all day at diplomatic functions and don't want to learn combat. It's half formed. Much like Juyo. Try literally anything with actual skill and tactics against Juyo and they'll find themselves falling over themselves to figure out something, anything to counter it and eventually probably just fall back on a different form again.
She knows this because that's exactly how Cin reacts every single time he tries to spar with Juyo. If it wasn't for the fact that then-Knight Kenobi had proven the continued survival of the Sith, she's pretty sure he would've finally thrown in the towel and stopped practising it ten years ago as anything other than a curiosity.
Certainly, perhaps Ventress would wield it better, being a Darksider and not having to rely so much on stubborn determination to keep going with the form.
Jocasta continues to duel with Shien for the next thirty seconds or so and decides that no, actually, she is not going to wield it better than Cin. Disappointing. She would've liked a real challenge to potentially learn more about the form from.
Honestly, the best part about all of this is that it's doing exactly what Jocasta had intended by staying behind to duel Ventress. It's covering Imik's escape, allowing them to get the injured troopers out, as well as keeping Ventress from causing any trouble for the other two teams as they try to extract themselves from the base. It is the sole bright spot in the dreadful, dreadful knowledge that her once-and-former brother has become a total failure of a teacher. The only other thing Jocasta is getting out of this fight is a feeling of depression.
She allows another minute to pass, just fighting with Shien and deflecting the Juyo blows away, allowing Ventress to become steadily more agitated and summarily ignoring her furious ranting because she truly does not care what this foolish young woman has to say, and then promptly steps back and allows the next attempted blow to overbalance her before striking out along her shoulder.
It's not deep enough to take the arm off. It's not really even deep enough to be troublesome, assuming that she treats it in time and is careful with the scar tissue. It is, however, an exact mimicry of the knife cut that Ventress has left along Inci's shoulder.
An argument could be made, Jocasta supposes, as Ventress screams, that she should have taken the arm off. It would make the Sith less of a threat.
It would also likely ruin her life, or get her killed because Dooku didn't believe she was worth it to train any more and cast her out. It would make her all the more vengeful against the Jedi, and she would likely fall further and further into Darkness for however long she lived. She would cause suffering, perhaps not as much as she would cause as a Sith Acolyte, not as widespread, but still dangerous.
She could live, and become more dangerous. She could die, and no longer be a problem. She could live, and become less dangerous. She could live, and come back to the Light.
The Force is silent in her heart.
She could, perhaps, be a final warning to Dooku, though it is unfair. Unfair to Ventress, to be nothing more than a message. Unfair to Dooku, to remind him what he's lost. Unfair to every one of the thirty thousand troopers who died when the Triumphant and her two sister ships went down to the Malevolence and Dooku's own commands.
Revenge is not the Jedi way.
Jocasta is a Jedi Shadow. She has done worse.
Jocasta is still a Jedi. She is that above all else.
"That is for foh paqor." She says, though she knows she isn't understood, as Ventress scrambles backwards with fear in her eyes. "That is for my children. Rethink this path, Asajj Ventress student of Yan Dooku. You are not so far Fallen that you could not return to the Light. You will never be a Jedi," she admits, inclining her head. "Not a Light Jedi, anyway. But there are other paths than the Dark, Ventress, and you could find one of those and climb back out. This is my only mercy and warning to you."
The Dathomiri woman- girl, really, she's so young. Jocasta had been right, before, to think that she was barely old enough for a Knighthood. Looking at her now, clutching her shoulder and summoning her lightsabers back to her with fear bright in her eyes, she barely looks like she's old enough to be a senior Padawan. This Sith Acolyte is a girl, and for a moment, Jocasta can hardly breathe over the unfairness of it.
For a moment, all she sees is young Komari, barred from her Trials because she was too aggressive and she loved her Master wrongly, running away and dying on a far-away moon because she felt betrayed and afraid and no-one had offered her help.
It is unfair to compare Ventress to Komari. They are different people. They have lived different lives. But Jocasta had stepped wrongly then, ignoring her heart in favour of her duty- or, more truly, not recognising that her heart was telling her her duty. She will not do so here.
"You will regret this." Ventress hisses, lightsabers clipped to her belt and hand pressed to her shoulder. She turns and flees, then, running for the door she entered through like she's uncertain if she'll be stabbed in the back.
Perhaps she should be. Jocasta has plenty of knives on her, she always does, and the Force lends strength to her throws that mean she can make impossible distances.
Jocasta powers down her own 'sabers, clipping Imik's to her belt and disappearing hers up her sleeve, in case she needs it again in a hurry.
"I hope that I will not." She says, to empty air.
The Darkness, the xari, around her shifts.
Jocasta turns and goes home.
Jocasta Nu and the Single Fuck Given. It's not being given to Ventress, though.
And yes, a two minute or so fight is very short! This is because Jocasta is currently running on the idea of 'if I outclass her hard enough I'll either kill her or she'll run.'
Also it's distinctly possible that Jocasta has a lot more pent up anger about Dooku than she thought, yes. Unfortunately for Ventress she's presented herself as a good target. Which isn't very Jedi-like of Jo but honestly, she's only human.
Writer's Commentary~;
Ok so.
I had plans for this chapter. My notes were literally 'Jo performs the Wonderful Salt, mocks the shit out of Ventress while being The Big Calm, and basically insults the hell out of her, Dooku, and her lightsaber skills.'
As you can see, this did not exactly happen.
And one fun thing about this chapter is that I wasn't actually sure if Ventress was going to get out of this alive. For the majority of this fic, I wasn't sure. I wrote my plan assuming that she would, but I had absolutely no clue if that would happen or if Jo would just straight up kill Ventress during her duel with her. I had no plans for how I would deal with the future if that latter thing happened, but hey, I figured I could sort it out.
Plus like. Even if Jo didn't kill her for what she's done here, there was always the chance that Plo would somehow find his way into this confrontation or the aftermath, and then he'd possibly kill her.
Also originally, this fight ended with Ventress fleeing like a coward (assuming she survived) and Jocasta throwing a bunch of knives at her, leaving her pretty harshly injured. This kinda got transmuted during the writing into the way Jocasta hurt Ventress before the end segment, but like. Jocasta has better morals and more capacity for kindness than I do, apparently.
About the only thing that did go to plan was the fact that Jo mocked the shit out of Ventress, Dooku, and her lightsaber skills. It just... all happened internally.
A running theme of this fic is that Jocasta likes to monologue and lecture. Not that I'll argue if this is the result, I kind of love it.
Honestly I could probably write an entire mini essay on some of the word choices and lines in this chapter- I kind of did, in truth, heavens bless my friend Kali for letting me ramble in her DMs when I finished this chapter and needed to shriek about it- but I'll keep that out of the notes for everyone's sake.
Dai Bendu
Xahx- fuck (said softly, but with meaning)
Ahran- parent
Yhau'ythun- idiot, dumbass (literally 'without a thought')
Foh paqor- my children
Xari- Darkness, as in Dark Side of the Force.