Chapter 43
One month after the Fall of Valor, as the events on Carida were named…
As Leia Kenobi raced on a speeder bike through the crowded streets of Jedha, she was annoyed to find herself losing ground. Leia was taking special care to avoid any pedestrians that happened to be in the way, and it was significantly slowing her down, as her pursuers didn't seem to bother themselves with the concern. Looking back over her shoulder, Leia saw another innocent bystander get slammed into by the Imperial troop transport tailing her at high speeds. The transport's shields immediately flickered to life and pushed the man off of the vehicle, lightly charring the man's front and leaving him lying motionless on the ground. Leia gritted her teeth, but forced herself to keep going, increasing her bike's speed. The Empire had much death and destruction to pay for, but she couldn't afford to directly engage them today. She was on a mission. While she distracted the Imperials, hopefully Obi-Wan was currently getting several dozen rebels to safety, easily unnoticed as they moved through the streets of Jedha which had been thrown into chaos by the dangerous chase that was successfully attracting every Imperial in the city. So far, this current transport was the only one that had managed to stick to her, but it was only a matter of time until they managed to contact reinforcements and trap her. She needed to get them off of her. Suddenly, she noticed that they were coming up on a set of steps leading into a temple of some sort, steps that the transport would have to go over… Leia smirked to herself and flew at full speed towards her target.
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Luke held on to a hook that dangled from the ceiling, gritting his teeth angrily. Several times now, he had fallen over inside the transport he was currently inside due to his inability to properly touch the floor. The stormtroopers inside the transport with him were no fools, they wouldn't dare to laugh at Lord Scion, but Luke could sense that they struggled to contain their mirth each time he stumbled, and it was driving his rage. Luckily though, he managed to rein in his anger with the assurance that whomever they were currently chasing had to be a Jedi to be giving them this kind of chase. Their reflexes had nearly thrown off his personal driver several times now, and Lord Scion employed one of the best pilots in the galaxy. Not to mention, it was a single speeder bike that had been evading the blasts from their turrets for over half an hour now. Not even Boba Fett could do that. It must be a Jedi. Unfortunately, despite a major increase in Jeid activity all across the galaxy, the Empire had so far been mostly unsuccessful at capturing them, even though it should've been easy, but it seemed that most remaining Jedi were skilled at disappearing by this point. Then, his spirits lifted again as he heard over the intercom from the Star Destroyer currently flying above them, "Lord Scion? This is Admiral March. We've received confirmation on your target's identity. They say it's Kenobi." Luke nearly slipped again simply from that revelation. Kenobi?
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Leia drove over the temple steps and quickly turned the bike sideways, bringing it to a stop, before she reached her hand out towards the Imperial transport and concentrated. Just as it hit the steps, Leia lifted up hard on the opposite side. With the sudden extra weight from nowhere, the transport's grav-lifts couldn't recalibrate before the other side crashed at full speed into the steps, and the whole thing crumpled under its own weight, flipping all the way over and landing on its top. Before Leia could admire her handiwork, however, she was distracted by a red lightsaber blade suddenly igniting through the bottom of the destroyed craft. Leia lifted an eyebrow, intrigued. She could sense the Force now emanating from the transport, specifically the Dark Side of the Force, but she could tell immediately that it wasn't Vader. Obi-Wan had told her long ago that she would be able to sense Vader's specific signature if he so much as entered the same city as her. This was most likely an Inquisitor, but Leia no longer feared them as she once had. Obi-Wan was positive that she could defeat one, and she trusted Obi-Wan. Over the years, Leia had worked hard to close herself off to the pain and death of her enemies, but still she sighed sadly as she pulled forth her own lightsaber.
Unfortunately, she was surprised by her enemy as they sent an unexpected attack. As soon as the lightsaber had cut a full circle in the bottom, now the top, of the transport, it was lifted forcefully into the air and sent flying and spinning at her at a high speed, the sharp edge aimed directly at her neck, and she just barely managed to dodge it with her enhanced reflexes, but she was quickly distracted once again as the side of the transport was suddenly ripped apart, metal tearing itself under an impossible amount of force as it bent and groaned from the strain before finally giving way. Then, Leia was only further surprised as some… boy came launching out of the new hole in the side of the transport, wielding the red lightsaber, looking younger than Leia herself was, as he was pale and thin, but he still had a sort of strength in his eyes, which seemed to flickered between blue and yellow in a kind of mesmerizing way. With a roar of rage, the boy jumped forward, and Leia had to quickly ignite her lightsaber to deflect his attack, which was surprisingly powerful.
Luckily, she managed to throw him away from her, and he skidded to a stop on his feet merely a few yards away from her, keeping his weapon in a defensive position. Clearly, he had been trained, but Leia couldn't quite process that such a young child could be brainwashed into serving the Empire like this, putting his life on the line for the Sith, and she was disgusted to think that it was her biological father that had done such a thing, yet Leia also kept her weapon raised defensively. She didn't trust that this poor boy wouldn't try to attack her again. The boy narrowed his eyes at her and questioned somewhat hesitantly, "Kenobi?" Leia wasn't quite sure how he knew her but she raised her blade in Soresu stance and replied, "Pleasure to be recognized. Listen, I don't want to hurt you, kid, so how about…" Unfortunately, the boy suddenly cut her off, pointing the tip of his blade at her and yelling out, "Kenobi! You are the cause of my greatest pains! You killed my mother! You destroyed my father's body! Now, you will pay! For I am Lord Scion, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces, Son of Darkness, the future ruler of all the galaxy, and today, I am also the face of your doom!"
All Leia could think was something along the lines of, Wow. This kid sure has been indoctrinated. Also, talk about dramatic! Unfortunately, his threat wasn't enough to make her willing to kill an innocent child. But the boy wasn't done talking. "I must say, Jedi, I'm disappointed. I thought you would be taller. I certainly didn't expect you to appear to be some helpless little girl." Leia gritted her teeth. Okay, now he was pushing it. The number of times that Leia had been underestimated for being a little girl… but she still wasn't going to hurt him. He had been kidnapped and used as a weapon by the Empire. He deserved better than to die for them. Unfortunately, he was becoming annoyed by her refusal to engage him in banter, so he made the decision easier for her.
Lunging at Leia, the boy brought his lightsaber down in a swift arc of blazing red death, and Leia blocked it, but the boy then continued to rain down attacks on her relentlessly, and with each strike it became harder for her to defend. She was surprised to find that despite his seemingly thin form, he must be quite well built under his tunic. Speaking of, she had also noticed that his uniform was quite different from the Third Sister's. Whereas she had worn more armor, this boy wore very little protection, despite his obvious vulnerabilities. His armor was limited simply to shoulder guards that held his cape. Leia had never really been one for capes, but somehow this boy, this… Scion, had he called himself? Scion managed to pull off wearing a cape almost as well as Vader did. His fighting style was also surprisingly efficient. Even Obi-Wan rarely went this hard on her in training. His attacks were both quick and strong, and she recognized both skill and experience in him, but he couldn't break through her defenses. After all, she'd been trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Soon enough though, Scion's power began to overwhelm her defenses, and she knew that she had to stop him first. She had to go on the offense, but she still didn't want to hurt him too badly, so she simply knocked his blade aside and thrust out her hand, pushing him away with the Force. With a yell, the boy went flying, but he once again managed to land on his feet after an impressive show of acrobatic skill, flipping himself in the air to orient his body into an upright position. When he landed, he immediately took up a defensive stance and prepared for Leia to make the next move. Leia prepared herself to face him again, but suddenly her ears picked up a familiar sound on the edge of her hearing. TIE Fighters! Deactivating her lightsaber, Leia looked at the poor boy one last time before she ran off as quickly as she could. She'd have to save him some other day.