Uninvited Guests

Jassen awoke before everyone else. He looked out the window and saw that it was still dark but that didn't matter to him. He needed to do his stretching and his exercises in order to stay in tiptop shape. He wouldn't allow himself to get out of his daily routine since that would mean he was getting soft.

Jassen stripped off his shirt and was wearing just his pants while he did his routine. He started slow and then moved faster and faster until he was more or less just a blur of motion. Anyone watching would have been more than impressed by what they saw even if they had known that he was a Jedi. The problem was though that someone was watching. Someone with purple skin and long hair that deep down thought that she liked this Jassen very much.

Trance watched him move and couldn't help but admire him. His muscles were well sculpted and he was fast as well. Every movement was sure and precise and he was always moving. He seemed to her to be the perfect warrior. She smiled then and walked back into her room as quietly as she had come out. She didn't want to disturb him, and all that she had wanted was to just see him.

Jassen stopped after more than an hour of continuous exercise. He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his body and as he ran the towel over his throat he felt the familiar lump. The lump that he would have until the day that he died. He ran his fingers across it and to anyone who looked at his throat they couldn't have seen anything wrong with his throat. Jassen knew different though.

Attached to his larynx was a small metallic device that was a bit experimental, a voice translator. Luke Skywalker had asked him if he wanted to volunteer to have it put into him since at first Jassen was being trained to be a diplomat. Jassen of course had readily agreed not wanting to disappoint the most famous of Jedi's. Luke after all had saved the entire universe from the clutches of the vile emperor.

It had taken Jassen many months to fully adjust to having the small translator in his throat but eventually he had gotten to the point that he no longer even noticed it unless he actually hit it with something. Jassen smiled to himself and wondered if that little translator was the reason that he could talk to these people from another universe. He was certain that his language and theirs couldn't be the same and yet he understood them and could answer them as well.

He shrugged his shoulders and didn't really care though. He could talk to these people and that was all there was to it. If there was something special going on that he didn't know about then that was fine to. He would learn about it eventually. If he didn't then it couldn't be too important.

Jassen left the living room after he had put all the furniture back in place and decided that he should take his shower since everyone else would want to take one as well. He figured that he should get it out of the way. Trance and Beka would take their sweet time like any other woman that Jassen had met he was sure and so wanted to be done with his and ready whenever the rest of them were ready.

He felt better as he headed to take his shower. He always felt more alive than at any other time when he was either in battle or during his exercises. It was those times that he lost himself and just let his body and the force take over. It was an experience he wished that everyone could share but alas he knew that none could. He was special in that regard he had been told. Not many if anyone at all ever truly enjoyed battle, at least among the ranks of the Jedi. It was something that had always unnerved him just a little and it did now as he closed the door and started his shower.

* * * * *

Four hours later it was noon and the wedding was in just over an hour. They were all ready except for Jassen was still in his room. "What can be taking him so long. He was awake before any of us," Harper said.

"I don't know but we need to be heading. They wanted us there a little early," Beka said a bit nervously.

"Trance would you go check for us. We need to be heading," Dylan said and Trance nodded her head.

"I won't be long," Trance said over her shoulder as she headed to Jassen's room.

Jassen was in his room holding his lightsaber in his hand. He was trying to decide if he needed to take it or not. He sat it down on the bed and looked at the one that was already on the bed. There were two of them and he had found the one. He would never think about leaving the lightsaber that he had found. It was too unique in its design and color. There were no others like it at all.

"Should I take them both or not master Skywalker. I don't feel whole without them, yet I am going to a wedding and a reception. Weapons are not needed in such a place of joy," Jassen asked quietly of the air around him knowing that he would get no answer.

He heard a knock at his door then and knew without a doubt without the person saying a word that it was Trance. "Jassen are you ready? Is there something wrong," Trance asked with a hint of concern in her voice. She wondered if she might have missed something in her examination of him earlier. She hoped that she hadn't though because that would mean that she wasn't nearly as good of a doctor as she had hoped.

"No nothing is wrong," Jassen said as he picked up both lightsaber's and put them in his boots. One lightsaber in each boot hoping that he wouldn't anger anyone by taking the weapons. They were a part of him and he couldn't leave them behind anymore than he could his own arm.

He grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair in his room on his way to the door. He opened the door and thew on his jacket as he nearly bumped into Trance in his rush. "Well it is good to see that you are moving now slowpoke," Trance said with a smile on her face.

Jassen chuckled and said, "Don't worry I can move fast enough when I have to." He held his arm out for her and said, "Shall we Trance."

"Yes I believe we shall," she said as she interlocked arms with his. They headed down the stairs and were met at the bottom by the crew.

"Well now aren't they getting friendly," Rommie said with a smile.

"Yes well I think that we can all head out now," Dylan said as he led the way from the house. They had a wedding to get to and a reception after that. They all had their dates and so they were all set.

* * * * *

Trance was arm in arm with Jassen as they left the wedding and headed to the reception hall. The reception was to be held in the main hall of the palace. That was the most secure place and also the largest room in the palace. Everyone would be able to fit in there and there would be dancing as well as all other kinds of revelry.

The wedding had been close to two hours long with many different ceremonies observed by the priest. The divine priest Orlan, which Jassen had never heard of. This divine was something new to him. He didn't really want to learn about it all that bad. He wasn't very religious. He followed his Jedi teachings and his own code.

All the women had been impressed with the dress that the empress had worn. It had been of virgin white trimmed in lace with white fur at the throat. The bodice had been studded with white pearls and her hair had been done up in a crown. She had looked more beautiful than most any other women there had had.

The wedding had lasted a bit long though for most people. It was in the nature of people to want to move around and Jassen had found it a bit hard to sit still for that long. When he was in his X-Wing it was different since he was doing something while sitting there.

It was now time for the reception and that was where the rest of the Andromeda crew already were. Most of them had opted for cloths that wouldn't make them stand out. Dylan had worn one of his uniforms while Rommie had worn a gown of yellow, which had been a bit form fitting. Yellow was a color that had looked good on her Jassen had assured her. Tyr had worn his customary black cloths though they were tailored to fit in with high society folks. There were sleeves on his shirt though they only came down to mid-bicep. He wore black boots that were made of soft leather. His pants were tight fitting black leather as well. Beka had worn a gown of dark forest green that had a low neckline. The gown was made of silk with lighter green velvet at the end of the sleeves. She had changed her hair color to that of real light blonde, almost white, to set herself off a bit from others. She had even worn high heels something that she had almost never done since they were only popular with nobility in certain systems it seemed.

Jassen glanced over at Harper and shook his head slowly. The man was dressed in a shirt of bright red with white ruffles at the sleeves. His pants were of a lighter red than his shirt and all in all Harper was more of something that would hurt the eyes instead of please them. Jassen wondered if Harper just didn't really have any sense of color and coordination. Jassen didn't look too much at Harper's date since he didn't know the woman. Jassen noticed though that she had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a gown as well which seemed to be what most of the women had worn to the wedding. It was only common though.

Jassen then glanced over at Trance who had her arm interlocked in his again. They were standing in line to get into the reception. There were men who were checking each person for weapons and anything else that might cause a problem when people started to get drunk. No one was supposed to have a weapon after all at the wedding or the reception though Jassen had sneaked his lightsaber's into the wedding.

Jassen couldn't believe though had beautiful Trance looked. She was wearing a gown that was form fitting. It hugged her curves in all the right places to show her off to the greatest of her ability. It even hugged her legs a bit though there was a slit in the dress that came up to just above her knees. The dress was of sky blue that had a somewhat low neckline. Her skin though blended in a bit with the gown and so from a distance you couldn't tell where she started and the gown ended. Her hair was done up in an intricate swirl type pattern with a tail that was braided that fell down to the middle of her shoulders. She was wearing the bracelet that she had bought and it was just enough jewelry on her to be noticeable but not too much to look overdone. She had the yellow around her eyes that just enhance her beauty even more to Jassen and tried hard not to think of her like he was. Like a woman that he thought he could learn to love though he felt love was an emotion beyond him. Perhaps he thought she might be able to teach him.

They moved forward in the line and the man looked at them. "Would you mind holding your arms out so that I may run this scanner over you," the man asked Trance.

"Not at all," she answered and did as she was bid. The man ran a little scanner over her entire body and it didn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

"You may pass," the man said and Trance went on in.
"Hurry up Jassen I'll be inside," she called as she was swept up in the tide of people moving through the doors and Jassen saw her disappear amongst the sea of humanity.

"Sir will you hold your arms out please," the man asked in a bored voice. He was getting tired of asking the same question over and over when he knew that no one was foolish enough to try and sneak a weapon into the reception.

Jassen complied and hoped that the scanner didn't know about lightsaber's as a weapon. That hope was soon crushed though as the man's scanner sent off a shrill sound though the only people who heard it were the man holding the scanner and Jassen due to his sensitive hearing.

"What is in your boot sir. Will you please pull it out," the man asked as his hand glided ever so slow to the gun at his hip.

Jassen slowly complied and pulled out his lightsaber which just looked like a metal cylinder to the man. Jassen knew he had to do something fast though or else he would cause an incident and that was something that he didn't want. Especially since at the moment he was considered part of the crew and he didn't want to get the others into any trouble with the empress.

Jassen waved his other hand in front of the man and said in a calm voice, "This is nothing."

The man didn't know what Jassen was holding but he was sure it was nothing. His mind told him it was nothing and if you couldn't trust your own self then what could you trust. The buzzing in his mind assured him it was nothing and so he said aloud, "This is nothing."

Jassen smiled to himself. The Jedi trick worked on these people as well as the people from his own universe. That was a relief to Jassen. He was glad that some things weren't that different from what he knew. "I am no trouble, I can pass," Jassen said as he waved his hand in front of the man's face again.

The man said, "You may pass." Jassen walked past the man and into the throng of people who were filing into the main room. Trance and the rest of the crew were already in there somewhere and Jassen really didn't want to have to look for them but he was sure that he was going to have to.

He entered the room and the first thing that he noticed was the soft sound of music drifting through the air. The kind of music that was made for weddings so that people felt happy and joyous though Jassen didn't feel that way himself. He was not supposed to have any emotions since the dark side was always there.

Jassen saw many people dancing and laughing and having a great time. Off in the far corner was where all the food was. There were tables laden with food of all kinds, puddings, meats, punches, bread, and many other foods. It looked to Jassen like there might actually be one of every kind of food on those tables and many people were definitely enjoying themselves over there by the food.

There were musicians off playing to just a few select ladies making them feel special. There were drunken people already, though the guards that moved about the people with ease were fine. Jassen looked at the guards and saw that they all wore an armor that he had never seen. It was jet black and looked like a beetle shell though it moved with the men like a second skin. They all had blaster rifles and looked as if they might actually know how to use them.

Jassen was standing off to one side away from most people, near the entrance. He wanted to make sure that he could see everything so that he might be able to spot his friends, at least he hoped they were his friends. He was starting to wonder if there was another area where some of the guests were to go to when he felt an arm entwine with his.

"Well shall we dance Jassen or are you just going to stand here in the corner all night," Trance said with a smile on her face.

"I am not one that enjoys dancing Trance," Jassen said and he went back to scanning the crowd. He wasn't sure what he was looking for but it just felt right to look.

"Oh come on everyone else is already out on the dance floor, Dylan, Rommie, Harper, and all the others. You can at least dance with me a couple of times," Trance said as she jerked on his arm to start him moving. Jassen didn't know why but he allowed himself to pulled around by a girl that he could lift off the floor with one arm.

As Trance put her arms around his neck she noticed that Jassen didn't put his arms on her waist like he was supposed to do. "What's wrong Jassen," Trance asked as she looked up into his beautiful eyes.

Jassen hesitated before he answered and when he did he was a bit shy when he said, "I don't know how to dance Trance."

"That's alright you can learn then," Trance said as she grabbed his hands and placed them on her waist in the right places. "This is where your hands go. Now we move to the music and try not to step on each other's feet. It's really easier to just do it instead of trying to explain it."

Slowly Trance started to move and Jassen just tried to keep up with her. He didn't step on her feet and so he felt he might be doing good. At least he hoped he was doing good since he didn't want to make Trance look bad in front of everyone. He wasn't even paying attention to what was going on around him for once in his life and so didn't see the rest of the Andromeda crew watching him and Trance dance.

* * * * *

"They look good together don't they," Beka noted to Dylan who was standing at her right elbow.

"Yes they do actually Beka you are right. I just don't understand how someone doesn't know how to dance," Dylan said a bit wonderingly.

"Well fearless leader it could be that not everyone had the amazing Highguard training that you yourself had. I mean we are at least some of us just your normal type of person in a manner of speaking," Harper said in his normal happy voice making everything seem so obvious.

"I don't really care how they look together. You marry to better the species not for any other reason and especially not because you look good together," Tyr said as snorted through his nose like some great bull but no one heard what he had said since they were all watching the two dance. One a purple goddess it seemed and the other some great man, a warrior, dancing together before some great event was about to take place.

None of them saw the black garbed Nietzchean reach underneath his cloak and grip something his fist. A smile spread across his face and he knew that his time was approaching. Yes it wouldn't be long now before his Maggogg came bursting in and started to kill people and then all would be a joyous day indeed. All he had to do was give the signal and that was what he was going to do.

* * * * *

The Sith walked over to one of the windows and looked out. He knew that his Maggogg would be watching ever man around the building waiting to see one fall clutching his throat. That was to be the signal. The Sith spotted a lone man and he sent his mind out and he held his hand out as well. He needed to crush the man's throat with the force. It was nothing more than an extension of his body and it wouldn't take much to get the force grip to do it's job.

The man was watching the surrounding area when he felt the air tighten around his throat. He reached up and tried to pull away the invisible hand but he couldn't grab it. The air itself was attacking him he knew in that instant but he couldn't do anything about it since one couldn't attack the very air. He clawed and scratched at his throat all to no avail. He felt his lungs burning with their need to be filled with fresh air and his eyes started to bulge out. He tried to scream for help but couldn't get any sound to emerge from his mouth. He knew in that instant that he was dead and as that realization hit him he collapsed to the ground and his heart stopped.

The Moggagg from their vantage point saw the man fall and they started to move in slowly. They needed to make sure they took out all the guards without being seen even though it was hard for over a thousand furry bodies to move around unnoticed. They started to close in on the festivities and it was to be only a matter of minutes now.

* * * * *

The dance finished and Jassen broke away from Trance. He didn't feel right dancing and he needed something to drink. That and he had been sure that he felt someone use the force. He just wasn't sure though. "Excuse me Trance please I need something to drink. Do you want anything," Jassen asked her.

"No I am fine thank you," Trance said as she smiled at Jassen. He was such a nice guy Trance thought and that was something that was very rare indeed. Guys like Jassen were extremely rare.

Jassen headed over to the refreshment table and poured himself a glass of water. He got a few frowns from some people but he didn't care. He had always drank water and he wouldn't start drinking anything else now. There would be no point in getting drunk like most people especially since he felt that he was a warrior and he needed his wits about him at all times. That and he just had a nagging sense that something was wrong but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Jassen turned around and saw that a Nietzchean was talking with Trance. He shrugged his shoulders and looked around the room. He noticed that many people were starting to get drunk and the revelry was getting quite interesting with some women doing impromptu stripteases.

Jassen put the glass to his lips and took a long cool drink. Just then the doors burst open and a sea of furry beasts came flooding into the room. People were shaken at first and couldn't react. The beasts Maggogg he had been told at one point, starting to kill the guards first.

As Jassen watched one guard fell to the ground without even firing his gun. Three Maggogg were eating at him and his screams filled the room. It seemed as if all it took was one person to scream and then the rest started to scream as well. Men and women started to run around without any sense of direction and were being pulled down and killed.

Jassen felt the wave of devastation hit him as a disturbance in the force much like he had felt the night before. He knew then that this had been planned and he knew that he had to do something in order to help out. He couldn't let this many people just die. He had a responsibility and he would keep to it.

A Maggogg ran at him and swung it's claws at his face. Jassen reached out and caught the hand and twisted sharply snapping the arm. He kicked out and caught the Maggogg in the stomach. As the creature was doubled over Jassen reached forward catching it's head in his hands and violently jerked it's head to the side breaking it's neck. He dropped the creature to the floor and turned around to survey that the Maggogg were rounding out the people into a corner.

There was a small pocket of resistance where Dylan, Rommie, Beka, and the others were. They were holding their own and protecting the empress. None of them had any weapons though and so Jassen decided to change that. He saw that there were two guns laying on the ground by the doors where the sea of Maggogg had come in and he used the force to bring them flying to his hand.

He ran across the hall ducking and dodging the Maggogg as they tried to trip him or slash him with their claws. As he neared Dylan and the others he yelled, "Dylan here. Use these to defend yourselves."

Dylan heard the yell and looked up just in time to see two guns flying his way. He punched one Maggogg catching it with a roundhouse that sent it sprawling to the floor. He swept the legs out from underneath another one and as he came to his feet he caught the two guns. "Beka here," Dylan yelled as he tossed one to Beka who wasn't that far away.

They started to shot the Maggogg and the Maggogg now knowing that the enemy had guns started to back off a little. Dylan and Beka continued to shot as Tyr and Harper searched around for more guns. They needed any weapons they could get to keep the battle even.

"Like we even stand a chance here," Harper said nearly in tears. He was having flashbacks to not so long ago when he had been a prisoner of the Maggogg on their home world. That was something that he didn't want to repeat and he was starting to panic a little as he ran his hands through his hair and he started to look around in a hurry. His eyes were darting from place to place.

"Stop your sniveling Harper," Tyr demanded as he reached down and picked up a gun and tossed another one that he had found to Harper. "We aren't dead yet and I don't plan on dying anytime soon. Neither should you now start shooting these damn Maggogg."

They turned and opened fire alongside of Beka and Dylan. The bodies were starting to mount in front of them and still they fired. The empress was huddled with her new husband behind the group of defenders with tears in her eyes. She had been afraid something might happen and it had. She didn't want to die yet she was still young and had so much to do in her life.

"I don't want to die," She whispered to her husband.

"I know honey I don't want to die either. It seems though that we may be in good hands with Dylan and his crew," he said to her in order to comfort her. He hoped that it worked.

The Maggog continued to charge the knot of defenders and one got past the barrage of fire laid down by Dylan, Beka, Tyr, and Harper. It went straight for the empress and she saw it coming. Her eyes grew to be the size of saucers and she could see the hate in it's eyes as it gazed at her. She swore she could smell it's breath and feel the hatred it bore emanating off it's body.

Rommie stepped in front of it and caught it by the throat. She twisted her hand and broke the creatures neck. She knew that they couldn't hold out forever but they could at least kill a bunch of them before they died. They would be remembered either way as the ones who died trying to protect the empress.

Jassen looked around and saw that the Nietchean that he had seen earlier was still with Trance. He was holding her by the hair and laughing as the people died around him. It was like he was an instrument of death but Jassen knew that wasn't true because after all, Jassen was the instrument of death.

A Maggog charged at Jassen and he kicked it in the knee shattering the knee and dropping the Maggog to the ground where it writhed in agony. Another followed the first one in and Jassen gave a straight jab with his fingers held out stiff. He drove his fingers into the throat of the Maggog and it dropped to the ground next to the first clutching it's crushed windpipe.

Jassen slowly moved towards the Nietzchean killing the Maggog as they came in close. He could have killed them much easier but he didn't want to use his lightsaber unless he needed to. It was a weapon that none of them knew about and he wanted to keep it that way in case he needed to get away from Dylan and his crew. He didn't know them that well and they might go back on their promise and make him a prisoner again. His lightsaber was his only ace besides the fact that he could use the force.

The Nietzchean holding Trance was laughing at the death around him and the blood pooled at his feet. Trance was sickened more than she had ever been in her life and she knew that she had to get away from the madman. His grip was like iron though and she wasn't sure she could break it.

"Well little purple bunny what do you think. It is beautiful isn't it," the Nietzchean said as he waved his hand to encompass the whole of the destruction the Maggog had done.
Trance felt the anger rise in her and she yelled, "No it isn't." As she did she kicked the Nietzchean in the chest and used the momentem to back flip away from him. She hoped that it would work because if it didn't break his grip it was going to be painful. Luckily though it worked and she landed on her feet roughly ten feet away from him. She ran towards Dylan and the rest knocking the Maggog aside as she went. She figured she might as well slow them down while she attempted to get to her friends.

"Look it's our resident purple scout," Harper said as he pointed to where Trance was running towards them.

"Lay down some cover fire for her," Dylan commanded. The shots tore into the Maggogg all around Trance and she made it safely to where her friends were. She saw that they were all there. At least all of them except for one.

"Where's Jassen," Trance asked not even attempting to keep the fear out of her voice.

"Out there somewhere," Tyr answered and gestured to the sea of fur.

Trance looked around and saw that he was indeed out there among the Maggog and he was heading for the Nietzchean slowly killing or maiming the Maggog that came within reach of him. She wanted to help him but she knew that to go out there was certain death. Anyone who was still moving was being killed by the Maggog though some people had been rounded up and were still alive. Trance hoped that Jassen would be one that was allowed to live.

* * * * *

Jassen saw that Trance managed to get away and he felt glad for her. He hadn't wanted to see her get hurt. He watched as she made it to where Dylan was and he felt that she would be safe there. He turned to see the Nietzchean but was knocked to the ground by a group of six Maggog. They were holding him down and one bit him in the shoulder while another bit him in the left bicep.

Jassen gritted his teeth against the pain and used the force to push them off of him. The Maggog sailed through the air and hit the far wall with a wet thud. Jassen slowly started to rise when he heard a very familiar sound. A snap hiss and a loud humming sound. They were the sounds of a lightsaber being ignited and held at the ready. They were the sounds that Jassen hadn't thought that he would hear wherever he was.

A small knot of Maggog charged him again and this time Jassen just pushed at them with his hand and they flew back. He was tired of taking his time. He needed to finish this fast. Any of the Maggog that came too close he used the force to push away. He moved towards a sight that he had hoped never to see.

He saw the Nietzchean holding a red lightsaber in his left hand as he moved towards Dylan. Every shot Dylan fired was blocked by the Sith. After all that was the only thing that he could be was a Sith. A Jedi wouldn't have killed without good reason and he wouldn't be trying to kill the only people who were helping the innocents out.

Jassen reached down and pulled his lightsaber out of his boot and ignited it with the familiar snap hiss. It was followed by the same hum as the Sith's and Jassen started to wade through his enemies. He didn't like to kill but these Maggog were giving him no choice and as one came too close he sliced right through it from head to groin. Any who came within reach suffered a similar fate as their friend. As he moved across the floor the bodies started to pile up and the Maggog were starting to have to climb over their dead fellows to attack Jassen.

* * * * *

The Nietzchean ignited his lightsaber and started to slowly walk after Trance. He wasn't going to let them live. His Maggog were dying left and right and there was nothing that he could do about it unless he wanted to take matters into his own hand. He wanted to and so he was stalking towards Dylan and the rest of the crew slowly with his lightsaber humming in his hand.

Then he heard something that made him nervous. Something that he had never thought to hear. That was unless one of his family had followed him here. He heard a lightsaber ignite. He turned quickly and saw that there was the man who had been killing the Maggog with his hands. The man was holding a bluish white lightsaber in his hand and he was stalking towards the Nietzchean.

The Sith smiled then and started to get excited. He had never thought that he might get to kill someone who wielded a lightsaber. In fact his father had told him a little about the Jedi and what they did and the Sith guessed that this must be one of those damn Jedi.

* * * * *

Jassen saw the Sith look at him and their eyes locked. Jassen knew that he would have to kill the Sith and that was all there was to it. It seemed as if everything around Jassen slowed down then to nothing. IT was as if there were just the two of them. The Jedi and the Sith. Two enemies of an ancient war. They charged each other then and their lightsaber's came together with a crash.

Jassen pushed the Sith back and they circled each other. "So a Jedi is here huh. Father will be pleased when I bring him your head," The Sith hissed at Jassen.

"I don't think so," Jassen said as he swung his lightsaber around in an arc for the Sith's head. The Sith ducked and kicked out with his left leg hoping to catch Jassen unaware. Jassen though had seen the move coming and had leapt to the side after he had swung his lightsaber.

Still squatting down the Sith swung it's lightsaber up in an uppercut and Jassen moved back away instead of trying to block the move. It would have been too foolhardy to try and block the move it may have knocked his lightsaber out of his hand.

The Sith charged and swung his lightsaber overhanded and Jassen brought up his blade in a parry and they met with the familiar sound of lightsaber against lightsaber. Jassen swung his lightsaber down diagonally hoping to catch the Sith in the shoulder but the Sith knew the move was coming and so stepped in close and punched Jassen in the stomach hoping to knock the wind out of him. Jassen took the blow and brought his knee up into the nose of the Sith breaking it.

The Sith backed off and attacked again. This time swinging his lightsaber in arcs from left shoulder down and across all int eh same motion. His movements were coming faster and faster and Jassen was working hard to parry them all. He ducked behind a beam and knelt down as the lightsaber whistled over his head. The beam was sliced in two and fell to the side and the building moaned in protest.

Jassen thrust with his lightsaber blade and it was knocked aside by the Sith who then followed the move by swinging his lightsaber back across in a backhand slash that caught Jassen across the chest. Jassen swayed back but wasn't quick enough to avoid the lightsaber completely. He felt his blood start to soak his shirt and he knew he had to finish the fight fast. The lightsaber had just scraped him, the wound wasn't deep enough to cut the bones of his chest but it had been too close.

They attacked each other again and the Sith laughed the whole time thinking that he had the advantage. He swung his lightsaber low hoping to get Jassen's feet but Jassen backflipped away. The Sith charged in and swung his lightsaber again this time in an cut from his left hip up and across his chest. Jassen blocked the move and pivoted on his foot bringing around his fist and punching the Sith in the face. The Sith stumbled back and sent a wave of Force at Jassen which sent him flying back against the wall. He slowly stood up and shook his head. He knew at that point that the Sith was very good with his lightsaber.

* * * * *

The Maggog had stopped charging Dylan and the others. Everyone was quiet and they were all watching the two warriors go at each other like some great event back in the days of ancient Rome. Trance was worried for Jassen though. She had seen him get hurt and she could see the blood staining his chest. She hoped that he would be fine but deep down she wasn't so sure.

"Those weapons are quite curious," Tyr said and Harper nodded in agreement. He hoped he might get the chance to study one of them.
"I just hope that Jassen can beat that Nietzchean because I don't think any of us can. After all we are all out of ammo," Dylan said and they all nodded their heads in agreement.

They all thought that what they were watching was a dance. A deadly dance true but it was still a dance in it's own right. It was beautiful to watch and none of them could say why. The only one though who was truly nervous was Trance. She didn't want to see Jassen die. She liked him more than perhaps anyone else except Beka. "Please win Jassen," Trance whispered and Beka looked over at Trance and smiled to herself inwardly.

* * * * *

Jassen pushed the Sith back away from him. He was sweating now and getting tired as well. He knew that the loss of blood was starting to get to him. The Sith reversed his grip on his lightsaber so that the blade was nearly laying against his forearm. He swung his blade then from his right shoulder down to his left hip and then from his left shoulder and down in a continuing arc. Jassen blocked all the attacks.

Jassen watched the move and then stepped in and tried to trip the Sith. The Sith saw the move coming though and backed away as he flipped his blade around and caught it. He had his normal grip then and brought the blade down in a cross cut. Jassen blocked the move but the Sith backed off and while Jassen was still expecting a move from close the Sith brought up a pistol.

"Now you die," he said in a voice that held fatigue. He fired the gun and everyone cringed knowing that Jassen was dead at that instant. They were all surprised to see him still standing though holding his lightsaber at the ready. "What the hell did you do," the Sith growled.

Jassen didn't answer he just let the Force guide him now. It was all he could do as the Sith fired the gun again and again. Jassen flashed the lightsaber in short jerks deflecting the bullets. The gun was emptied and yet not a bullet touched Jassen. He was at one with the Force and it had guided his movements to keep him alive and the Sith was no longer happy at all.

He screamed in rage as he charged and swung his lightsaber down then left and up each time it was blocked though. Jassen knew he had the battle won then. The Sith was too emotional which was one thing that you couldn't be. He knew that and that was why he was so cold all the time.

Again the Sith and again Jassen blocked the attack. The Sith brought the blade across his body and Jassen brought his blade across blocking the move. As he did he pushed as hard as he could and sent the Sith's arm out wide so that the Sith was off balance. Jassen spun his body to move in close and reversed his grip on his lightsaber and drove it into the chest of the Sith.

The Sith's eyes clouded over and blood came from his mouth as he collapsed. Jassen fell to his knees with a sigh and looked around at the Maggog who were slowly filing from the room. They no longer wanted to fight without their leader it seemed and Jassen was glad for that. He wasn't sure he could fight any longer as he fell forward onto his hands.