Keena heard a ringing. She realised it was in her ears. She also realised her entire body seemed to be in pain.
Her eyes opened and saw through the smoke the hole in the wall, just where she had been standing.
A bomb, her dazed mind realised.
The explosion had been in room 11 and thrown her against the opposite wall, where she was currently crumpled on the floor.
Her ringing ears registered the sounds of lightsabers clashing, blasters going off, a Wookie war-howl, and grunts of effort and battle.
The Sith have come for Revan and her friends . . .
´´There she is!´´
Two lightsaber-wielding Sith, a man and a woman, stepped through the hole.
. . . or have they?
´´Get her!´´
Keena let her dazed and muddled thoughts move over for instinct, letting the Force propel her battered limbs into action.
Ignoring the agony of sudden, violent movement, she sprang to her feet just as they came at her.
Each hand went for a lightsaber hilt, as fast as the Force would let them but seeming achingly slow as the crimson sabers came in overhead slashes at her shoulders.
The red and blue beams came to life as she held each hilt up against a shoulder, stopping the simultaneous strikes inches from her flesh.
Their combined strength and weight threw her hard against the wall, knocking the remaining air out of her lungs as her arms strained to stay attached to her shoulders.
Pain. Fear. Anger.
These feelings flowed through Keena and the Force, into her muscles.
Rat-bastard Sith!
She kicked out with all her might, finding a knee.
The Sith´s leg buckled, along with his pressure on the lightsaber.
Keena sent a wave of Force power his way, throwing him backwards as she slashed at the woman with her left hand. She was quick, though, and backflipped through the air.
She landed next to the male as he was getting up, and Keena knew they were going to attack her simultaneously again.
Keena charged at them, ignoring the screaming protests of one leg, each saber held horisontally out from a side.
They met her with their lightsabers hurriedly raised in defense, the man on her left, the woman on her right . . . except at the last moment she crossed her arms and stabbed at the man with her right, the woman with her left.
The unexpected switch, aided by Keena´s Force-enhanced strength, batted aside their weapons and she dove between them.
As they turned towards her the debris she had picked up with the Force flew through the air and smacked the off-guard Sith woman in the back of the head. She dropped.
Keena finished her landing somersault, rose to her knees, and held the twin blades over her head in an X just as the male made for an overhead chop.
She caught his blade in her two, then rose and turned, slowly turning his lightsaber aside and away from her.
Their eyes met and Keena saw the blazing hatred, the determination, the effort . . . and the fear. She took a moment to savor it.
Then the blue saber shot out and clipped his arm, weakening his grip and freeing the red one to slash at his neck.
For a moment Keena felt she saw his eyes widen in shock. Then he slumped down to his knees. His head fell off backwards as his body collapsed forward.
She looked down at her handywork for a moment. It had been Eskon who had given her basic lessons in how to fight with two weapons.
How´s that for irony?
A bolt of lightning hit Keena in the left shoulder. The Sith lightsaber dropped from her grasp as she staggered for a moment before bringing up her blue one to absorb the energy stream.
The Sith woman, up on her knees, changed tactics and sent a large piece of debris her way.
Reeling from the lightning attack Keena barely managed a one-handed swipe to cut it in half. She tried to call the Sith lightsaber back to her hand, but her arm hung paralyzed.
The woman got up and charged with a powerful, double-handed chop.
Keena narrowly dodged to the side, feeling the hum of the crimson saber as it cut the air just next to her.
She let her knees buckle and ducked a wide swing, aiming a slash at the Sith´s legs.
The woman jumped however, and sent a kick into Keena´s nose, knocking the former Padawan on her back. She then called her comrade´s lightsaber to her hand and attacked her prone opponent.
Well . . . this isn´t good!
She rolled to the side just enough to avoid a stab in the gut, only getting a slight nick in the side. She drew as much speed as she could from the Force, frantically waving her saber in a blur to block the dual attacks.
The Sith stood and hammered at her methodically, taking no unnecessary risks. They both knew it was only a matter of time before a strike got through.
Keena knew it was only for a few seconds, but if felt like hours on that floor; a nightmare of red and blue flashes in the smoky ruins of a hotel room.
Finally she managed a weak attack back at her opponent, one the Sith easily dodged, but it gave Keena a glimpse at an object behind her. One she could use.
She stretched her control of the Force to it´s limits, moving her fighting arm at blinding speed while subtly making a telekinetic grab behind the woman´s back.
A powerful swing sent Keena´s lightsaber wide, and for a horrible moment her stomach was left undefended from an attack that would inflict horrible, incapacitating agony. Then she would be dragged off, thrown once more to the mercy of a Sith "medic droid" before delivery to whatever fate Eskon intended for her.
Then the live power cable, severed in the explosion, hit the Sith in the back. She screamed as her flesh cooked, then screamed more as Keena cut her legs off at the knees.
A slash at her face silenced the screaming.
Keena didn´t allow herself a moment of respite. Judging by the sounds the battle in room eleven had moved, but not enough for her tastes.
Though diminished somewhat the dark cloud that was the aura of Dark Jedi was still notable, more so than the auras of the three Jedi . . . whom Keena knew had sensed her by now. However things went the victors would come after her.
To top things off she could sense a mulitude of approaching minds. The Verthandi Vigvöllur´s sizeable guard population had been dispatched.
Unless she moved she faced either mangling and torture by the Sith or another talking at by Revan and her friends. The prospects were equally distasteful.
She waded through the ocean of various aches and pains, and quite possible a mild concussion from the explosion, and rose to her feet.
Time to make myself scarce . . . again!
She retrieved the Sith lightsaber and her backpack and staggered out into the hallway.
The stairwells and turbolifts were blocked by force fields, a security measure in case of unruly guests, no doubt.
Keena made herself ignore the pain, reminding herself that she had suffered far worse at Revan´s hands, and shifted gears into a limping jog along the corridor, away from room eleven.
She felt picked on.
That´s another plan down the drain. Just when was the last time something went the way I wanted it to?
Then she spotted it. A stairwell leading up was unblocked. Whether it was due to a malfunction or some side effect of the explosion she didn´t care. She took it.
Three floors later she was quite convinced that the force field lockdown extended to the entire hotel, and her only way out was the roof.
Only 29 floors to go . . .
She tapped deeply into the Force, both for stamina and speed, limpjogging her way ever upwards, ignoring the pain and the growing stitch.
Floor 42 . . . 43 . . . 44 . . . 45 . . . 46 . . . 47. . . 48 . . . 49 . . . 50 . . . 51 . . . 52 . . .
She stopped on floor 53 to catch her breath, briefly wondering who had won the fight and who would be coming after her.
Her eyes found a reflective section of wall, and the unflattering image that looked back at her.
Keena´s new clothes were torn and covered with dust and dirt, with occasional smears of blood as decoration. Her probably broken nose had oozed red before finally stopping, coloring the lower half of her face, her neck and her chest. Along with the burns on her left shoulder it added to the whole image of a person who had . . . well, had been caught in an explosion.
This is not a good day in the vanity department.
She made her way up to floor 54.
Only six to go and I´m out of . . .
´´Padawan Keena Moray.´´
Yuthura Ban was standing right in front of her. She had been caught in a hallway with force field emitters on both ends of it, and was waiting by one end, with not six feet between the two women.
Keena looked at her silently for a few seconds, keeping her face carefully blank.
´´I´m not a Padawan anymore, Jedi.´´
Yuthura tilted her head and gave her an appraising look, the very image of Jedi serenity. That impeccably peaceful face bothered Keena.
´´You could be again.´´ she said earnestly. ´´You could . . .´´
´´Save it! I did my part for the Jedi, the Republic, the galaxy, the Force, peace and justice, rosy-cheeked babies and all that crap. I´ve had enough.´´
´´Why?´´ It seemed like a perfectly honest question, an honest curiosity. It annoyed Keena more than any sarcasm would have.
´´Why? Why?! Didn´t the Jedi Hero Trio downstairs explain things to you?!´´
´´The basics, yes: You fought under Revan against the Mandalorians, and when she fell she tried to drag you down with her. You escaped, with Eskon´s help. I can´t help but feel there is more to it though.´´
A short laugh jumped out of Keena´s throat, bitter and devoid of humor.
Yuthura didn´t let it bother her.
´´Could you give me some perspective then?´´
´´Perspective? Okay´´ She felt the familiar anger and betrayal flare, not caring that her emotions were easily registering to the Jedi. ´´Okay, I´ll give you perspective: It´s not just the Dark Side that she worked so hard to introduce me to . . . it´s not just that she twisted and turned my friends into mockeries of themselves . . . it´s not just the Sith tortures . . . it´s not just that she scrambled my view of the world and the Force and the universe until I didn´t know which way to face. It´s the betrayal. Do you understand betrayal, Jedi?´´
Yuthura opened her mouth to answer, but Keena wasn´t about to let her until she´d damn well finished.
´´I walked into her web. She threw her spell over me and like everyone else I loved her too much to notice the rot under the glittering surface. I looked up to her as the shining paragon of the Order. And then she turned her ugly, rotten underbelly at me . . .´´ tears of anger and old shame fell down her bloodied face ´´. . . and what did that mean? If Revan, the hero of the Jedi Order could be so damn twisted . . .´´ Keena fought for a few seconds before regaining control of her voice ´´. . . then what about the Jedi? How could I go back to the Order when she had oh, so successfully perverted my view of it? So . . . that´s what there is to it. She took everything from me, and the only thing I have left is payback. So save your speeches and your propaganda. I can´t go back because Revan forced me to look at things in a different light, and now I can´t stop.´´
Keena laughed again bitterly.
´´Mind you, she did such a good job of messing with my head I don´t even know which of my own feelings to trust. But it´s not like that earns her any clemency, is it?´´
She fell silent and Yuthura seemed to digest her words.
´´Well, thank you for that.´´ the Jedi said with that peace that Keena found so frustrating in its unattainability. ´´And to answer your question I do know about betrayal, although from a somewhat different perspective.
A short flash of pain shot across the Twi´leks eyes, before she continued.
´´You see, I betrayed the Order as well.´´
She pulled down the collar of her robe, revealing the Sith tattoos adorning her neck and collarbone.
´´I had the ones on my face removed,´´ she explained, ´´to prevent misunderstandings, but the rest stayed. As reminders, of what I had become through my own anger and foolishness, and of what I could become again if I´m not careful.´´
´´You galloped off to the Sith?´´
Yuthura smiled guiltily.
´´Yes. I felt they stifled me, were too slow and careful to truly achieve anything. I wanted to . . . hah, it´s almost funny in retrospect . . . I wanted to combat slavery, to gain power more quickly, to be able to do good without rules and tradition keeping me back. So I joined the Sith.´´
´´Truly brilliant.´´ Keena´s voice was cracklingly dry.
´´Yes, I was foolish. The Dark Side can never be used for good. Slowly but surely I lost all sight of my original goals, and started to strive for power simply for myself, by any means necessary. With enough treachery, backstabbing and cruelty I rose to the rank of Sith Master . . . I even became second in command at the Sith Academy.´´
´´Congratulations.´´
The Twi´lek sighed heavily. ´´I was far into the darkness, without even realising it. I couldn´t pull myself up because I didn´t realise my own corruption.´´ She stared off into thin air, as her voice lowered. ´´I would have been lost forever . . . ´´
There was a pause, and the unfinished sentence hung in the air.
With the jokes fate seemed to enjoy making at her expense, Keena had a sneaking suspicion she knew where the Twi´lek was headed. She grinned bitterly.
´´ " . . . if it hadn´t been for Revan." Right?´´
Yuthura focused her eyes back on Keena, dead serious.
´´Yes. I tried to kill her, officially to secure my place as head of the Academy. But the truth was I wanted to sever my last inhibitions, to overcome the last inner hurdles on my quest for ever more power. If I had succeeded there would have been no hope for me, ever
´´Something tells me you got your head-tails handed to you.´´
´´Yes, that´s . . . that´s one way of putting it. She beat me, quite soundly, and forced me to realise the path I was on.´´
´´Is there a point to this story? Because I have a similar one . . . "although from a somewhat different perspective".´´ snapped Keena.
´´There are two points to it.´´ Smooth and unflapped. ´´Tana brought me back from the darkness . . . she was able to see the good that remained in me and fan it back to life. Rather than take my life as I had tried to take hers she showed mercy and saved me from being consumed by the Dark Side. If that doesn´t show that she has truly returned to the Light Side, then what does? Is there truly no way you can accept that the Darkness in her has been vanquished, and let go of your anger?´´ The Twi´lek locked eyes with Keena, those soft, purple eyes earnest and compelling. ´´Is there no way you can forgive?´´ she asked softly.
Forgive. Put it all behind her. Be able to put Revan out of her mind and continue on with some kind of life. It sounded sweet and wonderful. It sounded like what it was.
A fantasy.
Keena closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she spoke her voice was cold, steady and precise.
´´No, Jedi. I can´t forgive. I can´t forget. I have lost the ability. Blame me, or Revan, or the Force, or whatever you want, but that´s just the way it is. I have nothing left but this, nothing to turn to except my anger. And when this whole thing reaches it´s conclusion I´´ll be free, whichever way it goes.´´
She turned and walked towards the stairs leading up to the fifty-fifth floor, feeling a strange moment of calm in her resolution. There was no point in despairing over inevitability.
´´I said there were two points to my story, Keena.´´
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. ´´Want to stall me some more?´´
´´I wanted to fight slavery because I was a slave myself. It was my anger at my treatment that drove my desire to see quick results. It was that old inner anger that drove me to the Dark Side, even though I didn´t consciously realise it. My point is that I think your anger at Tana stems from a source you haven´t let me in on. Maybe not even let yourself in on. If you could only look within yourself and find the true source of your state, as I did, then perhaps . . .´´
´´You´re wrong!´´ spat Keena, eager to end the conversation. ´´I´m angry at Revan for being a treacherous slime that ruined me and my friends, and that´s it!´´
The moment of resigned calm had passed, replaced by oh, so familiar anger. Keena strode upwards.
For the love of everything holy, good, or just plain acceptable, at least the Sith don´t want to TALK me to death!
Keena fumed as she walked.
She just hit a little close to home, came an unwanted voice from within. But you won´t admit that. Don´t have the courage for it. Never did. Maybe Eskon would still be Eskon if you had a little more spine.
Finally the door to the roof came into sight, prompting a sigh of relief.
Her battered legs, especially the injured right one, ached. Her entire body felt like one big bruise, she was exhausted, and didn´t know how much longer the Force would keep her upright. Her left arm was returning to life though, so she would probably be able to climb down one of the huge support pillars.
Brim´s night air greeted Keena as she walked through the doors and onto the roof.
Well, that was that. An explosion. A closely called fight. And another Jedi sermon. Oh well, at least I got a bit of information . . .
´´Welcome.´´ A smooth, cold voice that sent shivers up Keena´s spine came from behind her.
She whipped around just as the Cathar appeared between her and the doors. One moment he wasn´t there, the next one he was.
´´I have been waiting for you long enough, little Jedi. I am Darth Kisi, apprentice to the Dark Lord. And your luck has just run out.´´
He rose over six feet into the air, dressed in a black robe of noticeably fancier design than usual. A deactivated double-bladed lightsaber was held nonchalantly in one clawed hand. His fur had been shaved off, probably to make room for the Sith tattoos decorating his face.
Kisi slowly and calmly started moving towards her, and Keena started walking backwards, each one sizing the other one up.
´´Apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith, huh?´´ Keena said with mock awe. ´´Which one?´´
The Sith just grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharpened teeth.
´´The only one who will matter for much longer. Once he has you the other pretenders will be crushed, and the pathetic Jedi Order exterminated once and for all.´´ He chuckled. ´´Well . . . that is his intention anyway. I will play the obedient apprentice for now, but once the tomb is within my grasp I fully intend to take it for myself.´´
Again this "tomb". He´s talking like I know what he means. Just what is going on?
´´That camouflage is a neat trick: If the Sith gig doesn´t work out you could always find a career as a pickpocket. It was you I felt yesterday, wasn´t it? On the roof?´´
Darth Kisi dangled his lightsaber hilt between two fingers. His oozing smugness reminded Keena of Pol. ´´Yes, my prey. I´ve been keeping an eye on you since that little crook told me you were here on this mudball . . .´´
´´Aha?´´ Keena kept moving slowly to the middle of the roof where she would have plenty of elbow space. And if she could keep him lost in egotistical exposition she would have more time to work on healing her body.
´´I sent those three Sith, some of my Master´s less useful Dark Jedi, to your room to test your abilities. Revan and her friends have been using this hotel as a meeting place since they got here, and I had intended to be down in the battle when the trap for them was sprung.´´
´´Yeah? Don´t keep me in suspence, O Great Sith Underling.´´ Keena flexed her left arm. It was feeling a lot better, but not enough to wield two lightsabers. One would have to do.
´´When I realised you would be attending yourself, however, I saw an opportunity to both destroy the betrayers Revan and Bastila, and be the one to personally bring you in.´´
Her right leg was another matter. She could handle the pain, but wasn´t sure if she could rely on it to move her around quickly enough.
´´So: When my assassins would be done softening you up, the man I planted in the security room would leave a hole in the force field net for you to come to me . . . as well as tire yourself out.´´ He chuckled. ´´From the looks of you it seems it worked better than I could have hoped for. Now; Revan, General Onasi, and their cohorts are either dead or distracted and you are weakened and within my grasp.´´
Keena reached the middle of the roof and put her feet down heavily, making it clear she had no intention of moving further. The lights of Brim city were all around like a glittering ocean. She fixed him with her best glare and raised her lightsaber hilt. She managed not to make her left arm shake.
´´Enough talk, puss. Let´s fight.´´
The three blades came to life simultaneously. Kisi sprinted at her with a downwards chop. When she moved to block it he made a quick switch to an upwards swing with the other blade. Keena barely got out of the way, somersaulting backwards.
Her right leg buckled as she landed, and she almost keeled over. A push of Force power put her back on balance, just in time to parry Kisi´s next attack.
He moved with a catlike grace and smoothness, just like Juhani, and his attacks were powerful, each one jarring the the battered woman´s arms as she parried. She drew on the Force as well as she could, but there was only so much that it could do for her exhausted limbs and she found herself being pushed backwards.
I will not be taken down by Pol Svikari with a lightsaber!
Keena´s legs did an unsteady dance as they struggled to move backwards quickly enough without bumping into one another. Kisi obviously knew this and pressed on furiously with a flurry-like series of attacks, abandoning defense for a whirlwind of red-glowing death. Keena would have considered it a foolish tactic, if not for the fact that she was too busy just keeping all her bodyparts intact to take advantage of it.
In fact, aside from the fact that he was aiming for dismembering and/or disabling attacks she saw no real flaw in his technique.
I´m not going to win this by sheer skill, not in this condition. I need to get smart.
A light jolt of Force power suddenly hit her, just enough to knock her off balance and allow a red blade to hammer against her blue one, inches away from her body. For a few seconds the two stood, sabers locked, pushing against one another with all their might. Their faces leaned in close and Keena could see her reflection in his decolored eyes.
Suddenly he let up on the tension, causing Keena to stumble forward. He twisted to the side and sent his foot out in a spin kick that impacted on her back.
Keena´s tired lungs were forcibly emptied as she fell forward.
Okay Keena, smartness is not happening yet!
She managed to turn the fall into a roll, and the stab intended for her went through the roof instead. Keena spun around as she lay on her knees and swung, trying to take out his saber hilt.
Kisi simply jumped into the air and came down with a chop, this time aimed at her lightsaber blade. Their blades met and slowly but surely he started forcing her blade downwards.
´´Had enough yet, Jedi?´´
´´I . . .´´ she said through gritted teeth, ´´am not . . . a Jedi!´´
She deactivated her lightsaber, and Kisi´s lightsaber again plunged into the roof, surprising him momentarily.
Keena sprang to her feet, instantly reactivating the blade and chopped down on his head, putting desperate strength in the blow, even though she had been tought not to. Her strength and stamina were failing and it felt like the only thing keeping her upright was her failing grasp upon the Force. The battle needed to end quickly or there was no doubt she would lose it.
He parried the attack. And he rose up, slowly pushing Keena´s lightsaber aside. His smug grin hadn´t let up.
She pumped all her anger, frustration and Force power into her muscles, momentarily stopping the push.
Kisi let go of his lightsaber with his left hand. It shot out and his wicked claws buried themselves in her right arm.
He laughed as she screamed, barely managing to keep his lightsaber away from her.
The Cathar pulled her closer and smashed his forehead into her already busted nose. Keena saw stars and her eyes watered from the pain.
Her grip on the lightsaber weakened as Kisi´s claws scraped against her arm bone, and he started again to push it towards her. This time, she knew, she would not be able to stop it.
A blaster suddenly went off. A bolt flew across the roof from the doors and grazed Kisi´s left hand.
He grunted in surprise and kicked Keena in the ribs, knocking her down, as another bolt flew at him. He moved his lightsaber to intercept it, and it flew back to it´s source.
Keena, lying on her back, recognized the Force aura. She was weakly trying to pick up her lightsaber with either of her injured arms and get up when Kisi raised his hand.
An invisible vice clamped around Keena´s throat, reminding her horribly of Revan, and she hissed involuntarily as all the air was squeezed out of her lungs.
´´It´s been fun, little Jedi . . . or whatever you are, but it seems I may have to make my exit sooner than I had hoped.´´
Her vision started to dim, and the power left her limbs. She weakly tried sending a Force wave at him, but he just grinned . . .
I´m getting really sick of that grin.
. . . stood tall through the weak attack . . .
Really, really sick.
. . . and tightened his telekinetic grip.
Well, two can play that game, buddy.
She raised her hand in a mimic of Kisi´s gesture, and he moved his free hand to his throat, grinning as he expected to ward off another pitiful attack.
Suddenly his eyes widened, and he let out a long howl of agony as both his hands moved to his groin. As air flowed back into her lungs Keena tightened her grip and watched as Kisi staggered backwards, his grin replaced by a grimace of horrible pain.
She found the whole thing comic.
´´Don´t like it, do you?´´ she rasped. She lifted both hands and increased the pressure. Kisi fell on his knees, making horrible noises. ´´Don´t like it at all?!´´
Keena scooped up her lightsaber in her left hand, got up, and screamed as she let the Force propell her into the air and at Darth Kisi.
He fell down into two matching halves.
Keena fell down on her knees, clicked the lightsaber back onto her belt, and rubbed her sore throat for a few moments.
When her breathing started to return to normal she slowly and painfully got up.
´´Well, that´s that.´´ she said to the world at large.
The advancing Force aura Keena sensed suddenly reminded her that she wasn´t alone on the roof.
Mission, with Bendak Starkiller´s blaster aimed straight at Keena, was coming towards her. The blaster bolt Kisi had sent back at her had apparently not made it through the finely crafted Echani armor she wore, but it had probably hurt like hell and knocked the air out of her.
She looked angry, Keena noted. Angry and hurt.
´´Tana, Bastila and Juhani were able to shield us from the blast.´´ Her voice was tense. ´´The Sith were probably expecting us to be in worse shape when they swarmed in, so they were probably a little caught off guard. I caught a glimpse of you through the hole . . . dealing with those Sith, and when everything was more or less under control I decided we oughta have a little chat. I met Yuthura on the way up, and she told me not to go up, but I didn´t care.´´
She stopped between Keena and the closest support pillar, with about twenty feet between them.
´´I liked you, y´know? I appreciated you helping me and Big Z out. And you used me to get close enough to kill one of my best friends.´´
Keena couldn´t think of anything positive to say, and didn´t have the energy for anything bitter or defiant. She just felt drained and tired. All she could do was focus on keeping her face carefully blank.
´´Why?´´
Keena took a deep breath and waited a few seconds before answering. ´´Well . . . would you feel the same if she betrayed you? If she´d decided to join Bastila on the Rakatan temple and kill everyone who stood in her way? But that never occurred to you, did it? You stood by her as a true friend after you all found out the truth. How could you not? That´s what she does. And look where it got Malak . . . and Eskon . . . and me.´´
´´She´s different now!´´ Mission predictably jumped to her friend´s defense. ´´She fell to the Dark Side, you know that! It can happen to any Jedi!´´
´´Not her . . .´´ Keena muttered weakly and mostly to herself. ´´It couldn´t just . . . happen . . . to Revan.´´
´´Tana! She´s Tana now!´´ Mission looked hurt on her friend´s behalf. ´´Why can´t you understand that?´´
All Keena could manage was a cynical snort.
Mission´s lips scrunched up, though whether it had to do with having her friend´s nasty past brought back or simply with Keena herself, the former Padawan didn´t know. Keena found herself hoping the girl wouldn´t get misty-eyed. It would just perfect her day.
´´Well,´´ the Twi´lek said stiffly, ´´it won´t matter much longer. The rest will be coming up soon enough . . . They´ll know what to do with you.´´
´´No, Mission,´´ Keena said as firmly as she could manage, ´´I´m going to leave now, and you are not going to stop me.´´
The girl raised her intimidating blaster to the level of Keena´s face. ´´Yeah, I am. You look like you´ve been through a meat grinder, your lightsaber is in your belt, and I´m not going to let you hurt any of my friends . . . no matter what it takes.´´
Keena wondered how serious she was. Those innocent eyes didn´t strike her as those of a cold-blooded killer, although she could of course always go for an incapacitating shot. And yes, Keena´s lightsaber was indeed in her belt, although even if it had been in her hand she didn´t know how much use it would be with both of her arms injured. And even so, then what? Wield her lightsaber, symbol of the defenders of the Jedi Order, against this girl?
N . . . No. No. Not that. Oh, Force . . . have I fallen so far?
A distressed breath escaped Keena´s lips as she looked up at the starry sky.
After a few moments she lowered her eyes to lock with those of the Twi´lek´s.
´´Mission,´´ she said wearily but firmly, with the power of the Force´´put the blaster down.´´
Mission´s resolve wavered. Keena felt her struggle against her will for a few moments.
´´N . . .´´ The blaster took a slight downwards dip before coming back up. ´´No!´´ The girl set her mouth in a firm scowl and glared at her defiantly.
Keena had to admit to being impressed, but time was running out.
She reached deep within her weary self and poured the Force out as hard as she dared. She didn´t want to harm the girl.
´´Put . . . the blaster . . . down.´´
Mission struggled . . . hard. The battle was uneven though, and she gritted her teeth and grunted in frustration as her arm lowered, holding the blaster harmlessly by her side.
Keena walked towards the support pillar behind Mission, while the girl´s eyes burned into her with humiliation and anger. She stopped as she walked past her and met her gaze.
´´Sorry´´ she muttered offhandedly. It felt almost farcical.
She continued walking, but Mission grabbed her right shoulder.
´´Just keep in mind what you´re doing, okay?´´ she said tensely. ´´Just put a little thought into it.
Keena shrugged her hand off and walked to the edge, jumped off, and rode the support pillar down like a slide.
The Force softened her landing . . . somewhat . . . and she walked as fast as she could off in a random direction. She trudged through Brim´s alleys without any pattern or plan, since those could be predicted by pursuers, until her legs threatened an immediate and total strike.
A partially demolished building offered shelter and she walked in, found a filthy, beat-up mattress, and collapsed.
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Author´s note: Finally an update! Sorry it took so long. I´ll try to be quicker next time.
How did you like the fights, and Keena´s . . . unconventional . . . use of the Force?
sanitycloud10: See what I meant when I said Canderous wouldn´t enjoy a run-in with Keena?
