The man did not know from what incredible source his newfound power came, but he noticed that as he squared off with the armored Jedi in front of him his whole body seemed to glow with raw energy, fueled by an inexplicable hate and loathing. The armored Jedi had rolled over his back and leapt nimbly up to his feet, and the man had barely had enough time to find his own footing before the flashing red lightsaber was upon him. Though hate and energy coursed through him, the man soon found his strength ebbing, the man he fought was younger than him, it seemed, and more used to the power of what he had only a second ago realized must be the force. The two broke free after a short lock, and the younger Jedi was thrown backwards, only to roll again over his shoulders and to his feet. The man knew he was stronger physically, but the force emanated so strongly from the young Jedi that he dared not go in for too long a time; he stepped back and tried to catch his breath.
"The force is very strong in you, Jedi," He gasped, trying to disguise his breathlessness through his mask, "But in the end you will die all the same!"
"I know your presence, Sith," the Jedi replied, his breaths coming much easier and his own helmet betraying no signs of fatigue on his face. "I do not know from where, but the rawness of your essence tells me you have not long known the powers of the force …"
"Taunt me if you will, Jedi!" Spat the Sith, as he knew then he must be, "I too am stirred by the sight of you, but I do not care from where I know you, only that you be destroyed!" He lunged, his better judgment not being enough to contain his hate. The Jedi, however, back flipped and landed above the impromptu arena, his lightsaber down.
"You know me?" He asked, and the Sith snarled, "I have felt your presence before, and I can feel some deep conflict in your mind."
"Shut up and face me, coward!"
"I know you, Sith, and I can feel your thoughts through your reckless use of the force …" The Jedi continued, "You are …"
"No!" The Sith screamed, though he too felt the truth, just as the Jedi had, and he felt a sudden rush of new warmth to his veins. The warmth spread as his lightsaber dropped to the gritty earth and the Jedi landed next to him in a crouch, rushing to his side. The warmth was … love … so different form the power of the dark hatred he had only so recently tapped into. The warm feeling rushed up his legs and through his midsection, down his arms, through his whole body, and he hated it. The feeling was weak, he thought, it was a corruption of the raw power of the dark side, and a fool's conception of power.
"How are you here?" The Jedi was asking, "What have they done to you?" The Sith pushed hard off the ground with the force, propelling himself high over the surprised youth and flipping backwards, his heavy boots clipping the armored head just under the chin as he soared high and away.
Jaster fell backwards, his helmet rocked and his face exploding in pain from the unexpected kick. When he stood again, pushing quickly up to his feet with the force, the mysterious man had gone, and he had apparently learned to mask his presence.
"Wait … !" Mereel shouted at the top of his lungs, searching hard for some hint of the Sith's whereabouts, but all he found was a heated blend of rage surrounding a single source of light. Jakome!
"I'm coming, Master Jakome!" Mereel shouted, though he would have rather stayed on to find the fleeing man. He leapt back up onto the pinnacle he had so shortly fallen from.
"Jaster!" Azekel exclaimed happily as the apprentice joined his master in the heated battle on the cliff ledge. Mereel lunged into battle, fresh with the aggravation of losing the strangely familiar Sith warrior; Jakome had managed to down one of the warriors, but three remained, and they fought with the force of rage and hate that always tempted Jaster to draw upon the same source. He parried and spun away from the deadly blade tip of one of the dark soldiers, his own red saber slicing across the muscles of the man's back and dropping him with a scream of pain.
Jakome's glowing saber flashed brightly with the red saber thrusts of the remaining Sith. Pushing hard with the force, the Jedi Knight sent one Sith flying backwards over the cliff, but the evil warrior rolled and righted himself in midair, landing lightly on his feet, like a cat, at the bottom of the small valley. Jakome's slow, powerful style wore down the remaining Sith still battling him, and the man's blocking moves were battered relentlessly.
"Die, Jedi!" The Sith screeched, his voice high-pitched in desperation and his weary face covered in sweat and an expression of extreme exertion; but the weak move he put up for Jakome was easily knocked away. The man was rocked by Azekel's powerful parry, and his arms swung wide, opening his body to the Knight, who, instead of going for the kill as Mereel may have done, sliced clean through the man's sword wrist, cleaving his hand and lightsaber from his arm and dropping him with a pained grimace to the gritty earth with a scream of agony and defeat.
Jaster leapt nimbly down the stone wall to face the final Sith, who, despite the overwhelming odds against him, sneered arrogantly and lifted his blade.
"I have killed Jedi more powerful than you!" He spat, and Jaster felt the rage that was once so familiar to him well up in his chest, creeping into the edges of his mind.
"Jaster …" he heard Jakome's voice somewhere far above. He didn't care, he decided then and there; that mysterious man had fled him, eluding closure Jaster so desperately wanted; where there other Mandalorians out there? He had been sure the man was one of his race; but so mutated and disfigured. He could have helped him! He had once been the same; hopeless and alone, and the man had fled him like an enemy! This vile creature in front of him, this Sith here, who dared still challenge him and his Jedi powers, this man had corrupted and defiled the Mandalorian; had made him the despicable coward he'd shown he was! Mereel felt his hatred and anger for the Sith taking control of him, but he ignored the small, nagging voice of his Master, so far above. He clenched his teeth, set his saber in the fast, fencing style, and charged.
"Jaster no!" Jakome bellowed, his lightsaber coming down as Jaster reached his opponent, his face twisted in the same grimace of rage his enemy wore. The Sith parried the initial downward strike Jaster slashed down on his defense, but the power of the Mandalorian's stroke knocked his lightsaber sharply away from his body, exposing his vitals. Swinging now low and upwards, the young Jedi severed the Sith's shoulder muscles on his left arm, but the Sith's right arm held his saber, and he twirled, still dangerous even as he screamed in pain and surprise.
"Jaster he's not worth it! Let go of your hate!" Jakome cried out to his student's unhearing ears. The Mandalorian growled loudly to drown out his Master's words; his red lightsaber bearing down on his injured prey gradually, the parries from the Sith becoming hit-by-hit less effective, allowing the fury-driven Jedi inch by inch to tear apart his opponent's defense. Jaster cried out loudly as he brought his saber up for yet another attack, and, seeing his opponent's flinching attempt at a high-block, jerked his hands back quickly and sliced low and fast, cutting straight through the Sith's back leg, dropping him with a despairing cry of pain and agony. Feeling his enemy's despair in the face of defeat, the Jedi laughed, high and evilly, falling comfortably back into his old ways. As the Sith fell, his sword arm came up, the red blade swooshing across the Mandalorian's helmet visor, and crackling with sparks as the metal burned and sizzled beneath it; Jaster's vision blazed bright with blinding pain, and he stifled a cry as his saber came down yet again to sever the Sith's right hand, dropping the saber with another weak cry from the fallen man.
Resisting the urge to end the miserable creature's life on the spot, Jaster concentrated on the gasping Sith's throat, his gloved hand rising slowly, his two fingers clenching the air over the man's head as his concentrated force began to squeeze tight on the defeated man's esophagus.
"N-no, p-p-lease, Jed-i!" the man choked pitifully as his mangled and handless arms shot up to his throat instinctively and his body began to rise slowly from the hot volcanic ground.
"Who was that Jedi who attacked me?" Jaster demanded, sensing with a tinge of anger that Jakome was making his way slowly down the cliff. He'd ruin everything with his talk of the dark side and righteousness! "Who was he!" He squeezed harder, and the tips of the Sith's feet left the ground as the force grip lifted him fully into the air, his throat in unimaginable pain. He could barley speak.
"He … w-w-was … n-new …" He managed to sputter, "I don't k-know where …"
"WHAT WAS HIS NAME?"
"Don't … k-now …"
"LIAR!" He squeezed harder, and lifted the dying Sith high above his head; Jaster felt the rush of force behind him, his Master pushing him forward telekinetically from behind, he stumbled, releasing the Sith, the man fell soundlessly, his face still in the grips of the utmost agony as his fall was broken by a pile of jagged volcanic rocks; he was dead. Jaster spun on his Master, his own push was violent and caught the Jedi off guard.
"Idiot!" He screamed through the painful slash in his helmet, he just noticed the rush of hot air brushing over his injured face, and he reached up to tear his helmet impatiently from his face. "You ruined everything!"
"My god, Jaster …" Jakome whispered, stepping cautiously towards his tormented student. "Your face, we need to get you back to the academy …"
"No!" Jakome bellowed, his fury now reaching a fever pitch. "That Sith was a Mandalorian, and I let him get away! YOU let him get away when you distracted me!"
"Jaster …" the Master warned the student cautiously, "Be careful, my student, I sense the dark side in you …"
Mereel's red blade came up and a glint passed through his eyes that sent a shudder up the teacher's spine.
"Jaster, don't!" He said, his blade coming up, "We can get you back to the academy, and we can find this Sith! Don't do something stupid!" But the student had already made his mind up; this damned Jedi had gotten in his way long enough …