The Jedi Adventure
--sparkvallen
Original characters belong - of course - to Lucasfilm and used for entertainment purposes only. Other characters are based on real folk and are used for entertainment purposes too!
Readers: Thank you so much for your support, your awesome reviews and "kicks in the muse" over the past several months! -Cath
Chapter Thirteen
"Poor little Jedi clone of mine," Raefen taunted as she circled Sapharin.
Her crimson lightsaber flashed out toward the Jedi Knight several times, not touching her, but simply to show her control and trying to make Sapharin flinch. Sapharin remained strong and seemingly unaffected by the tormented.
"I'm no relation to you," Sapharin responded, her brown eyes flashing with annoyance. "This is just a strange coincidence!"
"Tsk, tsk," Raefen replied, continuing to circle her. Her words were clearly sarcastic, despite being truthful. "Didn't your Jedi Masters teach you that there are no coincidences, only the movements of the Force?"
"Nevertheless."
"Weren't you so bold, coming up here to make ruin my plans…? I'll admit this was a creative plot you hatched, Jedi, but you must realize now that you'll never succeed."
"Your over-confidence is your weakness," Sapharin said firmly. She drew on the Force to make her words strong, even as she again scrambled from the taunting lightsaber.
"Your faith in your friends is yours," Raefen replied. She raised an eyebrow as her blue eyes glinted with menace. "Yes, I realize what the prisoners are attempting. Yes, I know there's the other Jedi Knight aboard this vessel who's going to try and undo everything."
Sapharin was resolute. "We'll succeed and you'll eat those words."
"You'll eat my crimson blade, you sniveling Jedi!"
"I don't think so!"
The two women turned toward the sound of the male voice that had spoken. Z'Trooper! His own blade was ignited. Raefen's gaze darkened as she glared at him. With a broad, triumphant smile, he lobbed Sapharin's lightsaber to her where she crouched unsteadily on the floor. Sapharin had her bright blue blade extended as the hilt touched her palm; rising to her feet, she and Raefen were suddenly equally matched.
"Now GO!" Saph shouted at Z'Trooper.
He raised his blade in salute and bolted for the command deck; Z'Trooper already had heard that the prisoners had nearly breached the security doors so it was only a matter of time now.
Sapharin looked to Raefen. "You were saying…?"
And the duel had begun. Enraged at the now equal playing field, Raefen struck first, swinging her blade quickly and with force at Sapharin's midsection. Sapharin smile as she relaxed into the Force's embrace; her wrists twisted expertly to block the blade and force it aside.
"Impressive, most impressive," Raefen said, half-serious.
"I paid attention in class." Sapharin launched forward, pushing with upper body strength to drive her blue blade at Raefen's shoulder.
The Sith side-stepped and quickly brought her blade back around in a slash toward the Jedi's neck.
Well, this will be interesting, Sapharin thought as the duel raged on.
Planetside, Ebony and Talon stared with surprise at the exchange between Spark and the woman whom they had initially known as Darth Demetra. Having anticipated battle considering the blast of Force Lightning they'd blocked, the two Jedi were shocked and a touch disbelieving when Spark had talked Dee down from the Sith path.
Ebony and Talon exchanged glances, and then Ebony finally asked loud enough for all to hear, "Can she be trusted?"
Demetra raised a delicate eyebrow and looked back at Ebony. "She doesn't pull any punches, now does she, Sparkler?"
Spark held her breath a moment, feeling entirely caught. Both were her friends and the animosity and distrust she sensed through the Force were unnerving. Closing her eyes, she drew on the Force for calm and inner strength - finally, she exhaled and looked at Demetra as she answered Ebony: "She's trustworthy."
Her word was enough for Ebony and for Talon. Their understanding spiraled through the Force to Spark and to Dee. From Dee was nothing but quiet gratitude - she smiled softly.
"Shall we, then?"
Spark nodded and the trio of Jedi fell in step with Dee, leaving the battleground of their near-duel. Demetra obviously had a destination in mind but nothing more was immediately spoken. They proceeded through the city, citizens even more wary now to see four Force users together; unsure whether they were friend or foe, the locals opted to avoid contact at all than run the risk of coming up against a Sith.
Talon moved up to walk alongside Demetra. Giving her a sidelong smile, he studied the twin sheaths for her lightsabers. Pointing at them for a moment, he said, "Pretty cool. Unique, at least."
She smiled wryly at the young man's compliment. Demetra considered the traditional robes of the Jedi and laughed. "One thing you can say for the Sith is that they have a far better fashion sense than the Jedi."
Ebony's smile was forced - she looked at Spark who shrugged. "What are you going to become now, Demetra?" she asked.
Dee slowed as she thought about her answer. What did she become now? Lady Raefen would kill her outright for his ultimate betrayal. But could she become a Jedi like these three?
"There's always hope," Talon said, as though he sensed her thoughts.
Dee nodded and replied to Ebony. "There's always hope for a better life."
"What's our actual plan now?" Ebony asked, persisting.
"Contact your other team of Jedi. Tell them to call off their strikes," she said. "They're just going to get themselves killed if they keep hassling the Sith sites. We'll destroy the Sith from the inside."
Talon made comlink contact with Joni as they continued to walk. He quickly explained the turn of events and how the fallen Sith was going to assist them.
"There should be back-up from the Jedi and the New Republic on its way," Spark offered. "Navigating the black holes and anomalies in space to get here is something else."
"So I've heard," Dee said, her voice cool suddenly.
"Haven't been away from here?"
She shook her head no. "The Sith arrived, I was lured in and here I've remained." Changing the subject, Demetra asked, "You had a team go to the prison ship too, didn't you?"
Thoughts turned toward Sapharin and Z'Trooper. Ebony asked, warily, "How did you know that?"
"My… Lady Raefen had insisted on going to the prison ship. I couldn't understand why," she divulged. "She must have sensed a disturbance there, just as she anticipated your activities here."
Talon blanched visibly. He stopped walking altogether and stared at Demetra. "Our friends… our fellow Jedi are up there--" Talon looked to skyward, "--with a fully trained Sith Mistress?"
Demetra nodded, reluctantly. "Yes."
As the very duel that Talon and Demetra had just inferred raged on in the corridors of the prison ship, Z'Trooper and the Force users thrust their way onto the command deck. The rush of adrenaline and desperation fueled their efforts as the newly trained used their powers to hurl flight officers away from their stations. Z'Trooper charged in with his lightsaber blazing.
"Take me to your leader!" he cried out.
His cohorts paused for a moment and gaped at him.
Z'Trooper couldn't hold back a smile, then a shrug. "I've always wanted to say that…"
With the overwhelming number of Force users who'd stormed onto the deck, it wasn't terribly difficult to overtake the Sith officers. Z'Trooper's work in creating technological havoc had paved the way to their success on the bridge.
"Sir, an incoming message from the planet!"
Z'Trooper turned, a frown lining his features. He looked to Carl who looked at the Sith comm. officer. "Um. Who's calling?"
"A Jedi Ebony and, well, who we knew as Darth Demetra," the comm. officer replied.
"Darth Demetra?" he shouted. "If she's taken Ebony hostage, I swear I'll--!"
Z'Trooper's threat was lost in Carl's voice which overpowered his harsh tone. "Z'Trooper! It was Ebony who initiated contact. They have a plan for us to put into motion!"
He flushed slightly red at jumping to conclusions. Of course Ebony could out-fight a Sith to get access codes or whatever was needed! he thought.
"Then what is the call about?"
"They've worked out a communication to send from this vessel where Lady Raefen is," Carl reported. "To announce a retreat!"
"A retreat?" Z'Trooper was truly puzzled. "But aren't we supposed to…"
"That's what Ebony says. Explicitly."
"Oh, hang on." Z'Trooper marched over to the comm. console to speak to her directly.
Carl obliging stepped out of the Jedi's way and turned to assisting his fellow former prisoners in keeping watch over the Sith officers they had just taken.
"Z'Trooper, this is for real. The Sith who had been groundside was someone Spark knew," Ebony explained quickly. "She walked away from her path and is assisting us by turning the Sith on their head. You need to send out the coded message to the rest of the fleet and to the ground forces to order a retreat."
"How do you know this ex-Sith can be trusted?" he wanted to know.
"Because Spark trusts her. She trusted her with her life and the woman came through. I trust Spark so I'm willing to trust Demetra," Ebony replied. "Now, please. Send the message as this Raefen--"
"Raefen! Oh my gods, Sapharin!" Z'Trooper cried. "I left her with the Sith!"
"You what?" came four anxious voices through the comlink.
"She insisted! Look: there's no time to explain all of this for sure now," he said. "The message is on its way to the fleet and forces in moments and hopefully, the New Republic and Skywalker are on their way. Z'Trooper out."
"You're tiring…" Raefen observed.
"You're annoying," Sapharin replied. If she was weary at all, it was from the Sith Mistress' never-ending barrage of verbal taunts.
The duel continued, neither giving ground enough to press their attack far enough to over-power the other. For all purposes, the look-a-like women seemed equally matched for Force powers and lightsaber skill. They were at a stalemate.
"You can't win this. How do you expect a rag-tag bag of prisoners and you two Jedi to pull this off?"
Saph smiled a knowing, victorious sort of smile. Her brown eyes lit up with delight as she jabbed viciously at Raefen. "Because… we may have learned detachment, but we haven't forgotten how to love! We love our homeworld and our families!"
Raefen faltered and Sapharin pressed her offensive harder, forcing the Sith backward until she was nearly pinned between herself and the bulkhead.
"You're… you're from here?" Raefen's thoughts immediately went to her apprentice, Demetra.
"Yes, you attacked our world!"
If the Jedi could get so riled up and territorial about their world, Raefen began to seriously worry about Demetra. What would the toll be on her as this war raged on? Would her Sith Apprentice remain loyal to her, or would she end up defending her homeworld in the end?
Raefen's questions were answered by the blaring klaxon of an announcement to withdraw and to retreat. It was over the ship-wide communication system; the Sith Mistress knew she'd been betrayed and that Demetra had to have provided the very authorization codes that would send ground forces scattering and the fleet out of the system! Her throat erupted in a scream as she attacked Sapharin with renewed gusto, her strikes wild and aimless as rage coursed through her system.
She was strong but out of control. Sapharin parried and blocked until Raefen had left herself open for one very quick thrust. Impaled on the blue lightsaber blade, Raefen screamed until she had nothing left in her to voice. Sapharin stepped back and the Sith crumpled to the ground. The Jedi Knight stared down in anguished horror at her counterpart as she breathed her last, saying not another word.
Only Z'Trooper's heavy-booted run up the corridor broke her from her staring at the corpse. "Saph! You're alright!" he shouted, shaking her by the shoulders.
"Killed her, I did…" Her voice was hollow.
Z'Trooper nodded, his expression suddenly solemn. "I'm sure you had little choice, Sapharin. This is the nature of the path we've elected to walk - we knew it, but living it now is a little different."
She forced herself to look away. Sapharin reclipped her deactivated hilt to her belt.
"We have to go now. the ships are going to go into lightspeed and we don't want to be on here when they get to wherever they are going," Z'Trooper said, guiding her up the corridor to the escape pods.
"The others?"
"Already started evacuating once I gave the signal to the fleet."
She nodded, numb. "Spark, Falco and everyone…?"
Z'Trooper half-smiled as he urged her into one of the escape pods. He crawled in beside her, Carl and Myrna who had led the prisoners into revolution. "Everyone's fine and you'll never believe who has been helping them down there."
"Who?"
"Raefen's apprentice. In all of this, they managed to turn someone back from the Darkside!"
The New Republic fleet arrived with many of the Jedi Order aboard its vessels just as the Sith fleet jumped to lightspeed. The Republic fleet would surely pursue, being able to chart possible trajectories of their escape. With Raefen dead and Demetra defecting from the Sith, their leadership had been thwarted which would leave the fleet at a loss for a necessary chain of command. The Sith threat was effectively finished at the hands of one who had turned back from the darkness and a handful of newly minted Jedi Knights.
Their reunion was tearful and joyous on their homeworld as the escape pods crash-landed and they vacated the tiny pods for fresh air and familiar surroundings. Empowered by the fact that the Sith had become so scattered, local governments were quick to scrambled to action and take back their land. The rest of the Jedi returned planetside to rendezvous with the new Knights, Demetra and Kyp Durron.
After several minutes of bowing and hugging, Luke Skywalker finally addressed them.
"Jedi, you have done more than we could have hoped for here. You have truly proven yourselves worthy of your Knighthoods," he said, casting a glance at Kyp who had unilaterally approved their promotions. "The fleet will track down the Sith vessels that had fled the system. A world owes you their thanks."
Joni, Falco, Ebony, Talon, Z'Trooper, Spark and Sapharin all bowed. They had survived, had saved the world they called home and lived to tell about it as the first Jedi Knights to come from such a backwater planet.
"They owe their thanks to her," Talon said, pointing out Demetra who had been virtually crawling inside herself throughout the impromptu ceremony. "Dee was able to find truth when Spark encountered her. She walked away from the Sith path and provided us with the final keys to vanquishing the Sith threat here."
Corran Horn stepped in front of Dee. Nearly a head taller than her, the lithe Jedi Master smiled. "Walking away from darkness is no small feat," he said, speaking only to her. "You have our esteem, Demetra."
She blushed, but her eyes were sparkling as she stared back at him. "Please. Why don't you call me Dee…?"
Spark laughed, knowing just by knowing Dee what she was saying. She didn't nearly need the Force for that!
"What… happens now?" Falco finally asked. "I mean… we were in training when we got sent here. And Kyp told us we were Knights. And you just said we were worthy! But… like… what happens now?"
"You'll return to the galaxy as Jedi Knights, guardians of peace and justice, as you've proven yourselves to be," Corran said, his hazel gaze lingering on Demetra before looking back to the Jedi Knights.
"I'm staying here."
Heads turned to gaze upon Ebony. She stared straight-forward at Luke Skywalker, her expression serious and severe.
"So am I," Z'Trooper added.
At this, Sapharin gasped. She thought for a moment of this as a personal slight, that Z'Trooper wouldn't want to keep working with her as such a fine team as she thought they'd made. It was Ebony who spoke up again, explaining though what the two friends were thinking exactly.
"This is our world. And for all that we've learned as Jedi, this is just where we need to be," she said. Z'Trooper nodded in agreement. "There is need for a Jedi presence here just as much as anywhere else in the galaxy and--"
"--and perhaps even more so now that we've been thrust into a position of knowing."
Everyone nodded as it made logical sense, despite the impact that as Jedi Knights, their paths would go in different directions. For now though, it was a time for celebration… and with all they had endured over many months, that was enough.