-Resurgence in the Force. Jedi Padawan Oswald Menson has managed to unlock a centuries old Force sensitive subcategory that could wreak irreparable damage on the Galaxy. As the two distinct entities of the Force close in on his position, he must choose the best way out of the predicament… Or endure complete failure.-
Chapter 28. It's risky either way
"So a millennium passed without anybody meeting a Sith with injurious tendencies?"
"Is it so hard for you to accept such a past?"
"That is not the hard part, Mis Unknown."
She pauses.
"I see. You don't have a procedure prepared for dealing with such an anomaly."
"No, I do not. The fact that the tendencies endured 1000 years of submergence from the sight of the Force sensitives leads me to believe that there is no verified way of addressing this issue."
The waves of the sea below their rugs start to peter out.
"That is one aspect of the situation that you will have to address, Oswald."
"I presume you see another one?"
"It is something you have failed to notice in my explanation of what you've unleashed on the World."
"I doubt that."
"There is doubt within you, but there is none of it, when it comes to the thing I'm pointing at."
"You desire another guess?"
"Preferably."
The female shows a very short smile before her face reverts to a serious look.
"I'll even provide you with a hint."
"That would be nice of you."
"Just because you did not notice the Destructive genes hidden within the Tholothian girl, does not mean no one in the Order did not."
Menson thinks a bit, ways the possible beings that could accomplish such a feat. It went from 20 to 10, then to 8, then – 6. Lastly, only two Force sensitives made enough of a compelling argument to be presented to the Living Force.
"If I had to guess, one of Master Yoda or Mace Windu consciously identified the unknown hazardous make-up of her biological basis."
"Almost correct. They both became aware at roughly the same time."
"I don't think they approached it with the view: 'Let's see, how this work out'."
"That was not the attitude towards the issue."
The blonde male's confidence rises up again.
"So they reacted in an overly precautious matter."
"They suppressed her hazardous side at a very young age. Obviously, it was painful. The tactic seemed to be affective, since they could not identify the hostility through the Force."
"They altered her growth."
"For the sake of protecting the Order."
"A bit of an oversight by them. They could have easily rejected her acceptance into the Order and let her live out her life in peace."
"Who says that the genes don't die naturally?"
"Being lost naturally & being suppressed by someone are not the same thing." – Menson says in an apathetic tone.
"That is the past."
"Without a doubt."
Menson finally got most of the answers, when it came to Katooni's status. One might be proud of the gained knowledge; however, he chose the opposite route. 1 singular question still lingered in his mind. The Living Force knew it, waited for its presentation.
A couple of minutes pass.
"You aren't sure of yourself?"
"That is an exaggeration."
"Is it? Then please tell me, what are your future plans centered around the Tholothian girl?"
"They are scattered,…Incohesive."
"True. I can sense doubt in your ability to help her."
"She is too unique. I've not witnessed such a ferocious dark side presence within a being in all my life."
Sadness appears on the stage.
"It is a monumental task you have on your hands right now. I know what you're thinking right now."
"That's logical."
"Your trying to imagine a positive scenario of her returning to the Order. An understandable preference, given your responsibilities. Your instincts, foresight are dismissing it every single time you want to act upon it. Then you're trying to imagine a scenario, in which you keep her with yourself, but don't expose her to the grandiose plan that was initiated by you & and the others. Same result."
"It is hard for me to conceive of a reality, where both of us thrive."
"You must deal with that in the Physical World, Oswald. Make no mistake about it – the two institutions are active on this case."
"I've anticipated that."
"But do you have a substantial counter measure?"
The sadness deepens.
"I was not expecting such a gigantic change to occur."
A minute of no talking.
"As a closing remark, I'll give you one last advice."
"Which is?"
"Do not forget, what makes you, who you are."
"The care for others."
"More – compassion. She is young and the future is not set in stone. Do not chose the easiest path."
She disappears; quickly after, Mundi's Padawans eyes open up. A slow look around to assess the surroundings happens.
"Whooo! I did not fell off."
He finds himself on the same branch before the meditation. With little hesitation, he jumps down from it.
"She'll be awake in 2 hours. There is no need to stand here like some kind of a lost person."
The being walks back to the Varna's house.
01:00 Coruscant Time, Jedi Temple War Room, 2 days 17 hours till the Vote.
"Your serious?" – Luminara asks.
"Very. I can't see any other explanation than there's someone here, in the Temple, who is sending information to Menson on a frequent basis." – Mace answers.
Luminara Undhuli tries to grasp Windu's plan.
"You intend to identify, who it is?"
Windu shows just a cold, emotionless face. The second strongest Force sensitive within the Order motions his fingers around the central panel of the War room's hollo-projector. It is a search, just not a very fluent one.
"I have this inkling that there is more than one member of the Order who is aligned with Menson."
"Mix in the fact that we don't know, how long has this 'group' been active."
"And we get a greatly dangerous scenario. This could ensue…"
Master Undhuli quickly looks at the entrance into the War room. Some signs of worry were clearly visible in her face.
"…Are you implying a rift?"
"That is the worst thing that can happen, Mace. If word gets out that we trialed the strongest Padawan at the time for a crime, which turns out she did not commit, and a week later we act in a similar way again, the perception of the Order could plummet to disastrous lows. Such not seen in centuries."
"I understand your position. If every single Padawan attains such information, we'll be in tremendously hostile environment for a fairly long time."
"That is why I advise you to maintain a certain high level of understanding. You know what happens if you accuse a Padawan of insurgency against the Council on suspicion?"
"Hah!"
Windu looks back at the hollo-projector's central panel.
"There is no going back."
"Precisely."
She walks closer to him.
"If your full attention is aimed towards said goal, make sure it doesn't sway."
The advice is given in a lightest of tones. Soon after, the War room's occupancy status shrinks in half.
30 minutes later.
"Sir!" – a clone trooper shouted.
"Yes, Commander?"
"Master Windu is requesting your presence in the communication's room."
"Thank you. Tell him I'm on my way."
"Will do, sir."
Master Bangad got up from a grey supply crate & started marching towards the communication room. A singular Jedi Master request for a Jedi Knight – a rarity. Usually, at least to Masters were present, when a much needed situation needed to be discussed with a Knight. Bangad was aware of this reality, so he quickly started creating reasons for this event. Meanwhile, Kelan Elanesquil was feeling a bit hampered by the Force. The orange skinned Twi'lek female experienced several shots of agony to her heart.
"Ahhhhh! Why…Is this happening?"
She collapsed on her knees to the ground. The atmosphere around her became denser, heavy breathing followed her collapse. The connection to the Force tilted confidently to the suffering scale.
"Something's not right again."
A miraculously simple explanation came to her mind. Unfortunately, it did not dilute the pain.
"No! No! It... Can't be right."
The breathing became even more harder.
"If the last one was Zane, this…This…This…Has to be…"
She concentrated all her mental strength and angled it towards stifling the suffering just for a few seconds. It worked; consequently, she managed to land her left forearm on a window sill.
"It's Oswald. That is the absolute truth. Nothing else can even come close."
Finally, the pain started to dissolve. The 17 year old wasted no time in using this opportunity; a dash towards the communication room.
Sometimes, emotional beings become somewhat infested by a singular feeling, which trounces all others & aims said beings towards a goal. A goal that might be disastrous in the long time. Such is the condition of the thinking ones: what reasons or motivations come from the conscious self and what come – from the unconscious self is an eternal question with no definitive answers. The seemingly adrenaline consumed Twi'lek female rushed towards the communication room. The more rational & safe choice of contacting her friend from her very own hollo-projector erased itself from the mind. The clone troopers in the hallway didn't seem fazed by this sequence; their experience more likely than not had nullified all imaginable surprising viewings. The pain from the Force was increasing with every minute.
"Why me? Again? So soon?!" – Kelan thought to herself.
On the way to the designated room, she miraculously managed to sense a familiar Force signature right up a head, barely 20 meters (~66 feet) abridged from it. Due to that, she rapidly lessened her pace.
"This is no coincidence."
Her Master had something to do with her friend. Given all of the things that have transpired in the past half an hour, a positive outcome was judged to be a hard achievement by the 17 year old Padawan.
"I'm ready."
"Patching him through now." – an officer said.
Soon, an image of Mace Windu appeared.
"Master Bangad."
"Master Windu."
"I trust that there is a great reason for your call."
"The reason is definitely one that I could not ignore."
Bangad quickly identified the seriousness of Windu's tone. The subject matter was not going to be a lighthearted one; not that he expected anything else – most Padawans attributed the title of 'least likely to be excited Master' to him. Even though it was underground knowledge, Elanesquil's master with little assistance caught such a vibe through the years of walking in the hallways of the Jedi Temple.
"Is your Padawan present?"
"No."
"Good. It would be wiser to maintain such conditions until we're done."
The statement shredded any amount of doubt about the topic at hand.
"Understood. Officer, close the entrance."
"Right away, sir."
The talk's nature swiftly became more elusive. Master Bangad's character's adjustment to the circumstances unavoidably made him less susceptive to other events around him. Consequently, it allowed a special person to accomplish something that may be proven in the future to be devastating to the Master's plans.
"Padawan Menson isn't dead."
"No, he is not, but he is the center of our subject matter."
"What has happened with him?"
Mace took a minute to gain more confidence, arrange the words in the best way possible.
"The Council has agreed to trial Padawan Menson."
"On what grounds?" – Bangad quickly asked.
"Withholding vital or, at the very least, important information from the Council."
"May I ask, what sparked such a drastic reaction at precisely today?"
"As you probably already know, there was an enormous surge of dark side energy today."
"I remember feeling something similar to your description."
"That surge…Originated from Naboo."
Master Bangad had to readjust a few of his views.
"Tell me, Mace. Is it the worst possible thing? You believe he's turned to the dark side?"
"Hah. No, that is not what I or any other Council member sensed."
"That's the one positive that I'll take from this."
"As you should, because that is the only one I perceive. Padawan Menson still possesses knowledge about the event that created that dark side eruption."
"All right. What is it you would like me to do?"
"Inform your Padawan that she mustn't contact Menson in the coming 24 hours… On any account." – Windu ended with a gravely serious voice.
"That is all?"
"Yes, Master Bangad."
He nodded first; the transmission ended. Almost immediately, the Force began sending him warning signals, which contained within themselves a certain sense of familiarity.
"The concern is directed from someone that I have a deep connection with."
An idea came in like a rocket into a wall.
"Kelan!"
A unordinary notion appeared in front of his mind.
"Officer."
"Yes, General."
"Are there any transmission going out of the room?"
The officer decided to check; in the motion of doing that, a specific sound went off from a shelf within the hollo-projector's basis. Bangad swiftly found the object that created it. It was… His Padawan's communicator.
"Sir! There was an open line that ended just a few second ago."
He in a maniac manner turned to 2 other officers in the room.
"I want an immediate shut down of the base! Right now! No one gets in or out for at least an hour!"
"Yes, sir."
The whole room descended into movement.
"Anyone that tries to leave the fortress is to be stunned and brought to me. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
Several seconds went by; Bangad took a deep breath.
"Oh, Kelan. Your care for Oswald might lead to your demise."
Right after Bangad's and Windu's talk ends. The orange skinned female was running in a not so different emotional state towards the fortress' wall. The adrenaline had not faded in strength, just strong, direct determination achieved the same level. She was wearing her Jedi typical grey cloak, black high-top shoes & a restrained, no ornament displayed black skirt.
"How could everything change so drastically for the three of us in… 3 days? Unbelievable. Crazy."
Her breathing was almost perfect, aloud her to keep a high succession ratio of her plan. Since Elanesquil realized the inevitable, unwanted outcome before Mace expressed it, a head start over Bangad was gained. This gap proved enough for her to get less than 200 meters (~660 feet) to the Confederacy's fortress' wall.
"I'll make it out of here. I have to."
All of a sudden, a clone yelled from a fair distance:
"Stop her!"
She did not derail herself, continued towards her goal. 150…140…130…120…110…100. The clones were closing in from all sides; some on the wall even managed to get into a preferable position.
"Alright. Let's stun her." – said one clone.
"Come on." – said another one.
More than 10 shots were fired; all were easily countered with a blue lightsaber.
"Not happening."
90…80…70…60…50. The wall's height had consumed more than half of her sight.
"Time to put my experience to the test."
40…30…20. Then she aimed both of her palms downward and simultaneously jumped. The Padawan soared through the air, confidently dispatching the stun shots from her fellow fighters of the Republic. The grey cloak wavered chaotically in the air until she landed with her feet, rolled front first one time.
"Hah! That was exhausting."
She started to feel the adrenaline leave her body.
"Still have to get away from here." – she said while breathing out.
The Force sensitive started to distance herself from the fortress.
20:30 Naboo time, off planet.
"I should be at the point of origin in 4 hours, Master."
"Very good, Acolyte. Just make sure not to overestimate the cause of all of this."
"I'll keep all that you've taught me in mind, when I'm steps away from the cause."
"Good hunting, Acolyte." – Dooku said the first two words in such a joyfully sadistic manner.
She nodded.
On planet. The view through the lens of the berry blue curtains of the guest room kept Mundi's Padawan's mind in a harmonious state. The fronts that required his attention hadn't shrunk a bit since the last time he revisited them. Yes, he did achieve some progress, when it came to Katooni's situation. Yet, the conclusion was not of a sufficive nature. Then there is the aspect of what the Living Force advised him not to do at the end of their 'talk'. Strong reservations of his abilities' limitations would have been perceived as delusional thinking a week ago. A week. 7 days. That is the quantity of days it took for so many aspects of his life to change. The scenario's weren't looking any different than before. Oswald and Katooni's relationship was on extremely brittle ground. Adding to the unique sight, the Human male also had a mug of red tea in his right palm; the alluring fragrance of the drink could easily be felt.
Suddenly, someone moved. That someone opened his eyes and took in the surroundings. A quick understanding of the place of being led to a question.
"Oswald?"
The 19 year old slowly turned his head to the left. Quite bizarrely, his partner was eye stretching upward.
"I'm here, Katooni." – he said and followed suite with a smile.
"I was worried that you might be gone."
"Well, I'm here."
Seeing her wake up caused a cheerfulness resurge within him. While he took steps slowly towards a chair near the end of his bed, she shimmied her way a bit more out of the covers. A couple of minutes later, the Padawan was sitting as comfortably as he could on a chair, the Youngling displayed her upper body more openly, the lower part of her body remained under the bedsheet.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better than before."
"That's good. It means my technique worked."
The Tholothian girl decided to swerve the conversation down an invocative path.
"About that technique. What was it? I've never seen it in any of our classes."
Oswald's uneasiness reappeared.
"It is a… Special technique, Katooni. One not practiced by most Force sensitives, especially in the Jedi Order."
The 12 year old grasped the deeper meaning.
"It requires a Force sensitive for it to work."
"Correct. It has no effect on material objects."
She lifted her hands from her sides and placed them downward on the covers.
"Tell me, Oswald. Don't lie to me. I want to know."
The middle sentence was said in a different tone than the other two. It was treated as a clue by the farseeing one.
"You want to know what, Katooni?"
"What happened to me?"
"You mean,… What occurred with you after the tunnel's disappearance?"
"Yes. I can't move past it if I don't fully understand it."
Menson took a sip of his tea, arranged the words into an organized way.
"There was an explosion of dark side energy. One of gigantic quantity. It knocked both of us unconscious for a short period of time."
"Then what?"
"Then I woke up, identified the space around him. It was smothering every tiny bit of light side that I expressed. A bit more time and I realized that you had been unconscious too. So I ran over too you, but…"
"But what? What stopped you?"
"You. Or more precisely – your movement. You stood up faster than I did."
"Well, that's not comforting me."
"Obviously, not."
"Then what happened?"
"You said you were unlocked, that the Jedi had subdued you, but now you've returned to the living."
"I said those things?"
"Yes. Also, there was one crucial detail of your face that changed & informed me there was something wrong with you."
"What was it?"
"Your eyes. The sapphire blue hue had been replaced by a red one."
"My eyes were red?"
"Completely red, Katooni."
The 12 year old became to feel uneasy too; moreover, the emotion was bigger and growing in size faster than the 19 year old ones.
"Calm down, Katooni. Your eyes are completely normal now."
"Are you certain?"
"Extremely certain."
The tenseness plateaued.
"I was not myself. I…Wanted to hurt you." – she continued in a shivering voice.
"Yes."
The girl lowered her eyes to the admiral blue rug.
"That's… Frightening, Oswald. I'm scared of what I might become."
"There is the advantage of not being in the Temple right now. Your whole…, for lack of a better name, emotional state can be stabilized, while we're here."
"It might…Or it might not. I've never confronted anything close to this. Have you?"
"No. What I saw today with you is an unseen event."
She was anxious, felt substantially uneasy about her Future as a Padawan, in larger scale – life in general. Red eyes and wanting to hurt Oswald. Those two details almost evaporated all her confidence in her ability to carry on in life.
The Tholothian girl returned her eyes back on Mundi's Padawan. He looked unchanged from the last time she saw him sitting.
"How long was I asleep?"
"8 hours."
"That explains why I feel so weak."
"You should rest more, Katooni. We can dissect all of your 'state' in the morning."
"That sound reasonable, Oswald. I really could use…"
All of a sudden, she reluctantly darted her head diagonally up, closed her eyes. Oswald rapidly came to the conclusion that it resembled the seizure from before. Though before he could act, the Youngling's head returned to its normal position, eyes reopened.
"So you're the one, who unleashed this…Plague onto the Galaxy." – she spoke in a constrained malicious way.
"A wise guess,… Sith."
"No surprise? Expected. After all, you did see the Destructive side of her first."
Different than previously, now Katooni's eyes were colored in an amber yellow hue.
"Care to entertain a guess."
"Depends? Is it long-lasting?"
"Long enough." – Oswald answered in an emotionless tone.
This initiated a change in the Youngling's emotional state.
"I'm growing fonder of you with every second. You do not feel disgusted, when delving into the dark side of the Force. For that, I will succumb to your wish. Ask away."
"Does your appearance mean that there are 3 of you within one body?"
"That is correct, Young One."
A callous smile showed itself.
"With you breaking the chains of the Destructive genes, you've thrown her emotional state, mind into extreme disarray. This lets me & the one who lusts for harm appear not so difficultly."
She closed her eyes, peered into the Force. The blonde male remained fixated on her.
"So I should expect to see more of you and Her in the Future?"
"You can easily bet on that. However, I'm not sure you are going to live to attain that fortune."
"You know something I don't?"
"I feel something easier than you. Anyway, the light side was right. Weakness does seem to be dominant now."
In a few seconds Katooni's eyes became blue again and then…She slammed her upper body to the pillow, luckily, not injuring her tendrils or head, tilted her head and entered the dream world. Soon, Oswald said:
"It's still expanding."
Between 01:00 & 02:00 Naboo time. Nothing. Nothing effortlessly detectable was playing out outside Miss Varna's village-type house. The three constant residents were happily emerged in their dreams, the bodies, the mind enjoying the much required rest. The two guests, who were sleeping the same room, experienced a different feel. Katooni was at least half-way calm; the other half transmitted several waves of distinctly separate emotions. Oswald was lying on his right side, eyes pointed closer to the window, wearing only dark grey boxer shorts. The semi-toned build of his body did pronounce the left, top shoulder fairly obviously. From the face, the 19 year old appeared to be enjoying his rejuvenation. Sadly, it ends abruptly, when the Force floods his mind with signals of sorrow. An effort to block them has no success. So, more than a dozen seconds later, his eyelids shoot up & his left hand swiftly lands on the side of the face.
"Aaaaaah. That stings."
With the desire not to wake up Katooni, he expresses his displeasure unorthodoxly.
"What is the Force thinking of waking me up at night?"
A quick realization of the pointlessness of that question.
"Oh yeah. It doesn't take into account… The cycle… Of a being's day."
The waves of sorrow double. Therefore, the blonde haired male's hand grips the face more tightly.
"Alright. I understand."
He takes his covers off, changes from lying to sitting on the bed.
"There is a threat nearby."
He peers into the Force with the goal of sensing anybody close by. A person is picked up moderately fast; less than 50 meters (~160 feet) away from Varna's house. The presence is…Of dark side origin. This fact immediately triggers quicker movement from Menson. He leaves the bed, dresses up & latches his lightsaber to his belt. All the while, the Tholothian girl remains still.
"I don't want to leave through the main door. That way I might wake them up."
He turns his head to the window at the far side of the room.
"That'll do. I just need one object."
Less than 10 minutes to 02:00. The Togurtan female was slowly making her way up the gravel pavement, when she senses someone moving.
"It's coming from that building, which is near the origin of the dark side's release."
A cold-hearted expression comes from her face.
"Very intriguing."
A new thought up technique of approach is implemented.
Mundi's Padawan was walking to the front of the house through the right side; the trees were visible on the other side. It wasn't so much jet black around as it was 20% illuminated. Still not the best conditions for seeing, understanding one's surroundings.
"Hmmm."
He quickly peers into the Force; a new conclusion presents itself.
"The being is closer than before."
Soon, Oswald stops walking and looks over to the trees.
"There is no presence there. It is void of the person that I seek."
Astoundingly, the insightful one hears a lightsaber ignition, turns his head to that direction… & has to swiftly block a swipe coming in for his head. A red-green lock raises the illumination of the area.
"Ahhh!" – the red holder says, while jumping back off of Menson to reach the ground.
The distance between them becomes 3 steps. Mundi's Padawan lowers his green lightsaber a little; adjusts his minds, emotions to better fit the current occasion.
"A shame. I was looking forward to silencing your life." – Chariza says.
"Your just going to have to live with that disappointment."
"Don't worry, Lesser One. I will overpower my distaste for it with your extinction not to long from now."
"If it was that easy, Sith, you wouldn't have tried the sneak attack in the first place."
The Togrutan female's amber yellow eyes start burning violently.
"Such confidence. I can wait to… Vanquish it."
She removes her hood, revealing her alien origin. The red lightsaber coupled with their particularly small distance in-between lets her opponent recognize her race's features.
"A Togrutan Sith."
"Correct. And also, your vanquisher."
"That'll be tested very soon."
"Agreed."
They stop talking and stare down each other; both seem from the side to be trying to anticipate each other's movement. The seriousness of this event wasn't diminished by either combatant. Harm was all but a matter of time.
After a minute of static standing, the dark side affiliate initiates her attack. A lunge towards the chest of the light side affiliate is in motion. The 19 year old blocks it without much depletion of energy. The swipes it downward & makes a slashing move on the Acolyte. She quickly reaches back her blades to block the attack. Now they become locked in a 'X' or '+" position with the green being on top. In terms off power level, Oswald outclasses Chariza by a crazily small amount (8000 to 7900).
"Not bad, Jedi. You were going for a final strike."
"Good observation, Sith."
"Too bad for you, this will not be that easy." – the female says in a mocking way.
"I'm just getting started." – Menson returns in a cold-hearted voice.
The 'X' lock is broken and, once again, the attacker is Chariza. She tries several fast upper, than lower swipes at the upper body of Menson. He blocks each one in a truly masterful way; large self-confidence was emitting. This type of fight leads them further from the house, little by little.
Several minutes later, back at the house. Astoundingly, Katooni's eyelids shoot up very quickly.
"Something is happening."
In an insanely fast time, her blue sapphire eyes start to become amber yellow.
"No. I don't want that."
"You can't really stop it in your current condition."
The yellow was overcoming more & more of the blue.
"No, no. I…Can't stop it."
"No, you can't. But…"
"If you don't want the red eyes back, you can allow me to intermix with your light side. Then you'll be able to see, what I desire to see just as much."
"That being?" – Katooni's light side asked in a worrisome tone.
"The battle between your partner & dark side user."
Understanding the risk of being overwhelmed by the fanatic urge to cause harm to the being around her, she quickly says:
"Agreed."
"Good."
The amber yellow part & sapphire blue part become equal. Her eyes close for a short period of time before they are taking in the space around her again.
"Wow. This is weird."
Now Katooni felt like someone she had never ever conceived of being. She could feel an even enough pull towards the light & the dark side of the Force.
"I'm in some kind of a trans-state."
Her mind quickly affirms that hypothesis. Soon she leaves the bed, dresses up and walks over to the window. A quick act of recollection pointed out that the window was closed, when she fell asleep. Naturally, that meant someone had opened it. With Oswald missing, everything was clear to her in less than a minute.
"He's clearly doing something unprecedented."
She shows off a hardly identifiable smile.
"Might as well look into it."
The Tholothian girl confidently gets out of the house.
At the clearing.
"Tsssss!"
Once again, the two Force sensitives had locked their lightsabers in a 'X' form. Their energy level wasn't similar anymore, Chariza was at least a fifth more tired than Oswald, which , automatically, led to him gaining the upper hand in their fight. The Acolyte wasn't ignorant of this fact; hence the reason she was trying to end the battle as quickly as possible.
"Your belief of my annihilation is slipping away."
"Keep bragging, Lesser One. I'll show you, how strong I am."
"I'm not going to wait for that."
His stance within the Force begins to shift significantly to the dark side, soon being around a 60-40 split. The blonde haired Human male strengthens his grip, initiates a weapon push-back.
"Tssssssss!"
All of a sudden, Chariza's grip begins to shiver.
"You are not stronger than me!"
"Feels like a fallacy."
Menson's power level begins to increase. 8010… 20… 30… 40… 50… The gap between the two widens a bit.
The lock is broken, Chariza falls back on her feet. Oswald wastes no time in asserting himself as the dominant figure in the fight; he stretches out his right leg & with the backing of the Force knocks the Togrutan female off her feet.
"Aaaaah!"
An immediate jump with an intentional downward slash through her whole upper body is performed. She just barely manages to block it, rolls under him closer to the edge of the clearing. They soon realign their sights on each other.
The creepily balanced 12 year old Force sensitive arrives near the clearing and stops. The distance was a correct one; the combatants bodies were more or less framed.
"It is best if I keep a safe distance from them."
She walks over to the left, hides behind a tree. Only ¾ of her face were visible from their vantage point.
"What is it that you wanted me to see?"
"The state of your partner." – a voice answers her within the confides of the mind.
Katooni submerges herself into the Force. One detail stands out. Both combatants dominant side of the Force was the dark one.
"He…Is… Starting to change."
Now Chariza was holding her lightsaber in a unnatural body position: her legs were somewhat bent, spread and angled differently, head – a bit lowered & angled forwards.
"This…Is troubling."
On the other hand, Oswald was standing firmly less than 4 meters (~13 feet) away from her. The green weapon being in a more straight-up position than his opponents red one. Also, he had raised his power level even more. Now Menson had a 200 point advantage over the Acolyte (8100 to 7900). Then there is their location – they were extremely close to the cliff.
"I've had enough of the dark side for today."
"I'll help you with that. Your demise is here."
"Doubtful." – Mundi's Padawan says calmly.
Suddenly, he ignited the other edge of his lightsaber. Chariza is a bit surprised by this. That lets the insightful one launch at her ferociously, she has to rapidly adjust her stance before she is struck down for good. Menson's slashes start having more speed put into them, which leads to the Sith retreating. The Human male's dominance is reaching new levels. With each block the Togrutan female lost her strength; her deterioration fastens.
They lock blades.
"Surrender. This is your last chance."
"I WILL NOT SUBMIT TO A LESSER FORCE SENSITIVE! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!"
Lock is broken.
"Your choice."
Mundi's Padawan makes the exact same move as before with his right leg. Chariza thinks she has put enough energy in the push back with her left hand. Unfortunately, the amount of Force induction behind the move was doubled. Therefore, she is lifted off her feet. Menson tries to land the final blow again. And again…It is blocked. Just this time she is caught in a wavered stance, her lightsaber grip has diminished significantly & he lands extremely close to her. So, while the upper green saber loosened the grip, the lower saber came in a spiral motion towards her upper body.
"Ah!" – Chariza spits out.
Her red lightsaber shuts off, falls to the ground. Her body tumbles backward and, since they were close to the edge, descends off of the cliff.
"Experience gained."
Mundi's Padawan returns his stance to a normal one, turns off both edges of his saber. His eyes notice the defeated one's weapon. An idea forms, which is soon treated as a much welcomed one.
"This will prove to be greatly useful."
Chariza's red lightsaber is picked up, attached to the belt on the opposite side of his own one.
"It is bizarre, how sometimes reality shifts to a better place without any oversight from me."
Menson quickly remembers, what time of day it is.
"Time to get back. I really need to relax."
He takes a deep breath & walks back to the house.
Right after the final blow. Some would say that the Youngling finally saw something truly devastating, instilling a deep emotional reaction from the observer in the grand scheme of things.
"Appreciate what you've seen?"
"Yes."
"Very good. Now get back as fast as you can to your bed. He won't be far behind."
"A good assessment."
Katooni runs back to Miss Varna's house. Good advice from her Sith self; he more than likely predicted that the insightful one might sense her Force presence quite soon after the battle's conclusion. With the fast reaction, the detection was avoided.