Last time: Sasha was forced by Dracul to open the portal.
Now: Dracul prepares to escape.
Chapter 19- We Failed...
Cien watched the Dark Lord triumph as he turned to regard the portal. Her vision was weak, and she was having trouble staying conscious. "Sasha…" she gasped, and she coughed, fresh blood spilling from her lips. She reached out weakly, grasping for the fallen Jedi, at her one time enemy. The Jedi lay there, unmoving, blood seeping from a wound on her head, and she looked dead. But Cien could tell that Sasha was still there, just unconscious. That brought strange comfort to Cien, knowing that she had survived. For the first time in her life caring about another, caring about a friend.
She looked back up, Dracul had walked toward them, his saber still ignited in his right hand. He raised his left hand towards both of them, the Jedi and the Sith laying together. And Cien stared at him, defiant to the last as she tried to cling to consciousness. She raised her hand, to try to ward off the coming blow, but knowing ultimately it meant nothing. He was too strong. The familiar red lightning sparked at his fingertips. And she stared at his eyes, not giving him the satisfaction of her surrender before her death.
Just as the bolt of lightning leapt from his hand, a copper blur crossed her vision, propelled by a jetpack. The red lightning shot forth, but reflected off of Kyr's beskar. That sent the Dark Lord reeling back as the wave of deathly electricity rebounded back to him. Kyr landed on his feet in a low crouch, using his hand to help arrest his movement, and ran for the Dark Lord.
Cien looked at him, "you idiot…" she whispered, her jaw slacked in wonder at the sheer, reckless stupidity she was witnessing.
A gout of flame shot forward from Kyr's gauntlet, and Dracul threw up his left hand, warding it off with a shield of the Force, turning it into a wall of flame between the Mandalorian and the Sith. The Mandalorian fired off a dozen small rockets from his wrist gauntlet that flew through the firewall. The Dark Lord used his hands to ward off the small darts as they exploded in a cloud around him, and Kyr leapt through the flames, propelled by his jet pack. The Dark Lord, distracted by trying to stop the tiny missiles before they could pierce his own armor, was unable to avoid the round house punch that Kyr landed on the Sith's helmet. He staggered back a step, and growled. Kyr leapt forward, cutting in with another punch, but stopped at the last second, using his gauntlet to deflect a blow from the Sith's saber. Dracul stalked forward savagely, using his saber to cut at the Mandalorian, each blow deflected by the gauntlets as Kyr retreated. Finally with a growl of anger Dracul lifted his saber high and brought it down in a diagonal cut to behead him. Kyr caught it, crossing his arms and catching the blow in the crossed shape his gauntlets formed, but he was pushed backward, staggered as he tried to hold the locked saber.
He lept back, using a pulse from his jetpack to gain extra distance. The Dark Lord lashed out with the Force, and Kyr rolled to the side, avoiding the explosion of Force energy that ripped across the floor, and brought his sidearm up, firing off four rounds from his pistol as he ran forward which Dracul reflected with his saber. Kyr threw his pistol at the Dark Lord's helmet and in the ensuing distraction unsheathed the knife at his left shoulder and aimed for his throat with a thrust of his right arm. Dracul stopped his knife mid air, the razor sharp blade of his vibroknife centimeters from his throat as he stared down into the Mandalorian's visor. Neither made any sound during the test of wills, as Dracul twisted the knife and the hand holding it away, and Kyr twisted with it, a sickening crunch of bone resounded in the space from his wrist.
But the rotation had twisted Kyr's gauntlet with the hand, the flame projector was pointed directly up into the Sith's helmet. A gout of flame fired off into the underside of Dracul's face, staggering him back, and Kyr was released, the throwing knife falling out of his injured hand. He caught it with his left hand, and rotated it underhand with a flash and leapt forward, aiming the knife down through Dracul's sternum.
He froze, mid air, held aloft as Dracul recovered with a growl. There was a horrific sound of metal crushing and buckling as Kyr's plates bent under the closed fist of the Dark Lord. Then he was cast aside, as the others had been. His armor screeching across the ground as he slid to a stop.
Worry etched across Cien's face as she looked at the fallen Mandalorian, but could not reach him. "Kyr..." She whispered, too quietly and too weakly for anyone to hear.
Kyr stirred, propping himself up on his right elbow and aimed at the Sith with his left gauntlet. A grappling hook shot from the underside, and Dracul batted it away with the Force and contemptuous look. Kyr started getting to his feet shakily, and Dracul ignored him. The Sith's look of contempt surveyed the champions that had fallen in the cave, Dracul turned and entered the portal, leaving them behind. The portal collapsed behind him, winking out.
The three Jedi regained consciousness. Kyr got to his feet, cradling his arm as they all looked in terror and defeat at the empty space where the portal had stood.
Cien spoke in gasped breaths. "It's done." She coughed, and more blood spilled from her mouth. "We couldn't stop him." She said, bitterly, and coughed deeply, each spasm wracking her body with pain as all the other injuries protested.
Sasha had awoken like the others, but due to her head injury, she remained lying on the ground. Her head was pounding and her vision blurred as the blood streamed down her face. Slowly, she turned her head away from Cien as tears started to fall. "I'm sorry. It's my fault… it's my fault…" She said as she wrapped her arms around her head, hiding her face as she remained on the ground.
Cien looked at the Jedi next to her, who spoke nothing but the truth. She had no energy, nor want, to reply with the scathing comments that at another time in her life would have come to mind as she finally faded out, and lay to the ground, succumbing to unconsciousness.
Kyr moved over and knelt at Cien's side, and pulled a bacta ampule from his medical kit. He snapped the head open, injecting it into the Sith. "So what do we do now?" He said, to no one in particular as he checked her pulse and dug through his kit more.
Viran knelt down beside Sasha and gathered her into his arms. She collapsed against him, her silent sobs wracking her body. He winced slightly at his own injuries, but said nothing as he comforted her. Instead, he looked over at Kyr and Cien before his gaze shifted around to Oppie. A frown was clearly painted on Viran's face. He had no response.
Oppie, who had gotten up and walked to the vanished portal, just stood there, looking at it where it had once been. "I don't know."
End of Part 2.
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