Star Wars Fan Fiction
Force Wanderer
By Kraven Ergeist
Chapter Four
This time, Kim got to choose the locale for their outing, which meant they wouldn't have to slog through the sleazier part of town. Silently, Kim was thanking whatever gods watched over her in giving her the mind to have her renegade force user clean himself up a bit. The area they were headed wasn't exactly a coat and tie affair, but they wouldn't have tolerated someone as ill kept as Serge had the day before.
What she couldn't understand was Serge's uneasiness. He seemed out of his element out in the sunlight, away from the slums. She could understand that after spending enough time in the danker areas of Couruscant, he would be unfamiliar with the simple easiness that the average salary man on Couruscant was used to, but to be so uptight? Even skittish?
"What's the matter, Serge?" Kim asked him as they strolled the sunny urban streets. "You're acting all tense. I thought you were the one who wanted to go out to eat."
Serge gave her an unconvincing smile. "Just got an odd feeling, is all."
Kim looked at him strangely. There was still so much about this renegade force user she didn't know. What exactly had transpired between the time he left off in his story and now? There was a Jedi council on Couruscant – just as large as the one on Corelia and Yavin 4. When she had asked the resident council if they were aware of a renegade force user living amongst them, they had said there was no one like that on Couruscant. How could they possibly be unaware of him? She had found him easily. And come to that, why was Serge even on Couruscant when he must know that there was a Jedi council?
Kim didn't know where to begin.
"Serge?" she asked aloud.
When he didn't respond, Kim looked around. Serge was nowhere to be found.
"Terrific."
xxxxx
Serge jumped rooftop after rooftop, trying to get away. Not from Kim, but from something else. Something else that had plagued him ever since he'd left the sanctuary of Kim's ship.
"It can't be…" he huffed as he force jumped from one metal tier to the next. "Not now…"
Before he knew it, the one he feared caught up to him.
Serge stopped.
"Jak…"
He turned around and saw a black haired man standing on of the rooftops above him. Although far away, he could hear his voice clearly.
"Serge…" he sneered. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you've been hiding from me."
Serge reached into his cloak, searching for Judas' lightsaber. "I can't exactly say I enjoy your company."
Jak grimaced. "You can run and hide all you like, Serge…I will kill you."
Before Serge could get a grip on the hidden metal hilt in his robe, lighting flew from Jak's fingertips. Serge reacted before he could think, flipping over backwards, just barely avoiding the lightning.
He drew his lightsaber, only to see Jak flying at him, his curve-hilted red lightsaber held reverse style in his left hand, ready to strike.
Serge intercepted the blow with his own red lightsaber, turning his blade to intercept another attack milliseconds later. Jak's attacks were lightning fast. Serge ducked as Jak turned his attack into a feint, swinging backwards, landing another blow directly on Serge's blade, delivering a forceful shove that sent Serge careening backwards. Jak sent another wave of lightning that Serge caught with his blade. The force of the attack, however, caused him to step back into nothingness.
With a surprised cry, he tumbled out into space, arms flailing.
Turning himself into the air, he descended into the Couruscant airway traffic, reaching out to seize one of the passing speeders. He landed hard, one leg dangling over the edge, and the speeder dipped before returning to its parallel course with the rest of traffic.
Serge got a hold of himself and turned back and, to his horror, saw Jak landing on another speeder a dozen cars behind his. Serge got to his feet, legs spread for balance, shaking in the tumult of wind whipping past his hair. He saw Jak leap car after car, slowly making his way towards him. Serge glared back at his attacker, poised to jump. As soon as Jak was prepared to jump to his speeder, Serge leapt off to the right, clinging a hold of a speeder going the other direction.
Serge regained his balance once again, and saw that Jak had not given up. He knew he couldn't fight him alone. Maybe if Kim were there…
No. He had left Kim because he hadn't wanted her involved. This was his problem. He should deal with it alone.
Before he could plan his next move, he felt the speeder he was riding shake, aggravatingly. It stopped and shook again. Looking down, Serge could see and angry looking Weequay shaking a fist at him. Before Serge could so much as shrug his shoulder, the Weequay twisted the controls and the entire car flipped over, leaving Serge dangling from the inverted hood.
Cursing his own weakness, he let go, dropping down to the next level of cars.
Jak was right on his tail – literally. He landed on the car in front of him two seconds after Serge. Before Serge could react, Jak let out a bolt of lightning that struck the speeder in the grill, sending it tumbling.
Instinctively, Serge leapt from the flying car, landing with a tumbling roll on a nearby rooftop. His eyes flew to the doomed speeder, and without thinking, he reached out with the force, trying desperately to straighten the craft long enough to land safely.
He had made it this far with a clear conscious.
He couldn't afford any more deaths on his head.
The speeder crash-landed on a flat plasteel surface, crippled but not destroyed. The driver was alive.
That was Serge's last thought before drawing his red lightsaber again and intercepting another volley of lightning, that force him back, this time, against a wall. He hit hard, clenching his eyes shut.
Jak, using his right hand to pin him to the wall with dark force energy, still held his red curve-hilted lightsaber with his left hand. With a mocking grin, he reared back to strike…
And then, the lighting stopped. Instantly, with his right hand, Jak drew a second, identical red lightsaber, drawing it just in time to intercept…
"Kim!"
Jak's head turned around to see what his arm had instinctively swiveled around to catch. His eyes bore red at the intruder, and the Twi-lek was frozen in shock at Jak's evil expression, her blue blade crackling against his red one.
"Kim, get out of here!" Serge shouted.
With a shout, Jak summoned the force, shoving Kim back hard enough to send her tumbling.
"Kim!" Serge grimaced. As much as he despised the Jedi order, a death among their ranks because of his problems would be cripple him with guilt.
Jak grinned as his attention returned to Serge. He brought both curve-hilted lightsabers before him, making a red cross before his chest, before tearing into Serge's already weakened defenses.
Serge withstood about four attacks, before his red lightsaber was knocked away. In a desperate panic, he ducked and dodged, swiveling his body to avoid being hit by Jak's frenzied attack.
Serge stumbled onto his backside, staring up at Jak's red lightsaber coming down at him. Then he saw a purple and green lightsaber come to stop the blade from continuing down its path.
He looked up and saw his rescuers – a black human woman and a bald human man, carrying a purple and green lightsaber, respectively. Both their gazes bore down at the dark haired man.
Jak leapt clear of the newcomers, spitting on the plasteel floor of the tier, and took off, leaping across rooftops to get away.
"After him!" the woman cried, and the bald man dashed after the fleeing man.
Serge took a few breaths, before looking towards where Kim had fallen. She was getting to her feet, and fixing the newcomers with a confused stare.
"Who are you?"
The woman stared at Kim for a few moments, as if trying to decide what to do. Finally, she holstered her purple saber.
"I am Master Ty Reed, of the Jedi council of Couruscant. My erstwhile associate is Master Jerle Rude. Can you tell me who you are, and what your business is on Couruscant?"
Kim bowed. "I am Kim Jagosa, Knight of the Jedi council of Corelia."
Ty nodded. "I see. Then I suppose your mission was to dispose of Serge Verdammt?"
Kim blinked. "Your council knows about him?"
Kim received no answer – a fact that really didn't bother her, seeing as Serge had once again disappeared from sight.
"Serge! Where are you!?"
Returning her focus to the master before, Kim scowled.
"Then they lied to me!"
Ty frowned, pacing about the tier. "Kim…the Sith are dwindling. The man you just saw was one of the last of their kind. They are a dying race. Throughout the years, those of the Jedi order have been able to focus their…latent aggression on those who oppose the light."
"Latent aggression!?" Kim gasped. "What are you talking about? The Jedi fight for peace – Jedi don't feel aggression!"
Ty narrowed her eyes. "That is what we are taught to believe, but the urge is still there. We are taught to believe in pacifism, so that when the urge for violence arises, we are able to overcome it. But the existence of the Sith has slackened this discipline, Kim. With an outlet for aggression – in the name of peace, of course – the Jedi were able to release any aggression they felt. Now, though, there is no one left for us to focus our aggression on, even if we were doing it on a subconscious level. So, we divided."
Kim blinked. "Divided?"
"How many Jedi councils are there, Kim?"
The Twi-lek blinked. "Three."
"In the time of the Old Republic, there was only one Jedi Council here on Couruscant. The separation in three exists so that the collective aggression of each Jedi in their respective council is focused on each other. The three councils act as a series of checks and balances. And the latent aggression of each council serves to strengthen this system. Once again, we have made the most of our physical weaknesses"
Kim nodded. "I think I understand, but what does that have to do with Serge?"
Ty shrugged. "Both the Yavin and the Corelia councils want him dead. That's more than reason enough for us to want him alive. Checks and balances. And since the council knew you were from Corelia, they hid the truth from you."
Kim spat. "Alright, fine. What about that other guy? He looked like a Sith."
Ty nodded. "He was. I believe that he has been after Serge for some time now. The Council here agreed to hide Serge from the Sith. But now that he's found him…"
Kim nodded. "I understand. I'll find Serge."
Ty nodded. "Be quick, he may decide to leave the planet."
"I will. May the Force be with you."
"And you as well."
xxxxx
Kim found Serge eventually, pooling together what wealth he had to his name at the console of a low brow shuttle company.
When he saw Kim, he started.
"Relax, Serge, I'm not here to kill you," Kim huffed. "Though, I wouldn't mind some answers."
Serge looked uneasily at her. "Answers to what?"
"Just who was that guy who almost killed you today?"
Serge refocused his attention to console before him. "An enemy."
"No kidding," Kim furrowed her brow. "Why exactly is he after you?"
Serge took in a deep breath of air. "I…I'm responsible for the death of someone he cared for."
Kim gasped. "You? I thought you said you've never killed anyone!"
Serge nodded. "Technically, I didn't kill her."
Kim suppressed a gasp. "Judas…"
Serge nodded. "That's her brother. And he has it in for me. Which is why I have to get off planet as fast as I can."
Kim blinked, before smiling, wryly. "So what am I, chopped bantha liver?"
Serge looked at her. "What?"
Kim crossed her arms. "Two and a half months with me breathing down your neck, and you can't even ask me for one little favor?"
Serge bit his lip. "Um…well, uh…would it be a problem for you?"
Kim inclined her brow. "Would it be a problem for you to ask?"
Serge hesitated again, not sure what kind of game she was playing. "Could…you give me a ride off-world?"
"Sure," Kim winked, immediately turning to go.
Serge hesitated for a few moments, before taking off after her.