REREAD THE END OF THE LAST CHAPTER BECAUSE IT WAS EDITED.
I made a mis-post on the last chapter (I know I should be working but there WAS NOTHING TO DO) ending it prematurely and forgetting to add the last two paragraphs or so as I tend to write out things on Microsoft Word or Pages and copy and post. I forgot to do that. So this carries on from where I intended to end the last chapter. Which I fixed.
All credit to respective owners.
-Y.A.R.N.
Jerserra eyes narrowed as Cal stood in front of Merrin's smoking form, lightsaber catching the lightning she was firing. She closed her hand into a fist and Cal's eyes narrowed as he swiped his left hand to disperse the Force Choke she was trying to pull, dust flying around him in a perfect circle. Jerserra eyed Cere to she if she would intervene, but the Jedi Master moved to Merrin's form, gently trying to rouse the groaning night-sister as she worked some healing energy through her body. BD was already next to the night-sister and moved to cover her, a health stim already in one foot as the droid waited for Cere to finish before jabbing her with the needle. A force push from Cal knocked Jerserra back a few steps, forcing her attention on him and away from his friends. He was not happy that he was going to have to fight the night-sister since she had downed Merrin.
On one hand, she was a threat that wouldn't hesitate to kill them.
On the other hand, she was the closest thing to a blood-family Merrin had left.
Lightning crackled down Jerserra's arm but he knew exactly how painful Force Lightning was and how it affected your nerves after, it took a minute for the trembling to fade unless you forced yourself through it.
Either way, he wasn't scared, he knew what to expect now.
"Compared to what I've faced?" Cal said dispassionately as he advanced, "You're nothing. You intend to defeat the Empire like this? You're not even fit to be an inquisitor."
Jerserra eyes blazed with fury and she leveled her blade at him with a snarl, "I killed inquisitors before, don't you dare mock me! I am stronger than you can imagine!"
"You cannot be that stupid." Cal said bluntly, remembering Vader and how utterly outclassed and dominated he was by the armor-clad Sith, how he struggled against Trilla and Masana in their respective fights, how much growth he still had left, "There is no way you can be that arrogant. You came here because you never faced someone who can use The Force before thinking it can't be 'that' hard since you 'killed' an inquisitor. Now that you are here and seeing just what a Jedi can do, you are realizing that you never saw how far the gap between what you think you are and what you really are is. The inquisitors are not just people with lightsabers, they were Jedi before they were turned, before they fell. They were trained in lightsaber combat and force manipulation from birth and never stopped until they were dead."
Jerserra howled her fury and lunged at him.
Cal caught her charge with his lightsaber and shifted out of the way as she ignited the second blade and swung up with it, "You probably killed the inquisitor who trained you while they were unprepared and they weren't done teaching you. Immediately going into bounty hunting and mercenary work dulled your saber-play to almost pure blaster deflection."
He blocked her over hand with his lightsaber, sparks flying from the blades' contact.
"You stole a lightsaber you didn't earn of their corpse." Cal pointed out.
He shoved her onto her back with a force push because she tried to force his blade down rather than disengage.
"You went hunting people who you knew couldn't fight back effectively." He snarled, a very particular disgust filling his tone as she rolled back to her feet.
She lashed out with lightning and he caught it with his lightsaber again, crackling pops and flashes of light dancing up and down the length of his blade.
"And whatever power you gained? You never tried to refine it." He scoffed as he flicked his wrist out, lightning reflecting right back at Jerserra.
He could feel her shock as her own lightning arced towards her and shattered the lower half her mask and knocked her over once again.
Jerserra scowled hatefully, "Who are you to judge me? You think that just because you're a Jedi who survived you have the right to lecture me?"
Cal frowned, "I didn't judge you, nor did I lecture you. Everything I just said was the truth. I've face inquisitors and purge troopers, people who hunted Jedi after receiving specific training to do exactly that. You can blast lightning and push people away with your mind; the inquisitors I fought didn't NEED to able to do that to kill Jedi. You picked up a few of the advanced techniques of The Sith and used them while letting your basics weaken by relying solely on them."
Jeresrra scowled and raised her hand to grip the handle with both hands, the blade rotating into a pulsing blur of red light, "I am not weak! I'll kill you and your pathetic friends!"
Cal grimaced before lowering himself into his stance, "I won't let you. Last chance. Leave me and my family alone."
Jerserra — ignoring Cal's disappointed sigh — sprinted at him and brought the lightsaber down, using the rotating blade to add more force to her downward strike. Cal caught the blow and immediately back-stepped as she reversed the rotation, blade nearly disemboweling Cal before he moved. Cal gave ground against her assault, leading them away from his friends while she was lost in her haze of anger. The blows were strong enough but wide and sweeping, allowing Cal to direct them away or avoid them without needing to exert himself. There was no point in locking sabers with her when he could use a much more energy efficient strategy. She quickly reverted the lightsaber into its' single saber mode before bearing down on Cal, abandoning the double-sabered approach. The wide slashes carried too much flourish for her to land blows so she switched to give herself more versatility. Cal didn't bother to fight with her and stretched his hand out with a intense force push that sent her into the air before he made slamming motion with his hand, smashing her into the ground. Even dazed and in pain, Jeserra wasted no time as she stretched out both hands and fired a sizzling volley of lightning at Cal.
Cal grunted as the lightning was more intense than the volley she had used on Merrin, fueled by her pain and anger at not having landed any blows on him. The Fallen Nightsister staggered to her feet and advanced, hands shooting arcs of lightning at him in an attempt to overwhelm the Jedi Knight. As he stood his ground and glared at her — matching her anger with his determination — a strange sort of pity welled up in his chest at the woman.
She didn't have to come here.
She didn't have to attack.
She didn't have to drown in the darkness.
But she chose all those options, knowing full well what it was going to turn her into and what cost it would reap. She came her knowing full well that this was going to be a fight like she had never experienced before. She simply believed that she could win it and refused to believe — unless to people like the Emperor and Darth Vader — that she might not be strong enough. She wasn't a Jedi Knight or even a Padawan that fell, nor was she a truly-trained nightsister like Merrin was when it came to her magicks as Merrin had probably been on Dathomir for years while Jerserra left early to pursue wealth and power. Instead of learning about The Force and what it could really do when truly applied, she spent her time hunting people down and gathering money and blood. Then when she was bored — freaking bored of killing for money — she decided that she was fit to fight other force-wielders?
She was not just crazy.
She was foolish.
And that sort of fool's stupidity was far more dangerous than insanity because stupidity meant following your impulses without any thought to the consequences till they crashed into you.
His heart twisted at a realization.
He couldn't let her run off.
She wouldn't leave them alone.
Her humiliation at the realization that she was not strong enough ran too deep. She'd gather all the forces she could and go after them, she go to the Empire, demand to be made an inquisitor, tell them where they hid, and the Imperial War Machine would glass Dantooine to a dead planet. The innocent people that were simple farmers and quite honestly had no stake in any fight would be vaporized for something they couldn't control. The kyber crystals here would be harvested and there would never be a chance for the planet to be safe.
He reflected the lightning with a roar and instead of standing there the night-sister leapt out of the way of her reflected lightning and dashed in with her lightsaber blazing. Cal sprinted forward and fully matched her charge with his own. He began to attack, fending off her strikes and riposting with counters that scorched her body and make her retreat.
Cal advanced and advanced and she began to feel fear as she looked into the green chips of ice his eyes had become.
Since she won't go in peace, he'll leave her in pieces.
Merrin didn't want to get up.
She felt cooked and twitchy, and her arms and legs weren't reacting like they should as they spasmed and twitched; the lightning had been beyond painful, it had been agonizing. Even with Cere running the force to heal her and soothe away her pain, she still ached. Only when BD injected her did all the phantom aches from the lightning finally abate and she was ready to get up.
But that wasn't what made her want to curl up and pretend she was having a nightmare and would soon wake up in her bed on the Mantis.
That would be the fact that her sister tried to kill her and was openly relishing in torturing her was what really hurt.
Despite having a family in the Mantis, she had made no secret of having a night-sister sibling would mean the galaxy to her. Everyone on the Mantis had known that, and expressed their sympathy as best as they could even with the decimation of her species. Jerserra was fighting Cal and the clash of sabers and crackles of lightning rang in the air, overwhelming the sound of Cere urging for her to get to her feet. She clenched her eyes shut for a moment and let go of the feeling of betrayal welling up in her heart. It was naive and foolish to get her hopes up that this night-sister would immediately join them and she just wanted to let go of all of it because she didn't care about it anymore. She had started down the path of a Jedi and any night-sister would only be at odds with her since the two factions' constant clashes during the Clone Wars when they fought.
She had a family again, wishing for more was just greed and she had been done with that for a long, long time.
She slowly got to her feet and took a moment to make sure she wouldn't have a random spasm from the lightning before igniting her lightsaber in a blaze of magenta. Her eyes narrowed at how Cal was using his lightsaber to diffuse the lightning that Merrin forced him away with just a moment ago. Now Merrin knew how to defend herself better against that technique if Jerserra tried to use it on her. Jerserra and Cal both looked over to see Merrin getting to her feet, and cold and resigned expression on her face. Merrin threw out a burst of emerald flame towards the fallen night-sister, heat scorching the ground as it barreled towards her. Jerserra disengaged from Cal and leapt away to twirl her lightsaber to her hand and hold it in a position that could block a blow from either Merrin or Cal.
"Get away from him." Merrin commanded coldly, "Your fight is with me."
"Merrin..." Cal began, "You don't have to —"
"No." Merrin cut him off, striding forward with her hand raised, "I do have to, Cal. She is not family and she is definitely not someone who will walk away and leave us in peace. She is a Sith and should be dealt with accordingly. I refuse to let my desires take away what I already have, I won't let anyone threaten the family I have now and that includes her."
Green flames erupted from Merrin's outstretched hand and Jerserra lashed out with a force push to separate the flames. Jerserra eyes widened as Merrin was bearing down on her, using the flames she had conjured as a smokescreen for her charge. Merrin brought her weapon down in a falling avalanche attack, forcing Jerserra to block with both hands. Cal backed away and winced at the desolation behind Merrin's grim resolve as she fought with Jerserra. Even so, Merrin danced and spun while holding nothing back, magenta streaks of light painting the sky as she matched Jerserra blow for blow. Jerserra threw her hands out in a shoving motion and sent out a wave of The Force in all directions, sending Merrin flying.
Merrin grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she spun in the air, catching herself with The Force and landing on her feet. She had not trained in the Jedi arts for no reason, this was the test of her skill and resolve; this was the final step before she could lay all of her demons to rest. She would stop wishing for the past and finally let the specters of her sister that still held onto her finally sleep.
Jerserra took a deep breath and took her stance, "Not bad sister. Where did you suddenly find this strength?"
Merrin glared, "I always had it. I simply stopped holding back."
She threw herself back into the fight.
Xavier shoved his belongings he actually cared to bring into his bag and and rushed through his small home of several years, making sure he wasn't leaving anything he cared about behind. He already took any memorabilia like his old rebel outfit that had been damaged after being shot by X-1, his box of medals from his years of service; he grabbed every knickknack he had accumulated and kept before he strapped them to his speeder. He would get back to the Mantis and Mercenary Star as soon as he could, get his speeder inside the Mercenary Star, and pilot the starfighter to a safe place. He already conferred with Cal and Cere about any areas that they might be able to use as a fallback location. They hadn't settled on a place just yet, but they had option they could discuss once they landed on a different planet for a strategic meetup. He stalled for a moment at the door and stared at the small house that had been his home for so many years, a burst of indecision searing through him.
Did he really want to leave?
He could just let it go and pretend that Cal never showed up.
He could just let go of of the obligations.
His lightsaber hung heavy on his waist, a weight of what he was about to do settling on his shoulders.
He took a deep breath and let it go.
He made his choice the moment Cal offered him a lightsaber and he accepted, he was not leaving the war behind again. The Empire had to be destroyed, people like X-1 had to be stopped, and people like Falon Grey had to be saved. He made a promise, and he would see it through to the bitter end, no matter what it took. He turned his back on his self-imposed exile and ran towards the future.
Merrin growled as Jerserra locked lightsabers with her, both of the duelists' breaths coming in harsh pants as they pushed against each other. Suddenly Merrin deactivated her lightsaber and crouched, letting the startled Sith stumble past her before she straightened and lashed out with a intense stream of green flames. Jeserra howled in pain as she felt her body burn and blacken from the flames washing over her back. She threw out her hands and lightning crackled around her as she let out a pulse that dispersed the flames before whirling, murder in her eyes. She snapped a hand out and let out a wave of the force at Merrin, who raised her arms in a guard as the wave crashed against her own force barrier that send dust flying around and behind her.
Jerserra screamed in fury, "Just die! Let me win!"
Merrin caught her breath in the small break, small green flames crawling up and down her arms, "You would never be strong enough to beat us. You had ever chance to let go of the darkness and you refused. I know you won't leave us in peace even if you were let go, you'll keep hunting us down."
Lightning accompanied the howl of rage that Jerserra let out, crackling towards Merrin who desperately brought her lightsaber up to catch the lightning as she had seen Cal do. The lightning flashed and crackled against the magenta blade and Merrin gritted her teeth as she kept the lightning from hitting her. Despite that her defense worked and she was able to keep the lighting at bay, she wasn't experienced enough in Tutaminis to reflect the lightning off her blade. It was almost too much, she was practically choking on the energy and power behind the lightning, no doubt fueled by the pain, rage, and fear that Jerserra was feeling.
Suddenly, Cal's presence washed over her and pushing back the lighting felt easier as she felt Cal's familiar strength sear through her body.
'Merrin.' He whispered through The Force.
Her eyes flickered over to him to meet his determined emerald gaze. Cere moving up to stand next to him and raise her hand towards Merrin.
'Finish this.' She implored, 'She needs to be stopped.'
Merrin took a soft breath and let go of her saber hilt with one hand and green flames gathered into her left hand, Cal and Cere's power's threading through the flames. She closed her eyes, and threw her hand out, flames erupting from her hands and clashing against the lighting. Jerserra's eyes went wide as the flames shot towards her, fast enough that they seemed to devour her lightning. She cut off the lighting to from a repulse to scatter the flames, but Merrin wasn't just using her own power to fuel the speed and power of her flames. With Cal and Cere bolstering her power, the flame was sharper and faster and left no time for Jerserra to form a defense.
The flames shot through Jerserra's chest, exploding from her back as the nightsister cried out in agony, her lightsaber falling out from her grasp. She crumbled to her knees and — hands shaking — felt around the blackened char that has outlined the hole that had punctured straight through her. She looked up at Merrin and she tried to move forward to do something before her strength failed her and she fell onto her hands, desperately trying to cling to life. Merrin stepped closer and knelt next to Jerserra, hands coming out to support the dying night-sister, carefully cradling before she fell. Merrin's eyes, initially hard and cold, filled with sorrow and pain as Jerserra looked up at her, eyes hazy with pain.
"This cahn't be..." Jerserra slurred, "I wasn... 'pposed to die..."
"Sister..." Merrin said softly.
"M' scared..." Jerserra whispered weakly.
"Sleep." Merrin cooed gently, "You don't need to be scared to sleep."
Jerserra coughed and seized up for a moment before going slack in Merrin's grasp. Merrin bowed her head and squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a groan of pained sorrow over the senseless death of one of her kind. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Cal there, already dropping to his knees to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Merrin..." He said softly, "I'm here."
Merrin buried her head in his shoulder but made no noise, shaking uncontrollably.
"Cere." He called, "We need wood. We need to make a funeral pyre."
Merrin pressed herself harder against his shoulder.