Star Wars: Return of the Sith

3: Skywalking

By Nanaki

Brentaal Station

Tenn was completely astonished that a non-Jedi had managed to last this long against Negian, even if Jerin clearly knew a few things about the Force himself. However, now that Seco was stepping in as well, it would be over very quickly. It was definitely choosing the lesser of two evils, but Tenn liked her odds better with the Mandalorian than with the Sith. She raised the heavy repeating blaster to her shoulder and lined up the sight with her right eye. Yet before she could pull the trigger, Jerin astonished her yet again.

"If you want to kill ME, you'd better show me something more impressive than you have so far." Jerin growled, and reached behind his back again. He drew out a gleaming lightsaber hilt that produced a jet black blade when he ignited it.

Negian raised an eyebrow again. "If you made that yourself, I'm impressed."

Seco snorted. "Negian, let me handle this fool by myself."

Negian shrugged. "If you feel the need to prove your manhood to a peon like this, be my guest."

Seco grimaced, though his eyes remained on Jerin. "Negian... shut up." Then, Seco charged forward. Jerin stepped forward to meet his charge with a wide horizontal slash, but Seco didn't even bother to block. He simply wasn't there.

Tenn had known that Jerin would be hopelessly outclassed even before Seco moved. She knew that Seco was proficient in both Makashi and Ataru, meaning that he could deliver many strikes per second, and that he was so good at dodging he rarely needed to block. Now, as Seco darted behind Jerin and aimed a slash at the back of his neck, Tenn finally pulled the trigger on the blaster.

Seco sensed her hostile intent through the Force, and was already in an excellent blocking position by the time the first bolt reached him. He easily batted away the rain of bolts, his purple blade seeming to blossom into a double figure eight pattern. Fortunately, this bought Jerin enough time to body check Seco into the floor, with Jerin adding a Force powered burst of speed at the last second that resulted in his opponent sliding for over thirty feet before coming to a stop.

"Hmm..." Seco quickly spun back to his feet, not looking hurt or winded in the least. "I guess that's about all I could expect." Then he jumped into a Force powered triple somersault, his purple blade spinning around him all the while. Jerin stepped forward to block the attack, but Seco hit with too much power, and Jerin was knocked over backward. Jerin quickly aimed his boots at Seco, just as he'd done to Negian, but by the time he hit the button on his belt, Seco was long gone.

Seco had jumped in the air again, and now came at Jerin with a descending slash. Jerin blocked with both hands on his blade, and even so, Seco's blade almost cut down into his neck. Jerin grimaced, mad at himself for having to use his trump card so soon, but there was no doubt that he did need to use it. He stretched his left hand out... then quickly rolled to the side as another hail of blaster bolts caused Seco to jump away.

"Hey Negian, have you given any thought to capturing her?" Seco asked casually. "Or at least getting the karking blaster away from her?"

"I thought about it." Negian grinned. "But you said you wanted to handle this by yourself."

"I said I wanted to handle the FOOL by myself." Seco shot back. "You get what we came for."

"No you don't!" Jerin was back on his feet, charging forward yet again, even though he knew he was outclassed. This time, Seco blocked all incoming strikes by just moving his right arm, while the rest of his body stayed stock still.

"Typical Mando idiot." Seco shook his head. "Your people value courage over self-preservation so much, it's amazing you still exist."

"And you Sith value the dark side above common SENSE!" Jerin roared. He punctuated this statement with a kick aimed at Seco's stomach. Seco reflexively tried to block with his lightsaber, but Jerin's beskar boot plowed right through it, connecting with a solid kick that caused Seco to wheeze and hunch over. He managed to jerk his head out of the way of Jerin's incoming saber strike, so that it just barely singed his right ear, but that was more than enough to make him furious.

The next thing Jerin was aware of, he was being slammed into the metal wall of the hallway by a Force Push so strong it nearly knocked him unconscious. It was all he could do to focus his dimming vision, and he barely heard Negian's voice through his ringing ears. "Be wary of your anger, Seco." Negian said calmly. "It shouldn't be so strong it causes you to lose your wits."

"I disagree." Jerin declared as he stumbled forward. "Pure rage is the only reason I'm still alive!!" With that, he stretched both hands out and let loose with a burst of Force Lightning the likes of which hadn't been seen since Palpatine's time, or possibly even Darth Bane's. Unfortunately, Jerin had picked the wrong opponents to try this on. Seco and Negian simply stood where they were as the lightning approached, then passed through them as if they were nothing but holographic projections. After several seconds of this, Jerin cut off the flow of lightning, now wondering how the hell he was going to get out of this alive. Seco charged forward impossibly fast, but in mid charge, he was suddenly intercepted by someone else moving even faster.

Seco took one glance at the blue blade that was effortlessly holding his own in check, and instantly knew who he was facing. "Fantastic. It's Lucia."

Tenn finally felt some genuine relief at the sight of Lucia Skywalker, her blade effortlessly holding Seco's in place. "Tenn, it's good to see you're safe and sound." The young, blonde-haired Skywalker called over her shoulder.

"Lucia, what are you doing here?" Tenn called back.

"Looking for evidence of a Black Sun slaving operation." She answered casually, holding Seco's blade in place even as he tried to twist away from their stalemate. "But I've always got time to deal with a couple of brats who think they're Sith Lords." Tenn was amazed by Lucia's confidence, but then, she'd never known Lucia to show even a hint of fear. Those who said that Dirk Skywalker was the best swordsman in the Jedi Order were overlooking Dirk's straightforward statement that his wife was even better. Even more impressive was that Lucia hadn't been raised as a Jedi, and in fact had received no Jedi training at all until she'd married Dirk at age nineteen. Now twenty four years old, she was already among the best in the order in virtually every category. "I'll give you one chance to surrender, Seco." She told him as she matched his glare with one of her own.

"Surely you jest." Seco grinned as he finally twisted his blade free, just as Negian ran forward to help. Even as she starting swinging her blade at Seco with her right hand, Lucia drew out another lightsaber with her left and ignited its green blade in plenty of time to parry Negian's opening thrust. Even though she was facing two opponents by herself, Lucia quickly began pushing them back.

Tenn caught additional movement out of the corner of her eye, and turned to see Jerin running toward her. "Time to go!" He announced.

"No way!" She shook her head forcefully.

From over where she was a bit busy, Lucia misunderstood Tenn's reluctance to leave. "He's right, Tenn!" She shouted. "Don't worry about me! Just get a move on!" Sensing that Tenn still wasn't moving, she shouted again. "Just go! I'll find you when this is over, don't worry!"

"I- Oh, all right." Tenn reluctantly agreed. She started running beside Jerin, but kept a tight grip on the blaster he'd given her. "I'm not giving this back." She told him.

"That's fine. I've gotta find the blaster you jerked out of my hand earlier anyway." He announced, his eyes quickly scanning the floor as they ran.

Tenn spared him a glance that clearly indicated she couldn't believe what an idiot she'd gotten mixed up with. "With two Sith Lords after you, you're going to stop to look for a blaster?"

"It's not just 'a blaster'." He informed her. "That blaster belonged to Jango Fett! If I don't find it, Boba will probably rise from the grave and kill me." On that note, Jerin spotted it on the floor, and didn't lose any speed as he bent down to scoop it up. To Tenn's surprise, he didn't even try to point it at her, but just tucked it into his belt. As they neared the entrance to the main, crowded hallway, Jerin held a hand out. "All right, if we run here, we'll attract the attention of station security, and I bet they've been put on high alert by now."

"Something tells me you have some experience running away from security." Tenn observed as they mingled back into the crowd.

"More than I'd like." Jerin answered dryly. "Security, pirates, Black Sun enforcers, Republic military... You name 'em, I've run away from 'em." Now Jerin glanced over at Tenn, to see that she was still pointing the heavy repeating blaster in his general direction. "Now would you let me put that away? Security IS going to detain you if they see that. That's not a weapon that's legal to carry on this station."

"I'm not going to be your prisoner." She answered calmly, pointing the weapon more directly at him.

"The situation has changed, my purple friend." Jerin smiled sarcastically, earning a look of irritation from Tenn. "Someone has played me for a fool, and possibly Korgo the Hutt as well. Then again, Korgo might be the one who played me. In any case, nobody is getting their hands on you until I figure out what's going on. You'll be a guest on my ship, not a prisoner." She seemed to be mulling that over. "Now give me that!" He snatched his blaster our of her hands, and tucked it back under his cape.

Now they were passing the restaurant where this whole mess had started. Tenn looked around for her friends, but they had disappeared. Probably to report the situation to station security, but security was going to be tied up by the big lightsaber battle currently taking place for the foreseeable future. "So where is your ship?" She asked with a sigh.

"Not far." Jerin shrugged. "I used the main dock. I was here on legitamite business, after all. Or so I thought." Now he smiled. "I didn't really think I'd be needing to make a quick getaway, but I left everything but the engines powered up, just in case."

"I hope your ship is fast." Tenn said, looking over her shoulder. "Because if those Sith get past Lucia, they'll be on us in no time."

"Fast?" Jerin raised an eyebrow. "The Millenium Falcon ain't got poodoo on me."

.

Back in the side hallway Jerin and Tenn had so recently vacated, the lightsaber duel raged on. Lucia was now in defensive mode, as Seco and Negian repeatedly tried to get behind her while she was dueling the other. However, Lucia was simply too good. Her movements were incredibly efficient, and powered by the Force at just the right times, so that slight twitches of her wrists often sent her opponents staggering off to the side. Still, the fact that both of their lightsabers were still intact was worrisome. "You two have both improved a great deal since you left the order." She admitted.

"The dark side grants unfathomable power to those brave enough to claim it." Seco smiled as he whirled in for another series of strikes.

"If that was true, I'd be dead already." Lucia snorted. "Don't get carried away." The next thing she knew, Seco had used the Force to suspend her right arm in place for a moment, finally allowing him to tie up both of her sabers with his single blade.

"Now, Negian!" Seco shouted, a triumphant grin on his face.

Lucia struggled to get her blades into a blocking position as a forking bolt of Force Lightning hurtled her way, but she was a split second too late, and the lightning hurled her blue saber away from her right hand. To her amazement, no sooner had the lightning died away, then the blue saber hurtled back toward Negian, spinning rapidly in the air. He batted it away with his red blade, but it flipped back toward him, pressing the attack. Lucia and Seco both risked a glance down the hallway, to see Dirk Skywalker calmly striding forward, his outstretched right hand controlling the saber.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, honey." Dirk flashed his wife a decidedly rogueish grin. "But I knew you could handle these brats without much trouble." He directed the blue saber into one last slash at Negian, then sent it soaring back into his wife's outstretched hand.

"Actually, I have to say they're better than they used to be." She reluctantly admitted. Now that she had both weapons in her hands again, Seco backed up a few steps.

"Well, in that case..." Dirk drew out a gleaming lightsaber hilt that had once belonged to Kol Skywalker. "I better lend a hand. Haah!" He activated the brilliant green blade even as he charged forward.

"Time to go, Seco!" Negian announced, then promptly turned and started running as fast as his Force powered legs could carry him.

"Raaah!!" Seco let out a growl of pure fury, but then he turned to run as well. All thoughts of capturing Tenn Sonata had long since fled from his mind. Now he was entirely preoccupied with getting off the station alive. "Negian, allow me to thank you for convincing me not to take our own ships on this mission." Seco commented even as the walls of the hallway were passing by in a blur. "Now we get to escape in a karking stolen security cruiser!"

"Hey, you can never tell when a Skywalker's going to show up." Negian groaned. "Not since Darth Caedus showed Ben Skywalker how to hide his Force presence."

"I hate Jacen Solo." Seco growled, even as he continued to sprint at top speed.

"Yeah, me too." Negian grinned for the first time in a while.

.

Dirk calmly watched the two Sith blast off down the hall. "I'll go after them. You find their ships and disable them." He quickly outlined a plan.

"Fine with me." Lucia nodded. "But they're probably going to get away again. This station is too big."

"Then let's move!" Dirk grinned, then charged off after Seco and Negian.

Lucia did indeed start running in the other direction, but she wasn't overly concerned with the Sith. If they did stand their ground and fight, she was confident that Dirk could beat them, even fighting both at once. No, she was going after the third dark sider, the one that had run off with Tenn. Even though Tenn seemed to know him, Lucia didn't trust anyone who used Force Lightning, no matter the reason. The more Lucia thought about it, the more she suspected that the apparent fight between the Sith and the third dark sider might not have been what it seemed. It could well have been a trap designed to capture Tenn, which was probably why the Sith were here in the first place. 'Hang in there, Tenn.' Lucia grimaced as she quickened her pace even more. 'I'm on my way.'

.

"Your plan has a flaw. It assumes you can kill me." - Shado Vao, Star Wars Legacy

.

(Nanaki's note: Dirk and Lucia Skywalker are an homage to a pair of Star Wars stories my father wrote long ago. The first in 1979 or 1980, the second in 1982. These stories chronicled the adventures of Luke's father during the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire, which were two separate events in his universe. Lucia was a pirate captain, despite only being seventeen or so, that Dirk met close to the end of the first story. My dad took care of Vader's big reveal in Empire by explaining that Vader THOUGHT he was Luke's father, since he had raped Lucia at one point, but that Dirk really was Luke's father. Plus, Darth's father, Dorn Vader was actually the Emperor, since he had ejected his Force spirit out of his own body, and into Palpatine's. Oh, and Dirk had a little sister named Beru Skywalker.

Sure, all this sounds pretty silly now, but back in 1980, no one had any idea what Lucas had in mind for Episodes I through III. Probably not even Lucas himself, despite claims to the contrary. Considering the limited information my father had to work with, his stories were pretty karking awesome. Also, Dirk Skywalker "died" during the rise of the Empire by being forced to fly into a black hole to escape some Star Destroyers. Dad made sure to mention that no one really knows what's on the other side of a black hole, leaving the door open for Dirk to potentially return some day. My father got busy writing some original fiction, so that never happened. However, since I read his Star Wars stories before Episode I came out, I still have very fond memories of them. In some ways, they were better than what we actually got. Lucia wasn't especially Force-sensitive in those stories, but I decided her namesake here needs to be able to keep up with Dirk on all fronts. You can't deny that Luke and Mara had a particularly deadly dynamic, what with either of them being able to take on anyone by themselves. Keep in mind, Caedus had to cheat to win, after all. Anyway, I've talked enough for now. Look for another chapter in short order.)