Star Wars: Return of the Sith

9: Battle Without Honor or Humanity

By Nanaki

Kuat Drive Yards, Orbital Shipyard #12

Jerin angled his feet down and hit the button on his belt to activate his repulsorlift boots as fast as he could. Combined with the blast of the concussion grenade that went off a tenth of a second after he cleared its blast radius, Jerin went rocketing down the hallway, slamming his shoulder into Seco's back. Both men used the Force to pick themselves up faster than should have been possible, and charged forward. The grappling line around Seco had gone slack, so he had relatively free use of his arms, and he aimed his lightsaber right at Jerin's visor. However, Jerin used his left forearm to bludgeon the saber to the side, even as he continued running forward and slammed his helmet into Seco's unprotected head.

Seco's lightsaber almost slipped from his grasp as he staggered back, but then he spun into a flourish that finally severed the grappling cable around him. Jerin had to quickly lean back to avoid having his head taken off, then Seco's boot slammed into his helmet as he tipped forward again.

Jerin went with the momentum and used the Force to spin into a backflip, drawing his own lightsaber even as he did so. He activated it just in time to block Seco's follow up thrust. Then he tried to twirl his black blade free of the stalemate, but only ended up spinning both blades into the wall, which quickly began to turn a molten red. "I guess the armor DOES make a difference." Seco reluctanctly admitted. "But it doesn't matter. Your Force powers are nowhere near my level."

"We'll see." Jerin growled. Still holding his saber with his right hand, he summoned up the biggest Force push he could throw with his left. Seco simply ducked beneath it and aimed a sweeping slash at the vulnerable knee joints in Jerin's armor. Jerin jumped above the slash, but then found himself being hurled down the hallway by a Force push from Seco. He was scrambling to get back to his feet almost before he landed, raising his saber to ward off Seco, who was already right on top of him. Jerin still felt no fear for himself, but he was starting to worry about the girls. As he desperately blocked Seco's lightning fast strikes, he cursed to himself. 'Damn it, this is taking too long.'

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As Tenn turned a corner that should have gotten them heading back toward the docking bay, she saw Negian emerging from another side passage at the same time. Instead of drawing his lightsaber, however, he simply slowed to a walk and strode calmly forward. "I'm glad I finally caught you away from Seco." He said simply.

Tenn held out a hand to indicate that everyone behind her should stop. "Do you have a reason to keep these ladies from escaping?"

Negian shook his head, his vestigial horns catching the light in interesting ways as he did. "I am no slaver. In fact, I'd prefer that this be a private conversation anyway."

"Does anyone know the way to docking bay H-4?" Tenn asked, though she didn't take her eyes off Negian.

"I do." Denan limped up to the front of the escaping column with Joona hanging off his right side.

"Then please lead everyone there, quickly." Tenn told him. "Even without security on duty, the station is going to start filling up with people heading to work soon. People who might report us to the authorities if they see us." She elaborated.

"What about you?" Joona wondered. "I get the feeling this guy isn't going to stop at 'conversation'."

"True enough." Tenn allowed a thin smile to appear on her face. "But this isn't your problem. Oh, and when you get to the docking bay, just find a place to hide. Jerin is the only one who can open the ship without it blowing up, anyway. Now go." As the ladies quietly filed past, most didn't dare to look at Negian. Only after the column had disappeared down the hallway did Tenn speak again. "You wanted to talk. So talk."

"You already know what I'm going to say." Negian sighed. "But I'll run through the main points again, if you insist. First off, this galaxy is no place for a single mother on her own. Especially one without a home or a job."

"Which is exactly why I'm going to give the baby up for adoption when it's born." Tenn folded her arms. "Believe me, I've thought about this."

"You can't do that." There was a pleading look in Negian's eyes. "Your child will have a stronger connection to the Force than anyone since Anakin Skywalker. Potentially an even stronger connection than he had, considering how powerful the child's mother is."

"Exactly the reason the child needs to be able to choose his or her own fate, and not be pressured into becoming a Jedi or a Sith." Tenn responded calmly.

"But also exactly the reason the child needs to be trained how to use its powers from a very young age." Negian reasoned.

"And you think you and Seco are the best people to do that?" Tenn's eyes narrowed. "Seco can't even control himself, never mind teaching someone else about control. Plus, if he does get his hands on my baby, he's going to use it to replace YOU."

Negian shook his head vehemently. "We're not like that. We're not traditional Sith, we don't follow Darth Bane's Rule of Two, and we've been best friends since we were little kids!"

"The two Padawans who were best friends have long since disappeared." Tenn told him. "If you haven't realized that much, there's no point in continuing this conversation."

"It seems not." Negian sighed. He unhooked his lightsaber from his belt, but then let it drop to the floor at his side instead of igniting it. "Whatever secret schemes Seco might be hiding from me, you WILL be safer with us than hanging around with the Mandalorian, and I'd die before I let you come to harm."

"So then we'd both be dead." Tenn shook her head. "Trust me Negian, every time I escape from you, I'm actually doing you a favor, and this time will be no different." With that, she thrust her right hand forward, fingers splayed apart as far as they would go, doing her best to use the Force to send Negian flying down the hallway.

Negian staggered backward with a grunt, but then thrust his left arm forward in response. Tenn had more raw power in the Force, but Negian had more training and experience. As they both struggled to blast their own Force push past the other's, the seconds ticked by with no noticeable change. Beads of sweat were visible on Negian's black tattoos, and Tenn noticed a purple sheen coming from her own arm. As she tried to draw on even more power from the Force, Tenn grimaced. 'Kark it, this is taking too long.'

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As Denan staggered down the corridors as fast as he could, he began to get a sense that Joona was agitated about something. Then again, he was agitated too, and so were most of the other girls. Ever since they had run into the two black robed figures in the hallway, the escape plan had been falling apart. Knowing that they had to rely on the Mandalorian to win his battle was bad enough, but time wasn't on their side either. "Den, I'm going back." Joona announced.

"What are you talking about?" He turned to look her in the eye. "I'm pretty sure those two were enemy Force users! Even if you weren't injured, you couldn't take them on."

"I'm not going to FIGHT them, but I'm going to do what I can to help. Maybe just a moment's distraction will be enough." She explained. "Now let me go."

"Wait, if you're that determined... Let me go instead." Denan offered.

Joona shook her head. "You're the only one who knows the way to the docking bay. You have to lead everyone else there."

"Getting to the docking bay isn't going to do us any good if we don't have a ship." He pointed out.

Joona smiled at him. "If it comes to that, I know you're capable of breaking into a ship and getting past whatever safeguards might be in place on it."

"True enough." Denan admitted. "Though I'd rather not have another theft conviction on my record."

"See? They need you." Joona shrugged out of his grip, gritting her teeth as she put her weight back on her left leg. "Hold this for me. It'll just get in my way." She handed him the blanket that had been haphazardly wrapped around her shoulders. She also kicked off her slippers, knowing they'd come off anyway once she started sprinting. "Keep going!" She gestured for the others to get a move on.

"Joona, promise me you'll be back." Denan looked back over his shoulder as he started walking forward again.

"I'll do my best." Joona smiled. She knew that wasn't what he wanted to hear, but it was honest. She took a few deep breaths as the other girls filed past, then took a single step with her right leg. She almost collapsed to her knees as stabbing pain shot up her left leg when all her weight was put on it, but she managed to lean against the wall and stay upright. "It's going to take hours this way." She told herself. "All right, come on Joona. This pain is nothing compared to what you've been through. Nothing at all." She forced herself to quit leaning on the wall, and put all her weight back on her legs. "If you're going to be of any use, you have to run. Just run!" Without thinking about it any more, she took off down the corridor as fast as she could go. It was even more excruciating than she'd expected, but at least now it was an intermittent drumbeat of pain instead of a steady agony. Somehow, she managed to stay on her feet as she charged back toward her rescuers.

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Seco flinched as their lightsabers scraped against the wall again, spitting yet more sparks. The sparks and occasional globs of molten metal were of no concern to Jerin, and he continued to press the attack. Though it felt like they had been fighting for hours now, Jerin knew it was probably around two minutes. He also knew that he had taken way too many hits on his armor already. Fortunately, most of them had been glancing blows that wouldn't have been fatal anyway, but even so, nothing could stand up to a lightsaber forever. If Seco managed to land a direct strike on the torso and keep it there for a few seconds, it would all be over.

Jerin's greatest concern though, was time. If he couldn't manage to win, or at least escape, within the next few minutes, then the girls' escape was going to be very short lived. However, precisely because he was worried about someone other than himself, he found that he was much less angry than the last time he had fought Seco. In fact, he was growing more calm as the fight went on, patiently waiting for Seco to make a mistake. Given that he didn't feel tired either, it slowly dawned on Jerin that he must be drawing on the light side of the Force.

So, as Seco trapped Jerin's saber back inside the metal wall once more, then batted it out of his hand, Jerin was ready with a Force push that sent Seco flying down the hallway, then called his blade back to his hand even before Seco landed on his feet. As Seco charged forward once more, spinning into a furious flurry of slashes, Jerin did what he could to block, even as he was aware that he wouldn't come out on top. So, as Seco sent Jerin's saber flying out of his right hand yet again, Jerin's left arm was already coming up to fire his other grappling cable. Seco's right arm was pinned against his body, but he managed to keep his left arm free, and immediately used the Force to spin his lightsaber into his left hand. However, he was a fraction of a second too late. Jerin used his right hand to slam Seco's left arm into the wall, then brought his armored left forearm up into Seco's throat as hard as he could.

Even as Seco's head was slammed into the floor and he began to emit a disturbing gurgling sound, he still managed to keep a grip on his lightsaber. For a split second, Jerin was tempted to try and finish him off right there, but he decided against it. Even in this state, Seco was bound to still be dangerous, and Jerin had wasted too much time on him already. Using the Force to call his own saber back to his hand, Jerin took off down the hallway at top speed, his armored feet clanking loudly as he ran.

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Negian felt a new presence full of hostile intent charging at him from behind, but his options were limited at the moment. This new presence didn't feel particularly Force-sensitive, but Negian couldn't pull his punches right now. He was using every ounce of Force power he could muster, and he didn't have the energy to simply Force push this new person away. So, reading the Force to sense where this new adversary would be in one second, Negian drew out his lightsaber with his right hand and swung it in a tight arc behind him without looking. As Negian heard a thump behind him and felt his lightsaber hit nothing but air, he knew something was about to go very wrong.

Joona's sudden drop to the floor had been a complete accident, but it was the best thing that could have happened. As she'd gotten close to Negian, her left leg had suddenly given out completely, unceremoniously dropping her to the floor. She managed to control her fall somewhat, so she managed to avoid inadvertanly doing the splits, but her left leg was folded up under her at the knee. Through the sudden tears of pain that began flowing from her eyes, Joona could see Negian's red lightsaber slice through the air above her. As he began to turn in her direction, at least a bit, she raised her right leg and aimed a kick straight at his crotch.

Apparently her aim was a little off, since Negian simply spun his right arm into a second strike that headed right for her neck. A second later, Joona realized that her head was still attached to her neck, and the tip of the red lightsaber was hovering just above her chin. Looking up through her bleary eyes, she saw that Negian was staring at her with a surprised expression on his face. Joona didn't know what the cause of his hesitation was, but she wasn't about to waste this second chance. She pulled her leg back and kicked again, this time striking the sweet spot, to judge from the way Negian doubled over.

Negian barely had time to emit a groaning "Noo..." Then his concentration was completely broken and he went flying down the hallway, first bouncing off the wall on his right, then skidding along the floor before finally coming to a stop over one hundred feet away. Joona heard a loud gasp, then the purple Twi'lek appeared in her blurry vision.

"Wow, you're even crazier than I am." Tenn observed in between heavy breaths.

"He... He tried to kill me!" Joona couldn't seem to think of anything else to say.

"That he did, but he failed." Tenn reassured her. "And he won't be getting up again for a while."

Joona rolled onto her right side so that her left leg wasn't pinned under her anymore, but the pain from doing even that much was almost enough to make her pass out. "Neither will I." Joona gasped. "You'll have to leave me here."

"I'll do no such thing." Tenn told her calmly.

Joona saw many small white lights flashing in front of her, and her vision was beginning to grow dim around the edges. "You don't understand!" She was keeping her vision focused on Tenn now through sheer force of will, and even so, it kept trying to drift off to one side or the other. "I'm not going to be conscious much longer." She spoke slowly, trying not to slur her words. "Just go."

"If I was an ordinary being, I probably would have to leave you." Tenn admitted. "But, I'm hardly ordinary." She sounded more sad about this than proud. However, Joona soon found herself floating in the air as if she were weightless. Without its own weight to drag it down, her leg was suddenly free from most of its pain.

Joona realized that her vision had cleared up as well. "How is this possible?" She wondered out loud.

"The light side of the Force is excellent for relieving pain." Tenn answered. "Physical pain, anyway. Now, we better get moving." Tenn tried to draw on the Force so she could go into an all out sprint until they caught up with the others, but was annoyed to find that she lacked the skill to do that while lifting Joona. "Hmm... Keep watch behind us, will you?" Tenn used the Force to slowly rotate Joona backwards. "My Force perception will be dulled while I keep you in the air, and I don't want the bad guys sneaking up on us."

"Who are they, anyway?" Joona wondered as they moved past Negian's unconscious form.

Tenn could feel in the Force that Negian wasn't seriously hurt, just unconscious. "A couple of kids who are in way over their heads." She answered honestly. "But they're very dangerous, even so."

"It seems they're not the only ones." Joona smiled. Then, a thought occured to her. "Do you have any idea why he hesitated when he could have killed me easily?"

"That's simple enough." Tenn sighed. "He's got a pretty serious Twi'lek fetish."

"Don't they all." Joona's smile became lopsided. "Though I shouldn't be complaining, if it saved my life."

"Hey, feel free to complain all you want." Tenn shrugged. "I'm sure you've got quite a bit saved up."

"True, but I don't want to think about it right now." Joona admitted. "I just got sprung from a lifelong prison sentence, and I want to think about the future."

"What do you want to do, now that you can do whatever you want?" Tenn wondered.

"Buy some real clothes and eat rycrit steak every day for a week." Joona chuckled. "And after that, we'll see."

'She's got a better plan than I do.' Tenn complained to herself. 'Oh, what the hell are you doing, Tenn?'

.

"Rest now. You've neither won nor lost, but this battle is over for you just the same." - Teferi, Magic: the Gathering - Invasion

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(Character Name Origins #3: Negian Kannazer

"Negian" has obvious connotations with "negative", but aside from that, I'm note sure where this name came from. Unfortunately, the Expanded Universe has given us very few Zabrak names that I could refer to as a basis for what a typical Zabrak name sounds like. I know of exactly three Zabraks by name: Darth Maul, who has a Sith name, not a Zabrak one, Jedi Master Agen Kolar, and Kass from the battle of Jabiim. So, I didn't put a lot of thought into this one; I just picked something that felt right.)

(Edit on 4/12/10 - So, I kind of forgot about Wolf Sazen and Maris Brood when I wrote the note above. However, I think my point still stands about not having enough names to know what a "typical" Zabrak name sounds like. Also, I was never completely sure if Maris Brood was supposed to be a Zabrak or not. I mean, her horns are pink, and her skin is pretty much pure white. If she is Zabrak, then she's definitely a goth chick.)