Kenna fought a brief internal argument, Jolee's warning echoing hollowly in her mind. Should I let him come? On the one hand, she would die herself--or want to--if she got Carth killed. On the other, when they fought together it was almost like they could read each other's minds and work in perfect rhythm--usually. Knowing this place would be crawling with Dark Jedi, Kenna was tempted to take Jolee and Juhani just to have more Jedi support.
"Kenna? You coming?" Carth pulled her to her feet. "We need to get moving."
"Sorry." She bit her lip. "Carth, I think--" She stopped herself before finishing the sentence. It would be torture of the highest level to leave him now. Not to mention she wanted him to come. He could handle himself.
"What?" He looked at her expectantly.
Kenna shook her head. "We should take Jolee."
"Why not Juhani?" That had been her usual choice ever since Dantooine; Carth and Juhani.
"She's a Guardian, like me. Jolee's a Consular, he's more in control of the Force. Considering the probable number of Dark Jedi in there, I want someone very proficient with the Force along."
"You're not taking both of them?" Carth couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. He'd been positive she would take the two Jedi and leave him behind.
"No." Kenna smiled. "I want you to come. When we fight together, I don't know, it just seems to…work. And I've noticed you resisting some of the mind-affecting things even better than Juhani and I do."
"I can be very stubborn when I want to be," Carth chuckled.
"So I've noticed," Kenna retorted dryly, kissing him on the cheek. "Let's go, flyboy."
"As you wish, beautiful."
They headed for the boarding ramp, Kenna beckoning Jolee to join them as they passed. Upon exiting the Hawk, they almost ran into the small group of Jedi Vandar had sent in.
One greeted them, relief evident on her face. "You made it! Several Jedi have already gone into the Star Forge. We have to strike while we still have the element of surprise! If we don't stop Bastila from using her Battle Meditation the entire Republic Fleet will be wiped out! Come on, before they…" she trailed off as one of the doors to the Forge whined open and four Dark Jedi ran out. "Damn, so much for catching them unprepared!" the Jedi cursed. "We'll deal with these Sith--you get into the Star Forge and find Bastila! Hurry!" However, Kenna wasn't about to let them fight alone. She, Carth, and Jolee helped kill the attacking Sith before venturing beyond the landing bay. Kenna didn't even bother clipping her lightsaber to her belt; she knew she'd be using it almost constantly throughout the rest of the mission.
They had hardly gone ten feet down the hallway when they were attacked by a small group of troopers and a couple dark Jedi. Carth didn't even really think, he just flew at them. The trooper he had intended to attack succumbed to Jolee's Force lightning before Carth even reached him, so he went after one of the dark Jedi instead. Normally it would be suicide for someone who wasn't a Force-user to attack someone who was, but since both the dark Jedi were attacking Kenna, his target was distracted. A fact of which Carth took full advantage, burying Bacca's blade deep in the man's back. He blocked a wild swing from one of the troopers with the Echani foil, holding off the attacker's blade long enough to pull Bacca's blade free and ram it backwards, the blade skewering the trooper's leg. He followed that up with a slash from the Echani foil that finished off the trooper.
Kenna blocked an attack from the remaining dark Jedi, spinning so the block turned into an attack that nearly sliced her opponent in half. She stepped over him as he fell, cutting down a trooper who was attempting to come at Carth from the back. They both turned to help Jolee, but the old man had handled the remaining three troopers quite well. The last of them fell, still twitching from the Force Lightning, just as Kenna and Carth turned. I think we can do this, Kenna grinned to herself as she healed the minor injuries she and Jolee had sustained.
An half-hour later, she was rethinking that conclusion. The near-constant stream of enemies had slowly worn them down, small groups that should have been relatively easy to defeat leading to longer battles as more troops or Jedi or droids appeared just when she was beginning to breathe easier. The last group had nearly done them in. Carth and Jolee had both been knocked unconscious, and she'd been on the verge of dying when a last-gasp attempt to Stasis the attacking Sith actually trapped him. She'd jammed a medpac against her leg and laid into him with every ounce of strength she had left. He'd gone down just as the Stasis wore off. Kenna sighed in relief and dropped to her knees, gasping for breath. Oh, Force. I didn't think this would be so hard. She waited a couple minutes to regain her strength, then pulled off a Force heal.
Carth struggled to his feet. He winced and massaged his bruised shoulder. Durasteel was not forgiving, especially when you rammed into an edge. "Kenna, you okay?"
She nodded. "I think so. I'm just glad you are."
"What does that make, three that I owe you?" he teased, offering her a hand up.
"Four," she corrected, accepting the help. "That first group out in the hallway, one tried to get you from the back. I took care of 'im."
"Ah. Come here." He pulled her close and kissed her.
Kenna allowed herself to indulge for a couple seconds before reluctantly pulling away. "Business before pleasure, unfortunately," she whispered. "Sorry, flyboy."
Carth sighed. "No, you're right. Duty calls." He nodded toward the next door. "After you. You are the leader, after all."
"Let me guess, 'Ladies first'?"
"No, you're just a much better fighter than I am," Carth chuckled. "If there's half a dozen angry dark Jedi on the other side, you can handle them better than me."
"Better than I," Kenna corrected automatically, grinning roguishly at him.
Carth rolled his eyes. "If you say so. Let's get the 'business' part over with so we can move on to the 'pleasure'. Hm?"
"I like the way you think." Kenna grinned even wider and pressed the control button to open the door. Two troopers and a droid stood five feet or so down the walkway, caught so off-guard one grenade was all one trooper managed before all three were dispatched. Kenna grumbled to herself as she shook off the dizzying effects of the concussion grenade. She was the only one who caught any of the blast, and barely enough to set her ears ringing, but it was still annoying. She had barely gotten the world to hold still when a group of dark Jedi poured through one of the other doors. Kenna sighed. Why, why, why? Is ten seconds too much to ask? She spun her lightsaber around her hand as she met one of the attacking dark Jedi, his red blade stopping her blue one from doing any damage. Kenna cursed under her breath, parried his reciprocating attack, and swung at him again, raining a flurry of blows against his lightsaber. Finally, he wavered enough he left her an opening. She took it, her lightsaber blurring as she sliced off first his arm and then his head. Her opponent vanquished, she turned her attention to her companions. Jolee was handling himself. Carth, however, was in trouble.
He couldn't breathe. Damn that frackin' Sith! Black started creeping in the edges of his vision, spots freckling into existence. No! Kenna needs you. You aren't allowed to give up. Just hang on. He couldn't help it. He couldn't breathe.
Kenna felt her blood boil. In sheer, furious desperation, she flung out a wave of the Force, feeling her fury amplify it to more than it would normally have been. Both the remaining dark Jedi went flying. Jolee made short work of the one that actually got back up. Kenna was more worried about Carth.
He knelt on the grating of the walkway, coughing and gasping for breath. That was too close, he thought to himself as the dark spots faded from his vision. He leaned forward, bracing one hand against the ground as the other instinctively rubbed his throat.
"Carth?" The gentle hand on his back was accompanied by the now familiar touch of a Force heal. "You going to be okay?"
Carth nodded, not trusting his voice yet. He saw Kenna sigh in relief, her eyes sliding closed for a moment. Then she leaned in and kissed him. Both of them ignored the awkward angle, the impending danger, and Jolee's presence for a few blissful seconds. "What happened to business before pleasure?" Carth whispered, catching Kenna's wince at the extra rasp in his voice. "Kenna, I'm fine, I promise. Thank you."
She stood. "You know what they say about all work and no play," she smirked sweetly. "And that's five you owe me."
Carth couldn't help laughing as he stood. I'm gonna owe her forever. They continued on. When they hadn't encountered any enemies for almost five minutes, Carth started to get nervous. He knew Kenna was too. They had been running into something every few seconds. The sudden absence of dark Jedi, troopers, and droids was suspect and eerie. "I don't like this."
"I don't either," Kenna agreed. "Where did they all go?" She punched the controls for the door barring their path. Four dark Jedi, three troopers, and two droids waited on the other side. Forget I asked. She flung herself at the dark Jedi, followed a chain of Force lightning with an attempt at Stasis. She only caught one of them. Better than nothing. She called on the Force to heal, just in case. Jolee looked like he was having a hard time against the droids, and Kenna knew if any one of them went down the other two were pretty much doomed. Two of dark Jedi who resisted the Stasis went down quickly enough, and just in time, as the Stasis wore off of the third one. He returned her treatment, trapping her in Stasis. Of all the--! Kenna fumed as she stood frozen. Not being able to do anything was frustrating beyond belief.
Carth noticed her predicament and decided to ignore the troopers for a minute to help her. The dark Jedi saw him coming and decided he presented more of a threat than Kenna did. Carth blocked the swings of the twin red lightsabers, one just barely singeing his shoulder guard. One of the dark Jedi snarled in rage and raised one hand. Carth felt the tentacles of terror creeping in his mind but resisted the attempt. It still served a purpose; distracting him long enough that one of the troopers managed to get off a lucky shot just as Carth finished off the two dark Jedi.
Kenna had never felt so powerless in her life. The Stasis lasted a maddeningly long time, preventing her from doing more then watch as the trooper lined up his shot. She couldn't even do something to warn Carth. No, no, no! Behind you, look behind you! she begged, wondering if he would somehow get the message. He didn't. Carth! Kenna wanted to scream in combined rage and anguish as she watched helplessly. The Stasis wore off just as the laser bolt slammed into Carth's back and he went down. Kenna didn't even think, her reaction--ramming one fist into the trooper's face--was pure rage. A response that came to mind far, far too easily. Unfortunately, the dark Jedi had inflicted more damage than Kenna realized, leaving her weaker against the trooper's retaliation. I need to heal! There were still two troopers left, and she couldn't expect Jolee to handle both of them. Her Force depleted, she reached for a medpac, but the vibroblade wielded by the trooper she faced carved into her side before her fumbling fingers found one. I'm dead… Kenna thought airily as she collapsed, the world going black.