Chapter V:
Last of the Creed
Mira stood in her cabin in silence, slowly inspecting the burnt mark on her back. She managed to get dozens of scars throughout the years, but this one felt different from the others. It wasn't the vicious cut on her shoulder from Darth Vader, nor the burnt marks on her thigh from dealing with the Black Sun. It indicated nor triumph nor luck, it just served as another shameful reminder of her mortality. For that reason, she decided to keep it.
Besides, there was nothing she could do about it on the ship. She was more worried about her shirt, and the gaping hole that was left in it by the shot. Kyle kept no female clothes on the Moldy Crow, and the fabric was impossible to repair with the tools on their disposal. She had to live through the adventure with what was left of it. This infuriated her beyond measure.
She kept inspecting it until the point she could look at it no longer. She sat down on the carpet, and tried to calm herself through meditation, yet it proved to be more painful than the shot itself. As she closed her eyes, echoes of the past accompanied her in the darkness. Countless voices reached through her from the Force, all of them came by those who died because of her actions.
It was impossible to resist them. She opened her eyes, and stood up from the ground, brushing off the tears from her eyes. This wasn't the first time when the past begun to haunt her, and it seemed to be far from the last. In these times, she curled up on the bed, and kept watching the stars, until it was over.
The small window on the side of the room offered the perfect opportunity to calm herself. For a short while, it seemed to work, then someone started to knock on the door.
Mira sighed, and went off to greet her guest.
Kyle smiled as she opened the door for him.
"Don't tell me you can't sleep," Mira said jokingly. She was a master at hiding her pain.
"You wish," Kyle laughed mostly out of necessity. "I analysed our current course, at this rate, we will reach the Jedha in less than two days."
"The Jedha?" Mira frowned. "I thought nobody lives there anymore," she continued, thinking out loud.
"I thought the same," he nodded. "Some settlers established a few cities near the mines. This might just tell us what Thrawn is up to."
"Which is leading us to believe that this has something to do with the crystals," she continued. Her mission was about Rey, and about whatever horrors Thrawn wanted to inflict upon her. There was no doubt about that.
"I don't know, the Death Star left a pretty big scar in the Force. If he was to use the crystals on her some way, then the scar might just help masking it in its entirety," he explained, giving her an idea.
"Or it can make the perfect mask behind whatever he is up to," Mira continued. "Problem is, we will only know that when we are there. And we will still have to get down there somehow."
"That might be just a bit easier, than we thought," Kyle added. "They couldn't have many fighters left, and with their tractor beam gone, we might be just able to escape them."
"Yeah, we might," she sighed.
"Better than nothing," Kyle shrugged, then he lowered his voice. "Listen, I'm finished with the repairs, and we will be in hyperspace for a while. How about we spar a bit?"
"What for?" she asked, although the offer seemed more interesting than ever. They were planning to decide who was stronger for a while, but they were always too busy to actually try their luck with each other. Besides, fighting was among the best things that could relieve the pain within her.
"I thought it might cheer you up a bit," he continued. Mira was shocked. She thought she masked her pain completely, but Kyle saw through her anyway. "Besides, don't pretend that you weren't looking forward to this for a while," he added jokingly.
"I wouldn't dare," she nodded, her face brightened up a bit.
She got her lightsaber from the couch, and started off to the lower deck.
In most cases, the Moldy Crow's lower deck was as empty as a desert. Kyle never used it to transport goods – not since he joined the Order –, and thus, it made the perfect place for the fight.
After they entered the wide hall, the two combatants faced each other on the opposite sides of the room, ready to decide who was the more formidable warrior. After Malachor, Mira took her superiority for granted, but in there she had a grand advantage over her opponents. In here, they were equals – which made the fight even more exciting.
"Ready to lose?" Mira asked, gripping her weapon firmly in her hand.
"Don't flatter yourself," Kyle answered, and proceeded to activate the blue lightsaber.
Mira nodded, and by the time she brought her blade forth, they were both ready for the fight. Not just physically, but also mentally, constantly looking out for each other through the Force. They both knew it was dangerous to spar in this manner. They had to be on edge in order to avoid serious injuries.
Being excited as ever, Mira launched the first attack, stepping in front of Kyle, and striking him with a quick strike to his neck. The blow seemed to be a safety ride compared to what she was capable of. Kyle easily deflected the blow, but then Mira jumped next to her foe, and kicked him to the other side of the room.
Kyle quickly jumped up from the ground, staring at her with a harsh expression on his face. Mira shrugged, it was a friendly fight, but it was still a fight.
Knowing that her opponent will be more careful, Mira choose a more unique approach to the second round. As the two opponents launched themselves at each other, Mira jumped to the side of the man, and aimed her lightsaber behind him.
Kyle deflected the strike, and kicked her in the ass.
"You had that one coming," he said as Mira fell to the ground.
Mira expected another strike, but Kyle stood his ground, patiently waiting for his opponent to get up, so they could start the third round.
"Just wait, until I'm finished with you," she answered, her voice was more threatening than she meant it to be.
"You are welcome to try," Kyle answered, raising the blue blade for the defence.
"Famous last words," she darted, and began to launch her third attack.
Learning from the previous experiences, this time Mira was sure that she would come out on top. She started the attack with a swift strike at Kyle's shoulder, then, as he deflected it, she followed with a vicious blow on the side.
Kyle reacted just in time, sliding the blade in front of the attack, and stopping the blade just before he would be defeated. By the time he realized the real threat, it was too late: Mira kicked the lightsaber out of his hand, and relentlessly aimed a strike towards his chest.
As expected, Kyle managed get out of her way, but only by losing his balance. He fell on the ground; Mira aimed her lightsaber at his throat with a triumphant smile on her face. Finally, her darkness went away. She could breathe again.
"So I got lucky, huh?" she asked the obvious, referring to the grim events that unfolded on Malachor.
"Pretty much," Kyle answered, as the lightsaber hilt hit Mira on the back.
It could take only a gentle push, and she would be as good as dead. Kyle would never do that, she knew, but it felt as bad as being defeated by an actual enemy.
"Okay, you win this time," she sighed, deactivating her lightsaber.
The other hilt fell on the ground.
Mira extended her hand, and helped him to get up from the floor. It was fun to spar with him; there was no denying of it.
"You hungry?" Kyle asked, as he started off to the exit. All this fighting could make a man hungry, and even Mira was starving at this point.
"Sure," she nodded with surprise, and proceeded to follow him.
For a brief moment, their friendship felt more intense than it was supposed to be.
They survived it. The thought rushed through Luke Skywalker's head as he gazed over the green field, filled with the remaining Jedi and their battered ships. Ahsoka Tano stood beside him, she was troubled, just like everyone else after the battle.
For Luke, the word troubled meant an understatement. His worst nightmare came to life, when the Finalizer appeared on the sky, and obliterated everything he worked for in the past twenty years. But some of their ships survived, alongside with thirty Jedi. Most of them were far from Odessen during the fight, once they heard the news, they to cut their missions, and came to the rendezvous point. Mara's ship should soon be here with the rest of the survivors, then they could go to a safe place, and begin it again, just like old times.
They will arrive, he was sure of it, however much time had passed.
"I don't like it," Ahsoka broke the silence, glancing back to their ship. "Ariss, hurry with those engines!"
"I'm on it!" the girl shouted. The clone of the once feared Noeya Adane was young, yet she grew fast, and became more resourceful with every passing month. She was merely a child, but she could stand her ground against any trained Jedi.
"They will be here," Luke said, keeping his gaze on the sky.
A moment later, the Jade Shadow appeared on the horizon. The jedi Master smiled, then his joy turned the horror, as an old Star Destroyer appeared on the sky, shooting the ship into pieces. Luke shouted as the vicious ball of fire replaced his beloved wife. He didn't notice that he was shouting, he only realized it later, as he could hear his own voice again. He stood there in shock, as the dreaded ship aimed his guns to the surface, sending the makeshift camp into chaos. The old frigates blew up one after the other, trained Jedi and their padawans were reduced to ash within seconds.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, pushing him into the ship. Ahsoka shouted something, then she held her arms above her, stopping the green laser from killing them right then and there.
"Go!" the togruta shouted.
As the Reaver rose up from the ground, Luke looked at her in disbelief. A few years ago he barely let the woman back to the Order, and now she would sacrifice herself without a doubt. Then, as he watched Ahsoka withholding certain doom, he finally came into his senses.
It only took a swift movement with his hand to get Ahsoka back to the ship. Without her strength, the shot collided into the ground with impossible force. The shockwave reached the docking ramp within a friction of a second, but it got no further. Luke was standing on the other side, struggling with the laser's unbelievable force with tears in his eyes.
For a second, it seemed he did that in vain, but Ariss took the ship out of the blast area in time – just before he would faint.
"Thanks," Ahsoka nodded, the docking ramp closed behind them.
"They killed her… They killed Mara," Luke muttered with disbelief.
"I know", she nodded, as she strode towards the cockpit. "Jump to a random location as soon as you can! We can't let them chase us!"
"The First Order can't know about the tertiary location." Ariss objected.
"This is not the First Order," Ahsoka snapped, and suddenly Luke realized that the Remnant was the only one who used the old Star Destroyers.
As the Reaver jumped to hyperspace, Luke began to wonder about the why of it. He realized the reason mattered very little by now. For all they knew, they were the only survivors of the attack. The Jedi Order was once again reduced to only a few followers of their great religion. They were the last of the creed, their survival was the only thing that mattered.
Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)
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