Here, have this.
Dueling with the Dark
Reviews and criticism are always welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.
The Dark stone building that sat in the middle of forest held a dark presence which permeated throughout the land around it. A large two finned starship landed on the landing pad adjacent to a sleek and rounded ship on another pad. Two figures exited, clad in the robes of their order. The Enchani Sun Guard that moved to attack them found themselves stopped dead in their tracks as they were flung back into the wall with enough force to be knocked out. Despite this the warriors did not stop until everyone had been incapacitated in their attempt to do their employer's bidding. One could see the robed figures were in a rush judging by the quick pace they kept.
When the darkness seemed to answer their challenge they stepped up their pace flying through the fortress sensing the ever growing power of this dark tide.
They all but zoomed throughout the fortress, running at speeds no mere mortal could match. Until they stopped before the reinforced door to the final chamber.
"Looks lightsaber proof." I said. Looking at the door. I unshouldered my backpack. Myles had come through. I reached inside and armed the insurance policy he got for me and set it down just out of the way.
I stood back, gauging the door itself. I was going to reach out and tear the door off the hinges.
Plo calmly walked over and hit the button on the control panel and the door opened. He didn't say anything as we walked inside. The Chamber was filled with artifacts that lined the walls.
A deep and reserved voice called out. "You have come. No doubt to see my ascension."
Plagueis stood in the center of a large chamber filled with various curios and babbles that held significance to the Sith.
"We have come to put an end to your madness." Plo stated.
"And you, Luminara?" He stepped out of the shadows, swathed in a set of black robes.
His hood was drawn back, revealing his now unscarred face. His work with the midichlorians had come to fruition. His face was perfectly restored at this point.
"More or less the same thing." I said.
"A shame. You would have made a great acolyte." he said.
I found myself chuckling, "I drive the Jedi crazy without the madness induced by the Darkness. I could only imagine the Hell I'd put you through."
"So be it." He said in a displeased tone. He raised his arms and unleashed a torrent of force lightning.
Lightsabers ignited. One blue and the double-bladed lightsaber of Darth Maul. I held up the blade in my left hand, stepping in front of Plo-koon. The four synthetic crystals in the now dead assassin's blade held up well, absorbing the might of the Dark Lord of the Sith. Just as I hoped when I brought the damn thing. Synthetic Crystals were tougher and more powerful than the Sith. It would save stress on Plo's and my own saber in this battle.
Plagueis growled and activated his lightsaber. I deactivated one end of Maul's blade and used that to block the quick strikes. He traded blows with us flawlessly. I was reminded briefly that Plagueis was the Quigley Down Under of Sith. Just because he found little use for a lightsaber didn't mean he didn't know how to use it and masterfully so. After a few strikes I attempted to force a blade lock. So Plo might be able to end the Sith.
Plagueis didn't fall for it. I did see his gaze dart toward my arm, once or twice. He hit Plo with a hard Force Push, sending the Kel-Dor flying back. The Jedi Master recovered easily, but the distraction allowed for Plagueis to get in a statement.
"What an interesting use of my research." He said looking at my arm while forcing a blade lock. "How was this done?"
I didn't want to engage in conversation with him on the matter but I couldn't help myself. "Oh, you know, A pinch of arrogance, a dash of desperation and dollop of none of your business!"
Plagueis let out a low growl of annoyance. "You guard your secrets well." I felt his mental brush against my mind in a last desperate attempt to find out one last bit of knowledge. He broke the blade lock and hit me with a force push. It was a lighter one, enough to send me skidding back in order for the Dark Lord to engage with Plo as the Kel-dor jumped back in the fray.
The Lightsaber duel was a distraction. He no doubt had 11-4D setting up the ritual while he battled us. I was just glad to get here beforehand. Partitioning my mind, I reached out with the Force to find Anakin's location. It wasn't difficult. As I suspected he was farther in the complex. I sensed another presence as well though it was too faint to tell who it could be.
Another concerning factor was the strand of dark side energy tethering out from the Dark Lord toward where Anakins was. It had yet to fully connect, yet it seemed to coalesce and coiled as if it was waiting for the moment to strike. I looked in Plo-Koon's direction. He nodded. In a fluid motion, we danced beside each other. I passed Maul's lightsaber to him as I activated my own blue blade. I broke off and proceeded to reach Anakin. I blocked a quick blow from Plaguies own blade as I passed.
Of course I would have dashed right in, if all the objects lining the walls hadn't started flinging toward me.
"You will not go any further. Not until I finish my work." Plagueis growled yet didn't yell, maintaining a sense of control.
I decided to play the game as well and throw some fancy objects at him as well. I noted that many were artifacts, some no doubt dated back centuries or millennia. Plo stopped me.
"GO! Do not be distracted!" He was right and I continued on, dodging and leaping past the flying objects trying to dissuade me from my path. Then a very noticeable object was flung toward me. It was a Yinchorri blade. No, the last time I saw one of those was… Dead Blue eyes, I could feel the dead weight of her in my arms. It was nearly about to skewer me when I shook the thoughts of that day away. I quickly pushed it back and sent it into the wall. The Cortosis infused blade shattered on impact. That brief distraction would nearly do me in as something hard struck me and sent me flying.
As my vision cleared, I looked up to see a chunk of the Force damned wall flying toward me. I held out my hands just in time stopping the flying piece of stone work in the air. Then I felt the dark side wrap around me in a Force Crush. Dammit. I grunted in pain.
Plagueis was still dueling Plo-Koon, but I was mincemeat if I didn't focus. I thought of what would happen if I didn't succeed. If I didn't stop him. Anakin would be lost and so would the Force as a whole.
Anakin.
The thought of never getting the chance to insure he wasn't driven mad by the Order and the Sith was a good motivator. I had to try. For him and the galaxy at large. I managed to stand with that motivation and focus on the crushing forces around me. The wall that seemed so urgent cracked and crumbled into dust, yet the clamping force of the Plagueis' hold on me remained.
"No!" Plagueis said only just starting to lose his cool and control for the first time since the battle started. Plagueis then let out an anguished scream as golden lightning enveloped him. He was forced to step back and use his lightsaber to block the golden arcs from enveloping him entirely as Plo-Koon used Force Judgement on him.
The Crushing force relaxed just enough for me to shatter it entirely with my own power. I poured all the speed I could into my dash toward the other chamber. I reached the heavy door of the inner chamber and I ripped it open, not having time for such an obstacle. Then an explosion of Dark Side energy rippled out in a blast wave, unlike anything I ever felt in a mental rush that almost left me giggling in madness. I then felt that dark wave in the force marching toward me. I didn't dare look back, knowing that Plagueis had fallen to Plo.
I entered the room. 11-4D stood in front of Anakin, who was tied down and lying unconscious upon an onyx black stone slab. The Droid was holding a red pyramid shaped holocron. It was opened if the twisted corners and glowing red center was any indication. It must have been the focus for the ritual. My lightsaber quickly lashed out, slicing through the Holocron and Droid. The glowing red holocron exploded and the head of the droid sparked and rolled away.
There was a dark echo in the Force. A great rolling tide. All falling upon where Anakin lay unconscious upon the stone slab. I stopped and reached out holding it back with my own power best I could. It darted toward Anakin, It took everything I had to just to hold it back. The shield I erected began to crack under such an onslaught of darkness. I nearly fell to one knee.
"I am one with the Force, the Force is me." I said, repeating the mantra to myself.
It was a losing battle. I could not stand alone against it all.
Alas, I wasn't alone. I felt a great light next to me, opposite of the stone slab where I saw Plo-Koon standing. Also holding the darkness back. This galvanized me as I was rebounded and my shield seemed to expand with Plo's. The Force is fire after all. It only adds to itself and grows with each being it touches.
"He is not for you," I said. I called out to the Darkness, the being that was Plagueis. "He was created in opposition to your perversion of the Force's will. An auto-immune response to your infection. Now BE GONE! For you are UNDONE!" I shouted the last bit, and the darkness reeled back as the very words Plagueis used to confess his worry to Sidious were used against it. This brief moment of confusion was I'll needed to for the final push. Plo-koon rallied as well in that moment, my Battle Mediation allowing us to sync our power briefly, just enough to banish the apparition into oblivion.
The darkness eventually dissipated as a helpless echo, losing more and more of itself back to the force as it faded into nothing. I nearly collapsed from the exhaustion. Laying a hand on the slab for balance. I looked down at the sleeping Anakin. I started unhooking the straps. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Plo-Koon enter another chamber off to the side. He must have sensed the other presence.
"Bellicose," I heard Anakin moan in dreary confusion. I let the use of my Alias slide. He had only just learned my true name a couple days ago. It was also a breath of relief knowing for certain that Plagueis' essence got nowhere near the Kid.
"Where am I?" Anakin asked.
"Don't worry kid," I said, picking him up. "I am getting you out of here."
"Plo I got him, where are you?" I called out.
"Anakin wasn't the only one trapped here." He called out as he exited the other chamber holding another body over his shoulders in a fireman's carry. I looked, seeing it was Obi-wan.
"Obi-wan?" I said.
"He is unconscious, but alive." Plo said. "Now we must hurry before the Sun Guard wakes from unconsciousness." Plo said.
I nodded and we left the fortress, each carrying our separate burdens. Not before I called the head of 11-4D and clipped the Meddroids head to my belt. As we made our way to the landing pad I noticed Plagueis' ship, The Scimitar, as we made our way toward our own ship. It would be a shame to leave it here, but I had more important things to worry about.
Of course that's when a Sun Guard with a rocket launcher popped out and launched a rocket at the T-6's primary engine. The ship was rocked off ground and the landing gear gave out collapsing as the shuttle buckled on itself.
"There," I said pointing at the other ship. I reached out quickly and tripped the Sun Guard before he could shoot the other ship or at us. He fell back, launching the newly loaded rocket into the forest. I reached out, sensing no more surprises. This Sun Guard might have been missed or not as thoroughly knocked out like his compatriots.
As we boarded the Scimitar. It opened right up. I figured it would be fairly simple as why would Plagueis keep his own ship locked out in his own fortress?
I set Anakin down on a mediation pad and beelined for the lift that would take me to the cockpit. It felt painfully slow as it ascended. I reached the main console and started the ship up. I heard some sort of scuffle as the lift took me up. I sensed Plo had it handled, so I didn't worry about it. I went over to the console controls and started the ship, skipping the pre-flight. Plo showed up not long after manning the copilot's chair.
As we lifted off, I pulled out the detonator in my belt pouch. I looked at Plo for confirmation. He nodded. I hit the Detonator before gunning it toward the upper atmosphere. The Dark fortress exploded in a fireball as the powerful explosive turned the castle into a dust cloud. Myles came through and managed to get me what I needed to make the fortress a memory. Hopefully the dark secrets within were well and truly gone or at the very least buried deep. I would have preferred a nuke, but they were not something you got on short notice and without drawing attention. Not all of the secrets were buried there as I felt the weight of 11-4D's head still on my belt. I unhooked it and set it down just out of sight as Plo was still busy setting the course for Coruscant. I wanted to get a look at it later. Hopefully, I didn't damage it too much.
I didn't relax until I saw the stars bolt past and the ship entered hyperspace. I couldn't take a break just yet. I took the lift back down and went to check on Anakin. He was sitting up and staring in the corner. I expected to see Obi-wan awake as well, but he was still unconscious and laying on the floor. I went over and picked up the Knight and moved him into one of the sleeping compartments, setting him a bed. I reached out, sensing if his mind would wake soon. Nothing as of yet.
I took note of a Sun Guard on the floor near the air lock after taking care of Obi-wan. That must have been what the shuffle I heard on the lift was about. The Sun guard was cuffed. I used the Force to lift her up, and put her in the other living compartment. I locked the door from the outside in case she awoke.
I went and stood next to the wall by Anakin and slid down sitting next to him.
He leaned onto my shoulder. We didn't say anything more, just kept silent for most of the trip. I don't know when it happened, but I remembered leaning my head back and simply fell asleep.