Author's Note: Sorry to keep everyone waiting with this. Here is the epic showdown between Jena and the Thirteenth Sister along with the rest of the Reds and Blues who fight Locus, Felix, and a handful of Stormtroopers on their mission to stop the Chorus inhabitants from killing each other.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
The Thirteenth Sister joined up with Locus and Felix at the standing platform of the radio jammer. They all looked out into the stormy horizon where lightning strikes were just about as flashy as the energy the jammer was emitting.
"I just got a report from our troops in the Capital." she said. "The generals are now face to face and exchanging rants, so it's only a matter of time before they start shooting at each other. And if they don't, the troopers have orders to shoot one of the soldiers and make it look like the other army was responsible."
"Glad to know everyone's up to date on the master plan." Felix said. "Now, what about our loose ends?"
"I just called the team in Crash Site Bravo." Locus answered. "None of the targets have arrived at the canyon."
"Guess they didn't trust us." Felix said. He turned his attention at the three Stormtroopers patrolling around the side of the site and got suspicious. "Hey, Inquisitor, how many Stormtroopers did you bring with us?"
"Four." the Inquisitor answered. "The rest were needed at the capital."
"You don't say." Felix said looking at the two more Stormtroopers who were standing on the platform with the three of them.
One of the Stormtroopers was actually Agent Carolina in disguise. She broke off of her patrol to secretly sneak around the jamming site.
"Four Stormtroopers carrying prototypes. Mercs are sticking to their usual. I'm heading away from the jamming tower now..."
"Excuse me!" Felix interrupted. He stood on top of a ramp yelling out to stop Carolina in her tracks. "You look familiar. Have we met?"
Felix aimed his blaster and fired at it. It narrowly missed Carolina causing her to break her disguise and return to her usual appearance.
"Oh, man. You ARE fast! Oh, but minus points on originality." Carolina pulled out her gun and fired at Felix, but he deflected them with his shield. "See what I mean?"
"All right. You have me." Carolina said.
"So where's the rest of the crew?" Felix asked.
"They're not here. I came alone."
"Well, that is classic you from what I've heard, but seeing as how they weren't at the gas station or the ship we so generously provided, I'm not sure I believe you."
"Well, I guess that's your problem."
"Actually, if you don't tell your friends to come out and surrender, you're gonna to have a problem the size of a golf ball in the middle of your forehead."
"Funny. I was just about to tell you the same thing." Agent Washington said as he appeared out of nowhere behind Felix. He aimed his pistol at the back of his head, but Felix didn't lose his confidence.
"Oh hey, Wash. Heads up, you're going to feel like an asshole in three, two, and..."
Suddenly, Locus appeared out of thin air after dropping his cloaking ability and aiming his own pistol at Washington's head. "You continue to both surprise and disappoint me, Agent Washington."
"Yeah. There it is." Felix said.
Just then, Jena dropped in from above and got behind Locus. She quickly turned on her lightsaber and held it at Locus' neck from behind.
"Bet you didn't see this coming, did you?"
"Funny you should say that, Jena." Felix said just as the Thirteenth Sister appeared behind Jena and held a lightsaber to her neck too.
"Is anyone else sick of this shtick too?" the Inquisitor asked. "Just release Locus, Jedi."
Jena looked back at the Thirteenth Sister and felt shook upon seeing her. She trembled like she did at Crash Site Alpha, but she quickly recovered and retracted her lightsaber, which she then gave to the Inquisitor. After that, she and Wash were both lead down to the ground level to take up both sides of Carolina.
"Sorry, guys." Jena said.
"Don't beat yourself up." Wash said.
"This is sweet," the Inquisitor said, "But we're still a few idiots short."
"You heard her, fellas!" Felix called out. "Come out and I promise to kill you quick! Waste my time, and you get to watch the Freelancers and the Jedi die over the course of... Well, until whenever I get bored!"
There was no answer. Only silence.
"Hmm…" the Thirteenth Sister said. "You'd think at least the clone would come out to save his little Jedi."
Felix turned to the Stormtroopers. "Spread out and find them. They might be hiding in one of the caves."
BANG!
"Caboose!"
"I didn't do it!"
Everyone turned to the sound of a gunshot in the distance.
"Or maybe they'll just telegraph their position because they're idiots." Felix continued.
"Shoot on sight." Locus ordered the Stormtroopers to investigate while cloaked.
"You know, I just gotta ask." Felix said. "What did you think seven morons, a couple of Freelancers, an AI, a Jedi wannabe, and a washed-up, defective clone would actually be able to do here?"
As he asked that, two cloaked Stormtroopers entered a cave to find only a gun laying on top of a crate. It was pointed right at them.
"Well, not much." Jena said before flashing a smile. "But you forgot to count the genius and the dog?"
"The dog?" Locus asked.
"Heat signature detected!" Freckles said with his voice coming from the lone gun.
"Did that gun just effing talk?" a Stormtrooper asked.
"Firing main cannon!"
All of a sudden, a bullet was shot out of the gun and struck the lower torso area of one of the Stormtroopers. That's when Strike showed up from behind a crate and finished him off with a single shot from his blaster.
"WHAT THE…" the other Stormtrooper gasped.
"Gotcha now, you bozo!" Strike shouted as he fired his blaster at where the voice came from. It hit the Stormtrooper in the shoulder making her drop her cloaking. She then ran out of the cave only to get struck in the head by the butt of Tucker's gun after he hit her.
"Hiya, bitch!" Tucker exclaimed while Caboose came out with him.
"Yes! Good boy, Freckles."
"Thank you, Captain Caboose!"
The battle was heard from outside the cave. Felix, Locus, and the Thirteenth Sister turned their attention curiously at it, and that became their mistake.
"NOW!" Carolina yelled.
Before anything else, the Freelancers activated a couple of grenades each and tossed them in front of Jena, who used the Force to push them right towards the enemies. The Inquisitor and the bounty hunters sidestepped out of the way just before the grenades blew up in their faces. It was so sudden, that the Thirteenth Sister dropped the lightsaber she had taken from Jena, who then used the Force to summon it back into her hands.
After avoiding the blast, Felix fired his blaster at the heroes, but Jena stood in his way and turned her lightsaber on to redirect the blasts. That's when Locus leaped himself over and prepared to stomp at them. They narrowly escaped his blow and separated again. Once they were apart, Felix and Locus headed down to engage the Freelancers. Jena was about to run in to join them, but something stopped her.
The Thirteenth Sister landed on her feet in front of Jena. She scowled at her frightened expression looking annoyed. She then smiled seeing the Jedi tremble slightly.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you're scared." the Inquisitor said. "And here, I thought the Jedi couldn't afford to feel fear."
Jena took a few deep breaths before running away. Seeing her run made the Inquisitor scoff before turning to the bounty hunters.
"The Jedi is mine! I'll leave you two to handle the Freelancers and the simulation soldiers!"
"Easy peasy!" Felix replied while getting into a fistfight with Washington.
While the others were fighting, a lone Stormtrooper stalked alone keeping his guard up until Simmons revealed himself from his hiding place to taunt him.
"Hey, suck it, white!"
"What?" the Stormtrooper asked.
"Just to clarify, that wasn't a race thing!" Simmons said before running back to where he hid.
"Come back here!" the Stormtrooper yelled running after Simmons. But right when he got there…
"GET HIM!" Sarge yelled before he, Simmons, and Grif all tackled him to the ground. They wrestled with him trying to keep him down while Dr. Grey watched.
"Aim for the jugular!" she advised.
PUNCH!
"OW!" Grif yelled in pain.
"The jugular!"
PUNCH!
"OW!"
"PUNCH HIM IN THE GODDAMN THROAT!"
This last punch hit its target stunning the Stormtrooper long enough to be beaten.
"Well, why didn't you just say so?!" Grif yelled.
There was one last Stormtrooper left, and he was very nervous as he found himself lost. "This isn't right. They can't be beating us. We're the Empire. They're just a bunch of buffoons!"
"Stick 'em up!" Donut yelled when he and Lopez appeared and aimed their guns at the Stormtrooper.
The Stormtrooper acted on instinct and fired his blaster at the two of them. Donut dodged fine hitting the ground, but the blast was enough to literally knock Lopez' head off.
"LOPEZ, NOOOOO!" Donut cried.
"You've gotta be effing kidding me!" Lopez yelled before realizing his foot still twitched at his command. "Oh… wait a minute."
The Stormtrooper cornered Donut and prepared to shoot him. But before he could, he felt a hand grab his shoulder and turn him around. He was spooked to find Lopez' body still standing without a head. He then threw a punch across the Stormtrooper's face knocking him down to the ground and unconscious. After that, he grabbed his head, picked it up, and reattached it to his neck.
"Well, that worked out better than expected."
While all her friends were fighting, Jena ran as fast and as far as she could. The more she ran, the more she lost her breath. Finally, she stopped when she found herself in the middle of a cave. She was going to go further, but once again, the Inquisitor jumped in front of her. She then shot a kick at Jena knocking her to the wall.
"Never thought a Jedi would do something as cowardly as run from an enemy and leaving her friends to fend for themselves." the Thirteenth Sister said as she activated her lightsaber. "Guess the galaxy really is changing. But unfortunately for you, you have no place in it." She pointed her red saber at Jena's throat inches away from it. "So what'll it be? Are you gonna fight, or are you going to make my job much easier? Either way works for me."
Once again, Jena hyperventilated. She looked up at the Thirteenth Sister with the most terrified eyes. Then, slowly, but surely, she took slow, deep breaths. Her eyes changed from scared to fierce. She then stood while the Inquisitor watched curiously.
"For too long, I've been held back by my fear." Jena said. "It's time to make a difference." She then turned on her own lightsaber and quickly used it to knock the Inquisitor's away from her.
The Thirteenth Sister chuckled. "This is going to be fun." She then got into a battle stance while activating the other end of her lightsaber and activated it to spin.
For what seemed like the longest minute, Jena and the Thirteenth Sister gazed at each other ready to see who would make the first move. They stood still and kept their eyes locked on one another. This was their chance to settle this once and for all.
Finally, Jena made a mad dash forward to swing her lightsaber. The Thirteenth Sister blocked the saber with her own and began to exchange blows. The two fought on equal footing trying to gain the advantage. They moved their battle around the cave until Jena finally broke their stalemate by Force-pushing the Thirteenth Sister to the wall.
The Thirteenth Sister saved herself by planting her feet on the wall before she could hit it. She then thrusted her legs to launch herself back towards Jena, who blocked her next strike and dropped to her back to throw the Inquisitor over her with her legs. They both recovered and returned to their feet before clashing their lightsabers again.
After a few strikes, the Thirteenth Sister gained a quick advantage by hooking her foot around Jena's ankle and tripping her. While she was down, the Thirteenth Sister tried to slice her, but Jena blocked the attempt and returned with a leg sweep of her own. With her down, Jena acted quickly and thrusted both her hands out to push the Inquisitor away from her, but her enemy stopped her by swinging a kick at her hands before standing back up.
The Thirteenth Sister again tried to strike Jena with her lightsabers, but she rolled out of the way each time until she managed to return to her feet. By then, both she and her enemy were just at the end of the cave which they exited as they continued to fight.
"I gotta admit," Jena said as she pressed her lightsaber continuously on the Inquisitor's, "You're good."
"I'd say the same, but I'm not a good-enough actor!" the Thirteenth Sister said before giving one last push to create distance between herself and Jena. She then Force-pushed her away causing Jena's back to collide with the cliff wall.
The hit to the rocky surface caused Jena to gasp and fall to her hands and knees stunned by the blow. The Thirteenth Sister smirked and walked over to her. Jena tried to grab her lightsaber to pick it up, but the Thirteenth Sister sent a kick to her head before using the same foot to knock her lightsaber away. She then grabbed Jena by the front of her outfit, held her up, and pinned her to the wall.
"This fight was cute and all," the Thirteenth Sister said, "But you really should have kept running."
"N-No… more!" Jena groaned before hitting the Inquisitor with a headbutt strong enough to make her let go. She then reached out her arm to summon the lightsaber back to her.
However, the Inquisitor proved to be too fast for that. She saw Jena's arm reaching out for the lightsaber and acted immediately. She swung her red lightsaber until it went right through her arm.
Jena yelled in pain as she felt the burning sensation in what was left in her arm. She looked over and saw her right arm laying lifeless in the sand before her. She then looked back at the rest of her arm, where only everything from the elbow up remained.
"Oops! Looks like you're disarmed!" the Thirteenth Sister laughed. "Get it? 'Disarmed'?"
While the Inquisitor continued laughing, Jena struggled to get through the pain as she gently held up her other hand. This time, though, she wasn't aiming for her lightsaber. She reached out to the side where a large rock was. In an instant, she pulled her arm back and the rock came flying toward the Inquisitor, who didn't see it coming until it was too late.
The rock struck the Thirteenth Sister hard enough to disorient her. While she was stunned, Jena finally pulled the lightsaber back to her and swung it with her left hand, her only hand. The Thirteenth Sister got hit by the blow as it brushed across her face.
She didn't die, but the Inquisitor yelled out a loud shriek of agony as she held onto her left eye socket. Jena looked and saw that her lightsaber blow left a nasty burn mark on part of her face, the part where her eye was.
Both girls lost something in the battle. Jena lost her right arm. The Thirteenth Sister lost her left eye. They were both in agony without continuing the fight for a couple of minutes. Once they were done, they powered through the pain to get back up and face each other again. Jena stood tall while the Thirteenth Sister stared angrily with her one good eye while the other one was closed tightly.
"You're going to pay for that one."
"Seems to me that I've already prepaid." Jena held up her half-arm.
"This doesn't end until you and your friends are dead." the Thirteenth Sister hissed. "Just because they can get the drop on a couple of Stormtroopers, it doesn't mean they still have a chance against the rest of us. And even with just one eye, I can finish you off. You can't defeat me."
Despite the pain, Jena chuckled confusing the Inquisitor. "I'm afraid you got it all wrong. You see, I wasn't trying to defeat you. I just had to keep you away from the others. We wouldn't want you to interrupt Tucker and Felix's duel."
"Tucker? The sexual one?" the Thirteenth Sister asked. "Don't be ridiculous. Felix is a highly-trained bounty hunter. He'll destroy him."
"Maybe." Jena said without dropping her smile. "But like me, Tucker wasn't planning on winning. He just has to keep Felix talking."
"Talking? About what?"
All of a sudden, a loud humming sound was heard from the distant radio jammer. It lit up brightly until it finally dimmed into nothingness.
Shortly after, a loud static noise came from the Inquisitor's belt. She held out a device that displayed a holographic screen of Felix in his fight with Tucker.
"Once the Feds and Rebels kill each other, I don't know what I'm going to do. I mean, we've been playing these guys for years."
"How did you convince Kimball to go to the Capital?" Tucker asked in the video.
"Vanessa? Oh, she was easy! I just made up some story about how you all died heroically! You should've seen it, man. I gave the performance of an effing lifetime! Got all broken up, threw in a few dramatic pauses, and they just ate it up."
The Thirteenth Sister watched the video unfold with her one good eye widened. "What… What is this?"
"Our friend, Church the Epsilon AI, has been running Tucker's helmet camera during his fight with Felix." Jena explained smugly. "Now, with the radio jammer down, he's broadcasting Felix's entire confession to everyone in the Capital. By now, both the New Republic and the Federal Army are realizing that the Empire has been fanning the flames of their war and that their trusted allies, the bounty hunters, have been secretly setting them up to die the whole time."
The Thirteenth Sister turned to the Padawan with the most burning gaze. She could tell that she was angrier than ever before. "You… You…" She roared out before going for one last strike, but Jena stopped her with a Force push with her one hand. It sent the Inquisitor flying toward the radio jammer platform.
Up on the platform, the wounded Tucker looked over at Felix, who fell silent after being tricked.
"Whoa, dude, are you speechless? That's a first."
"You…" Felix asked pointing his pistol at him. "You're dead!"
"I wouldn't if I were you." Carolina said. She revealed herself along with the rest of the Reds and Blues. They stood on a higher ground than Felix with their guns locked onto him.
"You know, those sticky grenades kick like a mule." Sarge said. "But I hear these newfangled laser blasters are quite lethal."
"It's over, Felix." Simmons said. "We have the high ground."
"You underestimate my pow… AH!"
Felix was cut off by the Inquisitor who crashed right into him after getting Force-pushed by Jena. The two of them groaned as they recovered. That's when Locus walked up to them both and grouped up with them.
"The mission is a failure. Protocol states where to report to Lord Vader immediately."
"We can't." the Thirteenth Sister hissed with venom in her tone. "After everything they did to us just now, we can't let them get away with this."
"She's right, Locus." Felix said. "They're injured. We can kill them now."
"No. We follow orders." Locus said. He turned to everyone and held up a teleportation grenade for everyone to see. "Let me assure you all: this is not over."
In a flash of light, the Inquisitor and the bounty hunters disappeared completely. The Reds and Blues were finally able to rest while picking up a broadcast coming from the Capital. The Feds and the rebels called for an immediate ceasefire and issued a rescue for the Reds and Blues. They were gonna be saved.
Meanwhile, Strike ran over and saw Jena sitting on the ground. He gasped when he noticed her severed arm. He grabbed the one she still had on her and helped her up.
"You all right, sunshine?" Strike asked.
Jena chuckled weakly. "Never better. I did what you said and punched my fear away. Well, I kinda pushed it away with the Force, but you know what I mean."
Strike chuckled as he carried her back to the others. "Good work, kid. So now, all of Chorus knows that the Empire is after them."
"Yes." Jena said. "We may have delayed them for now, but what happens next, there's no going back now."