Chapter 40: Duel IV
Warning, Dark Side stuff happens*
To our credit, we made it to the exit of the audience chamber before the falling rubble reached us. As a cloud of dust swept out of the suddenly blocked doorway, we looked at each other. Yiaso and I. Each of us battered, but still raring to fight. The Dark Side tightened its invisible grip on my shoulders, giving me power, energy, motivation. The show must go on. There cannot be two victors.
I sneered and mentally thumbed the ignition stud on my lightsaber.
Snap-hiss! One of my blades ignited and I lunged forward…to stab it into the elevator control panel. The palace had gone into automatic lockdown, and the doors were sealed shut. The doors silently opened.
I could still hear explosions above. Whatever the fuck was going on, it was big.
We silently walked into the elevator. I tested the controls. No response from the lift.
Snap-hiss! Yiaso's own blade reappeared, and we glared at each other as he cut the magnetic lock on the maintenance hatch on the elevator roof. He jumped up to the roof, then I jumped up. I could feel the elevator shivering from the explosions and the rumblings from the detonations grew more prominent over the humming of our lightsabers.
We looked at each other, judging.
Not yet.
Yiaso stuck a hand out and twisted it in the direction of the elevator's accelerators. We rocked back and forth as the brakes came undone and the accelerator engaged. We began ascending, at first somewhat slowly then much faster.
I grit my teeth and tightened my grip on my lightsaber. Where were we going? I don't think either of us knew. Both of us were focused on escaping the immediate death by rubble and didn't mind that the other was escaping as well.
Now I found that I minded very much that Yiaso was still alive. He looked like he had discovered the same truth.
We struck at each other, blades clashing as we danced around the small elevator shaft, filling it with twisted shadows.
I ducked under a swipe and turned on my second blade, then jabbed it at Yiaso's chest. He twisted mid follow up to avoid it, stabbing downward at me as he dodged. I lept backwards and warded off his advance. A shiver ran through me as I felt the wind rushing along my back when I stepped near the shaft walls.
We circled each other, hacking and slashing with abandon. Our earlier refinement abandoned as we tried to kill each other as quickly as possible. I gained a nick on my lower ribs and gave Yiaso a scoring burn along his right forearm.
I tried driving Yiaso into the walls, where'd he'd be ground to a bloody smear on the shaft, but the tight spaces didn't allow me to bring both my blades fully against his Makashi style defense. I turned one off, then tried to stab him in his heart. The alien redirected the stab and then lashed out with the force.
Hastily raising my hands, I caught the telekinetic strike and only slid backwards about a foot. We glared at each other. I had just decided to try my hand at close quarters telekinesis when the Force pricked at the back of my mind.
Following the warning, I chanced a look up.
The top of the elevator shaft was approaching. Very very quickly approaching. I quickly looked over and saw that the magnetic locks weren't re-engaging.
"Sithspit!" I cursed aloud. I took a step backwards and looked up at the now very close roof. Not enough time to get back into the elevator, just enough time to use the Force. Mirrored by Yiaso, I raised my hands and commanded the Force to obey. I would not die like this! Not before Yiaso was dead!
The Dark Side gave me more strength and a nearly visible wave of power boomed from my thrust upwards hands. It was joined by a second push, Yiaso having come to the same conclusion I had. Together, the veritable tsunami of telekinetic power hit the top of the shaft and it promptly evaporated.
We were too successful, I realized. Because we'd blow the roof off not just the shaft, but the wall of the palace itself. And the elevator wasn't slowing down. Small bits of the roof pelted us both as we were carried out into the open air.
The wind hit me first, whipping at me from all angles. Then the rain came in, tiny ice pricks splashing against my exposed face.
For a few milliseconds, we continued to fly upwards, clearing the dust cloud our combined Force push had created. Then gravity prevailed, and we began to fall. But for a brief moment, our feet were still firmly. on the roof of the elevator.
Snap-hiss! I wildly swung backwards at Yiaso, blocking his attack.
Then an explosion raced up the elevator shaft and hit our soaring metal block with a roar of flames and deafening noise.
I went flying, spinning in the air wildly, the roof of the palace speeding towards me. I barely managed to brace for an impact in time.
I hit the cold durasteel roof in a bone breaking thud and my vision went black.
…
I blinked as my vision came back to me. Sure, it was swimming like I went fist for fist with a rancor, but I could still see. Which meant I was still alive. I blinked some more to clear the spots floating in my eyes.
Then I groaned as the pain hit me. Everything hurt, it seemed.
My vision finally cleared up enough that I saw that I was lying face down on the roof, and slowly pushed myself up. Then one my left buckled, and I fell on my hands and knees. I looked down, ignoring the blood dripping down from my wound, and saw that my left leg was broken.
Specifically, the lower half of my calf was pointing in a direction it shouldn't. I didn't feel any debilitating pain from it at the moment. That would change later. Not the first time I'd broken something, if I lived through today, it probably wouldn't be the last.
I looked around to find that I was surrounded by flames, pools of various fluids burning in a bizarre array of colors, but I didn't sense that I was in any danger from them. I thumped the roof with a hand. It felt solid. I looked up and found that I had landed in a depression on the imperial palace's roof. I was lucky to have not impaled myself on any of numerous sensor towers and arrays that dotted the palace.
Then I looked over and saw him.
Yiaso had managed the fall worse than I had, I saw with vindictive pleasure. He hadn't gotten his wits about him yet. More importantly, he had a spike of metal protruding from his thigh. It looked like it might be pinning him in place and was bleeding sluggishly.
Good, good. It wouldn't do for him bloodloss to get him.
I smiled, the various nicks that had joined the cut on my forehead sending a web of pinpricks across my face. It was disgraceful really. I was up, he should be too. I shifted and started crawling my way over to Yiaso.
But this was Ja'ce Yiaso, alien extraordinaire. He probably hadn't left this planet in years. He certainly hadn't fought through injuries in a long time. I wondered if Yiaso had ever experienced a fifth of the hell that I was put through in my own training. Hehe, even if he had, he'd gone soft in the years since.
Not like me. No, not like me. I didn't ignore the pain that my crawling was causing me. The horrible pulling sensation as my broken calf dragged queerly along the rough surface. No, I took the pain and glorified it. Held it up to the Dark Side and offered it up as a fucking offering!
The Dark Side rewarded me, sending fiery power through my body that made the pain I was feeling seem trivial.
I reached Yiaso. He was still prone but I could see that he was stirring. He had a nasty looking gash on the side of his head that was bleeding freely.
I wheezed out a laugh. Ah what a shame. He should really be aware to see me kill him.
I thrust out my hand. My lightsaber came spinning out of the flames to smack into my palm. Only for me to hiss in pain and drop the silver hilt to the ground. It was unbearably hot. I think I had managed to burn myself with just those few seconds of contact. Despite the protection of my gloves too.
I prodded my hand at the lightsaber hilt with its two beveled emitted shrouds. It rose in the air, just above Yiaso. With a mental prod, one of the crimson blades appeared.
I considered the sight for a moment before shaking my head. No, that would be too…impersonal. I wanted him to know it was me. I needed him to know. The Dark Side chanted its agreement. I turned off the blade and floated my lightsaber to clip onto my belt. Then I threw my good leg over Yiaso so that I was kneeling/straddling his chest.
I was grinning wildly when I smacked Yiaso across the face.
"Wake up." I coughed out. His eyes focused and he managed to look up at me with an expression of horror on his alien face. His arms immediately came up to throw me away. Too late!
"Goodbye now." I jeered. Then I punched him square in the face with all the power I had in me. His nose went flat and blood sprayed out.
Thud.
I reared back and punched with my left hand.
Thud.
Bits of teeth flew. Yiaso was trying to strangle me, gripping my throat with all his strength, like his life depended on it.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
I broke a knuckle on one of his stupid head horns. I gurgled in frustration and punched down with the same hand. A part of his skull caved inwards.
Thud. His jaw was broken.
Thud. I split his tongue on the shards of his teeth. Ribbons of the mauled thing flopped wetly out of his mouth as he shouted in terror. His eyes were nearly covered from the swelling around his eyes.
I felt myself growing faint as my lungs screamed for air.
Thud. Thud. Thud. His chin shattered and split. The two pieces of his jaw sloughed to the sides like mandibles on an insect, baring a bloody, fleshy maw.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud. An eye popped out of its socket. It felt great when it was popped by the follow up punch.
Thud. Yiaso's hands fell away from my throat, landing limply at his sides. His body was convulsing as I continued to kill him.
His other eye was pulped into off-white jelly when its socket was broken. Then his cheekbones gave way.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
I was laughing as I wailed away. It seemed to me that the world fell away. Narrowing down to me, Yiaso, my fists and, of course, the Dark Side that engulfed us in its embrace.
I punched into Yiaso's skull and finally felt it give way and my bare knuckles -wasn't I wearing gloves?- hit his wet and slimy brain matter.
The Dark Side snarled in my ear. I gasped and smokey blackness obscured my sight.
I understood now, I realized. I was enlightened. Visions flashed before me, wild scenes dancing through my mind as the Dark Side revealed its wisdom to me. It cursed me. It blessed me. It taunted me. It praised me. It hated me. It loved me. It possessed me. It called to me.
I saw things then.
It was righteous that I killed Yiaso like this. Was killing Yiaso. He was still alive.
I saw things then.
This was how everything happened. From the day of the first beings in the galaxy, this was how you survived. Killing. Murder. Whatever you called it, everyone and thing to ever exist only came about through the removal of the competition.
How else could this world city have been created, if not on the corpses of billions?
How did science advance, if not through the suffering of others?
Death, death, death. It was never random, never accidental. It was a competition. It was all competition.
Everything was in competition against everything else. The planets, space, the stars. Worlds fought worlds for resources. Men slit throats for the best mates. Women killed babes for the best offspring. Children pushed other children to their deaths for the best toys. Ahahahahaa!
Nature challenged all to overcome it and killed all who failed the tests. Nations destroyed the galaxy to compete for the right to exist. Religions murdered religions for the afterlife. Philosophies used words to extinguish whole realms of thought!
It was all a fight to the death!
Thud. Thud. Thud.
And all that mattered! Was! Who! Won!
No method too dirty! No tactic too underhanded!
I brought both my fists up and roared out like the most primordial humans had done when they first killed a beast. For meat, for life, for tomorrow.
To the Victor!
I brought my fists down and Ja'ce Yiaso died. Finally, I had done it.
Go the Spoils!
The dark revelation burned itself into my mind. I witnessed the endless fight to the death that the galaxy truly was. A part of me trembled in animalistic terror, cowering away in my mind to ride out the Dark Side's curse. Another part of me rejoiced like a priest receiving the word of his god, whooping and shouting in glee from the blessing given to him.
I saw…Yiaso's caved in head. My hands were still embedded in the mushy pudding I had made of his brains.
In death, the Zabrak had earned the crown he coveted in life. A five pointed spray of viscera and blood crowned his destroyed head. Rather like the rebel starbird, I dimly realized.
Then it registered that he was actually dead. I had done it! He was dead!
He was dead!
I threw back my head and laughed. From the bottom of my heart, I laughed and laughed and laughed.
I laughed until I was crying then I hunched forward to suck in a few breaths before I was overcome with gasping chuckles. My throat hurt so much. But I kept laughing and chuckling through the gasping and wheezing fits.
Near orgasmic pleasure sent shivers throughout my body. He was dead!
Oh! Oh! What a sublime pleasure. My thoughts swam as I wondered if anything would ever feel as good as this exact moment.
I don't know how long I was like that. Kneeling over the corpse of my most personal enemy. A minute, a day, a second, a week.
Long enough for the rain to stamp down most of the fire. Then I gasped in shock as the warmth bleed out of me, the Dark Side receding like the tide. I had lost its attention or it had served its purpose. The awesome power removed itself from me and suddenly it was just me. Kneeling on a wet metal roof, smeared in viscera from beating Yiaso to death with my own two hands.
I felt every wound now. My calf burned in agony. My head was woozy. I couldn't move my fingers in the slightest from the swelling and the broken knuckles. Every breath felt like a dozen knives were being stabbed into my throat.
It felt like I was going to die.
Which, of course, is when a circle opened up on the roof, some meters away from where I was kneeling. An elevator came up out of the circle. Then two more lifts suddenly appeared, flanking the first lift.
I blinked.
The first elevator opened, making me squint at the harsh lighting of its interior. I saw a figure step out into the roof and walk over to me.
I saw two shiny black boots. I looked up and saw a red imperial officer uniform. The figure stopped walking and stood in front of me. I slowly craned my head up.
An attractive woman stared down at me, mismatched blue red eyes piercing into my own. Her aristocratic features were frozen in a sneer frown. Her arms were crossed and she didn't care that rain was wetting her hair, itself a warm brown except for the bone white strands that framed her face.
A platoon of stormtroopers flanked the woman, pointing blasters at me. I saw that they had strange black markings on their armor.
"Ah…fuck." I forced the words out through my damaged throat.
"You wish." Ysanne Isard, Madam Director of the Imperial Security Bureau and Imperial Intelligence, Iceheart herself, scornfully replied.
A/N - Victory never tasted so sweet. Or so bitter, depends on your view of things I suppose.
But Yiaso is dead at last and Andorak loved every minute of killing him. Only the world isn't composed of just him and Ja'ce Yiaso now is it? See Isard's plans come to fruition in the end of Book One and Andorak's place in the coming new imperial order next chapter.