Chapter 29: Killer
The world was spinning.
Bayla Istillo opened her eyes, yet they would not focus, her ears were ringing, everything hurt, and the air smelled of burning plastic.
She tried to regain her feet, but fell down once again, she heard the sound of lightsabers engaging and the flash of colored lights, spinning reds, greens, oranges, and flashes of blue lightning.
Yet, what she felt above all was the rage. It was a fury that washed over everything.
In that moment…she felt afraid.
She looked around, and saw Vey laying against the rock wall, the small Jedi Master appeared to be unconscious. She struggled to pull herself over to her, to make sure that she was okay.
A thick blue mist covered everything; glowing in the blinding glow of a spotlight. She heard a voice over a loud speaker, but it didn't make much sense.
Nothing made sense.
She tried to call on the Force to clear her head, but even that proved impossible, the mist around them seemed to be burning into her, soaking into her skin. It made the act of simply moving feel like a crushing day's work.
Shadows passed over, her drawing her attention. She looked up to see slender black metal droids standing over her, one moment they were six, the next twelve.
Seeing double?
She tried to ask for help, but they didn't listen, they grabbed her and pushed her down on her stomach. She tried to cry out, demand that they release her, but it was no use.
They didn't hear, or didn't care what she had to say.
"You are now property of our master," she finally heard over the din, a cold mechanical voice emerging from the droid pinning her back.
"Do not resist, and you will not be harmed. You are now…"
Suddenly, the mist was pushed away, she felt it, like a gust of wind. One of the droids approaching Vey turned, its arm opened up revealing a small blaster.
"Stop or be…"
Yellow lights flashed around her, a whirlwind of gold.
The droid that tried to shoot lost its head as it fell to pieces in a flash of sparks. The one pinning Bayla down tried to say something only to have a beam of pure yellow plunge through one of its red optics. Its head split in two as blaster bolts flashed around her.
Bayla rolled onto her back; she took a deep breath as the burning sensation in her limbs began to dissipate.
"Bayla, get up," someone shouted, " Protect Master Vey!"
The voice was young and filled with concern tempered with grim courage. It took her a moment, but she remembered who was speaking.
Zhar.
The boy's name was Zhar.
She stumbled to her feet, the cold wind waking her up as her head began to clear.
"STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"
The voice was coming from the loud speaker of a hovering ship. Another droid by the metallic ring to it.
That is why we didn't sense the attack, she realized, a droid piloted the ship, its programming giving us no threat of danger until the first blast was fired.
She looked up, finally seeing what it was, a slender fighter craft with wide solar wings, looking like a fire moth from back home. She could see the droid sitting in the ball cockpit, the spot light focused on her.
She drew her lightsaber, the silver beam flashing to life.
THUMP! THUMP!
Two canisters launched from the top of the ship already filling the air with a familiar blue mist.
It cannot touch me, she realized.
Not again.
Calling on the Force to clear her head she reached and pushed, catching the cannisters, and flinging them away.
Blasts from a small quad laser under the ship's cockpit opened up, Bayla let the Force take her, letting it puppet her body, to get her away, or deflect the blasts.
Suddenly Zhar was at her side, the boy flung his double-bladed saber at the fighter craft. The weapon cleaved through the quad laser. While Bayla used the Force to deflect one of the last shots, catching the spotlight, causing everything to go dark.
The droid pilot, suddenly backed off. The hovering ship slipped backward as Zhar recovered his weapon.
Paladina and Jedi stood together.
The ship banked up, and headed away from the mountain.
"MASTER," Zhar shouted starting to back up, to reach his fallen teacher.
"ZHAR! Stay was me!" Bayla ordered, "That ship is coming back!"
The boy obeyed, reluctantly, he wanted to go to his teacher's side, but he was smart enough to know that she was right.
He kept looking over his shoulder, Vey was not moving.
"WE can't help her if we are dead," Bayla shouted.
"Focus!"
Zhar took a shuddering breath, and turned, his eyes drawn to the approaching ship.
They could see the reflection of the ships wings as it banked; heading back towards their position.
Bayla took a deep breath and let it out, her skin was still burning with the residue of whatever neurotoxin the ship had used to try and block her from the Force. At their feet the remains of droids lay scattered around them, cut down by Zhar before they had a chance to defend themselves.
Whoever was behind this wanted us alive, the mist was to weaken us, give the droids time to bind us up for transport.
Now that that had failed the ship was coming back, likely to fire heavy blasters, or perhaps launch a missile.
"We need to work together," she shouted.
At her side the boy nodded. He whirled his double blade in anticipation ready to meet the ship's attack.
She didn't see any more droids, and the blast had left the hangar entrance partially buried, no way to get to the Knightfire, and not enough time to use its weapons.
The enemy fighter completed its turn and was now driving hard towards them growing bigger by the moment.
Bayla held up her blade, ready to face whatever was to come. They might both be dead, but they would meet their fate on their feet.
Two children of the Force.
Warriors of the light.
A second ship broke through the clouds, moving fast.
Reinforcements for their attackers? If so...
Lasers flashed as Bayla prepared for the end.
The sky turned green then orange.
The new ship's guns raked the fighter craft. Its wings came apart, unraveling like a broken kite.
The engine exploded, sending the ball cockpit flying. It hit the mountainside and was flattened, along with whatever droid had been at the helm.
Despite the aid, Bayla remained on guard. Just because that ship had destroyed their enemy didn't make it a friend.
It fired its repulsors, coming to a dead stop just out of range of their lightsaber throws.
Bayla's eyes widened.
She recognized the ship.
It…it was from her world.
An old Riptide 300, one of the best courier vessels to come out of the Bann shipyards.
The loading hatch opened, and a lone figure emerged.
Clad in black armor with a white featureless face plate, Bayla had first thought it another droid, but did a double take when she reached out with the Force.
A familiar presence filled her mind.
You.
It had been years, but…
…this person was from Bantoon, from the palace!
I KNOW you!
The armored pilot didn't hesitate, one minute standing on the ramp, the next standing next to Bayla and Zhar.
The move surprised them both.
This one doesn't have the Force, but that jump…
…even a Jedi would have been hard pressed to make it.
Zhar spun his yellow blade, but didn't attack.
"Don't come any closer," he warned.
"I'm not here for you, boy."
The pilot was armed, Bayla could see a blaster pistol on each hip, and a Bann dart launcher on this new warrior's wrist.
"Where is Kalo Nord?"
The question shocked Bayla.
Kalo Nord?
The bounty hunter?
Here?
The stranger's face plate turned to the flashing-colored lights.
Their savior's body coiled like a spring.
"Stay here, my queen. Watch over the boy, and the Jedi."
The armored figure drew two wicked looking curved blades.
"Kalo Nord's life is mine."
IOI
Neither were thinking…
…they just…attacked.
Rubble and Force lightning filled the air, the ozone made Merrit curl his tongue.
It was like fighting a storm.
He had suffered dozens of cuts, grit and small stones blown at him by the Force, too many for his own shield to block, he was bleeding, and cut in so many places.
He grinned.
That was okay.
The pain helped him focus.
His pain fed his anger, and anger fed his power.
He engaged his fellow hunter again and again. Kalo blocked his lightning, and struck back with some of his own. Merrit resisted, his shields held, and he blocked the worst of the lightning. Their swords met again and again. Kalo's use of two blades might have surprised most, but Merrit had been at war with the Sith for years now, and his experience with the dark side allowed him to feed on his enemies' rage, and chaotic nature.
In this, the dark side aided him, he was not overwhelmed, and stopped the deadliest of projectiles, and then…surprisingly, or perhaps…unsurprisingly.
The storm started to lessen.
Their blades clashed again, and again. Kalo was a whirlwind, his undisciplined strikes almost enough to overwhelm Merrit's defenses…
…almost.
Then, just like that, the worst passed.
Merrit took a breath, savoring the pain he was feeling.
It had been a while since he had tested himself against a dark side opponent.
He was starting to enjoy this.
Kalo finally backed off, breathing hard, his sabers before him in a defensive stance.
Merrit smirked.
He thought he had found the other man's weakness.
He was strong, make no mistake about that, Tru and her brother had both been strong in the Force. Yet, Quire, the man who had become Kalo Nord, had never entered the Jedi Order. His sister had gone as a child, but he had stayed behind, as heir to his mother and father, having hid his abilities.
He knew how to fight, yet he didn't have the discipline of a trained Jedi. He had likely used his strength to overwhelm others, but he was also used to ending things quickly, overcoming his targets with raw power.
He counted on his enemies panicking, they were facing Kalo Nord, the feared, immortal, bounty hunter, and Quire had learned to draw on that fear.
Merrit Fallenstar didn't fall for that, he wasn't afraid…he was angry, but that anger was cold, and fully harnessed.
Kalo was not like that.
HE was a powerful savant with the Force, but he lacked control, he didn't know how to pace himself, conserve his power, and he didn't know the more subtle skills.
Merrit didn't suffer from that weakness.
Despite being lost in darkness, the old lessons he had gone through remained. Master Jas had made sure that his student understood how to conserve his energy, and draw on the Force directly if he needed an extra boost.
Quire had never learned that, he was all fire, and very little ice.
That fire was starting to burn out.
That didn't make his enemy any less dangerous, but it did make him predictable. Yes, he had taken out both Jedi and Sith before, Merrit knew that for a fact, but he had come in like a storm, and got them before they had a chance to really draw on their own power. His reputation and chaotic nature protected him.
That was not the case here.
Merrit had taken the other hunter's best shot, and now…
…he found him wanting.
"Getting tired, Quire?" he mocked.
His opponent snorted.
"Still angry about the Nassus job, Fallenstar, or should I say Shadowstone?"
Nord sneered.
"If you were going to reinvent yourself, you should have chosen a better name. Few outside of the guild recognized it, and those that did were not impressed with your efforts."
Fallenstar remembered the Nassus job. He had been hired to bring in the Hutt accountant Nyb Nassus, had fought his way through the man's defenders, only to have Kalo use him as a distraction, and take the prize out of the window while his guards were distracted.
That failure had burned him at the time, but it had been one of his first jobs. He had had many successes since then.
So…he didn't get angry with the other man bringing up the past.
Merrit's only reply was a shrug.
"The name is mine. It would have been mine from the start had my mother lived."
His yellow eyes narrowed.
"The title you claimed might impress people, but it doesn't change who you are. I have always been Fallenstar, but you…you claimed a title because it sounded intimidating."
"It IS intimidating, and I have earned my reputation."
"It doesn't change who and what you are."
"And what exactly am I?"
Merrit grinned.
"Quire Cooper, a young man who still trying to break his father's heart. A child who blames the old man for his mother's pain."
Though he could not see his eyes, they were hidden behind dark lenses. Merrit knew that the other man was glaring. His posture became more rigid.
"Don't talk about her."
"Why not," Fallenstar purred. "I didn't know Randa Cooper that well, but I do know that she would not have wanted to see this, to see YOU like this. What happened between her and Coop was their business."
"He threw her away, he threw me away, for his Zeltron whore!"
"Your mom died, and you chose to walk away."
"I was honoring my mother."
"She got sick, Quire, it does happen."
"He could have saved her."
"You don't know that, and neither do I."
Merrit shook his head.
"We lose people we love, that is why the Jedi reject attachment. It is not easy enduring that loss, facing it, and coming out on the other side."
Merrit shrugged.
"My master was like a father to me, and when he died, I drifted, became what I am now, but…I'm trying to be better. Can you say the same?"
Kalo snorted.
"Be better? Seriously? It sounds like you're afraid to take what you want. I know what I want, and it is finally in reach. I'll be…"
"Dead."
Both men glanced over, seeing the arrival of the armored warrior, the two curved blades in hand.
Merrit's eyes widened as he sensed who was beneath the mask. He…he couldn't believe it.
"Tara?"
She ignored him, her eyes were on Quire and Quire alone.
"Kalo Nord," she said coldly, "For you aiding in the crimes of the Sith against Bantoon. I hereby sentence you to death."
The bounty hunter scoffed at that.
"You are going to kill me, huh? Don't you know who I am?"
"Of course I do," she replied, "I'm here to make an example of you, you are the fifth hunter I've dealt with, all for hunting Bayla Istillo. Your heads will be sent back to the hunter's guild, as a warning."
She dropped into a fighting crouch.
"Bayla Istillo is no one's prey. To hunt her, is to court death."
Merrit frowned.
He agreed with the sentiment, but Tara…this was Tara Valenthyne?
What shot did she have against Nord?
They had been in the survivors together, she had been one of their best pilots, a smuggler who had signed on to help, given their history. Her aunt was the queen of Bantoon's sworn protector.
Tara had good contacts, and a fast ship, but she was not a warrior.
She was a bit out of her weight class, but he sensed no fear, only grim confidence.
Yet, she said something about taking out other hunters. He reached out with the Force, tried to sense her. She radiated pain, and cold ambition, and…something else…
…something more.
Kalo Nord laughed. He started to raise his hand, to call on the Force.
Merrit started to move, to defend her.
He need not have worried.
One moment, Tara was at a safe distance from her target, and then…she wasn't…
…then…she was right up in his face.
She had moved so fast that even Merrit had had trouble seeing her.
She fired a vicious kick, shattering Kalo's kneecap.
He roared as the Force pulsed outward.
Merrit held his ground, he stood into the wave and let it pass over him.
Tara was thrown back, but turned that fall into a cartwheel, and regained her feet, her blades still at the ready.
Kalo Nord went wild!
Lightning exploded from him, fed by his pain.
He threw his green blade at her, following it up with a blast of lightning.
It would have been too much for most, but not Tara apparently. She ducked the blade and danced around the lightning, her armor absorbing some of it, slowing her slightly…
Merrit realized he could not remain out of the fight. What his old friend was doing didn't make sense. She had never had these kinds of abilities before…
…yet, she was still his friend. They had fought together.
He would not let her be harmed.
He would fight.
"QUIRE!"
The injured hunter turned as Merrit lunged, his orange blade flashing out.
He blocked with his red blade and stumbled back, his wounded leg, turning his retreat into a stumbling backward tumble.
Kalo reached out for his second blade, it had not returned to him after the throw. It flew from the shadows.
It didn't reach his hand.
Tara was there.
She lunged like a loth cat, and snatched it up.
Kalo howled and blasted at her again.
She tumbled away again.
Merrit pushed the attack.
It was only then that Merrit felt it.
Fear.
He smiled.
Kalo was starting to realize he had overreached this time.
He reached out with the Force, distantly he could feel Zhar and Bayla's presence, they were safe…and if that was so?
Kalo had baited a trap, but it wasn't working out like he had hoped.
That was good…
…as Avy would have said if she were here…
Delicious!
He shook his head.
No.
He would not think like her.
This wasn't about making Quire suffer. He was protecting Bayla, Zhar and Vey.
Vey…
His eyes widened.
The master's presence flickered in the Force!
She was hurt and…
RAGHHHHHH!
He renewed his attack with fury and rage!
Blue lightning flashed!
Nord was thrown back, coming down hard on his bad leg.
He cried out.
Merrit lunged in again.
Nord set off another pulse of Force energy, it staggered Merrit, but did not stop him.
He is growing weaker.
Good.
He swung his red blade, but it exploded in his hand, the emitter shot out by Tara.
An excellent shot.
Then she was there again, kicking and striking with one of her knives.
She holstered her blaster as she kicked him in the jaw.
As he tried to roll away, Merrit caught him, and kneed him in the face, breaking his nose.
Kalo fell gasping and choking.
The Force whirled around Merrit, the darkness calling to him.
Do it now!
Finish him!
KILL HIM!
KILL! KILL!
KILL!
It would be so easy!
Merrit stood over the broken man, his hand tightened on the hilt of his lightsaber.
One swing, and it was done.
He took a shuddering breath.
One swing.
"Fenn?"
He glanced over, Tara had stopped, and removed her helmet. She looked much the same as she had when they had last seen each other years ago, same reddish-brown hair, same pale skin. She…
He blinked.
She had added a scar on her cheek since they had last met, and her green eyes were almost glowing now. They were sharper absorbing the light…
Enhanced?
He blinked.
Yes, she had eyes like her aunt Char Valenthyne now, but that was impossible.
The sworn protectors of Bantoon belonged to Avaryss now, or so he had heard. They had helped her take their world.
How could Tara have gotten their abilities?
She gave him a cruel smile.
"I should have known you would track down Bayla. You grew up together."
"So did you," he reminded her, "You lived in the palace for a time, yes?"
She nodded, but then her expression turned serious.
"Bayla? Is she…?"
"I sense that she is fine."
Tara's smile widened.
"Good," she said looking down at the fallen hunter.
"Guess there is only one piece of business left to handle then."
She drew her knife.
"Bantoon says hello, you son of a Murglak!"
She spun her dagger around, and raised her arm, ready to plunge it into Kalo's eye.
Merrit was there before she could. He grabbed her arm pinning it in durasteel vice.
"No."
Tara gasped; her eyes flashed with anger.
"What?"
"I said, no!"
She struggled, but he held his own. He used the Force to pin her in place, so she could not punch or kick him.
He glared down at her.
"No," he said coldly.
"Why," she demanded, "He is a killer, he deserves this!"
"Don't we all," Merrit responded.
Tara hissed.
"It is because of people like him that I chose this. He needs to pay!"
I sense a story there, Merrit thought.
I'm most eager to hear it.
"Fenn," she growled.
"Call me Merrit please. It is my true name, after all."
That made her pause.
"Merrit Fallenstar," she said.
"A pleasure to meet you again, Tara. Now, please, put the blade down."
She struggled, briefly, but came to realize that he wasn't going to let go, and unlike Kalo, he was ready to meet her attack if she chose to continue this.
Her blade fell from her hand, and Merrit released her.
She cursed under her breath. Rubbing her sore wrist.
"If half of what I have heard about you is true, Merrit. You have no moral ground to stand on."
Her frown deepened.
"You're a killer too!"
He nodded.
"You are not wrong, Tara," he said, sensing people approaching. He sensed Bayla, and heard the sound of approaching speeders, that would be Cooper and his people.
He looked down at Kalo Nord, at Quire, Cooper's son.
He frowned.
He didn't wish to be seen standing over the dead body of Cooper's son, not if he could help it.
The fight was over.
He…he and Tara had won.
They could afford to be gracious.
A few months ago, he would have killed Quire, and thought it just, it was all part of the game. One hunter to another, you attacked another hunter, and got killed, that was what happened.
He sighed.
He was trying not to be like that anymore. Maybe that was the path back to the light, or he could be kidding himself.
I'm willing to try, master, he thought thinking both of Vey, and Jas Dar Bynn.
He thought of Bayla.
She would approve of this, he thought…
…he hoped.
"I'm a killer," he said to Tara, looking down at the beaten hunter with disdain.
"But I'm trying…"
She blinked.
"Trying what?"
"To be better, Tara," he said with a hint of a smile, the yellow glow of his eyes fading.
He nodded.
"I'm trying…to be better."