Chapter 12 Part II
Once on the surface, Rowahn began listening to the Force. He hated relying on it to find his prey, but what other choice did he have? Slowly, gradually, he began to pick up the disparate threads. The tree, the forest as a whole seemed to be speaking to him. Whispering to give up the ways of darkness, and be at peace. Shaking off the effects of the forest and ignoring all that was not of use to him, he slowly found T’Risha’s thread.
Following the distinctly different thread, he quickly came to an opening. The opening was fairly large, and ringed with trees. In the very center of the circle sat T’Risha Jord.
“I’ve been waiting for you” she said, again without looking up.
“I knew you’d catch up to me eventually, I just needed you to chase me till I had arrived at my destination, and you had defeated the bounty hunter. It seems you have succeeded based on the fact that you no longer wear a helmet and have modified your saber again.” “You are very observant for one who will not even look at me.” Rowahn replied after a brief pause.
“There are other ways to see than with your eyes. I had hoped you would have discover this by now. It seems that you are not a true Sith. You are not willing to use any means to gain power. You are only willing to use those which will not show you something you are not willing to see. Maybe there is still a chance for you after all.” With that, Jord silently rose and unclipped her saber from her belt.
“It seems you also know why I am here than.” Rowahn stated, “Good. It will make my job easier.”
Taking his pike off his back, Rowahn activated his blade. The light crimson humming in time to his own thread. He noticed Jord’s green blade did the same when she activated hers.
Interesting. He thought. “Shall we begin the final battle?” He asked with a glint of humor in his eye. They both knew it would be the last battle Jord and Rowahn ever face.
Leaping forward Rowahn struck. Once again, Jord moved faster than she should have, dodging the blade and keeping her defense up. Rowahn struck again, and again Jord dodged. He would not allow the anger and fury overcome his mind and make him a raging animal as it did to so many of the other Inquisitors he had trained alongside. No, Vader had trained him better, trained him personally. Only one other person had Vader ever taken on as an apprentice until he had been destroyed. Since then, Vader had made good on his promise to teach Rowahn, and he had quickly become the most powerful of the Inquisitors. More powerful than Yiaso, more powerful than Gaetana even. Yet still he had chosen not to take the title of Grand Inquisitor for himself. Instead, he dubbed himself Darth Rowahn. This had infuriated Yiaso, but it pleased Vader, so Rowahn kept the title.
He was angry, and he was furious, but he channeled that anger. His blows becoming faster and faster until Jord was forced to block the saber rather than just dodge. With a quick thrust Rowahn forced Jord to leap backwards. Just as before, the two warriors began to circle. And also just like before, Jord began to summon the dust and stones around her into a swirling vortex of debris. She was using it as a shield, but Rowahn knew how to dispel it now. Reaching into the melody she was using to summon the earth, he grabbed hold of it and twisted.
As the chords shattered, the dust whirlwind crumbled. T’Risha stumbled from her song being twisted, but she didn’t falter for long. As she continued to fight, she started weaving a subtle theme into her greater battle song. It was a defensive and protective melody. One that fought off the effects of outside influence upon her song.
She knows too much about this aspect of the Force! Rowahn thought as he tried his best to do what he could to get through her mental defenses. The battle continued, Rowahn virtually flying through the air with his speed and Jord doing the same, but rarely going for the attack.
“I see you have decided to use what you know to try to counteract my own song. I am by no means a Master of Song, but I can recognize growth in a Singer as much as the next. It is too bad Vader has corrupted your heart. You could be a useful ally with a bit of training.” Jord said smirking.
Rowahn knew she was aluding to something he had no knowledge of. Something the female Jedi he had fought had said. Something about the Song. It upset him greatly that he had didn’t know what this “Song” had to do with anything. And the way she had said “useful ally” sounded almost like she was not talking about an ally for herself, but for someone else. Perhaps there was more he could learn before he killed her.
No! He thought.
I will not give in to her taunts. I will not let her win. I will not allow myself the pain of losing yet again. With that thought, he rushed forward in a flurry of motion. As he neared her he did something he had not yet had the chance to try out. Touching the modified coupler, he released the lower portion of his hilt into his left hand. With his saber in his right and the extension in his left he began to fight ferociously. The saber hilt itself could only take a few hits from Jord’s saber, but he could use it to strike any openings he found. With the two weapons he quickly started gaining ground.
Spinning his saber, he struck at Jord. She blocked the saber, but he quickly locked-up with it keeping her from escaping, then with his hilt extension, he brought it around and struck the Jedi, knocking her backwards and causing her to release her grip on her saber. As she stumbled back and fell to the ground, Rowahn deactivated her saber and clipped it to his belt. She was trying to rise, so the Inquisitor began to advance quickly. It was time to end this.
Suddenly he flew back across the clearing, landing on his back. Jord’s saber began rattling on his belt, and before he could grab it, it flew away. Reaching out her hand the Jedi caught the saber. With as snap, the blade sprang to life once again casting an emerald shean over the ground and young woman. However, she just stood there, waiting for Rowahn to rise again.
Then she spoke,
“You have been given another chance to return to who you once were. I know you think I never paid you any attention at the temple, but that is not true. I remember when you came running through the halls, and ran straight into me. You didn’t even try to stop. Luckily for me, the Song warned me long before you collided with me, and I was able to anticipate it.”Rowahn was on his feet now, shocked that she remember that as well. He quickly recovered however and shaking the haze from his mind Force leaped across the clearing towards the Jedi. As their sabers once again locked, Jord held her place this time, and spoke up once again.
“That was not the only time you were running through the halls. You would often get in trouble for it, but it never stopped you for long. You were stopped at least four different times for running after you had successfully built your lightsaber. I see you have kept a similar design even with the extension. For all your work to cut yourself off from everything in your past, and yet you carry around a constant reminder of what you were. Who you were.” She said then pushed out of the clash. As she stood a few steps away she continued.
“The day you built your saber was a sad day for me. But seeing you overflowing with joy and excitement, I couldn’t help but smile.”Rowahn knew he needed to shut Jord up, but he couldn’t. She was too powerful a Jedi, he could not get past her defenses. He would not let himself give in to the taunts though. She was trying to draw him back to the light. He couldn’t let that happen. Furiously he began to spin his saber. As the wall of light rose around him, the noise created mixed with his ever-increasing bellow of rage began to drown out the sound of her voice. Still it was not enough.
“You try to give the facade of a rough, tough, uncaring warrior, but that is not you. You are nothing more than the young traitor that everyone said you were. I always hoped it was not true, but I can see now that it is. What a disappointment.” Jord said in a saddened voice.
Rowahn stumbled back at her words. He had sworn to never allow someone to say that to him again, and yet he had. His anger and rage were starting to take over, and he lashed out with uncontrolled fury. Rowahn barrelled towards the young Jedi, but before he could get to her he flew backwards. His shoulder struck a tree, and he went twisting to the ground. He felt no pain though, and quickly got up and rushed towards her again. But again he was thrown away. His anger was still growing, but his curiosity was overtaking it. He couldn’t understand why he could not block the Force blasts. He couldn’t even anticipate them. There was nothing, then suddenly he would fly back. How could she muster that much power in so little time?
The ‘song’! The thought occurred to him as he slowly began to rise. What that meant, he had no idea. He needed to figure out what the song was, and how to counter it. Perhaps there was a way to hide your intentions with this ‘song’. Maybe even hide your own presence with it.
No! He thought.
I can’t let myself fall into her trap. This is exactly what she wants me to do. She wants me to let my guard down, and open myself up to her, which would give her the opportunity to either kill me or escape. I can’t let that happen.Once again, he attacked, but this time when he charged her he had a Force shield up in front of him to keep her from being able to blast him back. He swung his saber high towards Jord’s neck, but she blocked it. Rowahn held the clash for a few seconds, just long enough for him to reach out and grab the hilt extension with the Force from where it had fallen and summon it to his hand. As soon as he gripped it in his palm, he pushed off with his saber, and struck with the hilt. Deliberately striking the saber out of her hand rather than going for a body blow. The saber flew away and Rowahn dropped the extension grabbing the saber with both hands and raising it above his head for a strong downwards strike. Once again, he flew backwards before he could strike. The time however, he noticed something. Jord hadn’t even lifted a hand before he flew back.
He knew that the Force didn’t require you to raise your hand in order for it to work, that was one of the first things they were taught at the Temple. But in battle everyone did it, because it took too much concentration to use the Force without a conduit of some form. So everyone used their hand. How was it possible that Jord was so strong that she could direct a Force blast with that much precision without raising her hand, and while in the midst of a battle?
The ‘Song’! He didn’t know what all it could do, but if it could give that sort of advantage, it might just be worth looking into rather than suppressing it.
Rowahn closed his eyes and focused. He enhanced his senses, then slowly rose. He could hear Jord coming towards him, and he could almost see her as the Force sent images to his mind allowing him to build an image of his surroundings. He was on the edge of the clearing, and Jord was near the center once again. As he listened he could hear the song weaving through the forest and into the clearing. He could hear the trees whispering for him to turn towards peace. He could see the two seperate sides of the Force, one clearly light, the other dark. As he listened to them he heard the joyous playful sound of the lightside, though flawed, it was still beautiful. The he looked to the dark, it had a deep melodic sound, but at the same time it had a minor key, and was very chaotic as if it didn’t know where it was headed or what it was trying to do.
Finally he looked between them. For the first time he noticed something. Jord was not fully in the light, and he was not fully in the dark. Not only that, but there was not a definite line between light and dark. He had heard rumors about the so called “gray Jedi” but had never believed them. All his life he had been told there was the Dark side and the Light. The two never merged. Never met, and yet he could see now that this was wrong. There was a “gray” area. One that was not truly light nor dark.
Rowahn saw all this in a matter of seconds. As if time itself had slowed down. Opening his eyes he could see Jord running at him at full speed. However, she didn’t seem to be moving much faster than a slow walk. Rowahn began to reach out his hand. Then stopped, looked down at it, and let it drop back to his side. He didn’t need it. He had never needed it. It was just a lie he had been told his whole life.
He looked back at Jord and smiled. He could feel the power building up inside of him. Then he released it. Jord flew back across the clearing, and landed on the other side. She lay there stunned. Rowahn strode over toward her and looked down. He now had the upper hand. All other times he had fought T’Risha she had known things he hadn’t, and because of that had been able to beat him every time. This time however, she couldn’t win. She had shown him how to win, and he had run with it.
“T’Risha Jord, you have been found guilty but the Galactic Empire, and by its ruler Emperor Palpatine, and have been sentenced to deat-” Rowahn began, but was cut off.
“You may think you are doing the right thing. You may think that the Jedi were weak, were wrong. And you would probably be right. But there is one thing they were right about. The Sith and the Dark side will corrupt you given the chance. I have had years to come to this understanding. At first I was just like you. I was angry at the Jedi. They had failed me. They had failed to protect my master. They had failed to protect the Republic they were sworn to protect. But as I grew older, I realized something. They had never failed to uphold their vows. They were not warriors, yet when the Clone Wars began, they took it upon themselves to lead the clones into battle in order to try as hard as they could to uphold the vows they had made. You can kill me. You can fulfill your vows to the Empire, but if you do, make sure it is what it truly best. Not easiest, simplist, or whatever else you want. Is is truly what the One would have you to do?"Rowahn didn’t understand her ramblings, but he couldn’t help feeling like he was doing something wrong. He looked T’Risha in the eyes for a brief moment and realized something: there was a deeper connection between them. One he would never admit, and one she would never have the chance too. He could hear Vader’s voice in the back of his mind
Strike her down, and earn your rightful place at my side. For the first time in nearly ten years, something was not right. He felt wrong. The Jedi had taught him one thing, and the Empire another, but how was he supposed to know which was right? All around him the Force spun and struggled. Always fighting, never merging. He knew he should let her go, but if he did, he would also be a fugitive from the Empire. They would hunt him down wherever he went. There would be no escape.
Do it! The voice in his head was saying. What other choice did he have. He was Darth Rowahn. Member of the Impirial Inquisitorious, and apprentice the Lord Vader himself. If he failed in this one task, how could he continue.
Rowahn quickly raised his saber above his head, and with only the slightest hesitance, brought the blade down.
Jord was dead.
He had done it. The Force was quiet again. Only the rhythmic thumping that he was so used to. But what had he really accomplished by it? He didn’t feel empowered. He did not feel like he could rule the entire galaxy, or that he could stand at Lord Vader’s side. He felt weak. It was more than just guilt this time.
Rowahn nealt down to retrieve Jord’s saber. When he rose again, he no longer felt weak. He no longer felt anything. he had been completely numbed by the pain.