Chapter 17
Milaea
Corpses littered the ground, she stood atop a wrecked ship of some kind slicing apart red sabred shadows that approached…the sky was an orange and yellow inferno…she killed and killed and killed…still more came…they were at her, dead hands clawed at her feet…dragging her down, the shadow in front of her would not die…but fire - blue fire erupted from her hand, incinerating it…she burnt more and more, she turned her hand to the sky…ships…dreadnoughts rained hell upon her planet, she met fire with fire…the screaming fracturing black hulls hurtled down toward her….TodayHer eyes opened to the cool dark blue stone wall of her room on Vyth. She sensed it..Knew it...again
TodayAs the dream faded her sense of the real world coalesced…there were more Gray Jedi here…some must’ve arrived from their ‘missions’ doing who know what with no guidance or control from the Republic…another reason they had to be stopped.
She spun out of bed, she would eat, shower just like usual…it was just another day. Then she would visit the Andis which Valens had set down in the Mak'tor hangar to get what she needed, and then…then it was just following her duty as a padawan.
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By the time she reached the training rooms, a large circular cavern well-lit with a white padded floor, all six Teidowans were already in groups sparring, Holly was there even Ty back on his feet. Eight…half their numbers…but only a third of their strength…
Holly looked over at her, eyes widened in surprise,
“Cute outfit Milaea!” Ty said jovially whilst absently parrying a Teidowan’s Soresu strikes, his injuries hadn’t been great, he seemed more wounded she had taken him by surprise.
Milaea smiled, she was wearing her new armour. It put a physical barrier between her and the others as much as she had built a mental one to detach herself from her feelings as she executed her…was It really hers…judgement.
“ha, thought I would train wearing it today, Master Valens says it helps you learn new ways to move, as you’re forced to adapt to the weight,”
Holly nodded, “Master Valens is full of unique ideas…I like it, please join in, Ly’Al partner up,” the odd Teidowan stood to spar with her. Milaea came up before and they bowed. Like mirrors they went into shii-cho defensive stances, like mirrors they drew on the force, and like mirrors they tuned into a battle song.
As she spun, slashed and parried in graceful arcs with the Teidowan she let her mind expand to take in the battle songs of all around her…all in harmony, ebbing and flowing into each other…though opposing they melded through their similarity nature…perhaps it might even be a thing of beauty to some…
She recalled the fight on Korriban…Valens had watched her to learn her weakness…she had done the same for the last two weeks since her decision was made…the taste of betrayal when Valens had attacked her…the stench of death in the force amongst the rotting Sith corpses…the cloying decayed feel dragging you down…all this she added to the rhythm of her song.
Ly’Al stumbled, Milaea took advantage, with a force charged strike she slammed her practice sword into the side of her face, crushing her skull in. Blood spurted out into a hideous stain on the girls white raining robe, it blended seamlessly on Milaea’s Bloodstone armour.
She released practice sword and pivoted her sabre rising into her hand as the other Mak’Tor stumbled, she let her song of death explode into the battle rhythm like a dam bursting, the younger ones clasped their ears in vain to keep it out.
Her shikkars flew from their sheaths, Holly was moving toward her with a face of utter confusion and strain, the first shikkar stuck her neck blood trickling beside the glass daggers end as the hilt snapped off.
Before the pair beside her could even disengage from their own combat she had decapitated them both with a wide slash of her amethyst blade.
“What are you…urcck…” Ty choked out his last word as another shikkar flew into his throat. She felt a disturbing satisfaction at killing her failed suitor…The glass was forged with a shadowy echo of the force…near impossible to sense unless you had experience with them…no Mak’Tor did.
Ty’s opponent leapt forward, but seemed to have forgotten he only had a training sword, she cut thought his blade and into his chest, the smell of burnt meant rose from the charred canyon.
The next pair had regained their senses, dropping their training sword they scrambled to summon their sabres as she approached, one diving toward his gear beside the training mats she sent flying into the wall with bone crunching strength.
The other managed to ignite their blade, Mialea struck fast and pulled the Teidowan off their feet, ten centimetres in the air…the frantic legs movements were quite funny a detached part of her observed, she threw her sabre, the Teidowan deflected it, but his distraction let her try out a technique Odjina had mentioned, she tore at his spine.
She must’ve over compensated, his chest and stomach erupted in viscera as jagged bone stuck out from his blood and vitae soaked training robe. Her sabre boomeranged back to her hand and she let him drop and eased off her force dirge.
In the currents of the force she could hear another…a clawing empty song…Valens had followed her lead. He had left it up to her when to move against the Mak’Tor, she had delayed it only long enough to be sure she knew enough of their techniques that there was nothing more to be gained.
A part of her told her she had gone too far, what she was doing was not the Jedi way…it was wrong…these were her friends…she had trained, ate, talked, laughed with them….but they were fanatics, using violence to serve a false god…weren’t their good works tainted by their lack of oversight and religious delusions…exiled once already for being a threat and still training for war in this very room?
A threat
She pivoted into a tight flurry from a golden blade…Holly was alive…the shikkar hadn’t hit the artery and her healing abilities compensated for the rest.
Holly kept at her, partially recovered and determined, she parried and spun out, firing her hip blasters with her mind, but Holly was too experienced for such a trick and countered easily.
They trampled over the bodies, sending training staffs and swords flying at each other, Holly even igniting and sending lightsabres at her, she managed to deflect those and even turn some on her using the force momentum Holly had provided and just giving it a new vector with a light touch.
She could sense the pain reeling off of Hol’Li’Mack…the disappointment, the fear, the sense of betrayal…she felt it in herself too…she wanted to stop…but the battle was upon her now and she knew she had to see this through. Holly tried to speak, but it only came out as gargled blood and spittle, Milaea couldn’t bear to hear her anyway…
Holly was slowly failing, the Shikkar in her neck wasn’t fatal but incredibly painful…as Holly attempted to pull at her throat Milaea stuck on an idea…she concentrated on the shard of glass…Holly pressed closer…then she did it…she teleported the glass out of her neck and into the air nearby…blood seeped out and Holly stiffened and shook at the strange sensation, it was all the opening Milaea needed.
She grasped her in the force and pulled her straight into her sabre. Their faces pressed against each other and Milaea brushed her lips against the beautiful red haired woman’s…
A part of her was revolted at that - to kiss a woman she had just killed…another part regretted not having thought to keep her alive to serve her own pleasure.
Pushing the thoughts aside she twirled to the left and swung through her friends back.
The force was awash with the death she had unleashed…a part of her told her she shouldn’t enjoy it…and she didn’t really…she looked at the bodies lying about her, especially at Holly…
The Jedi were the Guardians of Peace and Justice…could this truly be the price of that peace…was killing you’re friends the path to justice…she sighed deeply, Jedi were taught to trust in the wisdom of the council and the masters…she felt that trust ebbing out of her as with Holly’s blood as it matted her lovely red hair.
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The Koawan raced down the dark blue stone corridor toward her, white sabre lit, he fired off blasts of force energy and tried to grasp at her spine, but the force concealment techniques Valens had taught her gave him no target…the force simply flowed straight through her as it did the air.
Undeterred he raced on, five metres apart she used the force to pull her blasters beside her head and fire, as he deflected the bolts, she dropped into a kick slide, keeping the blasters at his head level and firing, she slid toward him, sabre out, he quickly moved to block her attack but it only grazed her shoulder armour as she sliced through his left knee.
She immediately turned into a defensive stance in time to meet his counter attack. He used the force to balance himself, but struggled with the pain and stress of fending off her light slashes and the blaster bolts. He went for the kill and unleashed a force blast straight toward her, she staggered back, he used the pause to crush one of the blasters with the force.
The distance had given her room to move, repositioned on his leg-less left side she hammered at his left shoulder, using the force to tear at his right shoulder, her blows were quick and numerous, her force grasps constant.
Overwhelmed with threats he let slip his balance just for a moment. She instantly reacted, pivoting into a low kick that connected with his stump, he arced in pain and she rose into a slash that severed his left arm at the shoulder.
The cringing form fell back against the wall, she finished him with a heavy blast of the force…it was stronger than she had intended, the man smashed into and cracked the rock wall, bone, muscle and blood trickled out from the wreckage of his body.
She ran toward the fulcrum of force energy in the main chamber keeping her presence in the force small. Valens distraction in the Song had died down, the Maenowans and Kage had reasserted control over the force after the surprise attack. She could sense them straining in the force against the echo like presence of Valens.
She came to an intersection just as a Silver ran past her – the energies of the Kage and Maenowans were so vast she hadn’t sensed Milaea.
She rapidly struck out and planted her amethyst blade between the Silvers shoulders, still moving forward she stumbled over into the ground, rapidly turning and igniting her orange sabre in spite of the pain, Milaea came down on her, to her credit she kept fighting, but it was inevitable, after three blocks her movements became sloppy…the Silver fired off force blasts into Milaea’s solid repulsive field.
Milaea retreated a little, but only to stamp down on her thigh, the muscle resisted and the bone fractured beneath her boot, the Silver arced up and thrust her sabre forward in one hand, a crushing grip that caught Milaea’s chest in the other…she felt the armour tighten around her cutting off her breath…the pain arced into a reflex of energy she barely had time to consciously direct into the Silvers direction.
Once again the strength of her blast surprised her, the Silvers head suddenly seemed to vanish and it flung back with a wet crack, bone tight against the stretched skin of her neck.
She paused for a moment shocked at the brutality of her own actions…she had killed six Teidowans, two Koawans, a Silver and a Maenowan….she was only a Padawan…she shouldn’t be able to do that.
It was the same terror at herself she had felt after Cygrat….after her vision of the three dark figures….
She had to push on - this was life and death hear and now…she could fear herself later.
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By the chambers doors was the corpse of the other Silver, his right arms severed by a lightsabre, an imperfectly cauterized blaster hole in his abdomen slowly leaking a red black fluid, his face…smashed in as though struck by an industrial mining hammer…a mess of bone, teeth and muscle.
She pushed open opened the doors to the main chamber, a vast natural hollow with a meeting area built into the centre, a large light grey circle of three steps into a central area with a large circular holo-projector. Natural blue Permafrost crystal formations dotted the columns of rock around the chamber issuing their own light and resonating with the combat song of the Mak’Tor, the echoes of their Dirge lost to Odjina’s harmonies.
Along the rim of the circle were blacked, mauled corpses, burnt by…some kind of blue flame, flickers remained in the eye sockets of one. .
At the far end of the circle Valens was holding off the Kage and two Maenowan’s. Yellow, green, blue and white sabres twirled in a kaleidoscope of colour, the force was pushed and pulled between them, confused thoughts of mental attacks bounced off the walls.
An odd thought entered her mind…the Gray’s powers was amplified by the Crystals…to heights she had never seen…yet somehow Valens was, though hard pressed to be sure…managing to survive and even land some blows. Something about that wasn’t…natural.
She had to intervene…she reached out and grasped at the Kage, in a similar way she had done on Cygrat…but the Kage turned and glared at her, her attack petered out against a shockwave of defensive energy, she fired her blasters beside her. The Kage disengaged from the fight and came at her, batting the red bolts aside before reaching out with his free hand to crush them.
She surged forward to meet him, she could feel the force building in her just like it had on Cygrat…she sent her last two shikkars at him in long arcs around to either side, he sliced them apart with his sabre almost dismissively.
Momentum behind her, she struck, her sabre bearing down onto his blue, brightening his face with a pale purple, they did not stay locked for long, with a mastery that would put Soryu to shame he pivoted out and the fight truly began.
Compared to the brutal power of the Sith of Cygrat Odjina was an elegant fighter, he kept moving, used subtle force attacks, patterned on his battle song that guided and strengthened him. Milaea pulled all the power she could to her just to keep up, high left, then low right, she was on the defensive, his song flowed into his force attacks, precise and in rhythm with his sabre…the force grasped at her throat, her spine, her eyes as his blade targeted her legs, breast, hands…she was hard pressed to deflect anything let alone retaliate with her own.
For all this she could feel a reluctance in him…he didn’t want to be doing this…had she made a terrible mistake?
His strength and speed pushed her down the steps into the circle, she back flipped away, she did not want him having the high ground, unleashing a blast as she landed, he waved it away and replied two fold.
What was she thinking…how could anyone defeat a Kage empowered by a mass of crystals that Sang power into his every cell….but the way he looked at her…sadness, confusion…resolve…and concern?
He closed the gap easily, leaping down at her, she twirled aside and parried the rain of blows, she was losing, she was pulling all she could from the force but it wouldn’t flow…the song….the crystals…all the force energies in the room seemed to flow to the Mak’Tor…She could see it…luminous lines pulsing out of the crystals in harmony with the tune Odjina had created….
She fell back further, now solely on the defensive…she tried to copy him...harness her own song…of strength of determination…but he countered…almost wave for wave, melody for melody he negated it….she couldn’t draw anymore force into her…
Within!
The thought suddenly crossed her mind…from Valens…another slice, she rolled to avoid, she couldn’t dare look in his direction…
She pushed back against another force blast…perhaps that was her problem, she was drawing the force from without…perhaps she should unleash the force from within herself…
That quiet part of her told her not to, but it was becoming ever smaller, she unleashed. She didn’t just parry, she pushed, she went mid, left, high, high, low, putting the stunned Odjina on the defensive. Her attacks came thick and fast, it was not any one style but an amalgam of all of them and some moves she didn’t even know she had learnt.
She could swear her arms had purple flecks of energy coming off them for a moment.
No…this was wrong…she saw the strain start to appear on the Kage’s face and instantly her own doubt started to slow her…
Odjina..why was she fighting Odjina…because he didn’t follow the life sucking Jedi dogmatism of Kimar – a dogmatism that her own master flaunted with her sexual relationship with Valens and vanity?
Was it worth killing Holly because she refused the oversight of a corrupt Republic…as the flush of battle faded it just didn’t make sense anymore…he kept a strong defence, and a steady draw on the force…she was being slowed by her own uncertainty and he knew it.
She was doubting…he started launching probing attacks as her energy dwindled…the Permafrost strengthened his Song as her doubts overwhelmed her….
Was this what it was to be a Jedi, to obey the council to the point of fighting a man who had accepted her, comforted her, trained with her?
She was flagging, he increased the pressure, she was failing, he pushed her down toward the centre of the circle…
She was exhausted, tired of the war in her own mind, she only just deflected as he twisted into a downward slash, but it scored a dark line into her chest armour...
She was done, his sabre attack had been one handed, she hadn’t noticed, his body rounded with the other fist straight into the side of her head.
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