Check C42 on the previous page first!!!Chapter 43
Kiraea
Jedi bitch….her head hurt but she quickly recovered.
She was pressed into the main intersection of the air conditioning system of the Coruscant Grand Opera, her skills in infiltration and mind control had been put to the test already tonight…but now she needed to move quickly the Aethan raised as a Jedi that Valens put so much store in, Milaea, was onto her.
She sent a quiet thin line of warning to the others, Adaea and Maeson were overseeing the activation of the pawns whilst Selaena and Lyaea had finished stoking the riots - handing out what few thermal detonators they had time to purchase to the thankful denizens of the under levels- and were preparing the extraction.
They had spent the last few days criss-crossing Coruscant planting the seeds of control in people’s minds, priming them for a tick of the clock when their most base desires would be magnified and unleashed, it was so easy to push non-Aethan minds from annoyance and frustration into indiscriminate slaughter, they had done nothing more than take away their ridiculous moral restraint and suggested a time, place and appropriate instruments with which to enact their innate violence….but now Milaea was onto them.
She let her annoyance at being caught open the gates to her burning hatred, in the cramped confines she let the blue flames flicker to life and with the precision she had learned cracking safes and security systems she directed the streams down the memorized network of air ducts straight into the oblivious audience of some 5000 of Coruscant’s richest and gaudiest.
This was the third part of her plan…Jarys and Valens had set the under levels alight, the others had set the mid to high tiers alight…now she would hit at the true Elite…the Senate might not care for the riots…but they would hammer the politically Jedi once their own rich friends were in the line of fire…speaking of…
Even here deep in the plant rooms she started to hear the screams, and feel the life’s winking out. She kept the blue glowing flow going a moment longer…but she couldn’t go all the way as she had planned with Milaea on to her. She used her aetherically enhanced dexterity to slide back to the maintenance hatch and out.
She raced through the plant halls toward her hover car, an emergency exit burst open behind her, aliens of all kinds in expensive charred clothes were trying to bat out the blue flames, to corridors smoke alarms activated and water and suppressants sprayed down…
They had no clue that aetheric fire was immune to such things…it was powered by hate, anger, fear…all the things she had felt when her people were massacred and enslaved before her…not simple chemistry.
They flailed and tumbled into the shallow pools of water, but it did no good, the smoke kept rising and the flesh kept charring.
Another door opened before her and she pushed through the gaggle of screaming crying beasts, she could sense her flyer and telekinetically started the engines up.
Bursting through the emergency exit she leapt straight into the open hatch, punching the accelerator as soon as she landed. She could not fail her people. So far the distraction was working, the Jedi were scattered across the planet trying to deal with their pawns…but…
She turned hard to the right…she was here!
Milaea was chasing her, she noted the white and red Corusci speeder in her rear view monitor. This was unexpected…nonetheless Valens and Jarys still had other tasks in the Temple, if it were left to Kiraea to deal with Milaea so be it. Yes she was strong, but surely she was no Guardian.
She set the ship on auto pilot headed straight for the Works where she had set the ground work for her plan days before, she was to infiltrate and disable the safeties on several of the geothermal power generators, igniting the industrial sector in blaze of destruction as the lava spewed out, the final crisis to send the Jedi in a spin. But if she could take Milaea here that wouldn’t be necessary – just fireworks to celebrate their reunion.
Unfortunately she could feel her younger sister’s deadly intent…this called for some tough love. She slipped out of her seat and opened the side door ignoring the warning light, summoning a rifle Selaena had gifted her. Peeking out against the wind she opened fire.
The shots sped back, ominous red energy surrounding black cores, Milaeas speeder accelerated toward them, the bolts deflected off to the side without much effort. Kiraea suspected as much. She read the patterns of traffic and started grabbing at the hover cars beside the Corusci and bashed them with the aether into her path. Again she expertly pivoted out of the way mere seconds before being hit. She was so proud of Milaea!
As she had to take her alive…that put Kiraea at a significant disadvantage….but if Milaea couldn’t take a beating what good was she.
She leapt onto the back of the speeder and steadied herself with the aether. “Now let’s see how much of a Jedi you are”…She unleashed.
Searing arm sized chunks of concentrated aetheric fire jetted from her palms, not at Milaea, but at buildings and speeders all about. Explosions rocked the Corusci back and forth, the traffic lines began to crumple as the auto pilots on most cars struggled to deal with the surge in hazards. Windows shattered and beings flew from the towers to escape the hate filled flames.
Yet Milaea just kept at her, drawing ever nearer, seemingly ignoring the deaths of so called innocents, she sent another bolt into a large carrier filled with petrified Aqualish, it blew apart in the centre raining little people into the depths.
A Jedi ought to help these aliens as Kiraea understood it…or at least do more than this to stop her.
“Come On!” she shouted into the howling air, blasting a balcony party of at least 30 beings into superheated oblivion.
As if in answer the Corusci door opened and a lithe form flipped to the top of the speeder, a mane of golden red hair contrasting with the amethyst sabres glow. It was a stunning sight that almost distracted Kiraea from the shikkars Milaea had quietly sent her way.
With a snide smirk she crushed the glass into glistening green fragments as her speeder shuddered, Milaea was both using the aether to slow Kiraea’s speeder and hasten her own. They were barely 6 metres apart now still headed to the works. Good let her waste her concentration matching the machines speeds.
“Nice try, but I’ve seen those trinkets before,” Kiraea yelled across the rushing winds,
“I know what you’re planning, but why?” She yelled back,
Kiraea smiled, “Haven’t you ever just wanted to see a world burn?” she fired three blasts at the girl,
The first exploded against her sabre, the others she deflected with the aether, it was enough distraction for Kiraea to fire more shots with her hold out pistols that she floated by her side. As the fiery explosions died down the blasters were suddenly burst apart by their own defected bolts.
“Nice Try,” Milaea called, “But I’ve seen those tricks before,”
Smart mouthed little tralk – Kiraea liked her
She let her annoyance power her, grasping two nearby hover cars and sending them flying at her while launching another wave of flames. The girl elegantly dealt with the attacks, a neat deflection, and then diversion of one car back at Kiraea, she crumpled it with her mind cutting its velocity and sending it plummeting a screaming Bith inside.
“Not very Jedi like,” She called,
Milaea shrugged then surged forward, a massive aetheric blast pushed at Kiraea almost knocking her off, but it was enough distraction to allow Milaea to leap the gap and land before her, amethyst bade sweeping for her legs. She leapt quickly and moved to pull her Beskar short sword from her thigh sheath – but Milaea pinned it in place in the air and their velocity sent them straight past it.
Fine the hard way. She turned her anger into a shield of Lighting around her as she dodged the girls precise arcs and battering pushes. In return she shot precise arcs of lighting and blasts of flame, grasping at what nearby cars she could flinging them at the girl. She was trying to press on her mind as well, Submit, surrender, retreat….it was strong but not especially subtle.
More and more Kiraea was on the defensive, she was fast but this girl was faster and had a far deadlier weapon, her lightning was just curving over the girl not scorching, and every hover car she tossed her way the girl leapt aside or pivoted to avoid, indifferent to the fact they ended up smashing into the sides of the buildings. In their wake blue and yellow fire rose from the cratered and smashed sides of skyscrapers.
The buildings were getting lower and the traffic sparser as they approached the Works, and Kiraea getting ever closer to being sliced to pieces.
She needed to get off this thing. Ducking beneath a high slash then countering a hard hitting knee with her forearm she surged a blast of lightning into the speeder.
Small explosions rocked its direction as the electronics exploded, the girl became wrong footed Kiraea took advantage with a rapid fist to her chest as the speeder began to descend. She made a wide arc with the sabre to buy herself space but another jolt let Kiraea drive her elbow into the girls shoulder with a sickening pop.
The aether burst with fury an overwhelming blast flung her off into the empty skies.
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Milaea
She landed heavily on an old industrial roof cluttered with catwalks, ventilation ducts and solar collectors that ranged from 50 to 300 years old by the looks of them.
The speeder had smashed down onto a building across a narrow but very deep gap, sparks and smoke issued from the crater.
She could sense the other woman somewhere…largely unharmed, but tiring.
She took the brief respite to flood the force into her as she popped her shoulder back in…no longer restrained by her own fear she found she could heal almost any minor injury like that completely in moments…perhaps even major ones, though she had no desire to find out.
She scanned the area with the force and her senses….the wanton destruction this woman…and whoever was helping her…were willing to inflict was terrifying…what could make someone so…indifferent to the suffering of others…
But then she recalled what had happened with the Gray…what had happened on a dozen missions…it wasn’t so hard to imagine - slipping unthinkingly into that state of mind…that saw other beings a mere obstacles to your goals…even for a Jedi that is what ended up happening…these smugglers or pirates were opposing the Republic and it was just easier to kill them than try and rehabilitate, to address the complex social, cultural and economic issues that had led to this situation.
But that was a topic to investigate another time…
She rolled to avoid the brutally charged knee of the woman as it smashed a lighting accented crater into the concrete beside her.
Rising into mid guard she deflected two more of the fiery bolts this woman was expert in. She had such a raging aura about her…so familiar…she leapt forward with lightning clad fists…as she ducked the blows she smelt her…she could viscerally smell her…she hadn’t noticed with the wind racing any traces of pheromones away on the speeder.
She turned into a low cut, she didn’t want to hurt the woman if she could avoid it, but she had to stop her. That smell…familiar...it activated something in her…memories…of her past life, so like…Valens…and the Sith of Cygrat…of course she was one of them…they were all of her People. She was embarrassed it had taken her this long to figure it out…No she had known she just hadn’t wanted to admit it.
Her opponents advantage was the variety of techniques she used, Milaea could sense she was weaker in every other measure as she dodged another ream of fire. The Jedi always avoided methods like this…it led to the darkside…yet how could a technique in and of itself be evil…Sith and Jedi both used lightsabres…
She twisted away from another lighting sheathed kick and returned a quick heel strike to the back of the woman’s balancing leg.
She gazed at her own amethyst blade…she didn’t need this...this wasn’t the way to fight…someone who smelled as she did…it was unfair to fight one of her People like that.
That part of her that was still a Jedi warned her not to, but she switched the blade off. That same part screamed as she copied the woman’s technique and let her raw power form in electrical blue, then purple arcs across her body.
For the first time she had intentionally conjured force lighting.
The woman staggered a little but a surge of the force soon restore her muscles. The expression on her smooth face was almost…respectful, admiring.
“You are one of us after all,” her voice was soft and genuine affection suffused the force. She spread her arms as if to hug her, “We can spar later Milaea, come here sister!”
Milaea kept her fists in a high guard, her fighting stance firm as she became accustomed to the flicker of energy about her. Her words were…honest…but to join her…to stake her claim to her cause…after what this woman had intended to do….she couldn’t.
“I don’t want to join you…but I don’t want to fight you,”
She shook her head, “You’re confused my love, I understand Valens told us you were brought up by the Jedi…but you know why that had to happen…” her eyes flashed with burning rage,
“Because they destroyed your family and destroyed our home, we had to compromise to protect you, now you can stand on your own, come back home, help us rebuild,”
“You can’t hold the Jedi, or the people or Coruscant responsible for what happened, I’m not coming with you…but knowing that won’t stop you will it,”
She laughed, “No…no it won’t,”
She lunged forward, her fist smashed into Milaea’s forearm block with a crackling brutal impact that shook her whole body. She responded in kind with a low kick to her side. The air cracked and sparked with their shields, the arcs danced in time with their fists, feet and bodies as they clashed.
Blow by blow they wore each other down, each hit charged with enough force energy to break a ferrocrete pillar…yet they each withstood the hits, their inhuman genes and unnatural force energies allowed them to take and deal dozens of blows any one of which would kill a wookie outright.
She began trying all kinds of tricks, force illusions, perceptual distortions, mental images of Sofa or Soryu being tortured, force synthesized sounds behind her…everyone allowed her to notch another blow on Milaea…but only ever once, no trick or combination worked twice.
This was not a woman used to losing, she could sense the frustration building, and see it visibly as she fired off more and more streams of force fire.
Her skin was raw and bruised, her body aching from the fight, yet she knew as much as she was wearing out, her opponent was twice that. The fight shifted when she landed a blow to the woman’s ribs, she stumbled back instead of countering as she had been. She caught the bleated kick back, twisted it in her arm and flung her into a spin, she landed heavily but was physically swaying. Another hit to her shoulder put her down again, a short kick into her shin had her on her knees.
Her shield of lightning flickered and failed, her dark brown hair matted with sweat, face gaunt, illuminated in the night only by Milaea’s purple arcs of energy.
“Enough Yorna….lets go home….”
Milaea wasn’t sure if she was trying on a trick or simply confused with exhaustion.
The building shook as yellow light burgeoned from an explosion deeper in the Works casting their figures into black silhouettes,
Milaea kept her eyes on the woman’s face as some lucidity returned,
“Plan B bitch,” she said,
“What have you done,” Milaea pressed on her weary mind drawing out the information she needed
“Ehh…we didn’t have enough explosives…that’s why I needed to be there…the safeties are sabotaged but…ahh…if you’re quick…” she looked back toward the main city,
Another explosion…
This time not in the physical world but in the force…an earthquake of…
Black...
Ugly…
Hideous emotions almost swept her off her feet, sudden but…then subsiding…in the aftermath was…
The balance…the underlying flow of the force she had been so accustomed to feeling on Coruscant was changed…slightly ever so slightly tuned toward the darkness…some balance had been…not lost…taken.
The riots…the madness…it would all intensify…her enhanced mind performed eldritch calculations of how a shift in the aether would effect physical reality…it would triple instantly and take twice as long to subside..
Wait…had she just thought the word Aether….
“You’re strong my love…but we’re still a lot smarter than you…” she said in a ragged voice
Milaea’s stomach sank…this had all been a distraction…destroying the works, unleashing hordes of mind controlled killers…destabilization that would leave a terrible Legacy in the Force…all simply ways to get the Jedi out of the temple…just so they could get to her…if she had just gone to them willingly….
She re-ignited her amethyst blade and placed it at her throat.
“What is your name,” something about those words chilled her…a phantom of another time…another life
“Kiraea…daughter of Yilaea and Karan, student of Karintha, sister of Yorna…their stories….” she paused with the strain of speaking and a sadness echoed in the force,
“I carry with me…” There was a sense of pride and loss in her words that Milaea tried desperately not feel sympathy for…
Yet she failed…
For in Kiraea’s eyes she saw the pain that drove her to inflict it indifferently on others…and the tremendous love for her own…for Milaea herself…her incomprehension that her little sister Milaea could consider this fight as anything more than a sisterly tumble…she was in just as much need of healing as anyone she had harmed.
“Well Kiraea…daughter of Yilaea and Karan, Student of Karintha, sister of Yorna…if I weren’t a Jedi…and you weren’t one of my People…I would execute you…” she switched the blade off and headed back towards the burning Works
“Which of those reasons is stronger Milaea?” Kiraea called after her, stumbling and unable to stand.
“I’m not sure” she whispered.
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