Distractions

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"No, I'd really rather not die," Jacen grunted. Luke was crawling for cover. Jacen took the young man's saber from his belt and handed it out towards Aela.

The woman seemed to have centred herself in a nexus of sorts. Not a nexus perhaps, but a vertex. A focal point that allowed her to reach into past and present. Time and its relationship with the Force was not a simple thing. The woman couldn't be invincible.

And whatever she had been planning had shocked Luke into betraying his own master. She had to be stopped.

"No offers for me then? Just death?" Jacen called out as he stepped away from Aela. He wanted to make enough space that they could surround her. He tossed a few fragments of rock to gain her attention without having any real hope of connecting a blow.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

The rocks thrown by Jacen didn't come close to the woman.

They didn't bounce off a shield, they didn't reach her, instead they simply seemed to fall as soon as they came within spitting distance of her. They tumbled onto the ground with separate muted thuds as Aela gripped the lightsaber she had been given.

It was not a sort of weapon she was used to, the handle was twice as long as either of her own sabers and the handle was carved of and odd sort of rock, rather than the standard metal. She glanced down at with a frown, only to have her attention immediately drawn towards the loud boom of a voice ringing within the room.

"YOU!"​

The Miraluka's voice rang within the chamber, her gnarled finger raising to point at Jacen.

"You will be silent!"​

A bright and powerful spark of green electricity jumped from the woman's finger.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Next time you can be bait."

He mumbled it so quietly that Aela probably wouldn't even hear. Especially over the crackle of green bolts lashing across his golden blade. Despite bracing himself he was pushed back several feet across the floor.

That floor burst upwards as Jacen drew flagstones from the floor to shatter to dust between them. The lightning stopped, but she kept closing on him.

"This temple has been undisturbed," she called out as she waved towards the damage. "for hundreds of years until..."

"Until you decided to use it for your own ends?" Jacen interrupted.

Her lips narrowed and a telekinetic wave stuck him so hard the air left his lungs. He always tried to reason with him and they always ended up wanting to kill him. Perhaps they needed a more likeable negotiator for events like this and Atrisia.

One of these days someone of that mind wasn't going to underestimate him and would out him in the ground.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela moved in the blink of an eye.

This time she didn’t think about it.

This time there was no doubt. Jacen was getting attacked, Luke was next. There was no longer any time to question herself or what was around her. There was no longer any time to consider the doubt that still sowed itself within her heart. Instead she simply moved, relying on decades of training and years of experience.

The lightsaber, with it’s long handle, burst into life. The bright green blade flickered into existence as Aela dashed around the perimeter of the room and bounded to the left and to the right, hopping along the already cracked marble floor and moving to Flank the other Jedi Master as Jacen drew her attention.

A loud crack echoed in the room, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Jacen go flying.

Her lips twisted into a scowl, and then she struck.

The burning green blade flicked forward, her hand adjusting on the handle to allow the weapon to slide for just a moment. The Miraluka twisted, somehow seeing her coming just a breath before her strike could arrive. A lightsaber jumped from beneath the womans robe, a yellow blade igniting and crashing against the bright green of Aela’s borrowed saber.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen took two steps forwards to join Aela. Then his left leg collapsed under himself. Dropped to one knee his free hand reached for the source of the sudden burst of pain. His fingers came away from his side slick with his own crimson blood.

One of the flagstones he'd thrown up to protect against the lightning had been caught in her next onslaught and struck home just beneath his ribs.

"This is why you wear armour."

With something between a grunt and a growl he forced himself back to his feet and made a slow advance. Even as the miraluka fought back Aela she was able to sense him coming. More of the rocks were flung his way. He ducked under one which painfully tugged at the tears and bruises along his flank. His pushed the next away and just shouldered his way through the next chunk of rock. That nearly downed him again, but he kept coming.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela moved as fast a she could.

Her lightsaber flicked back, then forward, then to the side. The movements were swift, smooth, and yet every time she acted the Miraluka met her blade. The flickering of the two lightsabers clashed again and again, sparking as they bounced off one another. Her face twisted between determination and anger, her eyes setting on the woman before her.

"You cannot win."​

The womans voice echoed within her head, within the halls.

"I have seen the future. I have seen your path. I have seen his dea-"​

​

The voice cut off suddenly, confusion pulled across the womans face. Aela felt the resistance against her lightsaber slacken, and then suddenly she saw it. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Luke, standing on the edge of the room. In his hand was the blaster that had been pulled from Aela's hand, the tip of it was smoking. A frown pulled across the lips of the young Jedi Master, and then she pressed her attack. There was no time to think, no time to consider what had just happened.

Her lightsaber swept high, and then suddenly the Miraluka screamed.

A cry of pain, of betrayal, and Aela was thrown half-way across the room. She crashed into the wall, then saw Luke raise into the air.

"I HAVE GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING! AND NO I'LL TAKE IT!"​

As Aela thudded onto the floor her head whirled up, eyes locking on Luke. He dangled just above the floor, feet hanging in the air. His gaze swept between the three Jedi, and then suddenly a loud crack echoed through the marbled hall as his neck was snapped.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen stirred once more and the dust and detritus that had settled across his broad shoulders fell loose. He was closer to the miraluka than Aela now. He had dropped to one knee and anchored himself to the floor with the Force, but just standing once more brought hot waves of pain from one side. That barely mattered compared to the hollow feeling deep in his gut. Another person failed in a long line of failures. This woman was beyond saving.

With renewed purpose he advanced. She turned towards him but barely offered him any attention. Compared to the betrayed from her own student his continuing resistance despite his broken body was barely worth her time.

But Jacen knew her faith would have been shaken. He thought back to some of his earliest lessons upon returning to the Jedi Order. When Kian Karr had started a tournament and he had been paired with, and defeated, a more talented Jedi with a skill for foresight.

Jacen cleared his mind of all plans. His sole focus was placed on putting one foot in front of the other. He didn't even know what he would do when he reached the miraluka. He put Aela from his mind to. Tuned her out of his periphery.

He was a leaf on the wind, a particle caught in a magnetic storm. No wake in his passing he just followed the forces that acted upon him.

He had given the Jedi Master what she wanted: to be in control of his destiny. But she wasn't prepared for it. As green sparked he reacted quickly to swing his saber across his body to defect them. His mind remained firmly anchored in the present as more missiles bounced against his shield. Several more shards cut through his defences but he pushed through the pain and closed step by step.

If she hadn't been so shakes she might have realised she could plan out his demise instead of seeing into his future and finding a route to stop his irrevocable advance. Instead she started to back away from him. Her focus was where he wanted it again.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

There was no longer any hesitation.

There was no wasted breath, no moment of stop and start. All that Aela wanted was to end this. All that she wanted was to see this woman done. She had killed her apprentice, snapped his neck without a second thought. She had threatened Jacen and she had tricked Aela.

It was done.

As Jacen drew the woman's attention the young Jedi Master dashed forward once more. Her lightsaber, Luke's lightsaber, sparked into life once more. She raced forward, her face contorting into a mixture of anger and determination. Her footsteps pounded against the marble floor. The force filled her, the void that had breached her connection with it shattering into a million pieces as she reached out and grasped what had so long been hers.

In what seemed like an instant Aela closed the distance between herself and the Miraluka.

Just as she reached her the woman turned away from Jacen, her lightsaber flicking...and then missing Aela.

A thin line drew between them, and then suddenly the blade within Aela's hands pierced through the woman body. The sudden lurch of her body pressed against Aela, the Miraluka's lightsaber dropped to the floor, and shock colored her face. She looked around, eyeless face darting from Aela, and then almost to Jacen behind her. She appeared startled, confused, her gaze falling to the lightsaber that impaled her body. For a moment silenced reigned in the hall, and then Aela wrenched the lightsaber free.

The Miraluka crumpled to the floor with an anti-climactic thud.

​

"This...I didn't see this."​

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

"Good."

The single word floated from Jacen's lips. The boy was dead. His ability to sense the darkness encroaching on his master had pushed him into action that might have saved untold numbers. But he had paid for it.

Jacen's leg dropped again. He barely even had time to put his hands out as he toppled sideways. He had been just two metres away when Aela had made her move.

He found himself face to face with the miraluka as his eyes blinked shut and he lost consciousness.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela dropped the lightsaber.

The bright green blade extinguished in an instant, the hilt bouncing off the floor and rolling across the hard marble until it hit a large crack. After decades of fighting, after facing Sith Lord's, stormtroopers, and even fellow Jedi Aela had finally done it; she had killed someone. Always she had avoided such things, her blade striking limbs or cutting weapons. She had been smooth, quick, always disabling and never ending a life. Yet now, now that had all come to an end.

Yet she did not think about that.

She didn't even consider it.

Instead she dashed forward and caught Jacen, her arms wrapping around him and her weight supporting his to keep her friend from crashing head first into the floor. She let out a loud oof as his body half landed on hers, fingers barely latching around him as she managed to lower him onto the floor slowly. "Poodoo."

Aela whispered quietly.

"Just hang on." She said as she dug around inside of her belt, grabbing a small needle and pulling it free. "You'll be alright."

The small syringe went jabbing into Jacen's neck, a cocktail of bacta and stims that would at least slow any damage that was being done to his body. As always he had taken the brunt of the beating, serving as the bait for the fight so Aela could end it. "Come on, Jacen. Don't let her win."

Aela whispered quietly as she squeezed his hand.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Roll of 46/100

Eyes widened at the sensation of the shot coursing through his veins. He hadn't even felt the needle but he was acutely aware of the instant the stims reached his heart. It was a sensation he was used to. He remembered crawling through the mud on Prakith, one hand trying to hold his innards in. Then the medics surrounding him. They had moved in to his platoon and just found severed parts from the advance of the Sith Knight.

"She hasn't," he muttered. He hadn't the prescience to see exactly what would have unfolded here. He knew that she would have crossed that line Aela had pulled him back from long ago. She would have achieved her goals no matter the cost. Let the frustration take her and fallen.

Perhaps she really had seen his death. But this was still a win. But if his light faded then who would look after Trextan? Who would watch Aela's return to strength whilst her parents stayed by Micah's side. She would be too proud and stubborn to go to them.

Finally he felt a little fear. A little fear and the pain being brought back into crystal clarity thanks to the stims. He didn't haven't the focus to call on the Force to cut his mind off from it.

He squeezed her hand back and tried to breathe through it.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"Good." Aela said softly, looking him over once more.

His injuries were far beyond her capabilities when it came to healing, given that was pretty much null, and a small bit of worry creased her face. After a moment of silence she began to peer around, glancing at the Miraluka's body and then letting her eyes wander to where Luke now lay. For a moment she bit her lip, then pulled back from Jacen. She frowned slightly as she stood, looking around the large entrance hall they were in.

Had it just been the two of them? The Miraluka and her padawan?

For some reason Aela found that unlikely. This place was massive, even the entrance hall was bigger than that of the Temple back on Sullust...or well, what it had once been. Her lips thinned and then she looked down at Jacen. "Can you walk?"

For some reason she doubted it, his injuries were extensive and she'd probably end up having to carry him.

"There's bound to be a medicalbay or something in this place." She hoped anyway.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

He lifted his head from the ground and looked around. It didn't look like this place would have a medical bay to him. Perhaps it was just something to keep his mind busy until his injuries all caught up with him.

"Not sure," he croaked. There was blood down one side of his face but that wasn't a real concern. A few gashes from where shards of rock had caught him. Where they had struck his midriff, flank and right thigh were the concerns. Where the blood wasn't stopping.

Without the clarity to turn his sense inwards he wouldn't know what blunt force trauma had been done without a medical bay.

He would have quite liked to stay still. It was quite peaceful. As long as she was there, providing the touch of another person, the sound of a friendly voice.

It wasn't as if anyone was coming for them.

He thought of Prakith. Of putting one hand in front of the other. With a gutteral growl he got one knee under himself and pushed up onto all fours. The pain brought waves of nausea that nearly dropped him.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela caught Jacen before he could go any further, her head shaking almost violently as she gently grasped him and pushed him back down onto the ground.

"That's no good." She told him softly.

The pain that that he was in was clearly displayed on his face, that along with the literal spike of hurt that she felt through the force...there was no way that Jacen was walking anywhere. She frowned for a moment, glancing around as she eased Jacen back against a pillar that had been torn down by the Miraluka. There was no rush, no one was running down the hall with a lightsaber, no one was holding a blaster to their heads, better to take things slow.

"Just relax." Aela told him. "Rest."

She would have to search the Temple on her own, find a stretcher or something.

Aela frowned slightly, glancing at the lightsaber that she had dropped. Her lips thinned, but she looked back at Jacen. "Can't have you fall apart entirely just yet."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

He breathing was sharp and shallow. Rest sounded good but there was no real hiding from the pain. Not until he got something powerful from a medical kit into his system or could gather enough focus again to try and separate his mind from it all.

It was better than trying to push himself to his feet, but having the goal had almost given his mind something to direct itself towards.

Now, as Aela turned her back towards him it wondered elsewhere. To how lonely it would be to die here whilst Aela searched deep into the temple.

"I'll try and stay in one piece whilst you're gone," he managed to say quietly.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Aela turned back towards Jacen for a moment, smiling.

She had to force it, and it was clear that she was filled with more concern than she could have said. The young Jedi Master had never bene best with emotions. For many years she'd always been the stoic anchor of everyone around her. It had only been in the past year or so that she had been willing to open herself up more. Part of that had been due to Jamie, part of it had been Jacen and Adder. Her friends had seen her become a more...whole person.

Yet now it seemed to work against her. "Just hang on."

She had no skill in healing, and the kit she had wouldn't be enough to help his injuries. Aela frowned for a moment, squatting down to scoop up the lightsaber that she had picked up earlier. She had no idea what else was in this temple, and she wasn't about to risk it.

"I'll find a med-kit." Aela told Jacen, her voice a little rushed. "Then we'll get out of here together."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Mhmm."

He didn't have the energy for words now. There had been several times he had felt this damaged before. Never had he been so far from help though. He tried not to think about the journey all the way back to the city. Would they even have medical care for aliens?

Not worth thinking about. There was just breathing slowly and trying to find his centre. Not only had shards embedded themselves in his flank and thigh but the heavy rocks had pummelled and bruised his body.

Aela would try, but everything hinged on there being something worth looking for.

It would be bad for her recovery if he died now, he thought to himself.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

Concern lashed over her features, but what was she to do? With no skill in healing and only the barest knowledge in medical care her only hope was finding something that she could use within the Temple. For a moment she lingered, looking at Jacen's haggard form before slowly she turned. Come on.

The thought rung into her skull as she broke out into a sprint.

Effortlessly the force flowed into her, every muscle in her body singing with it's power as she began to rush through the Temple. She moved quickly, no hesitation, no fear. She threw Caution to the side, knowing that if she did not find something quickly Jacen would be lost. The Temple stretched out before her, Luke's lightsaber remained in her hand, and every fiber of her being reached out to search for what she needed.

The force extended from her, she stopped at every doorway.

She was in a race, and she knew it.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

He felt the Force move around Aela again. He did, at some level, wish he hadn't needed to be put in quite such danger to galvanise her resolve. It would have been easier to touch the darkside again and have her drag him to the floor and cuff him.

He thought of the brave smile she had put on before turning away. It was a nice image to hold in his kind as he pushed the pain aside, but more importantly it reminded him that she was trying so hard for his behalf.

It wouldn't be fair to die whilst she was away.

It wasn't fair on any of them. Micah, Aela, Trextan. It almost would have been better for them to have been born during the dark times. Life would have been isolated for them, limited to a planet of a few local systems. They would have been spared growing up in a galaxy torn apart by war as the factions all fruitlessly vied to take control of the reopened hyperlanes.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She ran as fast as she could.

Her form became little more than a blur, every muscle in her body burning as she dashed from room to room. The Hallways were always the same, always containing fine statues, marbled floors, everything that one imagined they would find inside of a Jedi Temple. Yet there was a flaw with it, something that she did not think of until she ran into the third one.

It was a mask, like the Miraluka had been.

There was something wrong with it, this great and grand empty space. It held nothing inside, and yet it was all just sitting here, pristine as could be. There were rooms with beds, desks, even a library. It was all put in place like it should have contained something more. Perhaps it had been meant for a Jedi Order, perhaps it had been abandoned, but in the end Aela really cared for only one thing. She needed to find a med-bay, she needed to find something.

The young Jedi Master turned another corner, suddenly finding a door barring her way.

A scowl ran across her face, the lightsaber in her hand snapped into life, and then she sliced through the barrier.