The Knight was busy landing the ship on the mostly flat plain in front of the ruin.
"Size doesn't matter when you're dealing with the Force," the Little Jedi remarked.
...
"Which we shall be proving shortly when we throw Lia at Lord Nefarid and watch her dismantle him," I added. Some of my companions gave me sidelong glances at that. "What? Feeding her Sith Lords keeps her happy."
"Okay, but how are we getting rid of several tons of rubble?" my apprentice asked. "Even if Lord Nefarid survived, there is no way we're getting through without another proton torpedo."
"We are not firing another proton torpedo," the Jedi Knight insisted.
"Why not?" Razma asked before the whole ship shuddered as it touched down.
"Because we're within the blast radius," I pointed out, standing up and beginning to stretch a bit. The movement sent a burst of agony through my shoulder and chest, despite the painkillers in my system, but that was fine. Better a bit (or a lot) of pain now than a cramp later. "Now, who wants to guard the ship?"
"T7." The Jedi Knight's tone brooked no compromise. Which, to be fair, was justified.
"T7 it is," I agreed.
"What about me?" Razma asked.
"You're coming with us," the Jedi Knight said. "Consider it a lesson that many Jedi and Sith struggle to learn."
Within seconds, we were outside, where we were treated to lungfuls of smoke, ash, and whatever toxic building materials were currently polluting the atmosphere. And, of course, a front-row view of the giant pile of rubble we had made. Yes, it was easy to see why Razma was so demotivated.
"You made it." Orgus Din had met us at the ruined installation, calmly studying the pile of rubble. No doubt he could have shifted it all himself, but maybe he was searching for the optimal way. Or maybe he was thinking about how to collapse it further. "Good."
"I like to do what I say I'm going to do," I said lightly. "It helps with the diplomacy."
"A Sith with honor," he commented. Behind us, the boarding ramp of the Jedi's ship retracted with a hiss, and the massive craft rose back into the air with the warble of repulsor lifts. That left the nine of us on the ground and quite possibly one more beneath it. The droid could fly the ship on his own? That was... not a pleasant revelation. Eh, I could cope. "What are the odds?"
Ooh, he had a chip on his shoulder. Too bad I had better things to do than indulge someone else's grudge.
"Can you sense Lord Nefarid?" I asked.
"See for yourself," he said, gesturing towards the rubble.
I opened myself up to the Force, expanding my mind and letting its strength flood my body. The presences of my companions grew in my mind, and I began to search for Lord Nefarid. A man whom I had never met, and would probably be very hard to distinguish from the walking balls of anger that were the other Sith Apprentices. Except Razma; she was sticking to the back of the pack with wide eyes.
"He's alive," Levin announced. "And really quite angry."
"You can sense him that clearly?" I asked, a second before the pile of rubble erupted. Chunks of stone, brick, rebar, wiring, and who knew what else were flung up and away while a primal roar filled the air. Acting mostly on instinct, I was able to knock away anything that came close to me and I felt rather than saw Razma move into my shadow. Clever girl, hiding behind someone stronger than her.
And that was when I felt Lord Nefarid.
The sheer anger radiating from him dwarfed that of Natia and her web of allies, and I almost stopped drawing as heavily on the Force as I did to keep it out. The only thing staying my hand was the knowledge that my opponent was no doubt hoping for that exact outcome.
Summoning my weapon to my hand, the blue blade sprang to life as a dark blur sped from the hole in the ground. A red beam flashed toward my head, and I knocked it up and away and I backpedaled. Riposting on the downswing, I hit nothing at all as Nefarid leaped high into the air. His off-hand crackled with blue lightning, and I wanted none of that.
Before he had a chance to discharge the attack, he was pulled to the ground and all three of the Jedi with me darted ahead to engage. The apprentices hung back, either clever enough to not add another body that would only get in the way or preferring to let the Jedi shoulder the worst of the danger.
I knew which camp I belonged to.
Another roar of raw anger rose from the rogue Sith Lord's throat as a wave of pure power washed over me. It very nearly swept me off my feet, forcing me to take a step back to avoid losing my balance.
Oh, he was properly angry.
That was not good for me.
Especially since the combined strength of three trained Jedi - two knights and a master, at that - was unable to bring the fight to a quick and decisive close.
Fortunately, I had a trick up my sleeve.
Reaching out with the Force, I pushed towards the bottom of the plumes of smoke that came from the ruins. The smoke did not abate, did not get thinner, but that was never my plan. But the fresh breeze of air fueled the flames and embers that created the smoke. Orange and yellow tongues of flames reached up through the rubble for a mere moment.
Then they streamed towards me.
I gathered the fire in a ball, a miniature sun of my own hovering above my head. Sustained by the force of my will, the fire burned on in the absence of any true fuel. The Little Jedi, having seen me use a similar trick more than once, reacted immediately.
"GET BACK!"
The knight and the master fell back not quite as one, and a wave of fire washed over Lord Nefarid not even a second later. Or rather, that had been the plan. The false sun expended itself as a stream of yellow and red that the Sith Lord simply leaped over.
But in the air, he was vulnerable.
Unable to anchor himself, unable to move beyond his simple parabolic trajectory, unable to protect himself from the Force, he slammed into the pile of rubble with enough force to send up a cloud of smoke.
A heartbeat later, the cloud of smoke was filled with a red light, and a previously overwhelming presence in the Force winked out.
The cloud of dust was torn away by an invisible hand, revealing the robed figure of Lord Nefarid. Impaled thrice with lengths of rebar, and once with the ruby blade of a lightsaber through the head.
The blade spun once, relieving the body of the top half of its head before shutting off and flying into the Little Jedi's outstretched hand.
"Lia?" I asked carefully. "What was that?"
"Lord Sadic's lightsaber," she revealed, tossing me the weapon for confirmation. It landed in my hands with ease. As far as I could tell, it was indeed the dead Sith Lord's weapon. So that's what she had done with it. Quick thinking, hiding the weapon in the rubble right before the Sith Lord jumped again.
"Mind if I keep it?" I asked. "Or Nefarid's weapon. Either one works."
"Dare I ask why?"
"Razma needs a weapon."
"I get a lightsaber?" the girl asks, her voice filled with excitement. As she gazed up at me, I swore I could see her eyes shine with excitement.
"That is entirely up to her," I said, gesturing towards the Little Jedi. She shot me a look of pure betrayal as the child ran up to her and unleashed her best pleading look. Beneath my mask, I wore a very smug grin.
For a few seconds, I allowed myself to feel good about myself. We were three for three on Darth Angral's apprentices. Alderaan was about to be at peace. The house fleets were probably going to join our jolly little cooperative venture to drag Darth Angral to justice kicking and screaming.
And someone else was suffering for a change.
It was almost enough to distract me from the ache in my shoulder and my chest getting a bit worse. A shame, that. I had barely felt them while fighting.
Unfortunately, the good times could not last forever. Not long after that, the Jedi Knight received a call from a very panicked Mon Calamari that he decided to play on speaker. Apparently, he had bad news.
Because of course he did.
...
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