We managed to leave the police station an hour later. Before that, we finally met up with Jord and his Padawan. Jord turned out to be a huge Lasat, with a saber-staff hanging in the most visible place. He literally towered over Kuro and, needless to say, over me — considering I'm about half a head shorter than An'ya. Jord had purple skin, large sharp ears similar to mine, and wore dirty-green clothes. His Padawan turned out to be a male human teenager, about fifteen to seventeen years old, with black hair. He favored brown tones, and again — on his belt hung a lightsaber with a fairly long hilt and a shape familiar from a rather terrible film. Next to the main emitter from which the energy shot out, there were three more forming a crossguard. That's exactly the kind of saber Kylo Ren carried.
By the way — such a distinctive guard also protects the swordsman's hands. Mine is made of Mandalorian iron, but here the light beam itself does the job.
"Long time no see, Jord," Kuro started the conversation with a smirk. "I see you've gotten even taller since our last meeting."
"And you're even more sarcastic, Kuro," the Lasat grumbled, his voice very loud. "And you found yourself a Padawan."
"This boy," she nodded at me, clearly inviting me to introduce myself.
"Good day, Knight Jord, I am Light Flyingstar, Padawan of Knight An'ya Kuro," I bowed slightly.
"I'm Jord," the Lasat said simply. "This is Malcolm Blam, my Padawan. I was told you have a plan to catch this beast..."
"You never change," Kuro said with a sigh. "'Catch.' Personally, I won't catch her, and neither will my Padawan. She has only one fate when she meets us — destruction."
"Jedi aren't killers..."
"You know better than me that's not true," Kuro smirked again. "Never mind. We got information that she's hiding in the power production complex on the west side of Sernpidal City. She lures sentients there and takes their... life. This is a Dathomirian Witch named Shilazh — she's dangerous. Light, tell him what you know about her."
On the holoprojector, which had previously shown the complex's layout, the silhouette I so hated appeared.
"Shilazh knows how to use the magic of the Dathomirian Witches. She can subdue the earth with magic and literally bury an enemy; the countermeasure for that is a sharp release of the Force, which is essentially nothing more than applying a Force Barrier around yourself. She also wields two swords made of beskar, a material that can clash with a lightsaber blade." I pulled out my lightsabers and demonstrated them to our companions, then ignited one and pointed it at the hilt of the other. "See? The hilts of my swords are made entirely of beskar; they can't be cut by a lightsaber blade, no matter how hard you try. Shilazh has the same. Most likely, she is also a master of traps, especially magical ones."
"Force Barrier?" asked Malcolm. "I don't know that technique."
"What do you even teach him?" An'ya Kuro looked at Jord. "How can you not teach a Padawan such a useful technique?"
"We haven't gotten to that yet," grumbled Jord. "So we need to rework the plan based on the fact that Malcolm most likely won't be able to resist Shilazh's technique."
"I thought we would split the plan four ways!" exclaimed An'ya Kuro. "Each of us would enter from their own side and sweep their own sector. Tsurko," she called the investigator. The man pressed some buttons, and the map of the complex returned, with divided sectors. Less area was allocated to me and Malcolm.
"In that case," the Lasat scratched the back of his head, "it'll probably have to be me and Malcolm going together. I'd suggest he go with Light, but he's not strong enough to cover my Padawan. And you definitely don't want to take him with you."
Tsurko fiddled with the holoprojector again, and the zones changed. Malcolm's and Jord's zones merged and formed a semicircle. Mine and An'ya Kuro's zones remained untouched.
"I will definitely raise the issue of your incompetence before the Council, Jord," An'ya Kuro said harshly.
"My mentor isn't to blame!" exclaimed Malcolm. "He..."
"Be quiet, boy. You don't understand what fate would have awaited you if you had met Shilazh without knowing that technique, but he," she nodded at me, "knows..."
"Since we are all aerobic beings," I took the floor, "and need air, her ability would have killed us instantly. She would have simply buried us in earth that would fill our lungs... That's a live burial. A cruel death. I saw her kill a monster that way, a monster whose hide even a lightsaber failed against."
"Impossible! A monster whose hide a lightsaber fails against?" asked Jord.
"And such creatures exist?.." Tsurko said quietly.
"They exist. I have seen at least three of them. One I saw on a planet to which my first mentor, Lorm Decer, took me. There were flying green dragons there. Then we visited a planet that was once part of the Zakuul Empire. There we found a creature named Gornum. And finally, not long ago, on Tatooine, I met an ancient krayt dragon; its hide withstood a lightsaber strike..."
"Well, I see your adventures are already worthy of a Knight," Jord stated seriously, "but a krayt dragon. Did you try to get a pearl?"
"I obtained two whole ones, suitable for me."
"Well, you've got quite a monster as a Padawan, An'ya Kuro," the Lasat licked his lips. "It would be interesting to fight you..."
"Everyone talks about something, but Jord only ever about fighting," the mentor put her palm to her face. "Alright, Tsurko," she turned to the investigator, "what about the perimeter of the operation area?"
"I've contacted General of the Planetary Defense Force Kedo," Tsurko reported, "he promised to join our conversation. Aha!" he exclaimed, pointing at a blinking light. "He's been trying to call us for about twenty seconds already." Tsurko pressed a button, and a hologram of an old man in uniform appeared before us. "General Kedo..."
"Tsurko, Jedi," the man nodded. "Let's get straight to business. I will deploy a battalion of eight hundred sentients to cordon off the area. In addition, a no-fly zone will be declared over it, and the air will be patrolled by a group of Planetary Defense fighters."
"General," I raised my hand, "allow my ship to join the patrol; it will be controlled by a droid. Its AI is advanced enough to conduct standard combat."
"Classification of your ship, boy," the man addressed me, looking at me. For some reason, his gaze even made me want to stand at attention.
"It's a transport ship," the man raised an eyebrow, "a heavily modified transport ship," I hastened to add. "A Star Courier from Sienar. Six turbolasers, four aimed forward on the course, two aft. Two missile launchers, each capable of firing five homing missiles, and a launcher for seismic charges. The ship is quite fast. In atmosphere, it can reach a thousand kilometers per hour. In space — ninety Mgl. (Author's note: 'megalight' is a term for measuring speed in space (not speed in hyperspace). The protagonist says '90 Mgs — 90 megalight. However, it should be remembered that the protagonist does not have a fighter and he needs to accelerate to these values first. For comparison, an X-wing could reach 100, a standard TIE fighter with afterburner — 110, if given time to accelerate.)"
"Not bad," the General agreed, "if your ship also had invisibility, it would make an excellent infiltrator." An'ya Kuro looked at me eloquently and smiled. Well, I'm not going to tell him about the stygium coating. No need for an army officer to know that the dream of an infiltrator is flying right next to him. "I give the go-ahead. If your droid is really capable, then your ship will be a decent interception point if that creature tries to escape. However... are you sure you don't need help, Jedi? There are only four of you..."
"I assure you, General," An'ya Kuro took the floor, "no one else can handle a Gifted better than another Gifted."
"Well, so be it. Jedi boy," he said to me, "give me the means of communication with your droid on the ship and warn him yourself about what you're planning, so there are no surprises."
"Don't worry," I said, pulling the hood over my head, "everything will be done in the best possible way, according to the newly approved plan."
So... we left the police station. Well... the time had come to pay the piper. So much time had passed since Gizelum... I had already burned out on revenge, cooled down. And indeed — revenge is best served cold. Yes, I killed Teyron Jarps, but that's not enough. For complete closure, I should kill her too. I'm not Jord or Malcolm; I won't spare her. Anticipation spread through my body. Since our last meeting, I've become stronger; I can feel it. So an unpleasant surprise awaited Shilazh.
The complex turned out to be truly enormous. We had to search a square of ten kilometers in area, divided into three zones. The largest, the western zone, was given over to Malcolm and Jord. I got the northeastern zone, and An'ya Kuro the southeastern one. The buildings of the complex were both industrial and administrative. In my area of responsibility, there were mainly production zones. The star Julavia, which replaced the Sun here, illuminated the complex from the western side. Time was approaching sunset. We couldn't afford to delay; at any moment Shilazh might decide she'd had enough and scram, which no one was about to allow. Too many victims had been claimed by her efforts...
* * *
POV Shilazh
The vast industrial complex was more suitable than ever for her experiments with the new artifact. Sernpidal — a planet in the Outer Rim; the Jedi's reach here wouldn't extend quickly... The Medallion of Arrogant — that was what interested her, and that's why she chose this planet. The Medallion itself was universal in terms of 'drink'. You could either accumulate Force within it yourself through meditation, or take Force from others. What did it do? What was needed — it summoned Force Ghosts; the main condition was to have any belonging of those Ghosts... And then... Shilazh herself would absorb the Ghost with her magic and become stronger. She literally felt the Force spreading through her veins, and the knowledge... The knowledge that the Ghosts had in life accumulated in her head. Thus she would become stronger than Plagueis, stronger than Sidious. Truly, she had received a great Gift that could make her the most powerful Gifted in the Galaxy. And then the Jedi and the Sith, who for centuries had looked down on the Dathomirian Nightsisters, would crawl on their knees before her. But first... Shilazh pointed the medallion at one of her victims... Hmm... A pretty girl, maybe have some fun with her first, and then use her as fuel for the Medallion?
"Non-Gifted have too little Force to charge the Medallion; it would be good to catch at least some Gifted. Maybe a Jedi? No... too early to mess with them yet," the Witch muttered under her breath. "Stop... Am I at it again? Again?! AGAIN?! Talking to myself again?! Why am I talking to myself?! Where is this coming from..." She looked ahead: five figures stood before her, shimmering strangely, as if not of this world. "JUST DISAPPEAR! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!" She raised her hand and sent a powerful wave of telekinesis. The wave seemed to pass through the ghosts and threw the girl. She flew into the wall with a nasty sound and fell onto the concrete floor.
"GHA!" The girl coughed up blood and went still.
"No... No, no, no, no, don't rush to die, beauty," Shilazh ran to the unconscious body of the red-haired girl. Her face was straight, dotted with sparse freckles and cute dimples on her cheeks. Her eyes, now tightly closed, were green, her body slender and athletic. She had caught her yesterday and had been thinking for a whole day about what to do... To top it all off, strange voices began to appear in her head. She had already absorbed two Jedi Ghosts and three Sith Ghosts. They weren't legendary figures, nothing outstanding... But something was happening to her. What were these voices? Why did they speak differently? "I think... you and I will spend some time..." She brought her face close to the girl's, when suddenly the beep of a holoprojector sounded. "Who is that?! I'll kill! KILL! KILL! KILL!" she snarled, rushing from the girl to the holoprojector.
Pressing a button, she saw him appear before her... Or rather, just his face. He was in his usual black hood. His face was gaunt, elongated. Plagueis...
"Shilazh," the Sith said. "I haven't seen you in a long time." His gaze seemed to look through her and see all her intentions. "It seems... you are a bit off the path I asked you to follow. Shouldn't you be on Mygeeto? Or on your way there?" The Sith looked around the room. It was a production hall, completely empty. Previously, plasma had been channeled through huge pipes in this room. But after the company went bankrupt, all production tools, machines, and devices were bought up by the Trade Federation.
"Forgive me, my Sovereign," Shilazh knelt. Damn! Fucking Plagueis, she dreams of triumph over the Muun, but not now... She needs to become stronger, and then... and then she will challenge him! "I considered that the Medallion of Arrogant needed additional testing..."
"You considered?" Plagueis asked sharply. Shilazh suddenly felt her throat being constricted. This is... "Who gave you the right to consider? You are nothing but a miserable whore in my service. This is not the first time you have started to consider when you should not, Shilazh." She was lifted off the ground. "Go to Mygeeto and bring me the medallion of Darth Arrogant, and you had better not disappoint me. You know the price of failure," the Muun said. "Ha-ha-ha-ha, you will die the most painful death I can devise if you do not carry out my order. Have I made myself clear, Shilazh?"
She was thrown to the floor. Shilazh coughed, trying to calm her trembling. Still, the Sith were in a completely different league than she was... But... That didn't diminish her desire to destroy Sidious and Plagueis.
"Gha... Ha... Ha..." the woman breathed heavily. "I understand everything, my Sovereign... Ha..."
"I hope so," the Sith grinned. "And be careful. Your actions on Sernpidal have surely attracted the attention of the Jedi Rats. Get rid of witnesses and head to my base..." The Sith's image disappeared.
End POV Shilazh.
* * *
I walked through the complex, carefully examining every nook and cranny. Such large production facilities could frighten anyone. Especially considering that a mad witch with a Sith medallion from the era of Vitiate could be lurking inside. You could expect anything from her... Even... traps? I stopped about two meters from a strange, barely visible thread. Actually, if not for using Force Sense, I wouldn't have noticed it at all. Cleverly designed. Shilazh's favorite trick of "packing underground" as soon as you cross the thread. However... it was made with the assumption that the enemy would step over it, but I can defy gravity, at least with my grappling hooks. But wait... she had set a trap even in the air... Cunning creature. So where would it be easier for me to fight back? Most likely — in the air. Having made a decision, I jumped over the thread, hooking onto the ceiling with a grappling hook. There they came... green flashes transformed into arrows flying at me.
A lightsaber flew out of my sleeve. Igniting it, I spun the weapon before me, deflecting all the projectiles. Landing on the floor, I turned around... Bitch... A ripple was following me, shimmering with green light. Without deactivating my lightsaber, I rushed toward the exit of the building. Need to move on to the next... Fleeing from the ripple that definitely wanted to capture me and "bury" me, I jumped over a machine that also turned out to be a trap, shooting steel ribbons at me. Damn... Using a grappling hook, I shortened the distance to the window, pulling myself and smashing it open with the Force. Once outside, I suddenly felt something strange, dark, and cruel.
"What?" I asked, looking around. Sounds... The world itself seemed to split into two parts. Behind me, I had left the ordinary world, and now I was observing... darkness... It was churning and thickening around one of the buildings. "What is that..."
I had the feeling that I needed to go to that large building. But it was... terrifying! Where did such darkness and such Force come from? I literally felt the danger of that place with every cell. But still... there was no time to retreat. Returning my lightsaber to its place, I activated my datapad and wrote the coordinates to my mentor. I think she felt it too, but I can see the building in direct line of sight, about two hundred meters away. She cannot.
"Another trap," I looked ahead. "Strange. It activates if you walk on the ground..."
I was interrupted by a stream of arrows coming from the roof. Ducking, I let some pass over me. From behind... Bracing on my right leg, I twisted into a pirouette to avoid an attack from behind. Damn her! She was mocking me... Aiming my hand with the grappling hook, I pulled myself onto the roof...
"Ruuu... biii... tiii..." Were these corpses? Before me stood real zombies, not like those used by the Witches in the Clone Wars during Grievous's attack on their planet. No, they were mostly humans... So that's what she does with the medallion's victims after draining their power...
"Out of the way," I said calmly, drawing my second sword and launching into attack. The zombies' movements were sluggish; against me, focused more on speed and agility, it wasn't even funny. I quickly dealt with a dozen bodies and, noticing an open window in that very building I was interested in, flew into it using my grappling hook. The building was a huge room, cleared of machines. Four large holes protruded from the floor — two on one side, two on the other. On one side was a control panel and a holoprojector... Looking closer, I noticed her... A figure so familiar to me, so hated. I pulled my hood forward, deactivating my lightsabers. Shilazh — and it was her — was holding something above the floor... Or someone. Is that the Force? Someone was being held by the Force... Wait... That can't be!
I looked closely at the holoprojector. So that's where that feeling came from! It had already faded, by the way, but I still remembered it... It was him! A Sith! Darth... and judging by the fact that he was a Muun... Plagueis himself, also known as Hego Damask.
."..if you do not carry out my order, have I made myself clear, Shilazh?" he said, making literal goosebumps run down my spine. I hope he's not here. Neither him nor Palpatine.
She was thrown to the floor. Shilazh coughed, trying to calm her trembling.
"Gha... Ha... Ha..." the woman breathed heavily. "I understand everything, my Sovereign... Ha..." "I hope so," the Sith grinned. "And be careful. Your actions on Sernpidal have surely attracted the attention of the Jedi Rats. Get rid of witnesses and head to my base..." The Sith's image disappeared. Did he sense me?
Not important... I need to kill Shilazh right now. I examined the room once more. According to the plans we received, plasma was pumped through here. I don't remember what they did with it, and it doesn't matter. Those four holes in the middle of the floor were clearly meant for pipes. But there were no pipes or machines here now, just open space. There were no coverings near Shilazh herself either. I couldn't get closer. The only possibility was to strike by jumping from above, concealing my intention as much as possible until the very end. It would be good to finish it all with one blow. And there was also a civilian present...
"Fucking Plagueis! Fucking Plagueis!" Shilazh suddenly exclaimed. "I will kill him... I will find a way to kill you, I swear, Sith spawn. But first," she looked at the girl's body. "I'm going to have some real fun with her." Unfortunately for her, the girl just deigned to wake up... "Huh? Where am I?" the girl asked, turning her head.
Shilazh sped up, deciding to pounce on her. What was she going to do to her? Could it be... She... although it didn't matter. The girl was in a convenient position, and all of Shilazh's attention was on her. This was a chance... I drew my lightsaber into my right hand, gripping it in a reverse grip, and readied myself... A couple more steps... Two... One... Chance! I jumped down, instantly igniting my lightsaber, and tried to cut Shilazh in half. However... She dodged at the very last moment! The moment of the strike...
"Jedi!" she snarled. "How long have you been here?" "Long enough," I grinned slyly. "Seems like everyone has abandoned you. Considering how he treats you like garbage — he foresaw your defeat." Damn, I'll have to fight. "Judging by your clothes, you're a Shadow. You came here in vain; if you had come a couple of hours later, you might have stayed alive." She drew her swords. "You," I addressed the girl, "don't go far. This place is full of traps." "I must commend you, Jedi," the Witch said importantly, "you managed to get through all of them. Or at least some of them. But your path ends here..." "Enough," I cut her off sharply, assuming an Ataru stance. "Are you going to flap your tongue or fight? Your boss is waiting, by the way... Although he won't see you alive. He'll see your cold corpse, Shilazh!"