Celeste stared intently into the distance. They had decided to fight on the side of the Empire, although the goals of this country and Light's differed. They only needed Kizhzhara Deyraksa, who had taken refuge on this planet. Most likely, her ship's engines were damaged, and not only did she fail to jump through the Koboh anomaly, but she also ended up in Wild Space and wound up on this strange planet. From what she understood, the people on this planet were descendants of colonists who, a certain number of years ago... probably thousands, if not tens of thousands of years ago, had been sent to colonize some planet. Maybe they colonized it, but due to the specific nature of the communications here, they couldn't contact the center. Or they simply crashed here. And over all these years, they had degraded into what her beloved Light called the "medieval era.".. The woman clenched her fists. She was forced to spend time not with the sentient she liked, but here, on the front. Light himself was about ten kilometers away... And she would gladly be resting with him right now instead of being in the dust and smoke of the front line. From the outside, their feelings might seem strange... Maybe they were. But personally, she didn't think so. This man had saved her, she liked him... Yes, it was hard to call Light a "model of romance." Everything she had seen in various romance novels was foreign to him. His gifts were mostly practical; for example, that dragon hide he brought her was used to create armor. She also incorporated it into the hilt of her lightsaber. But to Celeste herself, such tokens of attention seemed much dearer than any exclusive flowers or walks in beautiful places. She was a Jedi, a warrior. And he cared about her survival... That was far more valuable than any romantic nonsense, especially for her. Although at first, she had expected the romance she had been denied in her "first" life. But a little later, she realized that what she was getting proved his feelings for her in a way that was infinitely better.
She had been at war for a good week now. She had been assigned to the most effective military units of Rakaza, under the rule of the country's emperor. Light himself served as the Emperor's deputy and chief advisor in this case. In the first few days, they became a true nightmare for the armies of the Alliance of Five Kingdoms. Their unit, by the Emperor's own admission, had been resting recently, but Light's arrival changed everything. It suddenly became active, and the Alliance began to hastily transfer reserves in their direction. Meanwhile, another part of the Imperial army, saturated with reserves, struck a swift blow into the area Light had mentioned... And it came as a shock to the enemy, also endangering their lines of communication.
And Celeste hoped that Kizhzhara and her company, the so-called "Heroes of the Alliance," would arrive precisely at her sector of the front. Frankly, the situation with the Dathomirian witch was even starting to annoy her. It seemed that this Kizhzhara simply wanted to get away from everyone, to hide so that no one would ever find her. Nowhere and never. Tanalorr looked advantageous in that context. But even here, she had settled in nicely. She'd even put together a team... And was calmly waging war, although, most likely, after the war, she would try to seize power in this world. She should have enough strength... Instead of resting, she could take an entire planet and enjoy power. That was probably exactly what Kizhzhara had in mind.
But to do that, she had to make a name for herself. Standing on the castle wall, looking towards where the Alliance forces were positioned, Celeste studied the bastard sword made of steel that they had given her when she joined the Imperial forces. Actually, it was a sword... made of Phrik. A special metal that could resist a lightsaber, along with Cortosis and Mandalorian iron (beskar). Incidentally, Light's hilts were made of beskar, which made it impossible to destroy them in a duel. Extremely practical weapons... Unfortunately, she had to refrain from using her lightsaber, as it would immediately give them away and Kizhzhara might go into hiding. But considering the replacement she was given, there was no reason to be upset.
Every gifted one here who walked the path of a warrior dreamed of such a weapon. The deposits of frikite, the ore from which phrik is smelted and consequently this weapon was made, were classified and everywhere kept under state control. The Emperor had given her a sword made of this material, which emphasized, by his own words, her status in the army of the Empire. And she had proven that status when she led warriors into battle and cut down about fifty enemies... Yes, there were gifted among them, both warriors and mages, by the classification of this world. But they were in no way comparable to her. The Empire's recent successes were bound to draw the attention of Kizhzhara's group. And they would either strike this section of the front, where the newly emerged "goddess of war" was raging, or the area with the three castles. However, considering the information that Lator had presented, Kizhzhara's group was hunting specifically for the most "problematic enemies." They attacked where Imperial mages or the Empire's best warriors gathered and tried to destroy them. So she hoped she had attracted Kizhzhara. Then why strike the aforementioned area of the three castles? The supply lines for the armies on the eastern part of this front ran through there. And the strike was necessary to end the war in the future. Apparently, Light had decided to justify the agreement with the Emperor.
"Lady Celeste," she was distracted by a young girl's voice. The Emperor's daughter, Laran, was also in this castle. "Our reconnaissance reports that Kizhzhara's squad has reached the village of Shchorka."
"Shchorka?" Celeste asked. "Isn't that a little village about five kilometers from here?"
"Yes," the girl agreed. "It is. It seems they took your appearance very seriously."
"That's curious," Celeste smirked. "I've read the reports. Gifted ones with energy manipulation, as you call it, can cut down even more people than I can."
"People, yes," Laran agreed. "But you were killing other gifted ones. That is far more serious."
So they had discrimination based on gifted status here. Still, it was foolish to blame anyone for it. For any state, a Gifted was a useful resource of tactical, and in some cases, even strategic level. No wonder they had thrown their elite here.
"I see," Celeste nodded, returning her sword to its scabbard. "Anything else, Princess Laran?"
"Hmm, that... strange monster of yours," she began. "His name is Jaro. Who is he?"
"Monster?" Celeste asked in surprise, raising her eyebrows. "He's not a monster, he's a Lasat."
"La... sat?"
"Lasats are one of the races of the Galaxy. The place we came from. Lasats exist there."
"And are there many of them?"
"Not many, but they don't surprise anyone," one should remember that the Galaxy, or rather the Republic, was a highly developed society of sorts. And representatives of many different races were found there.
"And your... Commander," Laran chose the word. The girl blushed. The standard reaction when any girl looked at Light. Many found him attractive, though he tried most of the time to keep his distance. "Light... Is he also a Lasat?"
Celeste snorted with laughter.
"If he were a Lasat, he'd look like Jaro," the woman laughed. "No. Light is a Sephi. He's far more unique than Jaro."
"Sephi? Why is he unique? He only has pointy ears... Strange ones," Laran said shyly.
"Sephi are unique because they can live up to four hundred years, and some a full thousand..."
The princess's eyes widened. And it was understandable. The planet was populated by humans with a standard lifespan. Her father was fifty-three. And he was no longer a young man. The only strange thing about him was his left eye, which had been replaced with a cyber-crystal. The local mages had somehow learned to insert crystals inside people's bodies, thereby drawing the crystal's energy for that body. Although this process was considered almost lost. Emperor Lator had a crystal inserted into his eye, which gave him the ability of "God's Eye" and allowed him to see all the enemy's actions in advance. The information, by the way, was public knowledge. Lator was a famous fencer who had killed many in duels.
"Incredible... Can one become a Sephi?"
"You can only be born one," Celeste countered. "But you were saying that Kizhzhara is nearby," she changed the subject. "We should inform Light and Jaro."
"We've sent them letters," the princess replied. "Father, your commander, and Jaro will be here soon. According to the plan we've prepared: the battle will begin soon. We will attack the territory controlled by the Alliance. And there you will all encounter Kizhzhara. You'll get the chance to confront her."
The fortification they were currently in was located south of the Ars River. So they had taken a very important point by capturing this fortification. And now they could advance further into the Kingdom of Adversia.
"That's good," Celeste grunted. "Finally, I won't need to hide my strength. And Light will be able to cut loose. We just have to wait for the moment of battle. And we will achieve our goals..."
"And our goals?" Laran asked, finally standing beside her. "Do you intend to help us win the war?"
"Of course," Celeste smiled. "Our comrades—HK-47 and BB7—will take care of that."
Jaro was just then busy heading to the ship. It was part of his latest training. Light had given him a dangerous mission—not only to inform HK about his mission to abduct the Five Kings, but also to acquire a couple of Shirmans, lizard-like, presumably sentient beings that couldn't be sensed in the Force. Light surely intended to provide them to the Jedi Order for study.
"What strange names," Laran observed.
"Oh yes," Celeste smiled. "And I assure you, they are stranger than their names."
* * *
My participation in the war and persuading the Emperor to follow my plans was fairly easy. Although we did have to literally use the Empire... And while the Rakaza Empire suffered losses, rather unpleasant ones, the effect was achieved. Kizhzhara's group appeared on the front, right next to Celeste. I was ten kilometers from Galerion Castle, where the Empire's forward forces were stationed. This castle had been captured shortly before our arrival, and that's where Celeste was stationed, leading operations against the Alliance from there. And they had proven quite effective... They lured Kizhzhara out into the open. Now I just had to capture her and extract the beacon. Kizhzhara's group was stationed in the village of Shchorka. The Alliance had concentrated a sizable force in this direction. Apparently they wanted to try and retake Galerion Castle... To be honest, this castle was valuable not because it was located on the southern side of the Ars River, but because from it, a straight road led to the city of Thalas. Although I said we intended to take it from the Alliance, I was lying. The recently captured city and its outskirts were flooded with Alliance troops... And our activity had only heightened their vigilance.
But my goal was to lure out Kizhzhara. I had no desire to wage war against the Kingdoms in general. So I didn't even think about strategic campaign planning; instead, I did everything to make the Alliance command worried and lure the witch's group onto our forces. Everything went, not ideally, but Kizhzhara appeared in the vicinity. And that means we can capture her. This time, the Imperial and Alliance forces clashed not far from Galerion Castle. The Imperial troops, under the command of Lator, a fairly competent warlord and Emperor of Rakaza, had been ordered to move towards Thalas in five groups. The Alliance, meanwhile, wanted to retake Galerion Castle from the Imperials. Gradually, the troops of both sides began to get drawn into the conflict. Local skirmishes began to escalate into a global slaughter on the Galerion Plain. The field here was open, so the carnage promised to be bloody. Celeste had thrown herself into the fray from the very beginning, as a warrior of the Empire. A semicircle quickly formed around her; she was thinning out the enemy, sparing no one, until she finally clashed with those from whom I sensed the greatest danger.
This time I was standing on the wall of Galerion Castle, watching the battle through binoculars. So I could make out the details of the fight.
"There they are," I noted when I spotted the six gifted ones. They were several times stronger than all the warriors and mages, to use this world's classification. "Too bad Jaro didn't come back in time. Fighting these children would have been useful experience for him. Still, the Shirmans are interesting creatures too."
"They piqued your interest because they can't be sensed?" the Emperor asked. He looked relaxed for a commander. The man sat calmly at a table, sipping tea, while his men, not far away, were dying. A commander shouldn't, of course, charge forward like a steam engine, but he should at least show some activity. These were his subjects, after all.
"Yes," I agreed. "They are strange creatures. I intend to hand them over to my organization for study," the confrontation with the Shirmans would also be useful experience for Jaro. I was confident in his abilities, since I'd told him roughly how to counter such creatures. Plus, my training was always quite brutal, but it was exactly that which made Jaro who he was now. "But you look relaxed for a commander-in-chief," I noted. "Your men are dying in battle."
"My men know what they're getting into," the Emperor cut me off. "All the plans were communicated in advance, including with your amendments."
"Plans are plans," I replied. "But in battle, the situation is constantly changing. And you can't plan for every situation in advance. So you should be watching the battle, not sitting around sipping tea. Still, that's your problem, not mine. I've finally found Kizhzhara's group and intend to join the fight."
"Is the witch herself there?" the Emperor asked.
I peered into the chaos of the battle... The people in Kizhzhara's squad stood out against all the gifted ones on this planet. The one described to me as Donovan Gaizo—was fighting with a sword. Another man fought alongside him, with a powerful build and a huge halberd—Gordon Armir. And a woman... She fought without weapons, but her fists were crushing armor—Lyla Orkton. Two other women—Alia Milara and Zenda Logara—were mages, supporting their comrades with fire and lightning. While Ers Orkton, Lyla's brother, was an archer. They fought in coordination and had finally clashed with Celeste... Meanwhile, Kizhzhara herself... There she is... Green flashes of Dathomirian magic were coming from underground... She's there!
"Yes," I confirmed. "I know where she is. I'm going after her now."
* * *
Celeste, caught in the chaos of battle, was forced to fight many beings. You could fall that way if your mind wasn't ready. History knew many Jedi who hadn't learned to detach themselves from the death of beings, and so had fallen. But she had long since grown accustomed to the flowing blood... Limbs and heads flew in all directions from the swing of her blade. Magic didn't affect her, because she used a barrier, or even Tutaminis. Her knowledge of Soresu perfectly complemented the steel sword, so her fencing skill had hardly dropped. She was about to finish off another unfortunate soul who, even having lost a leg, had tried to attack her, when suddenly her strike was blocked. A handsome young man with golden hair and blue eyes had done it.
"Donovan Gaizo, I presume," Celeste smiled.
"And you're the one the reconnaissance reported. The one who faced fifty warriors and mages," the young man said. "I won't let you kill my comrades anymore."
"But I don't need their deaths," a kind of circle had formed around the fighting Celeste and Donovan. The clash of armies seemed to have stopped. "I came here for your new friend. A certain Kizhzhara. You wouldn't happen to know where that witch is?"
"Why do you need Lady Kizhzhara?" Donovan asked, pointing a phrik sword at Celeste's chest. The woman standing before the Alliance's hero was attractive, dressed in strange, scale-covered clothing.
"She has committed dangerous crimes and must be punished," the girl replied with a smile.
"We're not giving her to you," the man with the huge halberd answered.
"Your opinion doesn't interest me," Celeste said. She felt the Force emanating from underground. So she was there? Kizhzhara Deyraksa... Probably a Dathomirian ability. "She's hiding underground, apparently. Interesting... How do I get her out of there?"
"No way, I already told you," Donovan said. Meanwhile, Ers, his comrade, fired an arrow at Celeste. The arrow flew straight for the woman's head, with astonishing speed... But was intercepted using a magical technique. An instant... Celeste swung her hand, and the arrow flew straight back at the archer... Another moment, and his head was pierced by his own arrow. Donovan watched in shock as his friend's head was split...
"Well now, will you give me Lady Kizhzhara?" Celeste asked with a smile.
"Wh... Who are you... Monster!" one of the mages shouted, sending a fireball at her. Celeste absorbed it with Tutaminis.
"Is that a no?" she asked. Then Morne took a grenade from her belt and, activating the detonator, threw it at the spot where she felt the Dathomirian's magic most strongly. An explosion occurred. The Alliance heroes sensed something was wrong and jumped away from the strange device. "Just as I thought. You can't hide too deep, or your control over the magic weakens."
"Who are you?" Kizhzhara asked, appearing as the smoke cleared. She was dressed in simple, dark-colored clothing. "And what do you want with me?"
"It's not quite me who needs you," Celeste replied.
* * *
"It's not quite me who needs you," Morne replied to Kizhzhara. The witch stood with her hands pointed at Celeste. And Celeste was having quite a good time of it. She had managed to kill one of the heroes while I was breaking through to her, and had found a way to smoke the Witch out of hiding.
"Correct," I said, approaching the group and igniting my lightsaber. The witch's eyes widened in surprise. "You know what this is, don't you," I showed Kizhzhara the blade. Meanwhile, Celeste did the same, igniting her own lightsaber.
"J... Jedi!" Kizhzhara exclaimed. "You... Bastards, you're following me even here!"
"And what did you expect, witch?" I asked calmly, bisecting one of the attackers with my lightsaber. Even a man clad in plate armor was helpless. The only danger came from those who had something made of phrik. But so far I had only met people with swords. Although the Emperor of Rakaza had said there were also phrik armor sets in this world. But they had been lost long ago. "You committed betrayal. Did you really think there would be no consequences for your transgression?"
"Hutt," she swore. "But you're quite confident in yourself, coming here. Now it's clear why the Imperial army has been acting aggressively lately. That's completely out of character for the Emperor."
"And why should I be anything but confident? You're not the first Dathomirian witch I've faced," I aimed my blade at the woman's chest. "And clearly not the last. Where did you hide the beacon, Kizhzhara?"
"You'll have to beat the answers out of me," the woman smirked. "But you won't succeed."
"Lady Kizhzhara, is this your enemy?" Donovan asked, stepping in front of her. "If you are threatening the esteemed lady..."
"Threatening? No. I'm merely appealing to her reason... And yours," I looked at the man. "Understand—we have nothing against your little group. Yes, Celeste killed one of yours, but we can still part ways peacefully. I'll just take Kizhzhara, and you stand still and don't interfere."
"No way... I don't care who you are, Jedi... Or whatever your name is?" he assumed a stance, ready for battle. As did his entire group. "You dare to threaten Lady Kizhzhara."
"Has she brainwashed them that thoroughly?" Celeste asked. "This is beyond good and evil."
"Probably," I said thoughtfully. "She helped them greatly with something. But it doesn't matter. If you won't hand her over peacefully, I'll take her by force. And I am completely blameless before you, as a Jedi. I did offer to part ways peacefully first, didn't I? I offered. Now that you've refused, there will be no peaceful solution..."