“Seems the rumors are true,” she mused.
“What are you babbling about?”
Serra smirked. “The Dark Side does make you ugly.”
Growling in reply, Skywalker swiped at her with his weapon as his anger began to grow into hate. The superiority of all the Jedi… it disgusted him. They needed to be put in their place, and he was just the one to do it.
“TAKE THIS!” he shouted, whirling around with his lightsaber like a tornado.
“Woah!” Serra said.
After evading and deflecting his blows, Serra flipped over his head and attempted to grab him in a stranglehold from behind. Though she was successful in grappling with him, she was unable to run him through as she had planned.
Skywalker, picking up on her strategy, used the Force to fling both of them straight backwards into a nearby wall, stunning Serra from the blow and forcing her to release him. He then attempted to end the duel then and there, striking at the center of her chest, but Serra managed to parry and leap out of the way, gaining a bit of breathing room. Noticing a large piece of machinery attached to the wall, she called on the Force and jarred the equipment loose, flinging it at Skywalker. He rolled out of its path at the last second, slicing a piece of the machine off as it flew past him.
“You’ll wish you hadn’t done that…” he seethed in anger.
As he charged Serra’s position, she was caught off-guard by the renewed ferocity of his attacks. Twirling his lightsaber in one hand, the power of his blows skyrocketed and he began enhancing his speed and strength with the Force, driving her back. She attempted to Force Push Skywalker back to interrupt his momentum, but he simply shrugged off the attack and pressed on. With a pair of backflips, Serra soon had to retreat to the balcony encircling the training room from the upper level. Skywalker followed without hesitation, resuming his assault on Serra. She was once more being driven back and now was running low on stamina. Serra knew she would have to end this quickly or she would not survive the battle.
Defending against a few more of Skywalker’s blows, she managed to find an opening to deliver a kick square in his chest. This threw him back and pinned him against a nearby pillar. Seeing her chance, Serra rushed forward, attempting to decapitate Skywalker with her twin blades, but he was too fast for her. He leapt out of the way at the last instant, causing Serra to only slice the pillar in half. Thinking fast, Skywalker called on the Force and began to topple the pillar on top of Serra. She saw what he was attempting, but was too exhausted from their duel to defend properly. Her evasion attempt failed, and she was thrown from the balcony to the floor below, the pillar landing on top of her before rolling away.
“Serra!!!”
Cin Drallig had arrived just in time to see his friend and pupil fall to the floor, her body now cold and limp. He glared up at Skywalker, still prowling on the balcony above.
“Your favorite student is no more,” he taunted.
Without a word, Drallig ignited his green blade as Skywalker leapt down to engage him. He seethed with righteous fury at the loss of his student, yet refused to channel the Dark Side; Serra’s vengeance deserved to be pure, he reasoned. Defending against several of Skywalker’s power strikes, he channeled as much energy as he could and Force Pushed the traitor out a nearby window.
When he landed on the outer terrace, Drallig charged after him without hesitation or fear of any danger; Skywalker had to be stopped.
*****
“No…”
Malik and Windu arrived at the Jedi Temple in his airspeeder, horrified at the devastation being wrought on the residents. As they made their way through the hallways, they discovered the bodies of both Jedi and clones alike. Though many of the Jedi had been slain by blaster fire, it was evident to the pair that the stronger ones had been struck down by a lightsaber instead.
“Skywalker,” Windu sighed.
“Where would he be headed, Master?”
Thinking for a moment, Windu realized Skywalker’s goal. “The beacon!”
Working their way towards the center of the temple, they soon came upon the lightsaber training rooms. Seeing that a nasty battle had taken place here quite recently, they began to search the area for survivors. Both were horrified to discover the crushed body of Serra Keto on the floor ahead of them.
“Serra! NO!!!” Malik cried, rushing to her side. Inspecting her body, he at first mourned her apparent death, but soon was able to sense the truth through the Force. “She’s alive! Hanging by a thread, but she’s not gone yet!”
“Can you save her?” Windu asked.
“It’ll take some doing, but I think so. She’s lucky the pillar rolled off her,” he replied, nodding at the nearby piece of stone.
Malik drew on all his knowledge and abilities as he inspected Serra’s body. Her pulse was faint, and her breathing was almost nonexistent; he knew he hadn’t much time. He first attempted to use the Force to strengthen her heartbeat, hoping that would bring her out of the shock of her injuries, but to no avail. Out of desperation, Malik began to try anything he could think of to save the girl who meant so much to him.
“Serra, you’ve always said I’m such a good influence on you, provided logic and reason where your emotions would blind you, but you’ve also been the same for me. So you aren’t leaving, not after all this!” Feeling something strange awaken within him, Malik placed his hands on Serra’s chest and pressed down.
“BREATHE!!!”
Before he could even comprehend what he had done, a charge of electricity flowed from Malik’s hands and into Serra. Her body twitched at the sudden introduction, and upon further inspection Malik could tell that she was close to recovering. Though he had no idea how, he managed to shock her once more, causing Serra to gasp and startle herself awake.
“NO!!!” she screamed on instinct.
“It’s ok! You’re ok, Serra! It’s me, Malik.”
“M… Malik?” she asked, coughing and heaving.
“Yeah… you gave us a scare, but you’ll be-”
Serra silenced him by planting a kiss on his lips. She was unable to help herself; she already knew how she felt about this man, and now he had just saved her life! Malik was so stunned he couldn’t believe what was happening. He knew this was wrong, but she was so beautiful. With her soft lips pressed against his, Malik was powerless to do anything to stop her. At last, they parted, panting and heaving from the experience. Serra then caught sight of Mace Windu out of the corner of her eye.
“M-Master Windu…”
“More important things to deal with right now, Serra,” Windu replied, waving her off. “Malik, do you have any idea what you just did?”
“I think so… Force Lightning.”
“Yes, but unlike any I’ve ever seen in a Jedi as young as you. You managed to draw out a power of the Dark Side without being consumed by it… only one other Jedi has managed to do that.”
“Master Plo Koon?”
“Indeed. He calls his ‘Electric Judgment,’ of course, but the principle remains the same. You may have far greater potential in you than I ever realized. After all, you used a power of the Dark Side to give life, rather than take it!”
A muffled gasp from Serra interrupted their thoughts.
“Shh, easy there. You’re still hurt,” Malik said. “You’re breathing, but I think your ribs are broken. Hold still… this may hurt a bit.”
Focusing on Serra’s ribcage, Malik channeled the Force into her cracked and broken bones. She squirmed in pain and discomfort, but he assured her the process was working. He could sense her bones being mended, and continued to provide a stabilizing touch with his hands. Finally, the pain subsided and Serra was able to sit up without much discomfort.
“Thanks…” she sighed. Hearing a commotion outside, she realized that Cin Drallig had likely engaged Skywalker. “Master!”
Serra leapt to her feet and dashed to the broken window ahead of her, followed by Malik and Windu. She peered out onto the terrace, seeing her Master’s blade locked with Skywalker’s. Drallig was giving the war hero everything he could handle, dashing around the terrace at blinding speeds and attacking from every angle imaginable. But Skywalker was cunning, and telekinetically shifted some of the rubble on the terrace to trip Drallig up. The veteran slowed, but still managed to defend against Skywalker’s counterattack, Force Pushing him to gain some breathing room.
“Always a powerful warrior, yet so impatient,” he lectured. “You failed to learn how to be fully at peace with the Force and so turned to the Dark Side.”
“I… am no longer… the LEARNER!!!” Skywalker shouted in rage.
Using the Force to sense and predict Drallig’s movements, he anticipated his oncoming attack and hurled his lightsaber into the air. Before any could comprehend what had happened, the blade was lodged in Cin Drallig’s chest, killing him instantly. One of the greatest swordsmen the Jedi Order had ever seen was dead.
“No… Master…” Serra cried from the window.
“Serra, get down!” Windu scolded her, pulling them out of sight of Skywalker.
“What are you doing?! We have to stop him!” she protested.
“Engaging him now would not be courageous, it would be foolish,” Windu replied. “He is not just drawing on the Dark Side, I have no doubt he has sided with Palpatine to become a true Sith! We three are nothing to him. Malik specializes in healing, not combat. You nearly died a moment ago. And I’ve lost my weapon… and my hand. No, attacking would not be the prudent move at this point.”
“Besides, Skywalker thinks you two are dead,” Malik observed.
“That’s true,” Serra realized. “We have the element of surprise… but how to use it to save the Order?”
“By now, it may be too late,” Windu admitted. “The Jedi Temple has fallen, and I can only imagine that Palpatine has some contingency plan for the clones to turn on the Jedi. I would wager he has executed it already. As for the beacon, I could override any false message Skywalker placed within it… if the security access were not coded to my right hand.”
“So there’s nothing we can do…” Malik realized.
“Right now, no. I recommend we make our escape,” Windu agreed. “The fact that two of us are supposed to be dead is a tremendous advantage, and we must bide our time until the opportune moment.”
Parent Post: Gray Jedi – by auguy86
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 1B
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 2
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 3A
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 3B
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 4
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 5A
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 5B
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 6A
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 6B
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 7A
- Gray Jedi - Chapter 7B
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