The Lightest Blades - A Gr'jar/Tayswi Story

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

PROLOGUE
Escape

Laser bolts bounced of the transport's hull, bringing small green flashes to the blackness of space.
"Blast!", snarled Mirig Gr'jar, Jedi Knight, as the craft swerved to miss heavier fire, "Arnine, how's she doing?" The astromech droid warbled as he talked to the ship. Gr'jar looked across to see the shields draining and sighed.
"Padawan?" Gr'jar flicked a switch.
"Master?" asked the voice over the com.
"What's happening back there?"
"Bleeding."
"Bad?"
"I'm trying to focus but it's only slowing down."

Gr'jar swung the ship sharply up and a muffled explosion followed. The ship shook for a second. A red light flashed as the shields became critical.
"Okay, note to self. Never do that again." R9-D6 whirred in agreement. Gr'jar rolled his eyes then hit the com button. "Padawan, wrap some fabric over the wound. I've got one of them down but it took the shields with it. Get to the escape pod, I'm going to have to crash it." he lifted his finger off the button and turned, "You too, Ar." The droid disconnected himself from the craft's controls and whistled as he headed down the corridor.

Gr'jar bashed a few buttons and got up to leave. He paused and felt about his robes before turning and grabbing his golden lightsaber blade off a console, attached it to his belt and moved with patient speed.

The attacking ships, small in size, big on numbers, chased the transport until their bombardment collapsed the hull.
A small orange explosion filled the black for a moment, the smaller ships scattering to avoid, seemingly undamaged as they regrouped each amid small electric blue sparks...

CHAPTER I
Scorched Earth

"Master, I don't understand. Why would there be teachings this far from the Academy?"
"Many years back, there were those who did not agree with the Council's teachings of the Force so many Jedi created their own training cliques elsewhere - with digruntled students - taking on two or three learners, remaining isolated from the Council.

"They are near extinct now. It is most disturbing that the Council recieved a distress call from one of these cliques, especially when we can not be sure that these Jedi are welcoming.
"Those bounty ships we encountered were not there by accident..."

The master and padawan made their through undergrowth, R9-D6 bleeping in annoyance. Gr'jar looked down.

"How's the leg, padawan?"
"The bacta patch has allowed me to stabalise the wound but I'll need time to enter a full healing meditation, master."
Gr'jar smiled. "You'll make a fine Knight one day, Ediit Just."
"I am grateful, master but--" She paused.

"You sensed something?"
"Yes..."
"I did too, let's go."

Shrubs and various plant-life brushed past the Jedi as they hurried toward the disturbence they felt through their Force connection. The ground was hard, amplifying the movement of feet scraping over it.

R9-D6 took his time following.

Ediit gasped as she faced a small cluster of trees. At least that's what they once were. Now black from a fire dying out, various other fauna held the scorches of blasterfire.

Gr'jar moved past her, calm and ready for what lay ahead. Grass crunched lightly underfoot, ash taking rest upon his robes as branches were removed as obstacles.

The burns seperated and spread out leaving yellow patches of dust and soil.

"Too quiet," Gr'jar whispered. No sound. No wildlife. No life in this small place... Ediit scanned with patient concern.

Leaves were pushed back revealing a clearing, pockets of green with no subtlety that a scuffle had taken place...

Suddenly an electronic whirring sound hummed loudly into existence.
A repeater gun! yelled Gr'jar's mind. Snap-hissing his golden orange blade on, the Knight turned ready to deflect an upcoming onslaught...

Nothing. Gr'jar watched the spinning barrel of the gun wheezing in attempts to fire from an empty battery pack.

Gr'jar pushed toward it. Ediit looked on in skepticism.

Kneeling down next to the gun, Gr'jar sighed gravely. Appearing over his shoulder, Ediit gasped a second time.

An outstretched arm lay across the ground trying for a lightsaber it would never reach. The Jedi Knight moved his hand and closed the eyes of the body then picked up the fallen youth's blade...

The gun turret pelted the burning trees. Mowing them down in attempt to connect with the flare of red cutting toward it. Blaster bolts deflecting away from wherever the machine fired.
Panic whelled up inside the youth as he watched the red beam swing toward him--

...resting it in his hands across his chest in a position of respect. Gr'jar used the Force to clear the youth's last blurred memories from his head.

That was downside of being a Force sensitive Kiffar. Fragments of a residual past clinging to whatever they touched.

"What happened here?" asked Ediit.

"We're going to find out," Gr'jar said standing to his feet. A building slightly peaked the trees. "This way."
Another ripple in the Force, this one much more painful hurried the two on faster.

The building showed itself to be a small outpost, clearly built for basic living only, parts clealy grafted together by hand rather than droid workers. From the outside at least it looked large enough for two floors, and garage crudely stuck to the side. Durasteel stairways leading up to gangways around the wall, and the main entrance an opening to a small corridor.

Ediit looked to the steps then back to Gr'jar who nodded and signalled in silence toward the stairs, followed by the entrance. The learner acknowledged before making her way gracefully up the steps with unlit 'saber to hand.

Gr'jar, on the other hand, walked with purpose toward the corridor, his 'saber dutifully swinging from belt. R9-D6 hummed to follow but with back toward Gr'jar raised his hand causing the astromech to hoot in disappointment and retreat back into the undergrowth...

CHAPTER II
Air of Caution

Gr'jar had expected more defensive systems in the entrance corridor much like the repeater. None came, however. If they had existed they were now destroyed as sparks bounced from darkened wires, smoke emmitting from metal fragments.

The corridor lead to a large main door but with the access panel off to the right looking melted, entrance that way wasn't going to be possible without risking drawing the attention of any hostile forces. Left, there was a dented door, protesting with a heavy cranking noise when Gr'jar pushed it.

Inside was a room larger than what its exterior had implied. Shaped like an L, it lead to another door but the path with hindered by numerous containers and packs. Looked like it had once been a guardhouse, converted to a storage room. Presumably the lack of door outside to the opposite of this meant that the other guardhouse had been blocked off, extended to further the size of the main building.

Gr'jar could feel Ediit's Force presence somewhere above his.

He pushed around past the containers, adding more boxes to some already fallen. The contents seemed to be mainly basic foods but that did not concern the Jedi Knight he as felt another Force presence sharply sting his head.

With a short sharp kick the rusted door to which he was headed opened - out to a large floor with what looked to have once been a hangar. Aged consoles were scattered and the first foor above merely covered half of ceiling.

Away from Gr'jar was a large ship with letters on the side mostly burned off - "Th- -oun--l'- -ill" took up room. That's when, between the space craft's landing struts on the opposing side Gr'jar saw two figures' legs moving at pace in a circular combat motion. Another figure could only be seen by.. his? hand from behind a wing, flat and motionless.

Seen but not felt, Gr'jar quickly noted, and one of the figures was clearly dominating the other with ease. The air was punctured by hums and sharp hisses every few seconds. Gr'jar raised his unlit blade.

Gr'jar saw the two figures. Both with lightsabers.

The first figure was hidden beneath a black cloak, the body movements swirling with grace and emitting a bizarre series of clicks as the arm moved its red saber. Its opponent was nothing more than a brown-haired boy - at least sixteen years galactic standard - his eyes swollen red from tears, fresh bruises dotted around his face. The boy's green blade hammered wildly against the scarlet. He was fighting blind, aiming for the blade than his opponent and making him tired. The hooded figure was waiting.

In a perfect movement, the figure's blade sliced cleanly across the teenager's thighs, forcing the boy to drop to his knees. Holding the green saber up in front of his face in weak defence, the boy had no strength remaining, dragging his arms down. To his left the figure clasped his saber tightly in both hands and moved for the final stroke, noises in its shoulders crackling, voice inside the hood scoffing--

--The veins pulsated in Gr'jar's wrist as he strained to hold back the red lightsaber with his own golden orange blade inches from the boy's head. To save the boy in time from where he was Gr'jar had had to catch the hooded figures's attack with one-armed and this meant the opponent simply had to excert slightly more pressure to push the Jedi Knight's own weapon into the youth. An irony the cloaked one found amusing.

To gain some advantage, Gr'jar locked his elbow into place and stared up into the hood. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Teeth glared back at him in a smile - alien features to hard to make out - shattered incisors and gums on the verge of decay.
Gr'jar's brow furrowed. "What are you?"
Not giving the... thing time to reply, Gr'jar summoned enough strength to push back the offensive blade. Finally free, he clasped his saber hilt in both hands and moved into a better position.

The blades sizzled each time they connected when Gr'jar finally parried, flicking his blade through an attempted strike and knocked the creature's blade aside. Using the opportunity, the Jedi stabbed straight through the alien's stomach. Satisfied, Gr'jar relaxed.

Suddenly the thing's hands grabbed the cloth of the Jedi's robed arms and pulled itself further onto the saber.

"I'm complicated," the hood whispered and smacked Gr'jar with the reverse of its fist, sending the Jedi into the waiting ship with a metallic thud. Holding his back, Gr'jar pulled himself up in time to see his combatant remove the blade without so much as a flinch. The alien contemplated the handle for a moment then looked to Gr'jar, neck crackling as the head turned.

Gr'jar watched his opponent stretch the two sabers out to arms' length and move in. He nodded to himself, considered the situation, and scanned for options. Then once again eyed the posture of the being in front.

Yes, he thought. Waited. Then moved.

The red and orange lightsabers whined as they missed their mark, bouncing off the ship's hull. Gr'jar rolled through the swing and raised his hands calling upon the Force. An invisible power caught the hooded figure off guard which sent him sideways before recuperating. He flipped into a ready stance.

Good. Gr'jar smiled, clenched his fists, pulling his arms inward. The Force brought the alien back toward him with little resistance. Inside the hood, the alien smiled - letting himself be carried toward his prey - and inverted the blades inward. But then to his surprise Gr'jar charged, the using his own momentum dropped to the floor and slid between the alien's legs, grabbing the black robes and pulled. The figure felt his balance go, falling to the ground face first where his grip loosened on the blades. Weapon hilts bouncing across the floor.

Enraged the figure got up in time to see Gr'jar moving in. Instead of connecting with a kick, the Jedi found a powerful hand tightly around his neck and the angry eyes of his foe. He was slammed hard into the wall and the alien went to squeeze--

Snaphiss.

The lightsaber sounded in the air and the alien looked down to see a blade once again through his stomach. How could the Jedi have- no, it wasn't him. The hooded figure realised the sword had entered from behind. He looked to the face of the girl and mockingly raised both hands in surrender letting her teacher slide to the floor. A picture of quiet intensity, Ediit held firm even when the figure turned around on the weapon with no sign of pain.

He grinned his broken smile.

Slowly his joy drained as he saw over the learner's shoulder the shuddering of a golden hilt on the floor.

The handle soared across the room.

Snaphiss.
His eyes widened.

The two Jedi moved as one and their enemy fell to the ground for the final time.


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