TITLE: Dark Sacrifice 31/36
AUTHOR: Cara & Quintus
E-MAIL: [email protected]
RATING: PG-13
CATEGORY: Pre-TPM, Jedi Apprentice, Original Characters
ARCHIVE: Yes. Please keep headers intact.
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars is the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. No copyright infringement intended, no profit is being made from this fiction. All original characters and story belong to the authors.
FEEDBACK: Constructive feedback appreciated.
TIME FRAME: Pre-TPM @ 1-2 years
SUMMARY: When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan join a diplomatic mission to the planet Sahmly II, they uncover a strange vergence in the Force, centered around a young padawan whose actions may determine far-reaching changes in the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan’s decisions about the padawan could save the boy's life, or drive him to the power of the Dark Side.
DARK SACRIFICE
By Cara & Quintus
Chapter 31
Dushiko and the Dark Master circled each other, with six hungry, mutated Arrcats as ringside spectators.
“It has been a long time, Ak'ra,” the Dark Master said. “Have you been well?”
Dushiko remained silent.
“Mine is a simple question. An inquiry into the health of a former colleague,” the Dark Master said. “Surely you feel my concern?"
"And surely you feel my contempt?" Dushiko replied. He fought to keep the rage from coloring his words or composure. He did not achieve the status of Weapons Master by letting temper dictate his actions. Dushiko let the Light of the Force wash through him.
The Dark Master raised an eyebrow. "Jedi have become exceedingly ill-humored these days. Now I see where that young Explorer gets it. Was he one of yours? That didn't die?" The Master twirled his left saber. "Really, Master Dushiko, I have long hoped we’d meet each other again.”
“So you could talk me to death?” Dushiko asked.
The Dark Master coiled and sprung into a leaping attack. Dushiko slid sideways at the last possible second, and the Dark Master landed, obviously confused that neither he nor his light sabers made contact. Dushiko glided forward then and landed a blow with the butt plate of his light saber at the base of the Dark Master’s skull. The man sprawled on his face into the sandy soil then rolled and regained his feet, blinking.
“You are inept,” Dushiko said. “Tensing gives away your intentions to your opponent. Even my padawan knows better.”
"Your padawan knows nothing anymore…except what I tell him. I turned him, Dushiko. Turned him. He's mine now. He is Dark." The Dark Master plunged a light saber into the chest of an Arrcat that ventured near. As soon as he pulled the saber free, the Dark Master leapt to attack.
Dushiko deflected the Dark Master’s light saber strikes. Refusing to be put on the defensive, Dushiko quickened the pace of his blows, turning defense into offense. The Dark Master fell back in retreat.
Dushiko's flashing light saber caught the Dark Master’s left hand, cleanly slicing off flesh and bone of the last two fingers, and damaging the light saber. It flickered and died.
The Dark Master growled in pain, then howled in a rage as the thrusts from his remaining light saber were turned away. “Kill me, Jedi, and you’ll never know what happened to your precious Padawan! You don't know where he is, and how close to death he lies. But it was fun, Dushiko. Oh, we had fun with Remii…”
Dushiko felt his revulsion and temper rise, but he refused again to give in. “How much pain have you inflicted during your galactic temper-tantrum? It matters not, because you shall receive it back tenfold." A small part of Dushiko's mind cast itself outward, seeking that special ripple in the Force that identified his padawan. Remii?
The Force was silent, overshadowed by the darkness of the area.
The Dark Master sensed the minute lapse in concentration and attacked. Force energy crackled from his ruined hand and the remaining saber flashed.
Dushiko blocked several light saber thrusts and slashes. The Dark Master brought his ruined hand up as if to launch a lighting strike; Dushiko stepped forward in a graceful glide, light saber turning in a relaxed arc as he caught the Dark Master under the armpit and took the man's arm clean off.
The man howled, and fell towards Dushiko, kicking and slashing.
Dushiko caught a foot to the groin, accepting the pain then ignoring it.
The Dark Master’s yelp of pain and the scent of seared flesh drew the Arrcats closer. They licked their chops for what they thought would soon be a free meal. Two fought over the severed arm, tugging and snarling.
“You have erred in your ways,” Dushiko said. “The Dark Side has not availed you. You still have time to amend your life, else, you will be destroyed. Right here, on a world far from home, by a death with no meaning. Right now. Repent.”
"I have nothing to repent for! It is your kind that need to suffer for the wrongs you've done to others!" The Dark Master swung out with his light saber, hitting nothing; but causing the air to crackle with the force of the non-blow. “You may win this battle, but remember this; you were too late to save your precious padawan! I killed him, slowly, and enjoyed every moment of his agony. I tortured him to death, and he died wondering where his master was." The very air around the Dark Master began to vibrate and color with his fury. "He hated you at the end. I hate you. I will always hate you and what you stand for! Weak, merciful, fool! I will never surrender to you!”
The Dark Master’s robes collapsed upon themselves; his light saber clattered upon small pebbles. Arrcats howled and backed away, momentarily frightened and confused.
Dushiko felt the Dark energy of the site surge, as if it meant to wash over him. Having not deserted his center, it surprised Dushiko how easy it was to push the Darkness away. He shoved it aside, but the man's last words rushed in to fill the void. 'I tortured him to death, and he died wondering where his master was.' Dushiko took a gasping breath and threw Force energy out against the Dark. Remii!?
There was no answer. The Darkness blanketed everything. But there... perhaps? A tremor in the Force that felt like his padawan. A note or two of the music that was Remii.
The growl of the Arrcats drew Dushiko out of himself. They were no longer confused but angry now, and much more aggressive. Dushiko held up a hand palm outward. Force energy grew, crackling and building in intensity. The Arrcats backed away again.
“You were the fool, Dark One,” Dushiko spoke to the open air, to the shade of a man whose presence still lingered after committing himself to the Dark Side. “You had a chance to repent, and you turned it down. Now, you commit yourself to certain destruction. This matter is not nearly as finished as you believe it is. I will make you pay for all you have done. Even in death, you cannot hide.” Dushiko threw the Force energy at the man's empty robes, incinerating them, then turned to observe the site, committing the place to memory before breaking into a southerly run. If Remii were dead, I would have felt it in the Force. The Dark One lies. My padawan cannot be gone… I will find him.
~~~~
The ship had been easy to locate, thanks to Bellicus. Adin didn’t have time to properly scout for defenses, as he would have liked; more than a dozen mutated Arrcats trailed behind, eager to make a snack of him.
Adin leapt toward the open landing field. Six automated blaster turrets, three in front and in rear popped out of their concealment, ready to fire. The turret firing arcs were limited because of wing and stabilizer assemblies, so he had three aft cannons to disable. Three
repulsor lift security droids hovered over the ship as well. How did he deal with them?
Adin rolled along the ground to avoid blaster fire from the droids. He reached underneath his robes and drew his blaster rifle. Firing one-handed and blocking incoming fire with his light saber, he destroyed a droid, which exploded in mid-air.
Adin twisted and flamed another security droid. Behind him and on both sides, he heard more blaster fire as automated defenses began targeting Arrcats that strayed too close. The shrieks of wounded or dying Arrcats combined with heavy blaster fire was almost deafening.
Another leap and Adin cut across the rear-firing arc of the ship, exposing himself to the port side blaster turrets. He used his light saber to reflect blaster bolts back at the turrets port side, destroying both.
The Arrcats hung back now, letting him do the dirty work. Adin was amused by their self-preservation instincts, and more than a little impressed by their intelligence. He whirled in mid-air, 180-degrees, tumbling along the ground in a tight ball to evade the remaining security droids. One swooped too close and was stopped by a combination of light saber, and blaster rifle fired from point-blank range. The exploding droid blew Adin backward perhaps ten meters. His light saber and blaster rifle fell from his grip and skittered across the ground.
Adin scrambled to his feet, and brought his light saber to him with a flick of the wrist, but one of the security droids managed to blast his rifle to into oblivion. Adin leaped and tumbled again to take shelter under a wing.
Movement on his left caught Adin’s eye.
Adin reached out with the Force, and caught one of the security droids, pinning it against the ship hull, blaster muzzle against hull plating. The droid couldn’t move, nor could it fire.
Adin sensed more movement to his right. He launched himself into a flying attack, leading with his light saber. He deflected two blaster bolts in quick succession, cut off the small blaster barrel on the droid, then sliced the droid in half with a shower of sparks and destroyed power-supply. He deflected more blaster bolts from one of the front turrets, and rolled backward under the wing for cover. He brushed himself off, then sliced the pinned security droid to bits in another shower of sparks.
Silence fell. Adin looked around. Smoking Arrcats carcasses littered the grassy field; gentle black smoke rose from droid hulls. He walked to the rear of the ship and saw nothing but engines and thrusters. He jumped to a ridge on the ship and disabled all of the aft thruster quads. The ship was now incapable of atmospheric flight.
Adin searched along the ship’s seamless belly for an entrance. There was a control panel, but no obvious doorway. He reached into a pocket on his utility belt and withdrew a small hand-scanner. The ships hull didn’t even appear in the database.
“Well, I suppose I’ll just take my chances,” he muttered. He put the scanner away, and plunging his light saber into the ship’s hull, pleased that the ship didn’t explode and ruin his whole day. He cut open a small access hole; large enough for a man but not for an Arrcat, then scanned the interior for Remii. There were no life signs, and Adin's Force sense told him the boy was not in the ship.
There also wasn’t any internal blaster fire triggered by the movement of the light saber; a good sign. I probably shouldn’t actually enter the hull though, Adin thought, there might be traps aboard. Adin withdrew his light saber blade, and wondered about what else he shouldn’t do. He went back to the engine assembly and contemplated how to sabotage the drive. Instead of hacking and slashing, he jumped twice to puncture two metallic lines; sub light engine reactant gushed out of the lines and onto the ground. If anyone tries to take off using the sub-light engines, the fuel will ignite, causing flashback into the fuel tanks…and boom. A one way trip.
Adin flipped above the ship, making short work of the forward blaster turrets by reflecting blaster bolts back at them. Satisfied that the ship was not going anywhere, and was not a viable fortress for an escaping Dark Master or Apprentice, Adin drew the scanner from his utility belt to get a fix on Dushiko and Kenobi. Dushiko was a blip headed south, and Obi-Wan lay further along in that direction, but not on the ridge where the Jedi had left him. Which meant the young Kenobi acted on his own accord, for what reason, Adin did not know, but he hoped the apprentice didn't get himself into serious trouble. Qui-Gon would never forgive him.
He studied the readout. There was no sign of Remii. Of course, the boy wouldn't have a comlink on him, but still… Frowning, Adin stowed the scanner again and departed the landing field at a brisk run. A few hundred meters, and Adin staggered as he felt the panicked touch of the missing padawan. Remii asked for a link to the Light Side, and Adin gave it gladly, but before he could question, the boy was gone from his mind. Adin sent the thought out anyways. Hang on, kid. I'm coming!
Adin traced the path of the Light pull in his mind, then compared it to the scanner readout. Both pointed to the direction where Obi-Wan Kenobi's blip lay. Adin pocked the scanner and began to run in earnest.
~~~~
It took a few moments before Remii became aware that he was not alone in the Darkness. On the edge of his consciousness, Obi-Wan battled Muat, but that faded as the Dark Master loomed in Remii's mind.
\\ I commend you, Padawan, you have fully embraced the Dark Side. You are one of us. \\
I am not! Remii replied I only use the Dark to save my friend!
\\ You do not possess enough power to help your friend. You are new to the Dark Side. Let me help you. Together we will triumph. \\
No!
\\ Would you rather your friend died? \\
Leave me alone!
\\ You are mine, Little One! \\
Remii staggered as the full power of the Master's persona attempted to invade his mind. Reflex made him push back. The wall keeping the Arrcats out wavered and began to fall. No! Remii seized on the idea of the Dllockian box, and divided his consciousness in two, one part struggled to maintain the Force wall, and the other concentrated on resisting the Dark Master. Remii found he could keep the Master from taking over his consciousness, but that was about all, he couldn't drive the man away.
Adin's guidance came to mind, and Remii very carefully divided his consciousness yet again. This time he used the piece to range out in search of Light energy. It was only natural for him to pull on the Light threads that were strongest, so Remii traced the paths to Adin and Master Dushiko. The contact no longer hurt, since the Dark Master wasn't in that part of his mind. Remii followed the threads back, touched consciousness with each Jedi, then drew on their strength and pulled.
Light energy flowed into him. Remii absorbed it with shock. He'd forgotten how gratifying the power of the Light Side was in comparison to the taint of the Dark. The touch of his master, and the Jedi Knight filled him, rebuilt his strength. Remii quickly braced the wall blocking the Arrcats, while he continued to resist the Dark Master.
I can never be yours. I am not of the Dark Side and you know it. I cannot be. Remii felt the Dark Master pause, suspicious. Afraid the Dark One would not pursue, Remii let fear color his mental voice. It wasn't hard; Remii was terrified of what he was about to attempt. Please, leave me alone! I want to go back to my master.
// I am your Master now! You will serve me!//
The Dark One pushed his way further into Remii's consciousness. Remii's physical body fell to its knees as his mind fought the invasion. The separated pieces of his mind dealt with the Arrcats- and keeping the source of Light energy flowing.
I cannot! I'm afraid… Remii let the Dark Master slip further into his mind. Too much further, and he would take possession, but not far enough, and Remii would not have the element of surprise.
//With me, you will know not fear, only power!//
Show me?
As the Dark Master laughed in triumph at Remii's feeble request, Remii prepared to rejoin two parts of his mind. The Dllockian box had been far more useful than Knight Yeriamman could have imagined. It readied Remii for this very battle.
The Master opened himself to show Remii the power of the Dark Side. Remii rejoined the part of his mind that drew on Adin and Dushiko. Light flooded through him and Remii channeled it into a narrow band and 'bound' the Dark Master like a disease to be eradicated.
//No!!//
The howl of outrage from the Dark One terrified Remii, but with grim purpose he pulled on the Dark energy beneath his feet and wove it into the fabric of the light holding the angry master. Light and Dark overlapped until they became one. The Dark Master struck out, and Remii captured that mental fist in a web of light, bound it with Dark threads, then sent the Darkness on a loop back into the ground. Remii did the same with everything the Dark Master threw at him, a dance of capture, bind, and channel into the ground beneath his knees.
The Dark Master weakened; his presence splintered throughout the netting Remii wove around him. He still possessed enough power to prevent Remii from channeling him completely away. As long as Remii remained conscious, the Dark Master was trapped. Remii tugged desperately on the Light from Adin and Dushiko. They gave willingly, but the three-way division was too much for Remii's untrained mind. Something had to give.
Remii felt his hold on the Dark Master weaken. Letting that malevolence take him over was not an option Remii would consider. Dushiko would be disappointed enough that Remii used Dark energy. Better to destroy himself along with the evil one. If he dropped the mind hold pushing the Arrcats back Remii could tackle the Dark Master with one last burst of Light. If he pushed hard enough, he could drive the man right into the tainted ground… then follow him. Tied to Remii, the Dark Master would never escape to torment others again.
Remii released the wall holding the Arrcats and felt his mind strengthen. He reached one last time for the Force through Dushiko and the Knight. Forgive me, Master…
Remii pulled on the Light side, not just from Dushiko and Adin, but also from Obi-Wan and every source of Light around the Sahmlian savannah. He channeled the energy in such a tight line that the Dark Master was driven down, and bound completely into the land. Remii felt the Force shimmer, blood trickled from his ears and nose at the effort. The Dark Master gave a last heave as everything reeled. The mental backlash roared through Remii and disoriented him. He grabbed at the strands of whirling Light as he fought vertigo.
No! The word reverberated in Remii's head, and he didn't know if it came from himself, the Dark Master, or from someone else. It slammed against his weakened mental barriers, and shattered them as easily as laser bolts against glass.
He had to follow the Dark Master. He had to be sure. But the Light receded with a roar, and before Remii could cast himself into the void, a tremendous pain shot through his leg, then his shoulder, as sharp teeth attempted to tear him in two. The shock jerked his concentration, and he dropped the separate threads. He grabbed for them, to follow the Dark Master to his death.
Don't leave me!
That mental voice was clear, and recognizable to Remii. He gasped as it washed over him in a cascade of Light, and formed a barrier between Remii and the tainted ground.
Light flooded him in an attempt to wash away the stain of Dark. It failed.
The anguish was too much for Remii's weakened psyche; he gave up to blessed darkness and cast himself into oblivion.
--Continued in Chapter 32--