"Insolent, arrogant Jedi," the Dathomirian Witch hissed. "I have killed many like you..."
I didn't listen further, aiming my left hand in her direction and sending a strong wave of Telekinesis. The woman moved away from the attack, but I anticipated this and attacked her in a jump, making a downward chopping strike. She blocked the blow with her crossed swords, which indeed resisted the lightsaber's blade. However, I just used this, strengthened my body, and jumped behind her. The backstab with a thrusting blow almost caught her off guard... She ducked only at the last moment and tried to impale me on her swords. I blocked the attack...
"Ataru," she identified my form without error. "As I said, I've seen many Jedi and know all your combat forms!"
"I don't dispute that," I said calmly, activating the usual enhancement techniques. "But if you've truly fought Jedi, not just their Padawans, you should survive my next attacks..."
I rushed towards her again. Surprise froze on the woman's face. This was because I suddenly accelerated, and she clearly didn't expect it from me. If we consider some techniques, then I really have something to be proud of. Enhancement, Telekinesis, Vulnerability, Foresight, Sensory Perception... These are the techniques in which I have achieved the best results. And now I was demonstrating them on my opponent. The green blade flashed from side to side, giving her no time to rest.
Although she didn't lag behind and even tried to counterattack me. However, gradually her relaxed, surprised expression turned into a tense one. Shilla bit her lip, trying to hit me with counterattacks, which I mostly preferred to dodge. This is not the place where Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon fought on Naboo with Maul. The space didn't hinder my maneuvering, which I shamelessly used... Jumping over her once again, I ducked, fell to my knees, and slid right under her arm... And almost ended it with one blow... If only a little more, and I would have cut off her legs. But she jumped up and caught a Telekinesis strike from me... Doing a somersault, Shilla landed about five meters away from me.
I was starting to like this... How cool... Unexpected freedom and joy completely engulfed my body. I extended my hand, and the Witch's body was caught by the Force and pulled towards me... Straight to the throat. In flight, Shilla formed a green shimmering arrow from magic. And I didn't know they could do that... The arrow flew straight at my head, and I chose to cancel the strike, moving away from her attack. But I wasn't going to let her go... Shilla bit her lip again. She wasn't wearing her mask, which covered most of her face, today.
A chopping strike from right to left, aimed at her head. The woman blocked the attack with one sword and attacked with the second. Moving slightly to the side and dodging her attack again, I attacked with Shiak, but she managed to react and blocked the attack.
"How you've gotten on my nerves, Jedi!" Shilla snarled. "You're much stronger than you look!"
"I don't understand what you're complaining about," I aimed my saber at the woman's face. "After everything you've done, it's no wonder the Council sent those who can truly handle you. And yes... Didn't you say you had many defeated Jedi behind you? Plus, you recognized my stance... I thought I had to fight you seriously... Did I overdo it? I apologize," I said sarcastically. "I didn't know such an ambitious woman was just offended by everyone, including those stronger than her..."
"Watch your words, you insignificant creature! You think you're stronger than me? After absorbing so many Gifted?! You... Jedi... Sith... I don't care who! I'll kill everyone and become the Strongest Gifted in the Galaxy!"
"It seems your marbles have rolled away," I said calmly. "Lord Sith threw you halfway across the Galaxy by the throat with the Force. And you're talking about becoming stronger..."
"You just don't understand! Hahahaha! You don't understand the Force! Look," she returned her sword to its sheath and took a medallion from her pocket. "See?! Thanks to it, I can absorb Force Ghosts and convert them for my own enhancement. And that awaits you too..."
"Most likely, your current mental state is caused by the absorption of Force Ghosts," I concluded. "After all, it's not just a ghost with the appearance of someone who once lived; it can be quite sentient."
"Shut up..."
"And the more you use the Force... Magic, in your case, the stronger it will manifest. Every ghost you absorb pulls the blanket towards itself. This won't make you strong. What's the point of power if you can't even direct it properly? Force and power are not the goal, but merely a means to realize ambitions... Neither you nor the Sith can grasp this. I will show you what true power is..."
I attacked, instantly closing the distance. My blows were brutal and fast, I pushed her back, she barely managed to parry my strikes. Returning the medallion to her pocket, she rearmed herself with swords, but it didn't help much. I pressed harder, changing attack directions, jumping around her, using Ataru... Implementing everything that her adepts and masters value so much in this form - maneuverability and improvisation. Every blow of mine was unpredictable, and I saw how difficult it was for Shilla, who found it increasingly difficult to parry my attacks each time. But she only got angrier... We raced around the hall, mostly due to my maneuvers...
"WHEN WILL YOU DIE, JEDI!" a powerful wave of magic knocked me off my feet. That's something I didn't expect from her. Falling on my back, I noticed her standing over me and preparing to strike. But she didn't have time; I kicked her and pushed her back a little. "BASTARD!" she jumped back, and I returned to my normal position...
The floor around me literally churned and began to shimmer with green light. This is her burial trick. Not the most pleasant thing... My legs were caught almost instantly... Inch by inch, the floor, though made of steel, not earth, was engulfing me.
"It takes time to impregnate something with magic," Shilla laughed. "And you gave me that time. You were too weak to kill me immediately, and you gave me time to set up such a trap. Pathetic Jedi..."
I, however, concentrated, releasing the Force around me like a barrier...
"One lightsaber is not enough to defeat me, Shilla from Dathomir!"
The cocoon that was ready to bury me could not achieve its original goal. Because I suddenly released the Force in the form of a barrier, she could not complete the technique.
"One lightsaber is not enough," I repeated her words, swinging my left hand. "That's why I have two."
The woman's eyes widened in surprise. She wasn't lying when she said she knew about Jedi abilities. At least she understands that she fought me... I was pushing her, not showing all my abilities. Although she doesn't know the truth, since I haven't been practicing Jar'Kai for that long... However... She'll be enough, I'm sure. Another green blade appeared in the fight...
"Well, do I have to wait long?" I asked her. "Are you silent now? Then I'll start!"
Instantly running the ten meters separating us, I fell upon her like a wave crashing against rocks. However, not with the same speed with which I used Ataru. After all, I am still not experienced enough and sometimes catch myself watching the sword blades too closely during fencing. But what are my years? I'll make up for it. A double strike... One of Shilla's swords blocked the attack to the legs, the other to the head. That's not all... I didn't overpower her, but just threw her back with Telekinesis. Jumping up, I attacked her from above, she followed my attack with her swords, as if letting me behind her, and tried to attack my neck... Stupid, as an Ataru adept, I know this tactic perfectly well. To catch an Ataru adept at the end of a trick and strike the vertebrae. Ducking, I performed a sweep, turning, I hit her in the face with my foot...
"HATT! Inorganic Reanimation!" I've seen this somewhere before. It wasn't a classic burial; she turned part of the floor into peculiar spears, and they began to pursue me like writhing tails of a monster. I jumped back, spinning in the air, destroying many such spears with my lightsabers, then landing on the floor, I rushed into attack... Three more improvised spears...
"You have no ability that gives you an advantage over me, Witch," I said, cutting through one of the spears and jumping up. They continued to pursue me, dodging them in the air, I jumped onto one of them and, using the Force and a bit of gravity, slid down it, straight to Shilla. She tried to shake me off, creating new spears, but I felt her disgusting magic perfectly, as well as the directions of her attack. So it was not difficult for me to parry every attack... Finally, I got close to her again and knocked her to the ground with a kick, standing on her body. "Rest in peace, creature," my right hand prepared to sever the head of the lying Witch, but... I had to use my grappling hooks to jump away. I hooked onto a support near the stairs to the second level... "Creature," I gritted out. "You've completely lost your mind."
She tried to reach me, creating a spear from the floor covering, right through her body...
"These tools," the woman, groaning from her own wound, stood up. "Light Flaingstar. I thought your voice sounded familiar before. How are you, Padawan?" she asked slyly. "I see you've changed your style... And not just your clothes."
I jumped down... Holding one of the sabers in front of me with Telekinesis, I threw off my hood with my hand.
"You recognized me after all, Shilla," I said calmly. "But it won't change anything."
"Not at all, Light," she said, twirling her sabers. "Do we really have to fight? You understand, don't you... You understand what Force you can comprehend if I help you with the Arrogant medallion? You're not an ordinary Shadow, but someone who also studied this topic, along with me and Jarps... Join me, and you will comprehend a power that no Sith or Jedi will ever receive!"
"As I told you before, your goal is only to comprehend Force and power. But all this is useless if you see power only as a goal. Or what is it you declare? To destroy the Sith? The Jedi? How base it is to use power not to teach, to show, to create, but only to take away and destroy all those you dislike. It disgusts me, Shilla. I've already seen how you treated allies... I've seen what active use of Darth Arrogant's Medallion leads to. Because of you, I lost beings who were extremely dear to me," I pointed both lightsabers upwards, taking an attacking stance, "and after that, you want me to help you? Become your loyal dog to defeat Sidious and Plagueis?"
"How do you know... About the second one?" the woman asked, stunned.
"And that's all that bothers you? How I know about this pair is none of your damn business! The fact is, I'm going to play only as I want and as I see fit... Neither you, nor even more so Sidious and Plagueis, are my superiors. Although it's too early for me to say this, let's wait until the end of the Clone Wars, if they happen," I grinned maliciously. "But it doesn't matter... You won't live to see tomorrow. So from this moment on, enough is enough, Shilla. We've said enough to each other... It's time to kill you!" I attacked her again. After all, conversation is important; Dun Moch won't apply itself. But I can only win now with a sword... When I gut this carrion...
Gradually, I increased the tempo, attacking with both sabers at once, actively pushing the woman back. Again a wave of Telekinesis. She was thrown into the console through which she communicated with Damask. Pyrokinesis... A small fireball was supposed to hit her, but she dodged the blow, which hit the communication computer, destroying it...
"How awkward, Light," Shilla chuckled. "Since you're not with me, you're against me. And since you destroyed the communication computer, no one will reach Plagueis. This is even more convenient for me..."
Well, I don't need to say that I specifically attacked it with Pyrokinesis. After all, there's also a civilian here who saw Plagueis. However, the Order will believe me more if I report that Shilla acted on her own initiative, and besides, maybe I can try to erase the girl's memories? Why not... It's better if she doesn't tell anyone about the Sith with a guarantee. The Galaxy isn't ready to fight them yet. I'm not ready myself yet... And if you're not ready for a fight, then don't fight at all.
"Worry about yourself," I snarled. Spinning with the Force, I began to strike, using the "Rising Whirlwind" technique. It was a series of mostly improvised, therefore unpredictable, lightning-fast attacks. Shilla was weakening; I was striking vulnerable points that I could see with Force Technique... If at first, again, she tried to counter something, then when I reached my full speed, she began to retreat...
"It seems... I need to teach you a final lesson," she joined her swords, turning them into a staff.
"No matter how you resist, the outcome is the same," I said with a smirk. "You will die..."
She lunged at me, swinging the staff. I lazily stepped aside, dodging the blow. The staff almost went into the floor; I attacked the open part of her body, but she moved the staff quite quickly. She's not hopeless after all... A few moments later, she even tried to repeat Maul's lunge against Qui-Gon - to stun me with the hilt of the staff, but I, doing a backflip, kicked the hilt itself and deflected it... Leaping over her attack, I spun again, using the Force, deflected her attack and... A kick right in the face...
The woman jumped back, slightly stunned, yet I used inertia, amplified by the Force. After the kick, I found myself with my back to her, and while she was stunned, I moved directly in front of Shilla... A double Shiak... Sidious caught Savage Opress, Maul's younger brother, in a similar way. Two lightsabers pierced the woman's body...
"KHA!" she gasped heavily and went limp... My blow was cleaner than Sidious's because it hit the heart and lung precisely.
"Rest in peace, Shilla," I stepped away from her, deactivating the lightsabers. My soul didn't feel lighter... Although I was grateful to her for the excellent fight and the emotions gifted by the battle... But as a sentient being, I simply pitied her. A victim of her own ambitions, she herself came under attack and met a logical end.
Neither in Legends, nor, forgive me, Force, in the New Canon - was there such an odious personality. If only because I would have known... And therefore, she still died unknown, never becoming the strongest... And it seems I understand why. She desired the wrong thing for the Galaxy, therefore, it didn't even remember her. Bending over the Witch's corpse, I felt her body. Here it is... The medallion, for which so much blood was shed... Darth Arrogant's Medallion pulsed with Force, ready to serve a new master.
"Perhaps I'll deal with you later," I said, standing up, and headed towards the girl, who had become an unwilling observer of our battle. And she didn't even run away. "Are you alright, lady?" I asked her gently. "Sorry for the mess we made here. Is everything okay?"
"You're a Jedi, aren't you?" the girl's voice was soft and resonant. "I broke my leg not far from here, so I couldn't have left anyway... You... You... You killed her?" she asked me.
"She's dead," I nodded. "I understand you're scared, lady. The experience you've been through is something you wouldn't wish on an enemy. Can I help you with anything?"
"You can!" she said unexpectedly seriously. "Can you erase my memory? Or somehow implant something? Jedi can do that, can't they?! I just don't want to remember the last three days of what happened to me."
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"I want my memory wiped... I don't want to close my eyes anymore and see that creature kill... It was draining the life! Right out of a person!"
"Hmm, so she wants me to wipe her memory herself. I wouldn't say I'm a master of Force Suggestion. But if the Mind doesn't resist, and she genuinely wants her memories erased, then it's even better."
"Then I will ask you to go through a torment, lady," I said calmly, "close your eyes and focus on what you have just gone through. I will try to overwrite all your memories with something that will not cause you such... Reactions..."
The girl obediently closed her eyes. I aimed my right hand at her, channeling the Force. Carefully... As I said before, I haven't often managed to use Force Suggestion. And erasing memories, never... But here the patient is not resisting and wants to get rid of the burden of what she has experienced... So it is precisely this factor that helped me not turn her into another vegetable. But still, it's better to give her a break... I gently touched the girl's forehead with my index finger, sending her into sleep, and caught her body with Telekinesis.
"We should also have a drink for her repose," I looked at Shillazh's body. A pleasant weakness spread through my body. The Enhancement techniques ceased their effect on my muscles, and I, gradually, was switching to "peace mode."
And perhaps I should also take the girl to the medbay. But for now, I just wanted to sit and rest a little. Suddenly, I felt a foreign presence on the second level from the opposite end of the hall.
"Knight Jord, Padawan Malcolm," I drew attention to the sentient beings.
"Padawan Light," the lasat jumped to the first floor. "I understand – she ran into you," he nodded at the Witch's body.
"Rather – I ran into her," I said carelessly. "We found out, as you can see, who among us is better... True, she didn't like the result. Well, it doesn't matter. Mission accomplished, the Witch is eliminated."
"You call that completing a mission?" Malcolm suddenly asked sharply. "Jedi don't kill! They protect..." The Padawan was abruptly dragged across the floor by Telekinesis.
"I thought so when I first saw you," I remarked philosophically, "you're one of those whom even objective reality doesn't help. Master Yoda also said: when you take up a sword – you become a warrior. And a warrior, you should know – can kill. More precisely, a warrior kills. And besides, we don't kill unarmed people, but she started it first."
"How dare you," my vis-à-vis grunted, trying to get up. "I'll... "
"Malcolm!" Knight Jord suddenly called out loudly to him. "Calm down! He did what he could and got the result he could! You have the right to your opinion, but not the right to judge him! The Council's task was to prevent attacks. The culprit is dead, the task is completed. The attacks will stop. I consider our discussion to be over..."
"And you, after all, have gained not only muscles, Jord," An'ya Kuro's standard, sarcastic voice was heard. "I'm glad you've really gained some brains too!"
"Someday – you will answer to me for all your jokes, Kuro," Jord said through clenched teeth. "In any case – it doesn't matter now. We need to fly to another planet as soon as possible. Malcolm! Follow me..."
The pair left, and at the same time, Kuro jumped down next to me.
"Not injured?" she inquired. "That's good," she nodded after my negative shake of the head, "good. By the way, are you aware that for your victory over Shillazh, they might count the Trials for Knighthood?"
"Now I am," I said. "But you know, mentor, all I'm thinking about now is a shower and a hearty dinner..."
"And what about the girl?" she shifted her gaze to the girl. "Is she alright?"
"Shillazh was trying to sacrifice her for the medallion, that very one..."
"And what about Arrogant's medallion?" the woman said.
"Destroyed. I pierced her heart with a lightsaber, the pocket with the medallion was right there," I replied, under Kuro's sad sigh.
"Everything is clear... Alright, it's time to go back..."