Duel! Apprentice vs Padawan!

In order to enhance your reading pleasure of this chapter, I suggest you listen to “Duel of the Fates” by John Williams as you read this chapter. Also, surprise birthday chapter! Yay, me!

The ‘bzzt’ sound of two lightsabers as they stroke each other filled the room. The two Force users used their Force enhanced strength in an attempt to overpower the other. The two struggled for supremacy before the young female padawan broke the clash.

Alema jumped back to give some distance between the two warriors. Her weapon pointed straight at her opponent, ready to defend from any attack he may try. He is far stronger than I would have thought for a mere apprentice. Master’s spies said Lady Mutaria got the last acolyte and that the overseer that trained him kept calling him weak. Perhaps the overseer just did not like him and attempted to make it so he did not get a master? That sounds like a normal Sith ploy. I’ll have to be more on guard if that’s the case. With her mind made up, Alema decided to be proactive and, using the Force, lifted some nearby scientific machines to hurl at her opponent.

Wes watched as the Twi’lek broke their clash and jumped back, her weapon still ready to attack or defend. Instead of rushing forward in an attempt to strike her down, Wes opted to wait. While he was in a hurry, that did not mean he could make a foolish move and cause him to be struck down and fail his master. No, Wes would be patient and allow the Jedi to make the first move. They were not used to being aggressors so that should give him the advantage for when she made a mistake, which he was sure that she would, he would strike her down and move on to the scientists to get the artifact.

When multiple scientific equipment rose in the air and then hurled towards him, Wes knew he was right. Wes charged forward, his lightsaber sliced through the machines as they flew towards him. He lept into the air in an attempt to strike down the Jedi from his aerial assault. A quick blast from a Force Push sent Wes flying backwards through the air and into the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Wes let out a bestial yell of anger at being sent flying back. He lunged towards the Twi’lek padawan, the Force enhanced his jump to allow him to quickly close the distance before she could react. Alema barely had time to bring her lightsaber up to block the powerful attack by the Sith. Her knees buckled under the sheer power of the attack as she collapsed to the ground.

“NOW YOU DIE!” he roared as he brought his lightsaber down to where Alema’s head was. The quick thinking padawan, however, was trained well by her master. She threw her hands over her head and summoned the Force. The move propelled Alema between the Sith’s legs, which allowed her to dodge the deadly attack and get some space between the two.

“I will not die that easily, Sith!” said the young padawan as she lept to her feet as she tossed some fallen tables at the angered Sith. Wes once again lept at his enemy, his lightsaber sliced the tables in two as he made his way to kill the rather annoying Light Side Force user. Alema, however, would not lose to Wes that easily as she blocked his attack once again. This time, much to Wes’ surprise, Alema struck back with a flurry of fast attacks. Wes was caught off guard by this counterattack and was barely able to block every one of her strikes.

Wes looked upon her face to see a smile on her face as she continued to push the Sith apprentice back. Wes had to admit that she was quite skilled with her lightsaber, almost on par with him. Almost was the keyword as once Wes figured out her attack pattern, a simple parry threw off long enough for Wes to take the initiative with his own set of attacks.

The lightsabers of the two warriors bounced off each other as the two used inhuman speed to launch attack after attack against each other. The two, refusing to give up any ground to each other, ended up walking in circles as they continued to battle. The room was filled with a mixture of their pants and the “bzzt” sound as the two weapons repeatedly hit each other.

“My master has taught me well, Sith, I will not fall to you!” Alema said between pants. Wes could tell her attacks were starting to slow down, as were his. But he suspected that he had more stamina than she did. Just a few more minutes of this battling and I’ll be able to dispose of her and move on to the scientists and retrieve the artifact my master wants. With his plan thought out, Wes once again began an onslaught on the Twi’lek girl who did her best to survive it. Wes could see it, her deflections and counterattacks were slowing. It would only be a matter of time before her stamina ran out and he could finish her off.

It was a slight misplacement of her hand during another round of lightsaber dueling that Wes saw his chance to finish this battle. He locked their lightsabers in a clash and then, with his right hand, used Force Push to send the girl flying back. Before she could recover, he used Force Choke to lift her off the ground.

“As fun as this was, Jedi, I have more important things to do,” Wes said as he tossed her against another wall where she landed in a pile of debris. Certain she was out for the count, Wes turned towards the hallway the scientists fled through and followed them.

“Quickly! We must launch!” yelled a balding human male as he watched various Republic soldiers get massacred by Wes as he made his way down the hallway. The soldiers stood no chance against the Sith apprentice as his lightsaber flew through the air and decapitated five of the men while Force Lightning shot from his fingers to electrocute another six soldiers on the opposite side.

“You will give me the artifact,” Wes said coldly as he approached the scientists. Before he could pull them out of the escape pod, the door came crashing down and the pod launched, along with the artifact he was sent to recover.

“Shit!” yelled Wes as he failed his mission. “My master is not going to be happy about this,” Wes said to himself as he began to make his way back. He pulled out his communicator to inform his troops. “We are done here. Begin evacuating. I will be there shortly,” he commanded the troops.

“Aye, sir. The hanger is securely under our command. The soldiers sent to reinforce your positions will retreat along with you,” the captain told the Sith.

“Very well. Tell my droid to prep the ship for launch,” he said.

“As you wish,” was the reply before the two cut off communications. Wes made his way back to the room where he fought the Jedi padawan to see her crawling towards a communication panel. “Still alive, eh? You are tougher than I thought,” Wes said as he walked over to her and ignited his lightsaber to finish the job.

“I..will...not...die...so...easy...” Alema said between heavily panting breaths. With her last bit of strength, she Force Pushed Wes away, or at least attempted to. Wes did feel a slight push but knew she was nowhere near strong enough to actually command the Force properly in her condition.

“Hmm. I may not have been able to gain the artifact, but perhaps I can bring my master another prize,” Wes said as he put his lightsaber away and knelt down to pick up the Twi’lek girl.