Chapter 7 - 72 ABY - The true soldier fights, not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him - G. K. Chesterton
(Jayden-Age 34)
Jayden waited for Moira to say something. It was excruciating watching Moira pace the room, taking in everything that Jayden had just told her. She didn’t care if Moira got angry with her and slapped her in the face, she just wanted some reaction. Moira had so many questions but she didn’t know where to start. Finally Jayden had reached the limits of her patience.
“Would you stop pacing and talk to me?”
Moira nodded and walked over to the bed and sat down next to Jayden. “It’s just a lot to take in, you know?” Jayden nodded and waited for her to continue. “There’s so much about your life that I don’t even know. But I understand why you didn’t want to tell me. There’s a lot of painful memories for you, even for a Jedi who is supposed to try and keep those emotions from affecting them. That must be extremely hard to balance those emotions.”
“It is. But none of those compare to the emotions I felt when you got hurt.”
Moira looked at her wife and smiled. “Alright, so I have a question. Each one of your tattoos is from a Jedi you defeated?” Jayden started laughing. “What?”
“I just told you one of the most dramatic stories from my past, and you just want to know about my tattoos?”
Moira stood up from the bed and then kneeled down in front of Jayden. “Yeah… you never really explained them to me. I knew they were from Jedi you defeated, but I want to know what each one means.”
Jayden grabbed Moira’s hand, extended her index finger, and brought it up to the two triangle tattoos under her lip. “These are from the first two Dark Jedi I took Force powers from. Their names were Keegan Martell and Dar Kreygil.” She then lowered her finger to the single inverted triangle below them. “This is the first Dark Jedi I killed. His name was Dago Zhie.”
“The Master of the Dark Jedi on Tatooine?”
Jayden nodded and dropped Moira’s finger to the two triangles below. “This is the two Dark Jedi Yang’xie and Yako I just told you about.” She then lowered Moira’s finger to the very bottom, and most important one, the inverted triangle that ended on the tip of her chin. “And this one you know.” Moira knew that one. It was Jayden’s former Master Quento Shan. She then reached for Jayden’s left vambrace and flicked the locking mechanism and pulled it off. Moira traced the triangles that started on Jayden’s wrist at the back of her hand. “These two are Colbin Quinn and Paz Kitala. I removed their powers, froze them in carbonite and sent them to the Republic on Coruscant to stand trial for their crimes.” Moira then pulled off Jayden’s right wrist vambrace and looked at the two matching triangles. “Those are for Quiara K’won and Palo Ven. Quiara I captured, but Palo I had to kill. Both were frozen in carbonite and sent back to Coruscant.”
“What was it like to kill them?” Moira had killed people in battle before, but facing a Jedi was different.
“I didn’t want to kill them. I begged them to give up. The only one I didn’t mind killing was Quento.”
“I can imagine that. To avenge your parent’s deaths.”
“I’d like to say that being a Jedi should make me above wanting revenge, but a part of me was glad that I was the one that got to kill him when your clan helped us escape, but it wasn’t about revenge… it was about justice.”
Moira reached up and touched Quento Shan’s triangle again. She then raised her thumb to Jayden’s lips and stroked it across her bottom lip. Jayden shivered at Moira’s delicate touch. “Thank you for telling me all of this.” Jayden nodded and Moira moved her hand to Jayden’s cheek. Jayden closed her eyes. Her touch felt so good, and she felt good getting everything off of her chest. All of the stories she had long wanted to tell Moira, but just couldn’t find the strength to do so. She reached her hand up to Moira’s hand and then opened her eyes and stared into Moira’s.
“Now you know everything. But it also puts you in danger.”
“How?” Moira asked as she dropped her hands to Jayden’s lap.
“Because if you are ever captured, the Dark Jedi can pull all of that information from you,” Jayden couldn’t help but be worried that she had just put her wife in more danger.
“You know I wouldn’t say anything.”
“I know you wouldn’t. But some Jedi are incredibly strong and have the ability to reach into your thoughts to extract information.” Jayden reached up to Moira’s face and moved a stray hair behind her left ear. “I trust you completely.”
“Do… do you have that power?”
“It’s more of a dark side of the Force power. It’s very invasive and painful and that’s something that the Jedi don’t want to do. Take Force Lightning, for example. It doesn’t mean that the Light side can’t do it, it’s just that the Light side chooses not to do certain things that they believe shouldn’t be used.”
Moira started grinning and stood up in front of Jayden, reached out her hands and pulled her up from the bed.
“What are you grinning about?” Jayden asked as Moira started pulling her Mandalorian armor off.
“So… you can’t use Force Lightning on me?”
“No,” Jayden replied as Moira drew her close and pulled her undershirt off.
“Really?” Jayden shook her head and watched as Moira pulled her own shirt off.
“Even if I tickle you?”
“You better not!” Jayden watched as Moira bit her lip and grinned. “Don’t you do it!”
Moira started laughing as she backed up and pulled her pants off.
“I have other Force abilities I can use on you,” Jayden said as she tugged at her own pants frantically.
“Is that a fact?” Moira asked as she took a step towards Jayden. Jayden nodded and reached out her hand.
“Like this one,” with a quick motion of her wrist she used the Force to slide Moira closer to her. Moira reached out and tickled Jayden as they came together and fell backwards onto the bed in an embrace and started laughing.
“You’ve been a bad Jedi!”
***
“I’ve got that information you requested. I’ll send it to you on a secure line,” Jax said as her hologram flickered on the console.
“Thanks Jax, I appreciate it.” Jax nodded and Jayden cut off the communication. Moira walked into the cockpit and leaned down to give Jayden a kiss on the cheek.
“How long was I out?”
“About ten hours.” Moira noticed that they were in orbit of Coruscant. “I didn’t want to wake you, you were sleeping so peacefully, so I just lifted us off and put us into orbit while waiting on Jax. She’s sending the info now.”
“I heard. Did you sleep at all?” Moira asked as she sat down in the co-pilot’s seat.
“A little. I don’t need as much sleep as you humans do, weaklings that you all are,” Jayden answered as she smiled. Truth was she was still exhausted, but she had spent the last few hours getting something made for their armor. “But I got something for you. Well, it’s for both of us.” She pulled out a cloth and unwrapped it and handed the object to Moira.
“What is it?”
“It’s a new signet for our armor. While you were sleeping I contacted someone on Coruscant and had these made, since we’re kind of far from a Mandalorian Armorer. It’s a-“
“Krayt Dragon skull,” Moira finished as she traced the outline on the shoulder pauldron.
“Yeah. I figured since, well, our clan isn’t the same clan anymore, that we should become a new clan. The Dragon Clan,” Jayden watched as Moira hung her head. “But if you don’t like it… I mean… I can throw them out,” Jayden said as she reached for the armor. How could she be so stupid. Of course Moira wouldn’t like it, it would just be a horrible reminder of what they’d gone through.
“No, it’s not that,” Moira replied as she held onto the pauldron. “It’s actually perfect. You remembered the Mandalorian ritual about how our signets reveal themselves to us due to the battles that we face,” Moira looked up and smiled at Jayden. “This is perfect. I’ll wear it with honor. You fought the Krayts and you saved my life. We are Dragons! This is the Way.”
“This is the Way,” Jayden replied and smiled at her most beautiful wife.
A beep on the console startled them and Jayden looked down at the console and read the information that Jax had just sent to her. Moira could tell that the news wasn’t good. Jayden reached her hand up to rub her forehead and then slid her fingers through her hair.
“That bad, huh?”
Jayden nodded and sighed. “Remember the Jedi Master that I told you about, Kyega?” Moira nodded. “He’s been recruiting Dark Jedi all over the Galaxy. He’s left a wake of destruction on several worlds. The one on Tatooine that spoke is Ezra Navigne. He was Dago’s protege. Dago was very skilled with the lightsaber. He was very hard to beat, which means Ezra will most likely be the same. One of the other ones is T’var Kurg, a Devaronian. The Jedi don’t know much about him, so he must have been found by Kyega. The other one is Jin P’tar, a Lasat.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Lasat before. What are they?”
“They’re kind of like Wookiees. They’re strong, big, fast, and very good at being stealthy. Jin was Kyega’s Padawan. When Kyega fled the temple, Jin went with him. Jax said that Kyega has been on a mission to find me since I left the Jedi. But now that they know I’m a Mandalorian, no planet is going to be safe for us.”
“What about Nevarro? Surely the Bounty Hunter’s Guild will still work with us, we’ve always been loyal to them.”
“They’ve likely already contacted them and put a bounty out for us.” Jayden grabbed Moira’s hand. “You should stay here. I can contact Jax again and have her put you under the Jedi’s protection while I deal with these four.”
“I’m not leaving you. We’re the Dragon Clan now, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” Moira said as she wickedly smiled at Jayden.
“This isn’t a joke, Moira. These will likely be the strongest Jedi I have ever faced. I can’t guarantee your safety, or even my own.”
Moira set the pauldron on the console and grabbed Moira’s hands. “Then all the more reason that I need to be there. I’m not some delicate flower, I am a Mandalorian. I know how to fight!”
“But this is a fight that I’m not sure we can win.”
“Do we have a choice?” Jayden shook her head. “Then we fight, and if we die trying, then our names will go down as the greatest Mandalorian warriors ever and Mandalorians will sing of our glories for eons to come,” Moira said as she pulled Jayden out of her chair.
“You’re nuts. You know that, right?” Moira nodded.
Jayden couldn’t help but be worried. As soon as she saw Kyega’s name attached to the other Jedi she got a very bad feeling. She knew Moira wasn’t going to stay, but she had to try.
“Come with me,” Jayden told Moira as she pulled her out of the cockpit. “Since I can’t talk you out of this, then I’ve got a little surprise for you.”
“Oooh, a gift?” Moira said as she happily followed her wife into the cargo bay. She watched as Jayden pulled something from a bag and tossed it to her. “A rock?”
Jayden snorted. “Not just any rock, a Dragon’s Pearl.” Moira looked at her like she was speaking Wookiee. “Do you ever read anything about the planets we visit?” Moira shook her head and Jayden sighed. “We’re going to have to rectify that. These pearls came from the gizzards of the Krayt Dragons I killed.”
“Ew!” Moira immediately dropped the stone, but Jayden used the Force to stop it from hitting the ground and pulled it to her.
“Please don’t drop it. These things are incredibly rare and insanely expensive.”
“Seriously?” Moira was now intrigued.
“One of these could buy ten starfighters,” Jayden said and Moira raised her eyebrows.
“So… we’re getting a new ship? Is that my gift? Because this one is seriously about to break down, I don’t know how many more times I can fix the hyperdrive. And the way you fly, I’ve already had to replace the landing gear three times.” Jayden walked over to Moira and put a finger against her lips.
“No, I am not buying us a new ship. And seriously, how do you talk that fast?” Jayden sighed. “One of the many things that Dragon Pearls are good for, is focusing crystals for a lightsaber.”
“So you’re making me a lightsaber?” Moira looked at her, raising her right eyebrow.
“Would you stop interrupting me?” Moira smacked her lips together and waited for Jayden to continue. “Thank you. I am going to work on one of your vambraces. You’ll activate it like a flamethrower, but instead of a flame, you’ll have a small lightsaber that you can use as a weapon or as a shield to defend against lightsabers. Since we’re going to be going up against Dark Jedi, I figured it could come in handy.”
Moira thought about it for a minute. “That’s actually a really cool idea.”
“Thank you. Now… what’s wrong with how I fly?”
***
“Moira, get up here!” Jayden called out over the comms.
A few minutes later Moira came running into the room, out of breath. “What’s up?”
“Why are you so out of breath?”
“I was practicing with the vambrace that you built for me. It’s pretty sweet.” The last few days Jayden had helped Moira learn how to use her new vambrace. Jayden would practice swinging her lightsaber at Moira and teaching her how to properly deflect a strike from every angle imaginable. Moira was grateful for the practice, because she was very nervous about a weapon that could cut your body in half with a flick of a wrist. They had often practiced sword fighting techniques throughout the years, but that was just with dull swords, but Moira was grateful for all of those practice sessions now, even though she really wasn’t at the time they were practicing. She always lost, and she hated losing. But using the vambrace was a bit different. It wasn’t for swinging around like a sword, it was more for defense, although she could use it to plunge forward, which she tried with Jayden, but Jayden scolded her on it, because it left the rest of her body open and defenseless. Still, she was grateful for something to help protect her.
“Just don’t poke a hole in the ship,” Jayden said as she motioned for Moira to take a seat.
“Ha ha!” Moira sarcastically responded as she sat down. “Are we almost there?”
“Pulling out of hyperspace now,” Jayden said as she pulled the lever back. As they came out of hyperspace they could see the planet on the far side of the system. It was a beautiful planet that was mostly water with a few large land masses and scattered with clouds. It looked very similar to Tatooine, only with half the planet being oceans.
“So that’s Savareen?”
“Yeah. I’m gonna pull us into the edge of that asteroid belt so we can do some recon on the ships entering and leaving the system. The Jedi intel said that this was the last known coordinates of Ezra Navigne. If we can catch all of the Dark Jedi separately, then we might have a chance. But if they’re traveling in a group like they were on Tatooine, then we’ll have to wait and see. There’s no way we can take all of them on. I’m good, but I’m not that good. And there’s no one backing us up. The Jedi won’t help. They feel that I’ve gone rogue and disagree with my tactics, even though I’m the only one taking out these Dark Jedi. They don’t mind reaping the benefits that I sow. So we are truly on our own. This is your last chance. Are you really sure you want to do this with me?”
Moira looked at Jayden and sighed. “All of your life you have been betrayed by the people that were supposed to care for you. Your former Master, the Jedi Council, and your first love. I will never leave you. I will never betray you. You told Jax that you would have died for her, but she didn’t feel the same for you. Well I do. I know you would die for me, and I would gladly give up my life for you.”
Jayden’s breath caught in her throat. Seven years ago she met Moira and knew she had found the one thing that she had always searched for since her parents had passed away. She found the person that loved her unconditionally. She knew it since the moment Moira stood up against Quento Shan to defend her, but the full realization of just how amazing her wife truly is, finally hit her and she smiled at her wife of five years. It felt like so much longer, as if they had known each other their entire lives. But several months of imprisonment and torture at the hands of a homicidal maniac will do that to you. Days felt like weeks, weeks felt like months, and months felt like years. They each helped one another to stay strong throughout that horrific time. Jayden couldn’t show her affection to Moira then, because she knew Quento would use it against her. But they each knew they had feelings for one another while they endured the daily torture from Quento and his guards.
“Alright then. Now we wait and see. We’ll take shifts. I’ll let you take the first watch, because I need to go rest and recharge. You’re going to be looking for a Delta Class Shuttle. If you see one, wake me up immediately.” Moira nodded and Jayden pulled their starfighter into the edge of the asteroid belt. “The asteroid belt should give us some cover, and they won’t be able to detect us on long range scanners.” Jayden got up and let Moira sit down in the pilot’s seat. She then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear. “I love you.”
“I know.”
***
It was Jayden’s turn to keep watch and she spent the time studying up on the planet. She also focused on the Force and was able to contact Luke. It was good to hear her old Master’s voice again. She had been a little too emotional lately and needed his guidance. Any time she felt like things were slipping, she would reach out with the Force and contact him. He always knew exactly what to say to center her. She was still worried though. These next Jedi that she faced would most likely be her hardest. Luke told her just to focus on the Force and let it guide her in battle, but how was she supposed to do that if Moira was there? He reminded her that Moira was a Mandalorian long before she was Jayden’s wife, and knew how to take care of herself, but Jayden knew that Moira had never faced a Jedi, let alone a very strong Dark Jedi. Jayden refused to take Moira with her on missions before because she knew it would be too dangerous, and the thought of losing her was too much to bear. Luke just told her to trust in the Force. She sighed and tried to focus again on the battle that was about to ensue.
“Here you go,” Moira handed Jayden a cup of coffee. She had heard Jayden sigh and knew already what was bothering her, but asked anyway. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just getting tired of looking at computer screens,” Jayden responded as she gratefully accepted the cup of coffee and took a sip.
“No action yet?”
“Nothing yet. But I wanted to talk to you and formulate a plan. If it’s just one of them, I want you to stay on the ship.”
“No way! I am here to help,” Moira replied indignantly.
“I know, baby. I just… I need to focus during the fight, and I can’t really do that if I’m worried about you.”
“So you’re saying… I’m a distraction?” Moira started giving Jayden her best sexiest look, and Jayden just rolled her eyes.
“Exactly!” Jayden smiled as she leaned in for a kiss. “But seriously, these are probably going to be the strongest Dark Jedi that I’ve yet to face. I don’t want to put you in danger if I don’t have to.”
Moira nodded and sat down in the co-pilot seat and focused on the console. “Looks like a ship just came out of hyperspace.”
Jayden set her coffee aside and touched the screen on the console to check the specs on the ship. “That’s our ship. Looks like there’s two life signs aboard.” She watched to see where it was landing on the planet and set the coordinates to land nearby.
“If there’s two, then I’m going with you. Don’t argue with me on this.” Jayden knew not to argue with Moira when she set her mind to something, so she nodded and flew her fingers across the controls. She then grabbed the control stick and maneuvered them out of the debris of the asteroid field and flew them down towards the planet.
“Kom’rk Class Transport, this is Savareen Flight Control, what is your destination?”
Moira flicked open the comms and Jayden showed her the coordinates they needed to land at. “Savareen Flight Control, this is Kom’rk LV426. We need permission to land at landing platform nine please?”
“Permission granted. Enjoy your stay on Savareen.”
Moira clicked off the comms and smiled nervously at Jayden. Jayden half smiled back and focused on landing the ship. As the ship landed, Jayden flicked off the buttons to turn off the engines and turned in her seat to Moira. “Let’s gear up.”
***
“Why do you want me to use this weapon?” Moira asked. “It’s archaic! It still uses bullets that you have to reload.”
“Exactly!” Jayden finished putting on her shoulder pauldrons and vambraces. She looked at Moira who was flipping the gun in her hand. “Look… you press this lever, pull the cartridge out, then pop the new cartridge back in, and pull this piece back, and it’s ready to fire.”
“I’m still not sure why you won’t just let me use my blaster.”
“Because lightsabers repel blaster fire.” Moira still was looking at her with her eyebrows raised. “Meaning that they can repel those blaster bolts into you or me.”
“Oh,” Moira said as she slowly nodded. She still didn’t know why she had to use a several hundred year old gun.
“It was your ancestors that actually created this weapon. When they were fighting Jedi they knew that blaster bolts would quickly be repelled, but bullets couldn’t be repelled back. When a lightsaber hits these bullets, they just disintegrate. But when you’re firing several hundred bullets a minute, chances are, the Jedi aren’t going to be able to block every single one.”
“What about whistling birds?”
“Explosives are fine to use, but chances are the Dark Jedi will see it coming and jump out of the way, so I wouldn’t waste them unless you know that you have a clear shot. If they’re focused on me, they might be too busy to sense it coming, so that would be a good opportunity. That’s why I’m thinking it might be best if you find a vantage point. You can fire your gun from safety while I have them occupied.”
Moira nodded and clipped the weapon to her shoulder strap and put on her helmet. She was starting to feel a little nervous. Jayden could sense it, but she was too busy worrying about her own nervousness.
“Also, hold the weapon with both hands,” she pointed to each spot on the gun. “It’s got a bit of a kick to it and you’ll need both hands to keep the aim steady from the recoil.”
“Got it,” Moira nodded.
“You ready?” Jayden asked as she put on her helmet and pressed the button to lower the cargo bay door.
“No.”
Jayden laughed as they walked off of the ship and closed the door. Jayden pointed to the area that they needed to get to, and they started walking. At first it was just a lot of sand and scattered buildings, but once they got into the spaceport and marketplace they saw more and more people. They were in the Outer Rim, so seeing the occasional Mandalorian wasn’t a big deal. That didn’t worry Jayden. But once she got close enough to sense the two Dark Jedi, then she knew that it would be too late.
“We’re getting close, they should be on the other side of the market, so what I want you to do is separate from me. Get on top of the buildings and follow me on the rooftops until I tell you that I’ve sensed them. I’ll let them come to me. Their ship was on the opposite side of the spaceport, so I should be sensing them soon.”
Moira nodded and Jayden watched as she walked into an alley and climbed up the side of the building. Once she reached the top, Jayden continued to walk through the spaceport. There were dozens of tightly packed buildings, and street vendors trying to sell their wares. There were dozens of people out in the market, stopping to eat at the vendors tables. Jayden loved the smells, there were so many different food vendors, which was far different from their little area on Tatooine.
Jayden realized she had forgot to tell Moira one of the most important things, so she whispered in her mic. “Another thing… when they approach me, do not focus your thoughts on them. Keep your mind clear. They can sense when someone is focusing on them. So don’t think about them, don’t think about shooting them, just focus on me if you have to.”
“Got it.”
“And another thing… I love you.”
“I love you, too. Be careful!” Jayden looked at the rooftop where Moira was positioned and nodded to her. She continued walking several hundred more meters until she felt their presence. She slowed down her walk and unsheathed her lightsabers. She screwed them together to form her double-bladed lightsaber. She still remembered when she built her lightsabers. These weren’t her original ones from when she was a Padawan and Knight. The crystals were the same, but she rebuilt them after she had joined the Mandalorians. The hilts were made out of Mandalorian beskar. It is the strongest alloy in the galaxy. Mandalorians used beskar because it was the only steel or alloy that could repel lightsabers. So she created her lightsaber hilts so that they would protect her hands. They formed a V shape that a lightsaber would bounce off and not be able to directly hit. She had remembered the story that Luke had told her about his hand being cut off by Vader, so she knew there was nothing better than beskar to protect her hands, especially when she had it connected as the double-bladed saber.
She spun the saber in her hand as she kept on walking until she saw the two hooded forms standing at the entrance to their side of the market. She stopped and whispered in her comms, “Here we go.”
Moira positioned herself on the rooftop, unclipped the gun, and held it like Jayden said. She rested her elbow on the edge of the roof and watched through the scope. Just like Jayden told her, she only focused on Jayden, she didn’t even look at the two Dark Jedi. She watched as Jayden stopped walking and held the lightsaber out in front of her. She ignited one blade, and then the other. Each blade had it’s own color. One was blue and one was purple. But when they were together, they had both colors and Moira thought it was incredibly beautiful.
“You really think that you can take us both on?” said the voice Jayden recognized from Tatooine.
“We weren’t formally introduced last time. You had me at a disadvantage, Ezra. My only question now is… is that T’var with you? I’m pretty sure it’s not Jin, as he’s too short to be a Lasat. And surely Kyega wouldn’t be caught dead on this dump of a planet.”
They both reached up and pulled their hoods down and smiled at Jayden They then took their robes off and dropped them on the ground. They ignited their sabers, both red, and the few people that had been standing around started running for cover, with some peering out of windows.
“Dear Phanius, you’re an ugly son of a bitch!” Jayden looked at T’var and shook her head. “Do you have those horns when you’re born, or do they grow in later? Because if you’re born with them, that’s gotta be painful!” T’var snarled at her. He had two horns, one on each side of his head, and had reddish-brown skin. He looked like something out of a child’s nightmare.
“Are you trying to piss them off?” Moira whispered in Jayden’s earpiece.
“So are we gonna do this or what? I’m getting kind of hungry and one of those vendors back there had some deep fried Nuna legs that looked really yummy,” Jayden was cut off as T’var snarled again and ran towards her. She spun her lightsaber in her hands and used the momentum of the motion to throw him off balance when his lightsaber clashed with hers. She spun him around to where his back was to Moira and nodded for her to start firing. She had his lightsaber locked with hers so he couldn’t deflect the bullets, and Moira struck him several times in his back. Jayden then Force pushed him to the ground. Ezra started running towards her with his lightsaber held above his head to swing down on her. She twisted her saber around to greet his, and deflected several of his following strikes. They went toe for toe for several minutes, neither gaining an advantage. She could hear T’var groaning in pain and looked back to see him trying to get up. She separated her sabers and threw one of her swords at him. He looked up just in time to see a bright white light coming towards him, and as she pulled the saber back, he fell to the ground, a gaping hole between his eyes.
“Well that wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be,” Jayden said as she got into her Jar’Kai fighting position and stared at Ezra. Her purple blade was in her left hand, facing backwards, and she held it out in front of her. It’s purple light was reflecting off of her blue beskar armor and helmet. Her blue blade was in her right hand, also holding it backwards, as she held it near her hip.
“You’ll find that I’m a lot more skilled than he was. But are you going to fight with honor or are you going to let your partner help you?”
Jayden smirked. “A Dark Jedi talking about honor? That’s a new one. But you’re right. It was two on two, now it’s one on one. Moira… sit this one out.”
Ezra looked up at Moira and watched as she pulled her gun off of the ledge. “His impatience was always a problem,” Ezra said shaking his head. “I told Master Kyega he wasn’t ready. He didn’t have the training that you or I did.”
“Ezra, we don’t have to do this. Turn yourself in. You know that I am more powerful than you,” Jayden pleaded with him. “I’ve already killed one person today, please don’t make me kill two.”
“A life of a Jedi is not worth living if they can’t use the Force!”
Moira watched from above as Ezra started his attack against Jayden. Their lightsabers danced about faster than her eyesight could perceive them. Light flashed everywhere as the reflections of the sabers danced along the walls of the buildings. If Jayden wasn’t in any danger, Moira would have thought the lights were beautiful, like they were a part of a celebration.
Jayden defended against his attacks with ease, but she knew he was holding back. He was waiting for his chance to unleash on her. He swung from his hip and she parried it and spun around, but he was able to hit her hilt. They stood struggling as she held up her two swords with his, the hilt protecting her hands. When she pushed off, the tip of his saber grazed her left arm right below the pauldron and she gasped in pain. That was his moment to unleash a barrage that had her backpedaling. Strike after strike grew stronger and he was gaining the upper hand, but she had one trick up her sleeve. He struck again and she let the saber fly out of her right hand, and only had the saber in her left hand on her wounded arm. He saw the advantage and swung down with all of his might. She blocked it with the lightsaber. He was powerful and she fell to her knees against his weight. She then reached up with her right arm. She flicked her wrist forward and activated her vambrace.
Moira stood on the rooftop watching as Ezra was about to kill her wife. She screamed and he looked up at her and smiled. Then his smile faded as he stepped backwards and fell to the ground. Moira looked back at Jayden as she stood up and deactivated her left vambrace and turned off her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt.
“You turned your vambrace into a lightsaber as well?”
“Well… when I was practicing with you, I thought it was pretty cool and could come in handy,” Jayden replied as she tried to catch her breath.
“So you were letting him think he had gotten the advantage of you so that you could surprise him?”
Jayden nodded as she walked over to Ezra. He was still barely alive. He tried to reach for his lightsaber but she used the Force and pulled it to her and clipped it to her belt.
“I can still save you, or I can kill you. Your choice.”
“You kno… know what… I want,” Ezra managed to say through gritted teeth as the pain enveloped him. Jayden nodded. She reached out with the Force and pulled her blue saber that had fallen several meters behind her, ignited it, spun it in her hand and with one slashing motion ended his life.
Moira had jumped down from the rooftop in time to see Moira deal the final blow and she had to turn away. The memory of her dad’s head being torn off by the Krayt Dragon flashed in her head. Jayden looked up to see Moira crouch to the ground. She deactivated her saber, walked over to her, and put a hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t even think about your dad. It’s just that… he was suffering and it’s the fastest way to kill someone and put them out of their misery.”
“It’s ok, I understand.” Moira got to her feet and saw several people starting to walk back out into the market. “We might want to get out of here soon.”
Jayden looked around at the people that had come out and were staring at them. She walked over to T’var’s body and picked up his lightsaber and attached it to her belt. She then whistled as she saw a droid-operated transport shuttle nearby. It drove over to her. “I need these bodies taken to my ship on platform 9.” The droid beeped angrily at her. “I’ll pay you double,” she said as she tilted her head. The droid beeped again happily and she loaded up the bodies onto the shuttle and paid the droid. It beeped again as it took off in the direction of their ship. Later she was going to have to freeze their bodies in carbonite and send them off to Coruscant for verification of death.
“Since that nasty bit of business is taken care of, I really am hungry. Mind if we stop and get some fried Nuna legs on the way back to the ship?”
Moira rolled her eyes, smiled, then grabbed her wife’s hand and kissed it. “Of course.” She was glad that they were safe, but she couldn’t help but think about the first time she saw Jayden kill a Jedi. This time was different. It was just a battle between opposing sides. The first time was personal.
***
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