The final battle

The final battle

Darth Malgus. There he was standing. Right in front of her. The man that destroyed the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and was responsible of the death of hundreds of Jedis.  Her dark orbs locked on him while her blue hand wrapped around the hilt of her lightsaber. A tight grip. This man was evil. She could feel the hate, the rage which were burning in his insides and fueling the dark side. A shiver ran down her spine, her lekku twitched nervously. The last time she had met something evil like him was the day, when her master died in the battle. Fear. Fear suddenly filled her insides and her mind, squeezed her heart painfully together. She wanted to scream. Run away, Ma`Khina. Run as long as you still can! But her feet didn`t want to move. Why couldn`t she move?

``Ma`Khina.. so we finally meet, young Jedi``

``Darth Malgus..`` her voice trembled slightly when she spoke. His name was well known in the galaxy. In this and every galaxy she has ever visited. The grip around her hilt tightened, slim knuckles shown up whitely on her blue skin. What did he want on Corellia? Why was he here? And what.. did he want from Ma`Khina. All the nightmares..the voice from the shadow..the feelings, the worries, the doubts into herself in the last weeks.. that all has been him. All the time! Slowly she unlinked the hilt from her belt, her left hand now wandering to her other lightsaber.

``No, Ma`Khina! He will kill you without remorse. Leave!``

``No.. I can`t run away anymore.. I`m done with the running.. it`s time to face my demons, Master!``

The glimmering silhouette of Master Jemrin suddenly stood right in front of her, only inches away, and broke the eye contact to Darth Malgus. Gently he laid a hand onto her shoulder. Though he was just a ghost, she could feel the touch. Could feel this familiar warmth of him. Her eyes locked with his. How could he be here but also be dead? Confusion filled her head and she looked at him in disbelief.

``My young Padawan.. you`re not ready for this.. run! Run as long as you still can! Don`t make the same mistake I did! These people here need you!``

``Master..but..``

A single tear slowly ran down her cheek. THERE IS NO EMOTION; THERE IS PEACE! No.. there were emotions. There were so many emotions. Right now in this moment she was almost exploding from all those emotions in her chest. It ripped her mind apart. Ripped apart who she was. Sadness, anger, the wish for revenge and.. understanding. ``Master..I..`` The sound of a lightsaber.

Suddenly the silhouette of Master Jemrin was gone and right in front of her stood Darth Malgus, his lightsaber drawn and activated. Did he kill her Master again? Was that possible? Dying two times?

��NOOOOO!!`` A loud scream ran over her lips. In one fast movement the Twi`lek stepped forward and blocked his saber with hers, forced him to step backwards with all her might. She gave in to her emotions. Tears running down her cheeks. She was mad in rage.. and it was burning in her insides.

``Good, good, Padawan! You feel rage. You feel pain! Give in to those emotions. Let go and let it flow, my dear!``

His voice only fueled her anger. It wasn`t fair. It just wasn`t fair! How could this man.. this spawn of pure evil live while her Master was dead? Her left hand got a tight hold onto her second lightsaber and with one click she unlinked it from her belt. Only a few Younglings and Padawans did have the heart to learn the skills in fighting with two lightsabers. Though, it wasn`t just fighting. The use of two lightsabers was like a dance. A dance with yourself while always facing the death. Each movement, each turn and every small breathe was studied and trained in hours and hours of training. But Ma`Khina has never finished her training. Master Jemrin died much too early and so the Twi`lek could only resort to two forms. The Shii-Cho, the oldest form of lightsaber combat, and Makashi. But Malgus was much better trained and better skilled. She had no chance against him and a small voice in the back her mind told her right that again and again. But she ignored it. Instead she opened her mind more for the force, let it flow through her body and mind. And it fed on her rage. Still forcing the Sith backwards she got a better grip of her left saber and moved it in a wide stroke forward. Her first attack.

``Good try, but you still don`t listen to the force. Open your mind for the Dark Side`` he said and blocked the stroke easily, kicking his foot into her stomach with all his might. Too late. In her rage she had forgotten to shield herself with the force. The kick hit her with all its power and threw her a few meters through the air. With a groan she landed on her back, the air pressed out of her lungs. In a gasp she breathed and rolled onto her side, coughing. Drops of midnight blue blood sprinkled the ground as she tried to catch her breath. Slowly turning her head Ma`Khina looked at Malgus. Why wasn`t he attacking her? This was his chance.. he could just end her easily now. Another cough shook her and she spit more blood onto the street. Trembling fingers curled tight around her sabers and slowly she forced her body up onto her feet again, facing her opponent. A scornful laughter reached her ears.

``You are strong, Ma`Khina. I`m an old man, you could strike me down with ease but you`re still holding back. Come with me. Become my apprentice, open yourself for the Dark Side and I`ll make you the mightiest Twi`lek that has ever existed.``

``Becoming mighty, following the way of a Sith and killing the innocents? No! That`s not my way, Malgus!``

``Good, Ma`Khina! Lock out the rage and the anger. Don`t get touched by the Dark Side. She is alluring but also a liar. She can`t give you peace, my Padawan.``

Master Jemrin was right. The rage in her heart made her movements clumsy and filled her mind with distracting thoughts. Peace was the key for getting out of this alive. Slowly she inhaled a deep breath, calmed her racing heart and the storm of emotions in her soul. For a short moment - not longer as a heartbeat - she closed her eyes. Gone with the rage, the madness and everything that befouled her thoughts. With this she quietly repeated the code of the Jedi, cleaned her soul with those words. Words that had always gave her freedom and peace. The storm in her faded. She was ready. Slowly she opened her eyes again, locking her gaze right with Darth Malgus'. Moving her right foot a step back she got into a sideway stand. Lifting her left lightsaber in front of her, she shifted her weight onto her right leg. `Remember your training, Ma`Khina. One saber for the strikes, one for the blocks. Open your mind for the force` she reminded herself of her training. Finally the storm in her was over and she resembled a calm sea again.

``It ends here, Malgus!``

``Indeed.. it ends here.. my apprentice!``

Another scornful laughter left the Sithlord`s lips and sent a cold shiver down Ma`Khina`s spine. No.. she would never become his apprentice. One of them will die tonight.

Suddenly the man jumped forward, his lightsaber lifted up high. A trick. No.. Malgus wasn`t stupid enough for a plump attack like that one. A smirk curled up on her lips. Shifting her weight, she made a step backwards and leaned back, letting his red blade fly over her, only inches away from her blue skin. As Malgus turned around himself to use the drive of his attack for his next, Ma`Khina rose up into a correct stand again. Her left arm raised she blocked his next attack. A loud fizzling filled the air as their blades hit together. Ma`Khina had to review her strategy. In this moment it was nothing more than just blocking his attack. The Sithlord turned again and attacked her from the other side. Again she just blocked him.

``Absurd.. You can`t block me for forever, young one! Sooner or later you`ll have to attack me!``

A smirk curled up on her lips. Oh she knew that. She knew that very well and this was her advantage. For Malgus she was just a Padawan who has never finished her training as a Jedi. But she was more. All those years as a smuggler, as a pirate in the galaxy, have taught her a few things. No matter how desperate a situation looked like, there was always a way, a chance, to get out of it. If you had the right plan.

Malgus did another turn around for his next attack, but this time he stepped back a little. He needed a new drive for that one. Ma`Khina deactivated her right saber. Slowly the blue glowing blade faded back into the hilt. Taking one step back, she shifted her weight onto her other foot. Keeping an onto the Sithlords movements she moved her right arm back and concentrated. She opened her hand, held the hilt just her thumb in her palm. During the dance between attacking and blocking she had called out for the force. Had collected it. Now she had enough energy together for a counterattack. Malgus turned, ready for his attack, while the Twi`lek concentrated the collected energy in her hand. Then, as he stepped forward to attack her, she pressed all the energy forward in a fast movement. The collected energy hit the man hard and threw him a few meters back.

Attacks like this were exhausting. Breathing fast the Twi`lek stood there and collected her strength back together. She rarely used this kind of attacks. It just cost too much energy. Opening her heart she felt the force flooding back into her cells, refilling them with energy, while Malgus jumped back up onto his feet. Ma`Khina though chased forward, reactivating her right saber again, before Malgus could even think of a new attack again. Her right arm lifted up, she attacked him with the left. A fast stroke over his chest, followed by another one with the right. Stepping back he could avoid any damage. Turning around herself, she used the drive of her attack to get into her next one. A tingle in the left lekku, a warning by the force. In her turn around she jumped up, twisted in the air and flew over his attacking lightsaber. Gracefully she landed onto her feet again, turned and blocked his coming attack with her lightsaber. Breathing fast she stared into his red glowing eyes. So much hate. So many feelings she couldn`t even describe. And pain. Sadness. A shiver ran down her spine as she sensed those feelings. Feelings she had never expected within a Sithlord. A surprised gasp rolled over her lips.

``This is the end, Ma`Khina!``

Before the Twi`lek could think further more about his words she got suddenly hit by an invisible energy. Flying through the air she built a shield around her body, before she hardly hit against a wall. Without this shield, her bones would probably be scrunched. Slowly she opened her eyes, noticing that she was still hanging on this wall, unable to move. Held there by the force. She could feel the dark side flowing within it.

``Come on! Kill me now, Malgus! You`d do me a favor`` she exclaimed, her voice trembling. Another scornful laughter filled the air. Oh, she couldn`t feel hate, but if she could, she would really hate this laughter. In a try to move she lost the hold of her lightsabers. With a clangor they landed on the ground.

``Not yet, my dear.. not yet. I`ll make you mine, my dear beauty. You`ll be my apprentice and soon the queen by my side. Together we will rule over the planets and crush the republic!``

Gently he brushed a gloved finger over her cheek, admiring her beauty. ``No.. I will never.. never kneel down for you`` she muttered, her voice nothing more than a weak whisper.

``Of course, my dear.. let the innocents kneel down for you.... my queen``

That was the last she heard. Suddenly everything around her faded into a deep darkness. She fell. Fell into a black hole and darkness wrapped around her mind and her soul like a blanket. A blanket as cold as fear itself. What was happening with her?

As Ma`Khina passed out, Darth Malgus gently freed her from his strong grip with the force. Slowly she slid down the wall and fell into the Sithlord`s arms. In admiration he looked down into the face of the blue beauty in his arms.

``No worries, my dear.. I will take care of you! I will protect you and train you.. and I swear that by my life``