45

A preternatural stillness settled over Saedii. Her body relaxed from the tense hold that had gripped it. Mind stilling. Slow breaths filtered in through her nose.

She could sense that her body was ready. A weapon in its own right, after the year spent training under Krell. And now that she had the familiar weight of her lightsabers in her hands, instinct washed through her, mingled with a steely sort of resolve.

This was a fight she couldn't lose.

Not just for her own sake. Not just for Cere and the twins. But for Kalth.

She would not let him fall any further.

Kalth struck first, but Saedii rushed to meet him. Lightsabers screamed and sparked as their blades came together, hammering against one another. Neither willing to give an inch.

Behind her, she sensed as Tech ushered Padme towards the fresher. He would protect them, Saedii knew. All she had to do was get Kalth out of here.

Away. She needed to get him somewhere he couldn't hurt anyone else.

Burnt flesh filled the air as she tagged him along his hip. Unlike his, Saedii's blades were set to training mode. Any blows she landed wouldn't be fatal.

He bared his teeth at her and swung viciously for her head. "Don't you want to kill me, Jedi? For what I've done?"

Saedii dodged the hit and backed towards the door. Leading him away.

He followed.

In the hall, the two came together again, both hacking mercilessly at one another. Theirs was a vicious fight. Krell's training had crept into their styles, savage and brutal, and they took it out on one another. Both determined to come out the victor, but for different reasons.

The hall spun around her as Saedii flipped backwards. Once. Twice. Kalth didn't even seem to notice that she was leading him away from the medical bay, and was only too happy to follow after her, slashing at her retreating form.

Stone sparked as Kalth's lightsaber met the walls, the ceiling. His swings were fueled by frustration as Saedii kept a steady lead before him. Always just out of his reach.

"Stand still and fight!" he snarled. "Coward!"

Hair fell into her face as she rolled along the ground, missing his latest volley. She wouldn't raise to his bait. Not until they were safely away from the twins and Cere.

Their blades came together as Saedii parried then retreated once more. Sweat was pouring down her back. Matting in the hair along her temples. Her jaw felt like it was stiff with pain as she clenched it in concentration.

The Force coiled around Kalth as he pushed it towards her with a bellow of rage.

It caught her too fast, slamming her into the stone wall. She ducked almost immediately as his blade whistled out, gouging into the stone where her head had been only a moment before.

Breath caught in her lungs as his down strike sliced into the muscle of her thigh – not a deep wound, but deep enough that hot blood splashed along the stone floors, a stark mauve against the earthy brown.

Saedii flipped backwards, grimacing at the sharp pain in her leg.

"Too slow," Kalth taunted.

Footsteps raced down the hall on their right. As they came to an intersection, Hunter and Crosshair slid to a stop. Both of them had their weapons raised, pointing at Kalth.

"Saedii!" Hunter said.

She didn't look at him, attention solely on Kalth before her. "Keep back and don't shoot!"

They couldn't get involved. If they were hurt – or worse...

The two hesitated.

From behind them, more Clone troopers emerged. Unlike Hunter and Crosshair, they didn't hesitate as they began to fire.

"Stop!" Hunter shouted as blaster bolts erupted in the hallway.

Light flashed in the hall as the blasts bounced off stone. As Saedii's lightsaber flashed out to deflect them away – not back at the troopers, but down the empty hall they'd just come from. Careful not to hit anyone.

Kalth wasn't so careful. He aimed his shots right back at the troopers. Aiming to kill. One trooper yelped as his own shot was blocked back into his shoulder.

Hunter and Crosshair turned on the Clones, wrestling blasters from their hands. The blaster fire stopped as the Clones struggled to fight off their own, scuffling for control of their blasters.

Saedii ran further down the hall, out of view of the troopers. As she expected, Kalth raced after her. The Clones weren't his target after all.

There was a door up ahead that lead outside. If she could just make it out there – get Kalth away from the Clones and the Skywalker twins and –

A body collided with hers, taking her down hard onto the stone. Blood dripped into her eyes as they rolled, seeping from the wound at her hairline. Heat flashed close to her skin as Kalth's lightsaber threatened.

She struck out, landing a knee to his chest. Right where his healing wound was. The breath died in his throat and he wheezed, stilling.

Voices were swelling. Anxious voices shouting orders. The Force churned with an uneasy energy, giving her glimpses of hundreds of Clones trying to file out from the nearby mess hall. Some with blasters in hand.

Too many. She had to get him out.

He shoved her off with his feet, launching her down the hall – in the opposite direction from the outside door. Saedii got to her feet and tried to make a run for it, but Kalth blocked her way, slashing at her. Forcing her back.

The two drove backwards. Towards the swelling voices. Towards the mass of people.

Someone cursed loudly behind her as they turned the corner. Feet scrambled on the stone as troopers ran to get out of the way of the dueling Jedi, who continued to hack and swing at one another.

Saedii looked behind her, trying to find another door. Another way out.

In her half second of distraction, the Force collided into her chest, taking her off her feet.

Bright lights suddenly replaced the dim corridor. The swell of voices was suddenly louder – much louder – as Saedii stumbled through an open doorway, landing and rolling across a metal floor. The scent of fresh brewed caff and bacon filled the air.

Karabast.

They were in the cafeteria. In the middle of breakfast.

It was the last place Saedii wanted him.

Hundreds of Clones were on their feet, backing away as Kalth stalked in after her. Some drew blasters, but stilled as Rex's voice roared, "Stand down!"

"Once I take your head," Kalth promised as he bore down on her, "I'll take trophies from your Clones, too."

The world spun as she flipped up onto her feet, blades flying out to stop the vicious hack that Kalth aimed at her back. Her blades caught his, pushing it back. Spinning, her blade finally caught him across the cheek, singing the skin.

He stumbled back a step with a snarl of pain.

"Saedii!"

It was Hunter's voice again. Focused. When she glanced up, he was flanked in the doorway by Crosshair, Echo, and Wrecker. Nearby, Rex lingered, both weapons in hand.

"What do we do?" Hunter demanded.

"When you get a clear shot, stun him!" she shouted, dancing back as Kalth recovered and launched a counter assault.

Blue and green light flared on the walls as their lightsabers came together in a tirade of hits and parries. Saedii's muscles burned and her lungs ached as she pushed herself to keep up with him. As her tired body shuddered under the merciless press of Kalth's attacks.

Around the room, she sensed as other Clone troopers were lifting their blasters. Training them on Kalth as they waited for a clear shot.

She had to give them one. Had to get him alone so that he could be stunned. It was the only way to stop him without hurting him. Or hurting anyone else.

Hair swung into her eyes. Quickly, she swatted at it, trying to clear her vision.

His boot met her chest. The Force swelled with his blow, taking her off her feet. Sending her through open air.

Little lights flashed in her vision as she slammed into the wall. She dropped down onto one knee, shaking her head. Trying to clear it.

The cafeteria suddenly lit up with white light as more than a dozen blasters fired out stun shots.

Kalth's body was a blur as he batted them off. He struck out with the Force, knocking Clones off their feet, before upending a table and ducking beneath it.

With both hands, he shoved at the table, sending it crashing across the room. Clones scrambled out of the way as it barreled towards them before snapping into chunks on the far wall. Glass broke as one of the windows shattered, and the hissing sound of the rain outside filled the air.

Saedii lurched to her feet, but was forced back as Kalth lunged for her. The two slipped into the buffet line, swinging and evading. A deadly dance of heat and sweat and blood.

The Clones behind the buffet line all jumped back as Saedii leapt on top of it to avoid Kalth's blows. Her thin cloth slippers crunched on fresh bacon as she somersaulted in the air, narrowly missing the reach of Kalth's blade.

Jumping straight in the air, she landed beside him and lashed the side of his head with her hilt. Blood erupted from his eyebrow, splitting beneath her blow, and he stumbled.

She jumped on him, arms slipping around his neck. Trying to hold him still as she sensed Hunter lingering nearby.

Hands yanked at her. The buffet line spun as she was tossed straight over Kalth's head and into the food. Glass broke beneath her and hot eggs squished beneath her shoulders as she landed on the buffet itself. The metal food stands groaned beneath her weight but held.

The Force skittered across her skin in warning. She lashed out.

This time, it was Kalth that was taken off his feet. Back out into the cafeteria. With a resounding crash, he landed on top of one of the tables, folding it beneath the force of Saedii's throw.

Blasters barked again. White stun bolts danced across the floor, missing Kalth by inches as he scrambled out of their way. Voices shouted to one another, trying to surround him as he began to use tables and trays as projectiles, shooting them towards the white figures of the Clones that tried to surround him.

Grimacing, Saedii jumped down from the food line. Pieces of glass and eggs dangled from her hair; stuck to her back and arms in cheesy globs. She ran forward, lightsabers held before her as Kalth nearly took off a trooper's head with a broken tray.

When he spotted her, Kalth attacked once again.

He was a man possessed. Bristling with determination and cold calculation. Saedii recognized the almost desperate flicker in his eyes. The manic way that he pursued her.

It was the exact same that Saedii had felt each time Krell had injected her with anxynth. Each time that the stone table had disappeared to be replaced with the Marauder or the Black Hole. Each time he'd sent her to drown in her nightmares.

Kalth wasn't fighting for Krell. He was fighting for himself.

"Kalth, you're free," Saedii tried again as they came back together, blades locked. "This isn't one of Krell's nightmares. You haven't taken any anxynth."

"Liar!" he roared.

They broke apart. Both gasping for breath.

With a wild yell, Kalth flung himself at her.

The two flew backwards, embolded by the Force that surged around Kalth's shoulders. Glass buckled beneath them as they crashed through the window and spilled out into the lawn.

Rain soaked Saedii's hair, stinging at her eyes, while mud saturated her clothes, turning the white fabric brown. Kalth rolled off of her, leaving an imprint of his body in the wet ground as he fell onto his hands and knees.

Harsh breaths tore from Saedii's chest. She, too, got to her knees, wiping at the blood and mud that dripped down her jaw. Her lightsabers sat quiet beside her, knocked from her grasp.

As she picked them up, she observed Kalth. Noted the way his breaths caught. The way he trembled. One hand ghosted along his chest, where his freshly healed wounds were.

They were bothering him. Slowing him.

Krell's voice purred in her head. A weakness. Exploit it.

Water and mud dripped down her arms as Saedii got to her feet. Her wet hair stuck to the sides of her face, speckled with mud. When she spread her feet wide, she felt as her water-logged slippers sucked into the thick mud; as her drenched clothes stuck to her wet skin.

Shuddering, Kalth got to his feet. Engaged his own lightsaber. He was no longer grinning.

Lightning forked through the sky as the two came together again. This time, Kalth was not nearly as fast. Labored breaths harried his speed as he struggled to keep up with her.

Muted voices swelled even as the white-clad figures of the Clones surrounded them. It felt like Saedii and Kalth were in their own little bubble of quiet. Like the world didn't exist outside of their deadly exchange of strike and block.

Saedii didn't show mercy. She landed a stinging blow across his shoulder, then across his chest. A grimace split his face as he stumbled back, hand trailing over the burn.

When he swung out for her, she rolled to the ground and drove her knee straight up into his chest. Right where she'd tagged him only moments before.

An agonized cry split his lips. He stumbled back one step. Then two.

It was enough.

Another strike of lightning filled the sky as the blasters around them all barked out in unison. In the flash of light, Saedii saw the individual Clones – Rex, with his loth-marked helmet; the Batch, wearing their armor; Happy, still in his pajamas; Howzer, with a busted lip.

Kalth stiffened as more than a dozen stuns hit him at once. Teeth bared in a silent grimace of pain.

Then, eyes rolling into his head, he dropped unconscious into the mud.