Chapter 8: The Duel

Kit rushed toward the stranger's unconscious body and attempted to stir him awake. The creature also stirred, and Kit was sure it would wake before she was able to get the man away. She grabbed his blaster and began firing on the creature, but it had recovered enough to dodge the blasts. The creature removed a black cylinder from a hip compartment in its armor and ignited it. The cylinder produced a black-purple blade that buzzed in a comparable way to a lightsaber but at a higher, more resonant frequency. The creature blocked the next blasts with the blade before another unseen force yanked the blaster from Kit's hand. The blaster flew through the 30 meters of space between them toward the creature, who cut the blaster in half with its blade as it began to stalk toward her. Kit turned and tried to run toward the Falcon, but the unseen Force lifted her off her feet and spun her around. A suffocating pressure enclosed her throat, although nothing physically touched her. The creature raised its claw in a pinching gesture, and she understood that this creature was using the Force to choke her. From below the ship, the ventral blaster emerged and fired on the creature. The creature reacted instantly, deflecting the blasts with its blade and yanking the cannon from the belly of the ship in a shower of sparks.

Kit's vision swam before her, and she knew it would be moments before blackness overtook her while she suffocated. As her consciousness began to waver, a thought emerged from deep within her: I am about to die. Suddenly, the creature's grip loosened as both the creature and Kit heard a rumbling sound overhead. The sound was familiar, reminding Kit of a YT-class freighter, but higher and shallower than the heavy sub-light engine on the Falcon. She lifted her eyes up to see the shadowy outline of an oblong circle blurred by fog. The creature unexpectedly relinquished its grip, and Kit dropped to the ground.

When Kit looked up, she saw that two shadowy figures stood shrouded in mist about 20 meters from the creature. She could make out the outline of a tall, powerfully built figure and a shorter, slighter figure. A chorus of snap-hiss sounds broke through the muted atmosphere, and a brilliant green saber and a pair of golden sabers glowed through the fog. The figures stepped forward, and Kit recognized Ben Solo and the Padawan, Kira.

Ben and Kira stepped forward from the mist and faced the strange, menacing creature, who turned toward the two Jedi and assumed a posture that clearly communicated that she was ready for a fight. The creature hissed and screamed an ear-splitting, crackling cry that sent waves of pain and rage through the Force. Kira had never felt anything like it, and she settled into a defensive position anticipating the attack. The expected attack came, but not toward the Jedi; the creature lunged toward the unconscious body of a man lying still on the ground, swiping at it with its black-purple blade. Ben reacted immediately, using the Force to pull the man's body away to safety. The body slid over the ground, barely avoiding the blade, which cut into the volcanic rock, leaving a glowing, red gash.

The creature hissed again, turning to the two Jedi. As the Acronemsis assessed the threat that the two posed, she withdrew another lightsaber from a hip compartment in her armor. With the second purple black blade fully activated, the Acronemsis stood poised to attack.

Ben and Kira assumed their own defensive postures, and Ben, turning his head slightly while keeping his eyes on their opponent, said, "Good thing we ran our sparring drills this morning."

Kira heard the confidence in his voice and felt a sense of unease creep in, "This is nothing like sparring practice."

Ben smiled, retorting, "Nonsense." Then raising his blade to attack, he added, "Just like Anakin and Ahsoka," before he lunged at the creature. Kira was not ready for Ben's attack, and she found herself several steps behind. The Acronemsis anticipated the assault, and parried Ben's attack with two deft movements before sending him flying with a roundhouse kick. Ben flew back 10 meters, hitting the ground hard before coming up gingerly.

With Ben 10 meters away, Kira appraised the creature warily. She reached out through the Force to get a sense of the creature's mind. Upon touching the creature's consciousness, she recoiled at the cold, merciless intent, and a strange, disconnected intelligence. She had known and trained with many aliens and was accustomed to the variations between consciousnesses, but she had never met an alien intelligence that felt so remote and disembodied. A surge of rage told Kira that the creature recognized what she was doing and did not appreciate the intrusion. It raised its blades and began to circle Kira. It lunged, and Kira nearly failed to deflect the attack – the creature was faster than she expected.

Ben rejoined the fray and slashed at the creature as it tried to cut Kira down. The creature withdrew to recalculate its attack before engaging them simultaneously. Its twin blades whirled in response to Ben's green blade and Kira's golden blades. The creature's claws also slashed and swiped, nearly catching both Jedi with its lightning quick slashes. Kira had adjusted to the creature's speed and was now beginning to get a better sense of its attack pattern. Kira noticed that Ben was slower to adjust, and Ben was barely staying in front of the dual attacks from the creature's claws and blades. Kira spared a fraction of her concentration to get a read on Ben's emotions, and he seemed frustrated and afraid – never a good combination in lightsaber combat.

***

Kit had pulled the unconscious stranger to safety within the Falcon. She saw Han and Chewie strung up, still unconscious. She raced to the cockpit and saw Ben and Kira fighting the Acronemsis. The match seemed even at this point; the Acronemsis seemed to have superior speed and strength, but Ben and Kira's teamwork seemed to be negating its advantages – for now. Kit did not feel confident enough in the outcome to begin attending to the trio of unconscious beings on board. She initiated the Falcon's launch sequence so that it would be ready for lift off in an emergency, and she authorized the ship's computer to pilot the ship should the situation become more dire.

With the ship prepared to take off, Kit raced past the unconscious trio in the ship's galley and dropped down to the ventral cannon. The duel continued, but the situation had changed.

***

Kira and Ben continued their dance with the Acronemsis, defending the creature's attacks while occasionally finding the opening for a counterattack. Kira was beginning to feel the first inklings of fatigue, and she sensed that Ben was also beginning to wear down. The creature did not seem to be slowing; if anything, its attacks intensified. Kira dodged a swipe from the right claw and a counter-swipe from the lightsaber blade in the creature's left claw when she dropped down to stab upward. Her thrust missed, and the creature responded by pushing her backwards with the Force. The surprising strength of the Force attack sent her back 20 meters where she hit the Falcon's boarding ramp. Her head hit the side, and her vision went black for a moment. Disoriented, she staggered to her feet and attempted to find her bearings again.

Ben continued to fight the creature, but its attacks began to overwhelm him as he attempted to deflect the two blades. Ben's parries and counterattacks were becoming less disciplined and wilder. He was also becoming more fearful about his odds in the encounter, and he was now angry at the possible injury to his apprentice. Throwing caution to the wind, Ben tapped into his aggression and went on a furious counterattack. The creature was unprepared, and the ferocity of Ben's attack sent it backpedaling as it attempted to ward off the blows. Ben landed a glancing blow on the creature's shoulder, which caused enough damage to inhibit movement in its right claw. The creature screamed in pain, a piercing, wrenching sound that sent shudders through Kira's body. In its rage, the creature rebounded, slashing and hacking at Ben. As Ben fell back, his defensive blows began to falter, and the creature took advantage of his fatigue, swiping one of its blades down and cutting through Ben's wrist. His hand and his lightsaber fell to the ground as he screamed in pain, collapsing to his knees.

The Acronemsis twirled a pirouette, bringing both of its blades down for a killing blow, but Kira used the Force to pull Ben out of harm's way, causing the creature to cut into the ground a second time. Ben slid back to the Falcon, and he propped himself up on his remaining hand, retching from the pain. Kira was back on her feet, mostly recovered from the blow to the head. She walked slowly to the Acronemsis, which turned to her, both lightsabers poised to strike. It screamed another blood-curdling challenge, but Kira stood her ground, again appraising the creature.

Kira had deduced that she could not match the creature's speed and ferocity, so she settled on a new tactic. She again reached out to touch its thoughts, such as they were, and again she sensed the curious disconnect between the creature and its consciousness. The creature felt the intrusion, and it became angry. It charged Kira, who anticipated the attack and glided out of range. Kira's intrusion into the creature's psyche intensified, and she noticed disorientation emerging in her foe, whose balance faltered. The Acronemsis attacked again, and Kira was able to block the blows, using its momentum to send it past her.

Sensing her advantage growing, Kira pressed her intrusions deeper into the creature's mind as she continued to dodge its increasingly uncoordinated attacks. She could feel Ben's anguish nearby, but she tuned the distraction out, keeping her connection to the creature's mind intact. With a distant fascination that she was able to do so, she continued to interfere with the creature's neural processes enough to slow it down, and the Acronemsis struggled to recover. The creature became increasingly desperate under the psychic onslaught, and it launched its most furious attack yet, charging at Kira with both blades twirling and slashing. Kira was just able to dodge the blades, diving below the attack and sliding past. As the Acronemsis passed her, Kira used the Force to push it further away to create more space to deepen her grip on the creature's mind.

But before Kira could reach deeper into the creature's psyche, the quad gun from the Falcon's ventral side erupted in a hail of powerful blasts, which scored several direct hits on the creature. In a haze of smoke and fire, the creature screamed in agony as flames engulfed half of its body while the other half blew apart. An acidic green substance, which Kira deduced was its blood, burst from its body, melting the basaltic surface of the landing platform. Its armor melted as the creature began to disintegrate before them.

When the sizzling and burning subsided, all that remained of the Acronemsis was a boiling puddle of black and green ooze. With her enemy dead, Kira shut down her lightsabers and nodded to Kit, who had a grim but satisfied look on her face inside the quad bay. Kira then rushed over to Ben who was struggling to stay conscious. "Land the ship, BD-5," she barked into her wrist commlink, and moments later, her YT-1500 settled to the ground 20 meters away from the Falcon. Kit joined her outside with a tourniquet to fit over Ben's wrist.

"I've got to get him help," she said to Kit, still flush with adrenaline from the battle and fear for her friend. "What's the nearest advanced system."

"Kashyyyk," Kit responded, as if she already knew what Kira would ask. "But their medical is geared to Wookies." Kit jabbed Ben with a syringe, and the drug quickly sedated him and relieved his pain, helping him to go still. Both Kira and Kit relaxed as if taking Ben's sedation as a sign that things would be okay. Kit took a deep breath then continued, "That ought to stabilize him. Probably best to take him straight to Coruscant."

"Coruscant?" asked Kira, confused.

"Best medical in the galaxy," Kit explained, "But he's also going to need to get in front of the Chancellor as quick as possible. Two womp rats with one blaster."

Kira nodded in understanding. A powerful creature wielding the dark side of the Force had attacked and nearly killed them. If there was a reason to force a meeting with the Chancellor, this news coupled with her son's injury would be it. Kira responded to Kit, "Help me get him into the Amaya."

The two women dragged Ben's unconscious body to the Amaya, and they secured him into a cot where he could sleep through the trip to Coruscant. Having secured Ben, they both looked over him, silent for a moment. The silence passed as Kit realized more plans needed to be laid. She broke the silence, saying, "You should get going. I'll go take care of Han and Chewie."

Kira turned to Kit and asked a question that had been in the back of her mind since she arrived. "Who was the other?"

"I don't know," admitted Kit. "That thing attacked me while I was in the town. He came out of nowhere and helped me escape." Kit hesitated, unsure of her next words, "He's a Chiss. But I think he might also be a Jedi."

Kira turned, surprised. She hadn't gotten a clear look, but there was nothing familiar about the man she had helped save. "He can't be. I would have recognized him."

Kit responded, "Well, whoever he is, he can use the Force. He threw that creature back 30 meters before you showed up."

Kira was intrigued, but alarmed. The Jedi Council had created a sophisticated system to track awakenings in the Force. It had been a crucial step in the recovery of the Order shortly after the final battle against the Empire. Kira had learned later in her training that this was how Luke and Leia had found her in the first place. She found it difficult to believe that a full-grown man could slip past that system without another Jedi detecting him.

A man's voice interrupted her thoughts, and both women jogged out of the Amaya to see Han Solo, dazed and disoriented, pulling the creature's sticky, fibrous threads from his clothing and hair. He was clearly upset, and he barked to Kit, "What the pfask is going on?" Han stumbled slightly, still disoriented by the Acronemsis's paralytic venom. Han stumbled toward the still-smoking remains of the Acronemsis then recoiled in disgust.

Kit turned to Kira and rolled her eyes. Then she turned back to Han and shouted, "You and Chewie slept through a lightsaber fight. Kira and I just saved your life."

The words "lightsaber fight" had startled Han, and he looked down to see the melted weapons that the Acronemsis had recently held. He then looked up to see Kira, and, his voice groggy and thick with confusion, said, "Kira, what are you doing here?"

"Ben got a distress call from the Falcon. Yavin is close, so we came to help," she responded. She had always liked Han, but she was concerned by his disheveled appearance and Kit's disdain toward him. She looked over to Kit and sensed her irritation toward the man. Kira knew Han had been Kit's mentor, and Kira was curious what was irritating her. Kit stooped down to the puddle of acidic goo that was melting its way into the surface of the landing pad. She scanned the material with an analysis device, her nose wrinkled by the noxious, sulphuric odor. Kira turned back to Han, frowning slightly at his disorientation, and she explained, "Ben came with me."

At the mention of Ben's name, Han stiffened, becoming fully alert. "Where's my son?" he asked, fear in his voice as he recognized that Ben was not with Kira.