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“Why so surprised, Lord Rusan? Didn’t think you’d see me at this critical time” mused Zacom. “Unfortunately for you, the power of the acolytes has vastly opened up my ability in the Force. I now see that you and the Jedi are a joke. The powers you and all the others possess are merely abbreviated.” She then turned to the dark lord. “And you, Sith. Though you possess much destructive power, you haven’t tasted the true power that the Force can allow you to wield.” “I don’t need to,” said Raze in a furious but subtle reply. “My Order defeated the acolytes and their insurrection many millennia ago. We are now more powerful and numerous than they could ever be.” “Oh but things do change, Lord Raze” replied Zacom. “We will see,” bellowed Raze as he ignited his darksabre and charged at the acolyte. With hardly any effort, Zacom raised her hand at the hard charging Sith. Raze was flung spinning head over heels into a far wall of the hangar. “Any other takers” said Zacom as she gazed upon Lord Rusan. The Jedi Lord ignited her green blade. “I don’t want to fight you, Zacom. Please do not make me do this,” she pleaded. “That’s too bad,” said Zacom in reply. “You may have tried to be a good master, but now it is finally time for the torch to be passed on.” “No. I refuse to give in to this,” replied Rusan. “Have it your way, then” said Zacom. She raised a hand to the Jedi, and blue Force lightning struck out at her. Rusan instinctively raised her blade to the bolts of lightning to deflect them. “Ah what a nuisance that green blade is” said Zacom. She hurled more blue bolts at the Jedi, and while she was distracted, used the Force to pull the saber out of her hand and throw it clear across the hangar. “Just to show you that I am not all bad, Lord Rusan, I will sheathe my saber,” said Zacom. She extinguished her blade and clipped it back onto her belt. “This must be decided…hand to hand,” said the acolyte, her pride getting the best of her. Zacom immediately made straight for Rusan. The Jedi held her ground. Zacom double-somersaulted into the air and came down upon Rusan with an extended leg. She hit the Jedi Lord square in the chest and sent her hard to the floor. “So be it,” said Rusan as she quickly got back up. “You leave me no choice.” Zacom somersaulted into the air again to strike at Rusan. This time, the Jedi was prepared. She channeled all of her strength in the Force, and grabbed the acolyte in mid-air. In one swift and clean motion, she sent the acolyte hurling backwards through the air with a Force Push. Zacom crashed into a few supply crates that stood quite a few feet from Rusan. Zacom recovered nicely and used Force Speed to rush Rusan. The Jedi’s reflexes were lightning fast. She raised her hand again at the acolyte. Zacom stopped dead in her tracks, seemingly hitting an invisible wall. She gathered herself and quickly closed the distance between her and the Jedi. She was fast to throw a closed fist at the Jedi. Rusan simply used her Force Speed to step aside and dodge the blow. Zacom threw another shot at Rusan, and this time Rusan caught her hand. The Jedi used her free arm to throw an elbow into Zacom’s ribs. Zacom immediately staggered backwards, shocked at the physical strength Rusan was demonstrating. The acolyte wasted no time. She came back at the Jedi with a swift roundhouse kick aimed right for Rusan’s head. Rusan was too slow to react this time, and the kick connected with the Jedi’s jaw. Rusan slightly staggered back, but still showed her determination had not wavered. Frustrated, Zacom rained down punch after punch on the Jedi. It seemed as though every single time that Rusan was there to block each of her blows. After a few minutes of her futile attempts at a brawl, Zacom backed off to recover some strength. “She seems to be a master of hand to hand…but I surely doubt that she can handle my saber skills,” thought Zacom. Again she went at Rusan with her fists flying. But this was only to serve as a distraction to the Jedi while Zacom fired up her blade. Rusan was able to sense the acolyte’s deception. As Zacom threw down a heavy right punch on the Jedi, her other hand was simultaneously switching on one of her blue blades behind her back. She quickly retracted her fist and swung the saber around, sure to cut the Jedi in half. But Rusan was quick. She leaped backwards a safe distance just in time as the blade went knifing harmlessly through the empty air. Rusan quickly ignited her green blade and engaged the young acolyte. Zacom was taken aback by the Jedi’s attack. As her blade met Rusan’s with a loud crack, Zacom noticed a furious streak in Rusan that she had never seen before. The Jedi Lord pressed the attack and began to drive Zacom back at an alarming pace. Zacom was able to channel her strength back into the duel after a few moments of the onslaught. She focused her energy, and pressed a counter attack. Cracks of lightning and similar noises filled the air as their blades met strike for strike. For every wide blow Rusan dealt, Zacom’s blade was there to stop it dead in its tracks. For each quick thrust Zacom parlayed, Rusan’s blade diverted it harmlessly away to the side. The duel raged on for what seemed like forever. Finally, both of the fighters pulled away and rested briefly. Zacom couldn’t understand how Rusan seemed to have no weaknesses whatsoever in her dueling style.
As she was thinking this matter over, a quick shock in the Force alerted her to danger behind her. She ignited her other blue blade and wheeled around fast. The blade met another with a shower of golden sparks. Darth Raze had recovered and engaged the acolyte. He removed his blade from the saber lock and hopped backwards away from Zacom. “I have wanted nothing more than to destroy you both on separate occasions. Now I have you both in one spot and can do this simultaneously. This shall be a day long remembered,” exclaimed the dark lord. The three Force wielders stepped back from each other, seeming to make a triangle with their body positions. Each of the warriors lifted their blades high in a formal salute. “Suddenly, Raze and Zacom ignored each other and charged at Rusan. Raze and Zacom both struck at Rusan from overhead in the same instant, but the Jedi Lord was able to meet their blades and force them off of hers. Both of the attackers staggered back at the power behind the force of the green blade. They both looked at each other, and attacked. Rusan was quick to avoid the battle as she ran behind towards some large crates to observe the duel form a safe distance. Zacom came in low with a sweeping saber attack. Raze jumped over the swing and brought his blade down upon her from overhead. She was quick to recover and her blade met his in mid-swing. They exchanged fast sideswipes before settling back to analyze each other’s attacks. A sly grin came across Raze’s face, and Zacom got a bad feeling. With a quick motion from his hand, Raze used the Force to cut Zacom’s legs out from under her. She fell to the floor as Raze looked to be running away. “Come back here, coward” shouted Zacom as she got back to her feet. Raze continued to run across the hangar. It was soon clear to Zacom that he was headed for a catwalk high above the hangar floor. Aided by the Force, he managed a very high leap and landed on the catwalk. “Scared, young one” mocked Raze. Zacom bolted for the stairway that led to the catwalk. She drew out both of her blades as she approached the dark lord. She reasoned that, with the right attack, she could defeat the Sith easily with both blades. One blade would clear the dark lord’s saber away while the other would descend on him for the victorious strike! Zacom rushed hard at Raze. She brought the first blade across from the right. Raze’s dark blade was there to block it. Zacom pushed against the lock so that she could clear the blade and bring the other around. The dark lord was able to force the first blade away and deflect the second one harmlessly aside. Zacom pressed the same attack again, this time with more fury. She encountered the same result. Zacom tried again and again, mixing up her strikes to throw off the dark lord. It seemed as if Raze was expending only a small amount of energy in deflecting the blows. Zacom decided to try a more efficient attack on the Sith. She brought the sabers down from above, end over end, on Raze. He still was able to dodge and parry the strikes, but it did require much more effort on his part this time. She was slowly forcing him back onto his heels. Sensing that he was losing focus, she pressed the attack even harder in her strikes. He continued to give ground grudgingly with each counter strike he dealt. Zacom had to pause for a moment because her strength was ebbing. Raze used this moment to gather his strength and press a strong counter attack on her. He went forward, swinging at one blade first, and then striking at the other. He was able to force the acolyte off balance with his aggressive assault. The dark lord used the Force to enhance his nest few strikes. He struck furiously at Zacom’s left blade, which forced her arm backwards. He then quickly reversed his thrust and struck with so much force on the other blade that it was sent flying form Zacom’s hand and to the hangar floor below. Raze didn’t let up. He tried to swing at her down low, but she was able to bring her arm back in time for her blade to stop his. She used the power of his attack to her advantage. She swung high laterally, hoping to strike his head. Raze ducked fast to avoid the strike. Zacom’s blade in turn sliced right through a metal ceiling support for the catwalk section upon which they stood. Only three remained now to hold both of them on the metal grating. They began exchanging swing after swing yet again, with one hitting their desired target. Raze was able to catch Zacom’s blade in a lock and he used her momentum to thrust it back into her shoulder. The blade only skinned the acolyte’s shoulder, but the strike drew blood as a small piece of the acolytes shoulder was eradicated, revealing the red muscle beneath. Zacom staggered back in pain, glancing at the wound. An intense hatred filled her. She somersaulted over above the dark lord, catching him off guard. She landed on the opposite side of the catwalk and pressed another aggressive attack. He was able to match her blow for blow, but was again being driven back. Zacom brought her blade across to cut at Raze’s midsection, but he was quick to react. As he spun off of the strike, his blade accidentally severed another metal support, sending both of them crashing to the floor. They landed violently. Each tried to get back up, but neither could. Rusan had been watching the duel the entire time, and realized that this was her chance to end a huge part of this new war. She ignited her green blade and walked over to the near paralyzed fighters. “I’m sorry to have to do this, young one,” said the Jedi Lord. “You simply leave me no choice. As for you, Raze, no explanation is necessary.” She twirled her blade about her, readying to deal the death strikes. She was suddenly sent flying many yards across the floor. As Rusan got back up and turned to face her aggressor, a dark figure stood in the hangar entryway. “Get the hell away from my apprentice,” the infuriated figure said. Rusan immediately recognized the figure as that of a Sith Master. “Not good” she thought to herself. She had only come to rescue Master Buwat, not pick a decisive fight with the Sith Lords. There would be time and place for that later, but not now. More important matters mandated that the Jedi Lord depart…quickly. She extinguished her blade and headed for the shuttle her group had commandeered. Scourge watched with great anticipation as the shuttle lifted off for open space. The Jedi’s had been allowed to escape. Scourge was quick to walk over to where Lord Raze and Zacom lay. She put her outstretched hand over the dark lord. Moments later, his eyes snapped open, and he was fast back on his feet again. Zacom still lay on the floor, nearly unconscious. “What became of the Jedi, my master?” asked Raze. “I allowed them to escape,” replied Scourge. “What? Why? What about Buwat” said the dark lord, his voice obvious with agitation. “Forget her Lord Raze” said Scourge. “This little one will make a fine addition to our grand army.” She began to laugh in a maniacal way. Raze started to chuckle lightly, then joined his master in a full on evil laugh. This powerful Force wielder, this self-proclaimed acolyte, was now under the control of the Sith. If she could be turned to the Sith, she would most definitely help to bring the Jedi and the Republic to their knees. Even if it meant having to dispose of Lord Raze in the process, though only Scourge was aware of that possibility, of course.
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