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Arkeo and Iolith stopped. The SIS team was waiting for them at the foot of the ramp. She turned to Arkeo and looked him in the eyes. To Phoriks’ astonishment Arkeo took both her hands into his and bid her goodbye with a Mirialan farewell. “May you always find shelter and warmth.” Phorik had never heard him use it except with other Mirialans.

The smile Iolith bestowed upon his friend in return was warm. “Thank you, for everything.” She applied a gentle squeeze to Arkeo’s hands before she pulled away. “Farewell, Jedi.” She nodded towards both of them and walked down the ramp with her head held high. When she reached the agents she held out her wrists for them to attach a new set of stun cuffs.

Phorik observed Arkeo as he watched the group leave. He knew it was indecent to ask, but his curiosity got the better of him. “She stayed in your cabin.” It wasn’t really a question, at least not the one he wanted to ask.

Arkeo turned and looked at him. Under his friends gaze Phorik could feel his cheeks grow hot. He had known it was indecent. He should have known better than to imply his friend’s indiscretion. First of all he shouldn’t have implied his friend lacked self-control just because he himself did.

Phorik was thankful for the smile appearing on Arkeo’s face. “Let’s go.” Arkeo didn’t dwell on Phorik’s remark, didn’t begrudge him his curiosity.

And yet part of Phorik was disappointed he wouldn’t get an answer to his question, neither affirmative nor negating, no matter if or if not anything out of the ordinary had happened in his friends cabin during the last night. If Arkeo wanted to keep a secret he didn’t betray the slightest hint lest even silence would be interpreted in a certain way. Still Phorik wondered as they walked to the spaceport’s exit together.

If nothing had happened Arkeo could have said so. He never lied. Phorik would have believed him. The fact he hadn’t didn’t automatically portend something had happened, though. Phorik shook his head. Nothing, something, he wasn’t even able to use the word ‘sex’ in his thoughts. Sometimes he still had trouble to deal with what he’d done. A guilty conscience could lead to the dark side, but there was only so much meditation seemed to be able to achieve.

Arkeo usually was of great help when Phorik needed to sort his thoughts and emotions. Except regarding Phorik’s one big misstep on Tython. When Phorik had wanted to talk to him about his night with Ranna, Arkeo had refused to listen and had told him to talk to Master Orgus instead. Of course Arkeo had been right, Phorik had needed to talk to Master Orgus. Phorik had been in too much of a mental turmoil to think much of it back then, but Master Orgus had seemed kind of relieved when he had told him that Arkeo hadn’t offered his advice. Was there some history here that Arkeo didn’t want to, or wasn’t allowed to talk about?

If that was true, then another incident suddenly made sense. Back in their first days on Tython he had been asked to discover if two fellow padawans were cultivating a romance. The masters hadn’t approached Arkeo, and Arkeo hadn’t volunteered his help as he usually did. Phorik had felt like a hypocrite whenever he thought about this task after the night with Ranna. Had Arkeo evaded being a hypocrite?

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had talked about anything and everything with his friend except girls. Somehow Arkeo had managed to avoid the subject. They both already carried their lightsabers. After the chaotic events on Tython they had been sent to Coruscant to complete their theoretical studies in the archives here, but that was rather a formality. Upon their return to Tython they’d both be padawans no longer. If Arkeo was maintaining his silence under an agreement of non-disclosure, Phorik hoped it wouldn’t apply to knights. He needed someone to talk to.

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They had been about to enter the shuttle when the distress call came in. A group of agents escorting an Imperial prisoner to Coruscant was being attacked by boarders. A Sith on his way to join the fight had been spotted. The Imperial ship had attacked the Esseles after they had refused to hand over Republic ambassador Asara. Their group had repelled most of the Imperial boarders, but the Esseles was trapped by the enemy’s tractor beam. All of them had volunteered to fly with a shuttle to the warship and disable the beam. Now it seemed the Imperials had a second objective aboard the Esseles.

“Did he just say Sith?” The lieutenant swallowed. “Kark! The agents will need support. Sergeant, you’ll go with the rest, I’ll head over to the detention cells!”

“She would have shot you the same as me, Nik, and you’re still willing to risk your neck for her. Don’t be such a fool.” The civilian zabrak, supposedly a freighter captain, scolded the young officer.

“Shut up, Giz! This is a military operation. If the Empire wants her back this desperately we will do our best to not let them have her!”

“Lie to yourself all you want, you’re still a fool.”

The lieutenant ignored him and started off towards the elevator.

“Stop, lieutenant!” Arkeo called. He wasn’t exactly sure about his power to direct, but he knew it was time to intervene.

The lieutenant looked at him. “Master Jedi?”

Usually Arkeo would have told him he was only a padawan, now he took advantage of the misunderstanding. “You got your task. You and Sergeant Jorgan are best suited to disable the tractor beam. I am the one best suited to take on the Sith.”

The lieutenant’s head swiveled back towards the elevator. Then he nodded. “Understood, sir.” He boarded the shuttle. The sergeant and the two civilians followed him.

Phorik sighed. “I don’t like this, Arkeo!”

“Neither do I, but that can’t be helped. The Force will be with me. I’ll deal with the Sith.”

“I am a better fighter than you are.”

“Herald won’t be alone!” Qyzen stated.

“No, Qyzen! I want you to go with Phorik.”

The Trandoshan didn’t hesitate. “As you wish, Herald! More glory for both of us!”

Arkeo looked his fellow padawan in the eyes. “There will be much more fighting over there. You have to get the soldiers to the tractor beam control. Don’t worry, Phorik. The Lieutenant will follow your orders. He may smell like a drunkard but I am sure he is sober. Just don’t forget to give him orders.” Arkeo winked. Both of them were used to be on the receiving end for commands.

Phorik nodded. “May the Force be with you!”

“One more thing. Keep an eye on the zabrak and Asara. I saw the captain talking to Officer Haken earlier. Haken might have given him some ideas. We don’t want the ambassador to suffer an accident.” Arkeo clasped Phorik’s arm. “May the Force be with you.”

Arkeo didn’t wait to watch the shuttle leave. He headed straight for the elevator. When he reached the right floor he traded a short status report with the bridge. He gave the order that everybody should stay clear of the Sith, and deactivated his personal com device. He concentrated, inhaled, exhaled, and with a wave of his hand he erased his guise from the visible world. He wouldn’t need further reports on the whereabouts of the Sith. He could already feel him in the Force. His opponent seemed to be too arrogant to disguise his aura, at least that was what Arkeo hoped. If what he felt was a disguise he’d be in for real trouble.

He rounded the corner into the corridor which led to the holding cells. A Sith and four Imperial troopers walked in front of him on their way to join the fight against the SIS agents. The Sith wore high boots and a hooded formfitting robe, moderately reinforced from what Arkeo was able to tell at first glance. He tried to sneak closer in the hope to be able to take at least one opponent out before the actual fight.

However, the Sith sensed him, turned around, and ignited his lightsaber. As expected it was fitted with a red crystal. The Sith flourished the saber in front of him. “Greetings, Jedi. Why don’t you come out to play?” He motioned for the troopers to proceed.

Drawing his double-bladed lightsaber as well Arkeo stepped out of the shadows.

“At last—a true challenge.” A hideous grin distorted the Sith’ chalk-white face even further than the scars at the corners of his mouth did.

“It is not too late for you to leave peacefully, Sith.”

“I was promised a battle and I will have it.” He pointed at Arkeo. “To destroy a dangerous foe… that is the way of the true Sith. When I carve your heart from your chest, your fellow Jedi will sense your defeat. As will my master.”

“Then I assume any further attempt of mine to end this amicably will be futile.” Arkeo changed his position as the Sith started to move. They circled each other with measured steps. Down the corridor Arkeo could hear shots and shouting.

“Peace is a lie, Jedi. There is only passion. And through passion, I gain strength. The power of the dark side is infinite… are you ready to face oblivion?”

Arkeo activated his saber. Blue versus red. “There is no darkness that does not flee from the light.”

“There will be no fleeing from this fight!” The Sith charged.

They traded some blows to test their respective adversary’s strength. Down the corridor the din of fighting grew louder. The Sith’ grin widened. He seemed to delve into the vibes from the fight down the corridor, to thrive with every shout of pain. Arkeo pushed all this aside to concentrate on the fight at hand. He let the calmness of the Force flow into his mind. The slightest quivers in the Force told him which attack to expect, which move to counter, blow to parry, and feint to ignore. He was aware of his opponent’s fear, hatred and loathing, but they could not touch him, glanced off of his mental shield. He was filled with the light of the Force, there was no room for emotions.

As the fight progressed it became clear to Arkeo that the Sith’ saber technique was better than his own, maybe even better than Phorik’s. Nonetheless Arkeo wasn’t worried for himself. Even though the Sith managed to break through the Jedi’s guard several times, he wasn’t able to pierce his Force shield. With every deflected attack the Sith’s blows became stronger though, he drew on his anger which was nearly palpable now. Despite this they’d probably be able to go on like this for a while. And while the Sith had all the time he needed, Arkeo was aware of the fact the SIS agents were hard pressed.

Arkeo jumped back to evade the attacking Sith. He dove sideways circumventing the next blow and rolled out of the Sith’ reach. With the same motion he got back to his feet and deactivated his saber. The time the Sith needed to turn towards him was enough for Arkeo to step back into the shadows whence he had come from. He heard the Sith’ saber whiz past his head and nearly tripped over his own feet to avoid being hit as the weapon circled back to its master’s outstretched hand.

The Sith’ brow furrowed. Arkeo stepped behind his opponent just in time. The Sith’ lightning bolt shot through the empty corridor towards the still ongoing fight that was Arkeo’s destination. His opponent walked in the right direction, dousing his path with lightning to drive Arkeo out of hiding. Arkeo remained always in his back. Rushing headlong into the fight would gain him nothing with his foe following right behind.

They rounded the next corner and the Sith’ lightning felled one of his own men. The twitching body did little to discourage the remaining Imperial troopers, though. The Sith knew Arkeo was here. He started to turn and scan the shadows. Arkeo hurried past him and tried to stay out of the line of fire of the Esseles’ defenders. The time for negotiations had long passed. In activating his lightsaber again he dispatched of another one of the Imperial troopers before he whirled and engaged the Sith.

***

“Stay with me, agent.” She tapped the man’s cheek lightly. To do so she had to let go of the towel she used to apply pressure to the agent’s wound. “Kark! Kerin, give me the kriffing code for the stun cuffs.” She looked over her shoulder at the second agent who was firing his blaster over and over again at the attackers in the corridor outside. “I can’t stop the bleeding like this.”

“Good luck convincing me you actually want to do something useful for a change. How dumb do you think I am, Zairos?” He ducked back behind the door-frame and exchanged his blaster’s energy cell for that of his dying partner’s.

“Dumb enough to get all of us killed, obviously. Kark!” Iolith continued to apply pressure to the wound as best she could. “Can we put discrepancies regarding your IQ aside for a moment?”

Kerin didn’t bother with an answer. He was busy trying to shoot Imperial troopers; judging from the sound of returned shots, not very successfully.

“Free me and give me a weapon. Damned. I want to die just as little as Miko here.”

Miko’dres coughed.

“Don’t worry, Miko. You’ll be fine. Just keep your eyes open. Talk to me. Do you hear me! Tell me one of your terrible jokes!” She looked over her shoulder again and raised here voice. “At least I’ll die laughing when they shoot me after they took out your damned thickheaded partner. I swear three square meters of good old Kaasian jungle have a higher IQ than he does.”

“They won’t shoot you!” Miko whispered.

“What?”

The agent coughed again. “They… —Kilran wants you alive.”

“Kilran? What would Kilran want with me?”

“Marry. You’re be…” Another cough. “…betrothed.”

“Force, Miko. Your jokes have certainly been better.”

“No joke. Your family—they are all dead.”

She sat back in shock. Her brain did some somersaults to sort this new information into existing plans and possibilities. Her father, her sisters, if they were really dead that would make her—she’d be heir to House Zairos. She hoped the family crypt had been bolted. Her ancestors were probably already gathering for a protest march. Kilran didn’t want her; never wanted her. He wanted House Zairos. She had refused to be the breeding mare for a minor Sith lord; she certainly wouldn’t be one for Force-blind Grand Karking Moff Kilran.

Miko’dres groaned.

Iolith got back to preventing the man from dying. “Kilran can get stuffed! You hear me Miko? As far as I remember I turned him down the last time he asked me. Betrothed. Damned! Who does he think he is?”

“Conk him!”

“You bet!”

He whispered something she didn’t understand. He tugged at her arm. She got closer to him and he whispered it in her ear—the code for the stun cuffs.

***

There was another scream from the door to the detention cells. The Sith laughed. “Time to end this, Jedi!”

Arkeo retreated as the Sith rained blow after blow at him. Another life had ended in the adjoining room. He had not been able to prevent it. There was no death, there was only the Force. He was too slow in dodging a bolt of lightning. The electricity made his shield glow. His hair stood on end. Parrying was all he could do now. The Sith seemed to be even stronger.

Out of the corner of his eyes Arkeo saw the troopers approaching the door. A figure appeared in the door-frame.

“Stop, or I’ll shoot myself.” The woman pressed a blaster beneath her chin.

The troopers stopped their advance.

The Sith hissed and disengaged from Arkeo. He turned and yanked the blaster out of the womans hand with the Force. “I don’t think so.”

Arkeo didn’t wait for another invitation. He propelled himself forward and pushed the Sith into the closest wall. He followed this move with a kick as the Sith tried to regain his footing. The Sith stumbled once more and exposed a joint in his armor. Arkeo’s blade found its mark.

“Look out!”

Arkeo whirled, deflected one shot and dodged the next. With a twitch of his wrist he propelled the woman’s blaster at the helmet of one of the troopers.

The Imperials made the mistake to discard the woman as harmless and concentrated on the Jedi; a mistake one of them had no time to regret when she stabbed him in the back with a vibro-knife.

Arkeo killed another one of them with a deflected blaster bolt. Then he had reached two more who learned blue was as deadly a color as red.

The woman shot the last remaining trooper with one of their own weapons.

Arkeo looked at her over his still ignited lightsaber. “Are you one of the agents?”

“No, I am the prisoner.” She dropped the weapon, turned, and headed back into the room.

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