#valss

Running. Constant running. Since his feet hit the surface of Copero, Lelaan hadn't stopped running, couldn't afford to. A lot of house Inrokini guards had tried to stop him but he wouldn't allow them. He tried dispatching them as fast as possible without killing but it was impossible to leave all of them alive. He would have to lock the implications of his actions away for the moment, lest he waver in his pace.

As soon as he was done with a mob of guards, he immediately started running again. Now and then he wondered if Raina was okay with it. He didn't know her capabilities and limits, even though she radiated military discipline. She never complained or asked for a breather once. Whether she did that because she could keep up with him without a problem or she noticed his fierce determination, Lelaan wasn't sure, but he was equally grateful to whichever possibility.

At least he had the option to not kill Zenta. Force damn him if he was going to let Saganu hold an alliance hostage under the condition of committing cold blooded murder. Yes, Raina was right, Zenta had committed an act of aggression against the Eternal Alliance by harboring Theron, which is why Lelaan decided on imprisoning her. The Ascendancy might not like it and Saganu might need to save face and denounce the decision, but the woman was helpless. He may not have technically been a Jedi anymore but he never forfeited their teachings. Good thing Lana insisted on coming along to Copero, she could see to securing Zenta while he continued towards his goal.

The following logic puzzles on the mountain were frustrating. Had the urgency not been what it was, Lelaan might have enjoyed the challenges, at least for the novelty of having to overcome obstacles by thinking, instead of by killing or maiming. No, no time to think about the countless dead bodies and scarred survivors. Theron was priority number one.

He could feel the spy's presence. It was muffled, masked, most likely by the Force sensitive Saganu had mentioned. Lelaan reached out a few times, trying to read his aura, but he couldn't get a good grip. The Force sensitive must have been impressively adept, plus, as Lelaan concluded on Umbara, Theron had also learned how to hide his aura from his view. That realization had stung just as much as the betrayal. Lelaan had offered to teach Theron how to do it, so he would have some privacy, but Theron declined each time, saying he had nothing to hide from the Jedi. Apparently, he actually had a lot to hide, including the fact he learned this ability through other means and behind his back.

As he got closer, though, he could sense Theron stronger and stronger. He was most likely at the top of the steps that were beyond three frozen doorways.

They were waiting. A boulder flew from the top of the stairs at him and Raina. Without missing a breath, Lelaan jumped, cut the boulder in half with his lightsaber and used the Force to have the two pieces fly past them without causing them any harm.

"Be ready for anything!", he yelled back to Raina, whose aura spiked with determination. He could even swear the Force potential he sensed in her was stronger than he initially thought.

Questions about that would have to wait because, as soon as he reached the top of the stairs, he found himself engaged in a duel with the Chiss Force sensitive. He noticed Theron further away, and he was getting even further away.

Putting a little more force and speed behind a hit, he caught the Chiss off footing and guided him to turn on his heel. Once he lost his balance, Lelaan Force pushed him hard to the side, off the edge of the cliff. He made sure to do it in the right direction and at the right angle to have the Chiss eventually grab hold of a ledge and not fall to his death. There'd been enough of it by his hand that day.

"Theron, stop!" was the only thing the spy heard before a boomerang of white light zoomed right in front of him in an arc, causing him to skid to a halt in his run. He wouldn't get the chance to start running again before the Jedi caught up to him.

When he felt a hand on his right upper arm, in one fluid motion he turned around, left hand throwing a capsule in Lelaan's wake and right hand finding the spot on Lelaan's midsection that had only cloth covering his body, no armor, and turned on the hidden taser in his glove.

As soon as the capsule hit the ground, a domed shield erupted from it, enveloping the two. He felt Lelaan tense up and wrapped his left arm around his back, bringing his body close when his knees buckled from the shock. The intensity of the taser was high enough to make sure the Jedi would be rendered helpless long enough to not interfere.

“I’m sorry.”, Theron whispered, his right hand snaking around Lelaan’s waist, slowly bringing him down to the ground. His only response came in the form of barely audible pained grunts and yelps. “It’ll all make sense soon enough.”, he continued, gently laying the Jedi down, cradling the back of his head, the Miraluka’s body spasming slightly from the shock.

He heard another pained grunt and looked up noticing Raina, who had tried slamming into the domed shield. She probably though she could run through and rush him while he was busy with Lelaan but she only got shocked herself by the dome and had to jump back to avoid serious injuries.

The wind started picking up and Theron got up and started running, jumping of the edge of the cliff and into a ship that had just risen from below.

“Valss, get in!”, he yelled when the ship rounded the cliff and he saw the Chiss climbing up the ledge.

“You go on, Theron! Victory is your fate, not mine!”

Before the ship flew off, Theron cast one more look towards Lelaan. The paralysis seemed to have worn off, the Jedi slowly getting up. Valss was just getting to his feet and the domed shield had collapsed. He saw Raina run to Lelaan and help him up, the Jedi igniting a lightsaber as soon as he was on his feet, attention drawn to Valss.

“You’ll never win!”, was the last thing Theron got to say before the ship flew away from the mountain top.

***

“It’ll all make sense soon enough.”

It seemed like that was indeed the case. Sitting in his quarters, datapad in hand and message from Hylo open, Lelaan had put more clues together. If Theron didn’t want his transmissions to be intercepted, they wouldn’t be.

The Order of Zildrog. That was a name he never thought he’d hear again. And now the Heralds were an Order, they had gone up in the world since he last encountered them. He’d have to speak with Senya and Arcann about this, probably bring Koth in, too, since it was thanks to him that things were kept relatively civil the last time. However, since now they had made it their life’s goal to kill him and destroy the Alliance, maybe civility wouldn’t be so easily achieved anymore.

What was bothering the Commander was also the message he received from Lana and the venom that was almost tangible in her words. He hadn’t thought of her as Sith in a very long time but this message reminded him exactly where she came from. He understood her feelings, however. Even though he was becoming more and more certain Theron was still on the Alliance’s side and acting as a double agent, there was still so much that went wrong because of his lack of communication – people got hurt, killed, feelings of betrayal and abandonment were rampant around the base. Maybe he hadn’t meant what he said on Umbara, maybe he only said it to get the Commander to stop trusting him, but Lelaan did feel like he was starting to lose control – of the situation, of those under his command, of himself.

He needed to end this and get clear answers, once and for all.

 Notes:

1. Yes, I’m a firm believer Theron is double-triple-dog dare agenting the Order and no one can tell me otherwise.

2. I feel there’s a huge missed opportunity with not addressing the amount of people that are dying in all this. There was just one mention from Marr’s ghost, then the Commander can tell Theron millions will die if he goes ahead with his plan but it feels unreal, like those aren’t people, just a vague concept. Given especially how many people die by the Commander’s hand on Copero, this is a huge oversight.