Loyalty/Part 17

The Selkath Jedi Knight's blade passed so close to Zeff's mask that the acrid tang of ozone filled his helmet's rebreather. Jabbing toward the fishlike alien's face, Zeff tried to catch him on the opening, but the Selkath jerked his arms back to deflect the stab, and Zeff had to twist aside from a blow at his neck.

Shrizzzqadl struggled to his feet and reactivated his lightsaber, but two Force blows in the space of half a minute had clearly taken a toll on him. Nawsa Arodion was headed their way, and Zeff knew a moment of fear. Pressing himself to the limits of his skill, he was holding the Selkath Jedi Knight at bay—perhaps slipping ahead now and then—but he had no illusions that he could face a Jedi Master and survive.

Zeff paid for his moment of fear with a burn to his left forearm, though Darth Alecto's training had sharpened his reflexes enough that he kept the limb attached, and a lifetime under the tutelage of the Sith turned that pain into hyperfocus, allowing him to drive the Jedi back. Danger was building in the back of his mind like pressure behind a dam, but it eased as he sensed Nevya returning to the fight.

The Selkath skipped back ahead of one of Zeff's swings, then jumped in with a leaping stab. Zeff switched his saber to a reverse grip and spun—his sideways block was so awkward they almost came shoulder to shoulder, but it was worth the instant of discomfort when he reversed into a stab, shearing through the Selkath's hip and carving out three centimeters of abdomen as the Jedi's momentum carried him all the way into the lightsaber's emitter.

The Selkath howled and staggered back, tucking his elbows to his body in a last, feeble defense, but Zeff had him now, and he closed for the kill. One, two, three blows, then a fourth that twisted the Selkath's lightsaber so hard his body arched and he gave a strange, warbling scream as the open wound widened. Zeff stabbed and raked off part of the Selkath's neck; as he choked, clapping one hand to the wound, Zeff stabbed again past his shattered guard and gouged off a hunk of his leg. The Selkath dropped his lightsaber as he sank to his knees, and Zeff finally hacked off his head.

Turning, he saw Shrizzzqadl leaning on a railing and, beyond, Nevya dueling Arodion. Nevya fought with all her brutal strength, but she had bled off some speed. The CorSec guards were trying to get Galera Solo clear, leaving their wounded or dead comrade to his fate, but Shrizzzqadl stretched out a hand and two of the guards stumbled. All three of them shot back, and Zeff had to race to Shrizzzqadl's aid to help him deflect fire.

Slipping wide of one of Nevya's strokes, Arodion glanced and seemed to understand what had happened. She turned back to the duel and pressed in, driving an attack at last, and Nevya struggled to adapt to the change in the fight.

"Solo!" Shrizzzqadl snarled; he deflected a shot into a CorSec agent's chest, and the woman went down.

"We—" Zeff said, but he never finished the sentence, because Nawsa Arodion blew Nevya back into the railing overlooking the ground floor, so hard the metal bent behind her hip. Pain flashed across Nevya's face, but as Arodion charged at Jedi speed, her Anzat reflexes were up to the challenge. They traded blows once…twice…Arodion sent Nevya's short sword spiraling out of her hand…

And as Nevya drew a knife without missing a beat, Arodion took one hand off her lightsaber hilt to block the stab, then impaled Nevya through the stomach.

"Nevya!" Zeff cried, shock paralyzing his fury for a moment; Shrizzzqadl hissed at his side, his consternation beyond words. Nevya dropped her knife and cried out in pain…but one of her hands seized Arodion's sword hand and the lightsaber hilt it held, holding the blade inside her, the emitter up against her abdomen. Zeff could tell Arodion was stunned for a split second, and when Nevya used that window to glance at Galera Solo, Zeff sensed resolve beneath her anguish.

Her free hand shot out to grab the base of Arodion's skull and draw her closer, and she opened the recesses in her cheeks to extend her Anzat proboscises. Zeff watched in horrified awe; dealt a wound that would have laid low most beings, and might have killed some, Nevya was responding by trying to feed on her attacker. Galera Solo and the surviving CorSec agents stared too, and Arodion's eyes widened; apparently even the Jedi Master could not quite believe what was happening.

She got over her shock quickly, bracing her hand against Nevya's shoulder and trying to push her away, or even hold her at bay. Even injured, Nevya's Anzat strength was well beyond what a mere Human could muster, and Arodion's elbow buckled and started to bend. But Nawsa Arodion was no mere Human, and Zeff sensed her channel the Force into her limbs for strength. The women warred against each other, Nevya's native strength, desperation, and whisper of Forcefulness straining to overcome Arodion's mastery of the Jedi arts.

Nevya's proboscises stretched to their limit and grazed Arodion's nose—still reeling, Zeff's mind latched onto the image of a squid trying to grab with its tentacles an object just out of reach—and Arodion leaned away. As she did, Nevya let her go, and, unopposed, Arodion pushed them apart so hard the lightsaber blade sticking out of Nevya's back twitched up a few centimeters. Nevya howled, but she seized one of the last throwing knives on her belt and flung it at Galera Solo.

The whole struggle, from the initial stab to the thrown blade, took only a few seconds, but not for nothing was Nawsa Arodion a Jedi Master; even off balance and facing an enemy with a shocking resistance to death, her reflexes were equal to the challenge…almost. She did not catch the knife in midair, but the Force diverted it; it sliced through Solo's trapezius and drew a scream from the Corellian royal's lips, but though she collapsed back into her guards' arms, she was very much still alive.

Nevya grabbed for Arodion's throat, but this time the Jedi caught her wrist, and Zeff knew a moment of clarity, understanding what had unfolded and would unfold now, what could be done and what was beyond help. Grabbing Shrizzzqadl's elbow, he said, "Time to go."

"But Solo!" the Zanibar protested.

"Trust me! We need to go now!" And he turned and ran the way Satir Solo and his guards had gone, with Shrizzzqadl a few meters behind.

Zeff would gladly have fallen into battle with Nawsa Arodion if he, Shrizzzqadl, and Nevya could prevail over the Jedi Master, but even with Nevya at full strength, Arodion was beyond them. And with Nevya wounded, whatever chance they might have had was lost like mist slipping through their fingers. He had sensed it when first the Corellian Jedi's eyes had fallen on him—to fight her was to die, and there would be no victory for the Sith. Not here; not now.

"If Solo survives—" Shrizzzqadl started.

"It's fine!" Zeff said as he cut through a window and leapt to the ground below. Pulling out his comlink as soon as he landed, he called, "Dolre!"

"Where the hell are you?!"

"I just got out; Shrizzzqadl's with me. Where are you?"

"I'm on my way back to the Scourge now."

Zeff missed a step; Shrizzzqadl almost ran him over. "What?"

"I killed Satir Solo and a couple CEC people. Where's Lady Khiyali?"

Even as Zeff depressed the transmit button on his comlink, the Force stung him, and he knew the answer.