The Fog of War/Part 17

The government center was located downtown, but afforded a spacious front square full of now-toppled monuments and a few surviving trees. Sith patrols paced the square and a handful of Acolytes stood guard at the doors; any frontal assault would be suicide without a battalion of soldiers, and maybe a walker or two. But the killing field worked both ways, and as the first Sith soldiers fell to sniper fire and an entire squad went up in the flames and shrapnel of a rocket-propelled grenade, the survivors scrambled for cover that didn't exist.

Narasi saw the Acolytes igniting their lightsabers and ached to be down there; it was a diversion, but the resistance had to hold long enough to provide an escape corridor for the Jedi, and if the Acolytes got enough steam to take the fight to the resistance they were doomed. But Tirien watched without a change of expression until Master Kadych's voice crackled over the comm. "Go."

He stood and leapt, the Force carrying him from the roof of the legislative office building to the government center's. Narasi and Slejux copied him on either side, though Narasi hit the ledge and had to roll across the rooftop gravel. Tucking her face so her still-healing nose wouldn't impact the ground, she rolled up into a crouch, hand on her lightsaber, in time to see two very startled sentries fly back into the door hard enough that they went unconscious instantly. Both Jedi Knights knelt beside them; while Slejux guided their minds into a deeper state of unconsciousness, Tirien filched a security card and opened the roof door.

The interior of the building muffled the blasterfire and explosions as the battle in the square raged on, though Narasi could dimly sense it. The wide windows bathed the hallway in the mid-morning light and the soft carpet muffled their bootsteps, but the darkness pressed down on her all the same, limiting her perceptions and sending chills down her spine. She had no doubt Darth Vaszas was here; she had never before been in a building so saturated with the dark side, but its taint was unmistakable.

The call to arms at the front door had drawn most of the patrols away, and Tirien and Slejux's Force pushes dispatched the few they encountered. Ducking behind a pillar, Tirien tapped his wrist comlink. "We've secured the upper floor. The Force is clouded, but I think I have a read on the hostages."

"Get on it," Mali Darakhan's voice came back. "We'll catch up with you when Vaszas and Vandak are neutralized."

"May the Force be with you, Mali."

"And also with you."

Tirien pointed two fingers at a security cam, which trembled for a second. "All clear."

They made their way down the grand staircase, ducking behind statues and columns when necessary to let guards pass on their way to the firefight. After a group had thundered down the stairs, Tirien asked, "Slejux?"

"They're not all dead," he confirmed. It had been Master Kadych who theorized that the Sith would have retained a few hostages, if only in the interest of continued leverage and keeping the utilities running. "But they're weak, and under guard."

"Guards that are going to be a problem?"

"For them? Very much so.  For us?  Not at all."

Tirien almost smiled as they followed Slejux toward a more austere hallway, but the expression faltered and he fell behind. Narasi kept pace with Slejux for a few steps, but then turned to find her master frozen in the middle of the corridor, eyes staring at nothing but shifting back and forth quickly.

"Master? What's wrong?"

He refocused on her, his expression grim. "You were right," he said. "She is here."

Narasi stared until it clicked, then felt her own eyes widen as a shiver threatened from the base of her spine. "Alecto?" When he nodded, she asked, "What do we do?"

"Alecto's presence changes the calculus," Slejux warned. "If she's here, the others may be walking into a trap."

"And if she leaves, there's no way the resistance will hold against her." Tirien cleared his expression. "Narasi, go with Slejux. Rescue the hostages and get them out.  I'll deal with Alecto."

"What?! No!" Narasi insisted. "I'm going with you."

"Alecto's not an Anzat," Tirien said. "And this isn't a discussion."

"Alecto is lethal," Slejux agreed, but even as Narasi shot him a betrayed look, he added, "and that's why Narasi should go with you, Tirien."

"Slejux—"

"I can handle the guards without help; I say it without arrogance, but with certainty. Can you say the same of Alecto and whatever else she may have waiting?"

Tirien gritted his teeth, but Narasi saw Slejux's reasoning working on him, and they all knew they were out of time. "Fine. Be safe, friend."

"And you."

Tirien looked down at her. "Let's go."

They took an internal stairwell down and almost walked right into a dark side adept, still buckling on his armor. His eyes widened and he reached for his lightsaber, but Tirien struck him in the throat and his eyes bulged. The man clasped his neck reflexively as he choked, and Tirien threw him over the railing; he fell in silence until he impacted concrete some six stories down.

"That was…effective," Narasi commented.

"Listen to me," her master answered, though he didn't pause as they darted down the stairs. "These aren't soldiers we can afford to take down peacefully. Dark siders are too dangerous—to us and everyone else.  Strike with purpose; don't hate them, but don't hesitate."

"Yes Master," Narasi answered. It was different now, somehow; she had psyched herself up for battle, but going to a confrontation with a Sith Lord…and Alecto, no less…

"Calm," Tirien said.

The roof guard's keycard didn't work on the maintenance door at the bottom of the stairs. Narasi reached for her lightsaber, but Tirien pulled the access panel off with the Force, then set to work on the wires, unplugging a few while Narasi stepped carefully away from the expanding pool of blood where the adept had fallen. After a moment Tirien tapped two wires together and the door opened.

"Suwo?" she asked.

"Yes." He looked once into the maintenance corridor beyond, then took her by the shoulders. "I almost lost you to Alecto once. Never again.  This isn't about Shadeez, or Rhosa; this is about protecting innocent people here and now.  Stay close, stay focused, trust the Force, and follow my lead."

"Yes Master," Narasi pledged, and now she took her lightsaber hilt in hand. After her close call with the Anzat, the last thing she planned to do was charge right into Alecto's waiting blade. "I'm ready."

He measured her with his eyes, and, she suspected, with the Force, then nodded and drew the curved hilt from his own belt.

As they crept through the maintenance area, Narasi found herself thinking of attractive people; no matter how pretty they were, they all had intestines and colons that kept the nice outside working properly. So too the government center; where the upstairs was spacious halls and crystal chandeliers, the subbasement was a maze of pipes at head level, knee level, chest level, and sometimes all three in a wall of plasteel and sheet metal. The lights overhead functioned, but the ceilings were low; Narasi thought she might scorch the permacrete if she drew her blade to a high enough guard. The area was warm, too, and though they all looked sealed, the pipes were sweating condensation. She thought Tirien would've rolled his sleeves up if he hadn't been so focused.

As they slipped over a metal pipe so thick Narasi was sure it was carrying sewage, Tirien breathed, "I know she's here."

"Can you sense her?" Narasi whispered back.

"Not now…stay close."

She did, but followed his earlier injunction as well, sinking into the Force. The shadows became less threatening, uncertainty receded a bit. The dark side still weighed down, but Narasi thought of the Force lighting her path a few steps at a time; she couldn't see the whole way, but she was fairly sure the next step wouldn't kill her either.

Then the Force's glow became a glaring spotlight, and she activated her blade on instinct. Spinning, she brought it into guard in time to intercept a ruby blade cutting at her neck. She pushed against it for a second until Tirien's green blade snap-hissed to life and flashed in like an adder's bite, and her assailant threw himself back.

There was a second snap-hiss at her back, and Tirien's blade vanished as quickly as it had appeared; Narasi heard an exchange of blows, too fast to count, her eyes locked on her own attacker as he regained solid footing. He wore light armor, but a full-face helmet. When she sensed Tirien move, Narasi pivoted to move with him side-by-side.

And there she was. Darth Alecto sauntered out of the shadows, scarlet blade glowing in one hand, the cruel smile Narasi remembered on her lips and the three black arrowheads around her left eye. But something was off about her expression; she looked pleased to see them, but a little surprised, too.

"You were right, my lady," Narasi's attacker said; his helmet made his voice robotic, but the darkness in the Force assured Narasi he wasn't a droid.

"Of course," Alecto answered, though the words and the arrogant tone with which she said them didn't match that look in her eyes. But her confusion vanished as she grinned at Tirien. "Hello Tirien. It's good to see you."

"And you," Tirien answered, though he held his blade at guard and his tone was alert.

Alecto's violet eyes shifted to her, and Narasi repressed a shudder of loathing at the Mirialan's smile. "I like the broken nose, Narasi. Pity you couldn't get it just a bit harder, crack the whole skull."

"Maybe we can give you one just like it," Narasi fired back.

Alecto winked and beckoned with her free hand, but Tirien said, "Don't rise, Narasi. Deal with the Acolyte, leave Alecto to me."

"Spoilsport," Alecto complained.

Narasi hated to turn her focus away from Alecto even for a second, but as Alecto dropped into a two-handed guard, blade pointed forward, and Tirien gave her a quick Makashi salute, Narasi forced herself to study the Acolyte. He was taller than her—taller than Alecto and Tirien as well—though his build was rangy. His style was probably speed, she thought, not strength. She had fought that a hundred times—every time she sparred with her master.

I can do this.

Perhaps he caught the thought, or perhaps just the sentiment behind it. Perhaps the dark side had even less patience than she did. Whatever the reason, the Acolyte lunged, and as Narasi caught the first blow on her blade she heard the snaps and crashes of Tirien and Alecto colliding as well.