STAR WARS: The Crimson Blight

Episode 10: Power of unity

On the orange fuel rich planet of Quesh. Tikala and her Master, the kel'dorian jedi master Buzz. Who had taken Tikala with him on their first diplomatic mission together on behalf of the republic and the jedi council.

Tikala felt tired after a lengthy talk with the local Hutt rulers. Despite trying to be at her best the entire time to seem generally interested in their proceedings, she and her Master had both concluded that diplomacy wasn't her strong suit.

She was in her late teens and the horns on her head had almost stopped growing, to her annoyment they could be very itchy at times. Signaling her as a jedi padawan, a thin but long braid hung from her light brown hair, also both her master and herself wore the traditional brown robe of a Jedi.

Her Master suddenly looked up above them, as he spotted a dark hooded figure moving about the rooftops.

Tikala shivered nervously, "I... I feel there's something menacing lurking here."

She felt a hand on her shoulder. "It will be alright," she heard her master say.

Without really realizing what was going on, Tikala instinctively rolled out of harm's way, as two crimson lightsaber blades burned through the air where she stood a split seconds ago. Both enemies unleashed force lightning, aimed at her and her master. Then she witnessed her master calmly hold a hand in front of her and absorbed the incoming lightning.

The Jedi simultaneously ignited their green lightsabers. Both their opponents were completely covered in large black cloaks, with some kind of cloudy net in front hiding their faces.

Tikala calmed herself, as she went into motion, drawing on the force to guide her actions. She and her Master counter attacked in the fencing style of Makashi, she with speed and he with precision. While the cloaked assassins were able to block or step backwards to avoid injuries, it was clear to her that they didn't expect to be on the back foot.

She noticed the assassins were trying to back away into a nearby building, to once again merge with the shadows and gain the stealth advantage. So she quickly changed her style to that of Ataru and force jumped over them and performed a somersault slash from above. While they deflected her attack, she was now blocking their escape routes to the buildings behind and had them caught in between Master Buzz and herself.

Tikala sensed an overwhelming amount of fear gathering in their now trapped enemies, as they desperately fought to get out of their precarious situation. Tikala could feel a burning rage glowing from the two in black. But she figured that as long as she could keep the momentum going, her enemies wouldn't be able to focus their darkside powers on her without risking a fatal or disabling injury.

While she clearly held the speed advantage, constantly minimizing her enemy's ability to maneuver, her strength however was a bit lacking. Twice her cloak was burned by her inability to completely block the sith red blade, once her hair was roasted slightly on the top of her head and even the tip of her lightsaber hilt was melted. She used the force to amplify her muscle capability in order to avoid dangerous injuries.

In the meantime, she noticed her Master was out fencing his opponent, and as soon as an opportunity presented itself, he used the force to in case the sith in a stasis field. The sith in front of her was a bit too slow to react to the fact that he stood alone and in between two jedi. The Assassin only managed to put up a meager resistance before Master Buzz weakened him with force suppression, while she used the distraction to kick the lightsaber out of the assassin's hand.

She sighed in relief, as they disarmed and escorted the assassins to the Hutt's security, to report the attack on their lives.

"You have certainly improved your skills with Ataru," Buzz complimented, even as she could sense he disapproved of the rash way she put her own life at risk for blocking the sith's escape earlier.