The Apprentice and the Padawan

The Apprentice

Atonai scanned the small desert town he was currently occupying. It was the ninth town he had repurposed in his latest campaign, and he hadn't bothered to learn its name. Bodies littered the sandy road, their blood draining into the sand. The rudimentary villagers had been ill-prepared for the Sith attack and had fallen quickly. There were only a few villagers left, struggling uselessly for survival. It seemed the ambush had worked perfectly, and the town would be emptied and used as an outpost for the Separatists.

Suddenly, an aircraft zoomed overhead, and the sound of lightsabers activating whistled through the air to Atonai, who turned around quickly. Two Jedi had arrived. A villager must have contacted them while Atonai and the ground troops had begun their attack. While Atonai had blocked radio transmissions in the area around the town, a wire type transmitter connected to a farther out radio could escape.

Quite unfortunate Antonai thought as he began walking towards the Jedi. Now I have to join the battle. Master will not be pleased.

Time seemed to freeze as the younger Jedi, probably still a Padawan, turned to look at Atonai, sensing an unusual Force surge from that direction. At that very instant, a child was running from one of the ground troops and jumped in front of Atonai. The Padawan's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was about to happen. Atonai activated his twin lightsabers, which both glowed a menacing red, with gold and silver handles. It had taken months to create perfect, identical crystals for his lightsabers. They were so perfectly in tune that when the handles connected, the lightsabers looked like they were on fire, with some of the energy reaching out to burn Atonai's enemies. With one lightsaber in each hand, Atonai deftly struck down the little girl while the Padawan screamed.

Atonai sensed the Force manifesting in the Padawan, and grinned excitedly, eager to face another Force user. The only people he sparred with was his Master and his three older brothers. He rarely, however, worked with his Master, and his sibling's styles had grown dull. Wind whipped past Atonai's face, picking up sand and pelting it into his clothes, feeling like tiny needles. Atonai was vaguely glad he wore his mask for this mission.

The Padawan charged at Atonai, who met him half way as their lightsabers connected, the Padawan blocking both of Atonai's blades in one defensive block. Atonai spun quickly, wanting to catch the Padawan off guard. It didn't work. The Padawan attacked quickly, then jumped clear of Atonai's range. They circled for a second, then met blades again. Atonai had not realized how much he missed a challenge, for that was what this Padawan was.

He is deftly trained, Atonai begrudgingly admitted. But he is not good enough to defeat me.

Atonai Force jumped over the Padawan's head, blocking a quick attack, then Force pushed the Padawan into a sand hut. The hut collapsed due to the strength of the Force push and the weight of the Padawan. The Padawan didn't get up.

Well, that didn't last long. Atonai almost found it disturbing how much he wanted to continue to fight with the Padawan.

As Atonai made his way to the collapsed hut, a giant Force wave was propelled at him. He jumped back with a backflip and felt the wave catch the tip of his cloak. In that time conducting evasive maneuvers, the Jedi had picked up his unconscious Padawan and jumped into an aircraft hovering a few feet off the ground.

Atonai's eyes widened. He could not let them escape. His mission could not be a failure. Anger surged through him, and he channeled it into a power outlet, as his Master had taught him. The aircraft raised, and began to rush towards the orange sky.

I'll have one shot, Atonai discovered, and that's all I need.

Once Antonai had amassed enough energy, he held out his hand and took aim at the receding aircraft. He closed his eyes and used the Force to guide him, then shot a dense projectile of Force at the aircraft. As if the Jedi could read his Atonai's mind, the aircraft swerved suddenly to the right and a small Force block was sent from the Jedi, which was enough to deflect the shot. That's the moment Atonai knew the next few days were not going to be fun, and that he should not underestimate the Jedi.

Atonai knew it was useless and meaningless, but he sprinted to his aircraft to track the Jedi. He leaped into the small, black aircraft and zoomed in the same direction as the Jedi. As he initially thought, the chase was meaningless. The Jedi had already gone into hyperspace and were not traceable anymore.

Atonai felt the weight of his situation suddenly hit him. He had left survivors. He had not been victorious in combat. Although the enemy had been down, he had not delivered the final blow. The Jedi had deceived him out of his kill.

Rage filled every crevice of Atonai's body. Those swindling Jedi. Always fighting unfairly, and acting so innocent and pure, just like Master said.

With that, Atonai flew back to the town.

"Sir, we have slain all of the villagers and proceeded with setting up the base. How did the flight go?" Atonai's captain, Dorn, stated. Dorn had been by Atonai's side since the Apprentice began going on missions. Besides his aggravating inquiries to Atonai's health and constant interference in Atonai's work, Dorn was one of the few people Atonai could deal with.

"Halt all personnel preparing the base. The Jedi have escaped. This village is now useless to us. We leave at once." With that, Atonai briskly walked to his aircraft and flew back to the command ship to inform his master of the failure.