Chapter Three. Family blood

She barely dodged the next attack, the misty red colored blade swept so close to her stomach that she actually felt the heat and felt the humming noise it emitted, thrumming deep in her chest. Vesha scrambled back, holding her own weapon in the classical Form IV stance. She caught sight of Stilco and the other Mandalorian, the one he called Jakan. They were still in a furious fight, kicking and punching at each other, they didn't even seem to have any tactics or technique. Just a straight up brawl. She panted and realized how tired she really was. Her limbs felt like rubber and her chest hurt painfully. She circled the Mandalorian cautiously, her weapon ready to deflect and defend herself. The Mandalorian woman raised her own weapon, snapping it back and forth.

a "Don't think you're the only one who knows how to use these, Jedi." She snarled. Vesha breathed in deeply, willing the Force to push back the fatigue crawling and settling in her limbs. "Are you going to just talk about our weapons or what?" She asked. The Force barely caught the swift and fast Mandalorian as she dropped down and released a study stream of flames at the Jedi girl. Vesha barely raised her hand in time to stop the liquid flame from engulfing her whole body. She could feel the flames lick and crawl around her Force shield. The Mandalorian rolled to the side, coming around to her unprotected flank, blaster pistol barking and spitting a steady volley of laser shots. Vesha dropped her Force shield and quickly batted the laser blasts away, the flames didn't dissipate, instead they flickered and stuck to the floor.

She backpedaled fast, panting and wiping the sweat from her eyes. This Mandalorian was good. She could barely stave off her attacks, if she dropped her guard, she would be dead. Without a pause, she launched her own attack, swinging and whipping her lightsaber in a fast controlled arc. She slashed a molten scar across the Mandalorian's chest plate as the Mando couldn't block in time. She followed with three short stabs and an underhanded reverse slash. The lightsaber slashed across the Mandalorian's kneecap, burning through the armor there. It was one of the weak points, Vesha could feel the Force guide and control her movements. She didn't push away, she embraced it. As the Mandalorian lost her balance, she dropped her blaster pistol, trying to catch herself with her outstretched hand. Vesha swept her legs out from underneath her, lightsaber swinging in on her left hand. The purple blade flared as it cut through the flesh and bone. It released a sharp hiss as it cauterized her arm. She nearly didn't see the Mandalorian named Jakan charge her. He bulldozed right into her side, his vibroblade ejected and stabbing into her midriff. She slashed at him, lightsaber cutting into the side of his jet pack. The pain as he twisted the blade deeper into her side nearly made her faint. She launched him back with a quick Force shove and rolled to the side as Zekk Stilco raised his left arm and pressed a button. She didn't know why she had the feeling that if she didn't move, she would die too. But the Force seemed to be guiding her still.

She realized she had barely dodged in time. She couldn't even see the attack that brought Jakan to his knees, she only heard a sharp whistling sound and then a deep crack as whatever it was entered Jakan's neck from behind and exited from the front. Blood sprayed in the air, splattering her face and shirt front. She looked closer at the dead Mandalorian's body. A sharp arrowhead was glinting from his neck, barely protruding from the skin. Zekk pressed a button again, and she gasped as Jakan's body was dragged to rest at the feet of the bounty hunter. She realized he had used a grappling hook to end the other man's life. She shuddered at how precise the shot had been. She was quite sure if he really wanted to kill her, she'd be dead. There wasn't a doubt in her mind anymore. He glanced over at the other Mandalorian, the woman. She was trying to struggle to her feet, gasping and panting, crawling on her knees in a pool of her own blood. She was trying to reach for her blaster pistol. Vesha walked over and scooped it up. Staring at the Mandalorian in pity. "Don't look at me like that, Jedi. Don't give me that look. I don't need your pity." Zekk Stilco walked over, his hands reaching for his lightsaber that he still had clipped at his side. "No. You never did, Rusisan." He quickly ignited it and stabbed swiftly into the T slit of her visor. There was the stench of roasted flesh and burnt metal. The lightsaber emitted a high pitched buzz.

The Mandalorian woman's body jerked once and was still. It was over. The fight was over. Vesha dropped to her knees and threw up, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed. The Mandalorian stared at her in silence, not saying anything. Vesha couldn't keep her eyes off of the burning white hot hole of the Mandalorian woman's helmet. Right between where her eyes would have been. She glanced up at the bounty hunter. "You called one of them Jakan, did you know him?" He nodded briefly. "He was my son." He turned around and walked over to the bridge's control console. Tapping in a code or something. "You killed your own son. Who was the other one? Your daughter?" "My wife." The ship rumbled as he turned the engines off. His helmet's visor glowed as he started tapping away at the control panel. "Why? Why did you kill them? There had to have been some other way!" She was by now screaming and crying. Her whole body shook and trembled. "You're under stress." He stared outside the view-port. A giant Republic Cruiser warped in, flights of Z 95 headhunters were already being launched. They roared by the bridge's huge view-port and flashed past, waggling their wings. The console beeped as an incoming transmission was put on the main screen. The hologram warped and twisted as it came to life. It was a Republic Commando. "I see you finished the job after all. The agreed amount of credits have been transferred to your account. We will have Republic forces on board momentarily. Happy hunting, Stilco. Niner out." The hologram flickered once and vanished. Stilco stared at the hologram projector for a second. Lost deep in thought. Vesha slowly stood up, her legs feeling weak. "This is where we part ways, Jedi." He turned around and gave a short nod of his helmet. The Jedi watched as he left, never looking back. She wondered if she would ever see him again.

Will she ever see the Mandalorian again? Why does she want to see him after he killed his own family so mercilessly? Find out in the next chapter