Chapter 78 – Can we talk?

Two yellow blades were clashing against each other at high speed and with force.

"Master we should try to appease the situation!"

"She doesn't seem prone to listen!"

With gritted teeth, Layan replied to her while parrying every blow of the just woke up Jedi woman.

"Listen woman, we're not Sith! We just saved your life from eternal slumber! Be a good girl and put your weapon down."

"I feel the dark side in you and explain me the reason for an opened Sith Holocron in your hand. You will not fool me!"

"Talking about the dark side, I feel a lot of bad vibes coming from you, without mentioning your eyes which are borderline to a bloody red."

She simply ignored him and started to evaluate her situation while continuing the fight. A young Twi'lek and this Mirialan man at saber length reach.

The girl didn't seem willing to fight and was trying to calm her master as for the man, he was ready to fight her and was apparently skilled in his use of his lightsaber even without using Jar'kai as his second blade was still hanging at his belt.

Blades were clashing, dust was flying in the mind, the only signs of life on this planet on this seemingly desert planet were the two of them entangled in their fight while Lyn was searching a way to appease their new acquaintance.

"Listen, we're neither Sith nor your enemy. Listen to me and turn off your blade."

The woman was simply ignoring her and focusing on her fight with Layan and searching a way to change this situation.

Their confrontation continued for several minutes with clashes of blades, kicks and punches empowered with the force. The woman was using mostly Ataru with some add from other forms which made Layan remember of Vader which was combining some elements from other styles to his own, but she was by far less powerful than the future Sith Lord.

With a force empowered kick in the stomach while she wanted to use a jump to take the advantage over him, he sent her fly a few meters away and crash on the dusty ground, but she recovered fast and with small acrobatics, she back on her feet.

The situation wasn't good for her.

A small ship in the distance, she could feel no life signatures in the surroundings and from what she could see, the planet seems inhospitable. This ship may be her only way to leave this world, she was in numerical inferiority and her sole opponent for now was giving her a hard time.

Taking note of this, she decided to communicate with them, but didn't lower her guard and defiance against the two of them.

"Where is Zayne?"

"Better question. Who is Zayne? You don't seem to realize but you were sleeping since at least a few centuries. If you give me the date of when you were put to sleep, I could tell you where is this Zayne you're searching for, but if he is a human like you or a short-lived species. He is surely dead."

"A few centuries?! Impossible! He told me he would rescue me!"

While the news shocked her, the spirit of the amulet around her neck was seemingly listening the whole time and started to harass her mental defenses once again.

*This one is strong, he deserves the talisman. *

Ignoring the ghost of the old man visible only to her eyes, she gritted her teeth and steeled her will, and focus on the task at hand.

"Tell me what happened! Was the covenant successful? And the Rakghouls?"

Lyn took the opportunity to converse with the woman from the past as negotiating wasn't exactly Layan's favorite sport, he would rather fight her with his blade.

"I don't know what is the Covenant you're speaking of. As for the Rakghouls, according to historic records, they were isolated on Taris before being wiped out."

"Good, this plague was annihilated, a good thing for the galaxy. And the Mandalorians, did they win and destroyed the Republic?"

"Once again, if you gave us a date, it would be easier. Through history, mandalorians fought against the Republic and the Jedis multiple times, but as we speak, the Republic is standing, Mandalore being part of it and the Mandalorians became a peaceful people except for several traditionalist groups."

The woman was totally flabbergasted by Lyn statement which sound surrealist to her, as she knew the ferocity of the Mandalorian culture.

"What? The Mandalorians? Peaceful?"

"Yeah, it sounds totally stupid, but it's true."

Layan interjected with dejection in his voice as he would like to fight a mandalorian regiment, he wasn't a brute but these warriors were always a topic of interest to him.

"Now, our turn. What were you doing sealed inside this casket? And why no one talked about your story through history, a Jedi disappearing with such a powerful artifact cannot just disappear of the record like this. Even during a campaign against the mandos."

"I was sealed because we were unable to destroy it and wherever I go, people would change into Rakghouls, It needs a constant mind effort to keep the amulet at bay, I'm a walking propagator of the Rakghouls plague."

Seeing her not respond to his last answer, Layan became suspicious of the woman.

"Why no one knows of your existence? What are you really?"

"I return to you the question. I felt an enormous anger from you when I thought you were a Sith. A dark Jedi with grudges against the Siths?"

"Don't change the subject! Answer the question. Who are you?"

The situation seems to reach the bottleneck as the two were looking at each other eyes without hiding the hostility for the other.

"Master if what she said is true, she can't leave this world. She is a threat to the galaxy. Hey, stop! We can talk!"

Layan was raising his blade which was until now laying at his side.

"I will not kill her, but the idea of being trapped on a desolate piece of rock is pleasing for no one. I'm just preparing myself in case if she wants to resist. Furthermore, she is still hiding things from us."

*They will kill you, and is power surpass yours! Let the power of talisman take over you! With my help, you will beat them easily! *

"Listen woman, either you come willingly or I knock you out and lock you in the hold of my ship."

Layan's speech was shadowed by the spirit of the amulet which was encouraging her to use its power to get out of this tight spot.

"You may not be Sith lords, but you're using the dark side and this talisman is a weapon I'm sure you desire. You can dream on to get your hands on it. I won't let this plague be unleashed upon this galaxy once again."

"The hard way, show me the skills of the Jedi of old!"

The two once again engaged in a ferocious fight but this time, Layan was using his two blades and was much more offensive.

The woman was using the force to empower her strikes and gain a height advantage on Layan, but during one of these jumps, Layan stretched out his right hand and unleashed a powerful force push that sent her crash with violence upon a tall rock.

After the impact, she fell to the ground and was barely able to catch her breath, but wasn't defeated, she was ready to continue but a tall shadow appeared above her.

The impact was so strong that the rock cracked before finally falling downward, were she was panting to catch her breath. Using the force instinctively, she holds the rock using telekinesis before sending it barreling towards Layan which used the force to divert it, and the rock crashed on the round while raising a thick cloud of dust.

"You know, you should estimate yourself lucky. If someone dare to call me Sith, most of the time I stab my blade through their torso. But you are a Jedi from the past and under the influence of a dangerous Sith artifact, so I'll let you live. Now accept my kindness and surrender before I chose to terminate the threat rather than help you."

"Never!"

*Use the talisman! *

*Do it, you stupid*

*Your will is too weak to keep me imprisoned forever! Do you want to die a pointless death?! Use my power to survive! *

The ghost was pestering her ever since she woke up and his pestering became even worse since their fight started.

The fight resumed with the woman rushing at him and the clashing of their blades. This time, it was her turn to use a force push on him, but Layan stabbed one of his blades in the ground and was sent back three meters with his feet letting a long trace on the pebble-covered ground of the planet.

As she rushed to continue her onslaught as Layan was preparing his blade, someone interrupted them.

"Both of you! Stop! This fight is pointless! We know almost nothing about each other, let's try to discuss calmly, I'm sure we can find a peaceful end to this conflict!"

An amethyst blade intercepted Layan two blade, and a white one intercepted the blade of the woman. It was Lyn who decided to intervene to try to calm their minds.

"Master, please let me take over it, and let me do it my way." Turning her head, she looked toward the woman from a past era. "You, we didn't know about the amulet to begin with, to us your stasis capsule was a treasure chest supposed to be filled with Jedi artifacts."

The two combatants still hadn't lowered their blades and were looking at each other's with a murderous glow.

"Give us your name, at least so we can start this talk on good terms."

"I don't trust you."

"Told the one with a Sith artifact around her neck!"

After this remark, Layan got a harsh glare from the two women. After this, Lyn and the unknown woman got in a glare a contest for a few seconds which felt like hours before chose to talk.

"My name is Celeste Morne. There is a simple reason as for why no one know about me, I was an agent of the Covenant, a secret organization created by a handful of Jedi masters."

"Wait! That covenant?! The one from Darth Haze, the joke of a Sith lord, weak as a youngling wasn't it for a myriad of Sith artifact implanted into his body?!"

With the last pieces of information, Lyn and Layan finally pieced it together and realized who they were dealing with.

"What are you talking about? The Covenant existed to prevent the rise of the Sith!"

After her encounter with Zayn she put into question the values of the covenant, but knowing that a Sith Lord was part of it was totally unexpected.

"Yeah, wasted effort. The covenant was destroyed and some years later, the most promising Jedi of the time turned Sith and I won't continue further or we'll still be there tomorrow."

After Layan gave her another piece of information with all the sensitivity he can muster, Lyn once again tried to convince the newly identified Celeste Morne.

"I'm pretty sure you want to know more. You come with us? I swear we don't care about the amulet. We would rather destroy it. This thing is too dangerous."

"It's not easy to do."

"Don't worry, we have an old piece of wood filled with knowledge back at home."

"It doesm't mean I trust you now."