Mercenary (4)

Rodia

Outer Rim

I was glad that my last two Ion grenades all but finished the droids escorting Gunrey. Twenty minutes earlier I had Ferr order the all but a few of the machines stationed on this facility to gather in one place and took out the unlucky droids with most of the grenades I brought with me on for this excursion. Only the six B-1's who were used to make the welcome committee look genuine did not share the fate of their brethren. Until now.

I walked towards Gunray who was even grayer than normal thanks to his fear and the two cloaked figures who were his "escort". The Rodians, who were recovering from the shock scrambled to get away from me as I went to meet the Viceroy.

"Gunray. Fancy meeting you here. And you've brought some entertainment supplies." I nodded at his companions. "How thoughtful of you."

The men sent to test me discarded their black cloaks. When I saw them I wondered if they were really twins as they looked like or whether Sidious had some limited success with cloning force sensitives…

They were about hundred and eighty centimeters tall, with short black hair and identical goatees. The one to the left had a nasty red scar running from his right temple, pass his eye, down to the edge of his jawbone. His twin had no visible scarring on the face.

"See Karoc? He does not look like much. I am sure that Grievous kriffed up against Skywalker and Kenobi." said the twin to the right.

"You saw what he did with the ship and those grenades, Vinroc. Do not underestimate him, brother." The other favored caution in the face of the unknown. He was probably the brains of their little family operation.

"Doesn't matter. Our Master ordered his death. So he dies. That is all, Karoc."

"You are correct, Vinroc."

Mentally unstable brothers... I wondered what else Sidious and Dooku would reveal next. Those two acted like a bad actors from third rate holo-drama.

"So, we have here Dumb and Dumber. Aren't you supposed to be Sith or something? The Jedi are all losing their heads over some supposed Sith Lord that's been running around and messing up their boring lives..." I taunted the idiots. From what I could sense, they barely classified as competent acolytes and that was me being very generous.

"He mocks us brother." said the scarred one.

"That he does Karoc. We are servants of his excellency Count Dooku and members of the Dark Acolytes."

"A single Dark Jedi won't stop us! We studied the ways of the ancient Sith and were trained by Dooku himself!" They boasted as one.

Don't you love it when the bad guys start ranting and reveal information you'd have to tear out of their bleeding bodies otherwise? The idiots who let themselves be controlled by the Dark side are no exception.

"You've learned the ways of the Sith?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then by all means, show me!"

They moved around Gunray, who was hunched and looked like a terrified, wild animal.

"He wished to test himself against us, Vinroc."

"We are more than willing to oblige him, are we not, Karoc?"

They retrieved simple lightsaber hilts from the depth of their black tunics and activated the weapons which hissed revealing red blades. Karoc immediately went into a Makashi dueling stance while Vinroc fell into Soresu form. I summoned the hilt of my sword and its crimson blade ignited with an eager buzz of scorched air.

I placed my weapon in the traditional low Makashi guard stance and waved the twins to come on. The scarred one came first while his brother went to my right in a flanking move. I dashed towards Karoc, bringing my blade in a sweeping upwards strike. It was easily parried by the Dark Jedi who sneered at me. As a user of Makashi himself he was well aware of that style of combat greatest weakness – it was developed as the ultimate expression of one on one duels and suffered against two or more adversaries more than anything else… if the opponents were of equal training and expertise.

His sneer was short-lived. I erased it from his face when I locked our blades together and pushed his sword to the left. Then I spun around while staying in place and delivered a cracking backhand hit faster than he could react. The armored glove covering my left hand struck him on the side of the face with enough force to send him stumbling away from me. I could see blood leaking from his mouth.

I twirled the hilt of my blade in my hand, changing my grip in a backhanded Juyo one and moved my arm upward in a frothy five degree angle to deflect a broad slash form the other twin. The fingers of my left arm twisted like claws and I made a punching motion at Vinoc's open torso. My palm was mere centimeters from his chest when I unleashed a punishing blast of pure telekinetic force which threw him away as if he weighted nothing.

Battle lust sang within my heart as the Force flowed through me like a never-ending river. I ducked to the left, evading a thrust of Karoc's ruby blade. I spun again and used the weight of my body and its momentum to deliver a diagonal slash at the man who tried to skewer me from behind. The scarred twin rolled forward, passing a hairbreadth from my blade. I saw that Vinroc was still on the ground twenty meters away so I switched back to Makashi and made a beeline towards Karoc who was rising to his feet.

Damn it, even when I was holding back, those two weren't putting much of a fight. This was supposed to be fun!

We met with a flurry of clashing blades and the air was filled with the scent of ozone as energy discharged between our laser swords. We exchanged short precise stabs and slashes faster than normal being's eyes could follow. Our motions were blur of crimson death waiting for the tiniest of openings.

The familiar weight of my lightsaber hilt, comfortably snuggled in my hand... Having the Force within my grasp and directing it to do my biding...My heart joyfully hammering within my chest... The knowledge that my very life was balanced on the edge of my bloodthirsty blade and was in my hands... For a Sith the old saying "Live by the blade, die by the blade!" had completely different meaning. It was a moment defining our existence. A conflict placing us on edge between life and death with us relaying only on our skills and cunning! It was glorious! At that moment even the ever persistent whispers of the Dark side were silent.

It was too bad that those two weren't a real challenge that I could properly enjoy. It was pity really.

Our blood red blades of pure energy met with a crack as I dueled Karoc. My opponent was a competent swordsman. His technique was well-trained and precise. For endless seconds he was able to hold his ground as the tip of my blade persistently probed his defenses by placing him under a downpour of feints and stabs. Then his guard was pierced and the scarred man had to jump back or be eviscerated by scorching energy.

Karoc regained his balance and smiled viciously when his brother came back to his side. They moved to flank me again and I sensed a warning from the Force. Their signatures meshed and I could see a connection being opened between the twins. Oh, boy. If they were properly trained that would have been troublesome. Perhaps a real challenge even. As it was, I had to be careful not to show how easily I could use their connection against them.

From the right came a rain of precise strikes aimed at my vitals while from the left I was subjected to the wide sweeps for which Soresu was so well-known. Suddenly the brothers were acting like a well-oiled machine with a single will.

I deflected a swipe that tried to take off my left hand and side-stepped a thrust from the other side. I grasped my weapon with both hands and got into the high guard of Djem So. I jumped over a low strike aimed at my legs. On my way down my blade arched in a lethal arch towards Karoc who staggered under the force of my blow. I rotated around the out of balance twin in such a way that he was between me and his brother. The connection they shared and now used had suddenly raised their threat level. Not by much, but it made our little training exercise a bit more interesting.

"Good. You are finally showing some semblance of promise! Show me what you've got!" I encouraged them. Who knew, they might still surprise me!

I bent the Force around me giving me additional speed and strength. I rained blow after blow at Karoc who struggled valiantly to retain hold over his weapon. I moved in such a way as to keep him between me and his brother. I could see the frustration etched on the other twin's face as I blocked his way by interposing his sibling between us. As I got closer and closer to cutting down Karoc, his brother darted forward with a war cry emanating from his lips.

I smirked at his action. So predictable.

I battered away the blade of the scarred man and fell in a crouch from where I delivered a sweeping kick that took his feet from under him. I send him tumbling away with a push of the force and twirled to meet the attack of the Soresu user. I met his slash head on and reposed after deflecting his attack by sending his blade upward. I executed my counterattack by bringing down my weapon while the twin's saber was still pointing in the air. When his attack failed and I pushed away his lightsaber he stumbled slowing his reaction for a second. It was all I needed. My blade flashed downward and took of his right hand between the elbow and the shoulder. The crippled man screamed in agony and fell backwards.

Before he could recover from the shock I summoned him to me with a wave of my arm and he flew straight at my outstretched blade. I buried my lightsaber to the hilt in his chest and burned his heart to a crisp.

"Vinroc!" keened the only living twin. "You! I'll slaughter you for that!" Karoc spat and charged me.

His eyes were blazing yellow and he was gripped by a Dark Side controlled rage.

I shook my head at his stupidity. For a Makashi user, what he was doing was pure foolishness. Without thought and precise control that style was nothing!

I used my irritation at his display to fuel my charge and met him halfway. Our blades crashed in each other and I send him reeling back. I easily deflected his wild swings and stabbing attempts, and turned my defensive moves into devastating counter strikes which Karoc was barely able to evade thanks to his still deft footwork. He was retreating before my blade, trading distance for a small measure of safety. I was not about to have any of that. I banished the fried B-1 droids at him as a distraction for a force enchanted jump.

Karoc snarled in anger as he slashed a limp robot in two and then groaned when the rest of the machines hit him. He staggered under the rain of metal and then I was upon him.

Thanks to his rage enhanced strength he was able to hold onto his sword for dear life when I landed next to him and delivered a powerful overhead slash. Karoc was brought to his knees but managed to keep the buzzing blades a centimeter from his head. I continued to press down, locking the lightsabers in a deadly vice. I easily twisted the blades away thanks to my superior leverage and smashed my right knee into his face. The durasteel guard protecting my joint shattered his nose and he fell to his back, stunned for a moment. My blade screamed down in a crimson arc and struck the left shoulder of the man who was dazedly trying to stand up. Karoc fell back bisected in two as my lightsaber exited his torso under his right armpit.

I turned my attention towards the only other living thing in the courtyard. Nute Gunray was pressed to the wall near the entrance to the landing ramp where his ship used to be. He was trembling and muttering to himself in his native tongue. I headed towards him when Republic LAAT's buzzed overhead and flew heading at my position. Behind them I could see the descending form of an Acclamator which was escorted by wings of fighters. The Assault Cruiser was disgorging waves of troopships. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the Force. I could sense at least three more of the capital ships moving in the general vicinity of this facility and there was a familiar force signature in the leading LAAT.

I grumbled. Why the hell the Reinforcements were early the one time I did not need their bloody assistance?! I was already under observation by the first flight of LAATs so simply cutting the head of Gunray without provocation would not do if I wanted to keep my reputation as a levelheaded fella and not a raging lunatic.

Before the first armed transport could land its side doors opened and a familiar form jumped out followed by an unknown female Jedi. I deactivated my lightsaber and grabbed the Viceroy by the neck of his robes and led him towards the Jedi.

"Hi there! Nice to see you again!" I beamed at the newcomers