Chapter 15 - War

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Author's Note: There are five more chapters after this one. ^-^ Also, I really suck at writing lightsaber duels imo. xD

PS. There is Mando'a in here, and I put all the translations at the end. Let me know if I missed anything! ^-^

~ Amina Gila

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan hesitate at Din's order, eyes visibly flickering between him – the Darksaber, more accurately – and the dar'jetii. But the destroyers make the decision for them as they open fire on the Nubians. The Jetii turn to deal with the droids, so Din dismisses them from mind, stepping towards the Zabrak, who's face is now twisted in a snarl, as he swings towards him with the Darksaber.

The blades clash together, and for a moment, Din wonders how this duel will play out. He has many advantages, but he needs to connect with the Darksaber. He was distracted before, Goran told him. His mind wasn't focused, much as he tried to deny it. His longing to see the kid again and how much he missed him were distracting him. And yet, when he fought Paz Viszla, he came out on top and was able to keep his claim on the Darksaber.

Now, Din is far more focused than he was then. His senses are attuned for any other coming dangers, but he doesn't sense anything right now. His aliit is safe, as safe as they can be right now anyways, and the sooner he puts an end to this threat, the sooner he can protect them.

The Zabrak pulls back, swinging at Din a few times in rapid succession, and Din blocks every blow with the Darksaber or his beskar'gam, getting in a strike of his own. But when he fought Ahsoka, the fight was short, and he wasn't trying, because he needed her help. Moff Gideon was... well, that was different, too, because Din was adjusting to defend himself with the beskar spear and he was already injured from the Dark Trooper droid.

It not long before the Jetii join them, throwing blows at the dar'jetii. The Zabrak defends with relative ease, but he's clearly focusing on Din the most, and since Din has never worked with the Jetii before, their styles of fighting are clashing, so they're... kind of getting in each other's way. The Zabrak raises a hand, an invisible force shoving Din backwards. He regains his balance, lifting the Darksaber, letting himself feel the hum of it in his hand, trying to connect with it.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are clearly struggling to fight their opponent, though. They're not failing, but as Din watches them for a couple seconds, he really gets the feeling that the dar'jetii is in control of the duel, so he steps forwards, launching himself back into the fray, mentally calculating how much time he probably has before he should have been in the Throne Room.

Their laser swords crash repeatedly, filling the hanger with the sounds of battle. Din knows that, should the fight be led from here into any of the halls, it will severely impede their ability to move, so he focuses on keeping the dar'jetii here. It's not hard. They're not really winning against him, but they're not really losing against him. One of the red blades slams into his shoulder, and Din lets it stay there for a moment while he swings the Darksaber in an attempt to stab the Zabrak. He flips backwards, obviously using his magic, as he evades the blows.

He doesn't dare use his flamethrower while the Jetii are moving around so freely, trying to box in their opponent and keep him from leading them elsewhere or getting away. That also means that most of his weapons are off-limits, but he can still use physical prowess to his advantage. He gets in a few kicks, knocking the Zabrak slightly off-balance as he spins to block a blow from Obi-Wan before twisting to attempt stabbing Qui-Gon.

The Darksaber feels right in Din's hands now, and he's only now beginning to understand how much of a burden it is to carry. Not in the physical sense per se – not now that he's finally getting the hang of it and learning how listen to it as much as he does use it – but in the sense that wielding this blade, by all rights, makes him the leader of Mandalore. He doesn't want that. He doesn't want that, but he doesn't know who else he can pass it off to. And more than that, he doesn't know if he wants to.

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