The Abiding Force: A Knight of the Empire (Star Wars)

7: Victory

They met outside of the training room a few minutes before the appointed start of the session. Val arrived a few moments before her, hoping to discuss the night before. He had many questions and more importantly, an insatiable urge to apologize for the unintended intrusion. Chiko had stopped at the corner upon seeing him, an ambivalent expression tightly fixed to her features. Val could feel her frustration and pain, his gift lending him a vision he did not completely control. He decided to speak first, "I-" he hesitated, the words falling from his mind as a fresh wave of raw emotion rolled off of Chiko. Embarrassment . He recognized, Shame.

Her face tightened with impatience. "Forget it." she said, moving toward him. "I can't." He said, causing her to stop a step from the door. "We have bigger problems Val." She said bluntly, taking on a warning tone. He relented, knowing that it wasn't the time. "After?" He asked simply.

She considered it for a moment, then turned back toward the doorway, taking a deep breath before entering. Val followed a moment later, trying to focus on the approaching challenge awaiting them. Korta stood at the far end of the mat, his eyes following them as they approached.

Chiko bowed respectfully before taking her place at the center of the mat. Val followed suit, stepping to her right hand side and bowing respectfully to his master. Korta considered them carefully for a moment, then took a single step forward."Let us begin." He said. Val wondered what the lesson would entail today, the day before had been-

He felt Korta draw on the power surrounding them the instant before the energy shot from his hands. Val reacted instinctively, putting himself between Chiko and the crackling energy. The first wave passed over them, leaving them entirely untouched. Val could feel Chiko's annoyance from behind him, but he believed his grasp of this power was better. Her anger dissipated some when the second wave hit them.

Val felt his control begin to slip, the torrent of electricity was all around them as he fought to divert it. In a single horrible moment, a single lance of light leapt forward and struck him, sending a searing pain through his chest. He faltered but did not break, though not without consequence. In his lapse of concentration he absorbed a truncated deluge of shocking sparks that burned across his arms and chest. As the barrage lifted he collapsed, the pain finally reaching him.

He kneeled, his lungs shaking with the aftershocks, his breathing ragged. Chiko knelt down beside him, "Are you okay?" She asked calmly, keeping her eyes on Korta, who was still regaining his strength. Val nodded, not quite able to speak, his teeth still chattering from the convulsions in the wake of the previous assault. He caught his breath as Korta prepared to resume his attack. Something fell into place in Val's mind. He looked to Chiko, her own thoughts arriving at the same point in tandem with his own.

He nodded to her, standing and placing a hand on her shoulder for balance. He opened his mind, reaching out to grasp at her own. The connection was immediate and overwhelming. He was back in the darkness, then he was running through the streets of Taris, then he stood facing down a fair-haired boy, a blue lightsaber held tightly in his hand. Rage and pain, confusion and desperation threatened to drown him as her feelings washed through him.

He understood, in part, who Chiko Suvan was and as he looked into her eyes he saw something that hadn't been there before, sadness and regret. The next wave was the most powerful they had yet faced, a storm that danced around them like the heart of a super-cell. Val was the first to fall, a lapse in his strength exploited by a smaller part of the whole. Chiko howled with rage as she fought to hold back the inevitable.

Val rose from the floor, lending her what strength remained in him. It wasn't enough, not nearly, but it sustained her long enough for their opportunity to arrive. Korta was absorbed in his attack, his entire being focused on the power that surged through him. He didn't perceive the sudden movement from behind him. It was only when the cold metal of the training sword's blade touched his neck that he realized he had been beaten. The old Knight smiled and the storm ended as suddenly as it had began.