Scout nodded, leaning in as Vaylin whispered into her ear. Vaylin stepped back and took Aubries lightsaber from her belt, clipping them to her own. "I will see you soon."
With that, she turned and ran from the bay, her cloak billowing as she vanished into the corridor, leaving Scout alone with the stunned pair and a ticking clock
Vaylin left the bay and rushed through the corridors. She unleashed her presence in the Force, letting it bloom outward like a storm cloud breaking open. The darkness within her surged, filling the passages with her signature, a beacon that screamed her location to anyone who could sense it. She had no trouble finding her old master. His malevolence pulled at her like a chain, guiding her steps as she turned corners and leaped over debris. She ran faster, her jacket snapping behind her.
...
Sidious laughed as he felt Vaylin's presence ripple through the station. "Look who has come out to play," he said.
He focused back on Master Fay. She was beaten and badly hurt but still fighting. Her robes hung in tatters, blood streaked her face, and her left arm dangled useless at her side from a dislocated shoulder. She held her blue lightsaber with one hand despite the pain that etched lines into her face. Sidious swung his red saber in a vicious combo, the blade arcing down toward her head. Fay blocked, but the impact drove her back a step. He followed with a thrust to her chest. She parried and countered with a slash at his side, but he twisted away and unleashed a Force push that sent her flying into the ceiling. Her body hit hard, cracking panels above, and she dropped to the floor with a thud that jarred her bones.
Fay rolled to her feet, gasping, but Sidious closed the distance. He slashed high, forcing her to block, then low, making her jump back. He raised his free hand and gripped her with the Force, lifting her off the ground. She choked, her saber arm straining to strike, but he slammed her into the ground hard enough to crack the deck plating. She bounced and slid, her saber clattering from her grip as pain exploded in her ribs. Sidious laughed and blasted lightning from both hands. The blue energy wrapped around her, arcing through her body, making her convulse and scream as it burned her nerves.
She broke free with a desperate push, rolling away as the lightning scorched the floor where she lay. Fay grabbed her saber and stood, her legs shaking.
Sidious felt Vaylin coming closer. He laughed louder. "My apprentice returns. How delightful."
Vaylin burst through the walls with a massive shockwave, the durasteel crumpling outward as she leaped into the chamber, her eyes blazing. She landed in a crouch, her presence clashing against his like thunder meeting lightning.
Sidious turned to her, his grin widening. "Darth Tenebra. My apprentice. You have returned to me at last."
Vaylin stood, her saber igniting in her hand. "Do not call me that!"
Sidious tilted his head, sensing her. "You feel different. Weaker. What has happened to you? Have you mixed with that weak facade I created for you? The Vaylin who plays at being a friend to Jedi scum?"
Vaylin's eyes glowed yellow. The Force groaned around her, metal bending in the walls. She glanced at Master Fay quickly, seeing the Jedi slumped against a console, breathing ragged but alive which made her glad. Vaylin turned back to Sidious. "I am going to kill you."
Sidious laughed, the sound rolling through the chamber. He had noticed her look at Master Fay. "Oh? Already forming attachments? To these... vermin? Jaden and his pathetic crew; the boy who fancies himself a wanderer, the healer who clings to light like a child to a blanket, the mechanic who tinkers with scraps and the girl with one foot already in the dark side. Have you grown fond of them, Tenebra? Learned to care for the weak?"
Vaylin stepped forward with her saber raised. "Shut up."
Sidious circled her slowly, his blade at his side. "I am disappointed. Attachments are a weakness, a chain that binds the strong. I thought I taught you better. The Sith thrive on power, not sentiment. You were forged in my image a weapon without mercy. And now you hesitate for these insects?"
Vaylin's grip tightened on her saber.
Sidious stopped. "It is no matter. I can always repeat your training. Break you again until you crumble."
"But first perhaps I can bring out your true power." He raised his hand and grabbed Master Fay with the Force, lifting her limp body into the air. She gasped, her saber falling as she clawed at invisible fingers around her throat. Sidious pulled her toward him and impaled her with his lightsaber, the red blade sliding through her stomach with a sizzle. Fay's eyes widened, a choked cry escaping her lips. Vaylin screamed, the sound echoing through the station as rage exploded within her.
Sidious laughed and threw Master Fay off to the side, her body crumpling to the floor in a heap, saber rolling away. Vaylin jumped at him, her saber swinging in a furious arc aimed at his neck. Sidious met her strike with his own, blades locking in a shower of sparks, and pushed back, forcing her to strain against his strength.
She did not stop and pushed back before she started,
swinging again and again, each blow fueled by the image of Fay's lifeless form, the blade whistling through the air as she poured her anger into every motion.
Sidious met her strikes with ease, his red saber parrying each one, but he smiled, his eyes gleaming with delight as he felt the dark side swell within her. "Yes good," he said, stepping back to let her overextend before countering with a lazy thrust that she barely deflected, the tip of his blade scorching her tunic. "Let it consume you. This is the power I created in you."
Vaylin roared and unleashed lightning from her free hand, blue arcs crackling toward him that he caught on his hand, the energy coiling around his arm before he redirected it back at her. She twisted aside, but the bolt struck the wall behind her exploring a terminal and ripping up panels and sending shards flying that embedded in crates and bulkheads. She charged again, slashing at his chest and legs in rapid succession. He dodged most, but one grazed his thigh, drawing a thin line of blood, and he laughed louder, the sound echoing as he Force-pushed her hard enough to send her crashing through a support beam that buckled and collapsed, crushing a nearby droid into sparking wreckage.
"Beautiful," Sidious said as he advanced, toying with her by letting her rise before unleashing a wave of lightning that she blocked with her saber, the effort straining her arms while the excess energy arced to the floor, melting deck plating and igniting fuel lines that burst in small explosions, flames licking up walls and filling the air with acrid smoke. Vaylin broke through the barrier and thrust at his heart, but he sidestepped and grabbed her with the force, twisting her wrm until she dropped her saber, then slammed her into the opposite wall, the impact denting metal and knocking loose conduits that sparked and fell around them.
She landed on her feet and called her saber back to her hand, igniting it mid-leap as she hurled herself at him again, rage making her strikes wilder, faster. Sidious parried and countered with a sweep that she jumped over, but he followed with a Force grip that lifted her and threw her sideways into a row of storage lockers, the doors crumpling under her weight and spilling tools and panels across the floor. He walked closer, his saber loose in his grip, as if savoring the show. "The anger suits you, Tenebra. Feel it burn away the weakness. The Jedi's death was a gift now use it."
Vaylin stood, blood trickling from her lip, and unleashed a Force push tha shattered the entire room. He deflected most of the debris with a wave of his hand, but one scored his arm, and he chuckled, advancing through the debris. She met him blade to blade, their sabers locking as she headbutted him, breaking his nose with a crunch of bone.
"More," he urged. "Let the rage fill you completely. Destroy everything in your path, as I taught you."
Vaylin ripped a support strut from the ceiling with both hands, hurling it at him like a spear. He sliced it in half and closed the gap, his saber coming down in a heavy chop that she parried, but the impact jarred her elbows and sent her skidding back into a cluster of fuel drums that toppled and ignited, flames roaring up and consuming nearby panels in a chain reaction of blasts that shook the deck and collapsed sections of ceiling, debris raining down as she rolled away.
She countered with her own lightning, twin streams from both hands that arced toward him, but he met them with his, the energies colliding in a crackling nexus that grew unstable and exploded outward, the shockwave buckling walls and hurling them both apart—Vaylin slamming into a bulkhead that dented under her, Sidious through a doorway into the next chamber where he landed easily, his cloak torn but his eyes alight with joy at her unleashed fury.
"Perhaps you are not the useless tool I believed you to be..." Darth Sidious commented as he approached her.
...
Scout hoisted Aubrie over her shoulder and dragged Zule by the arm, their unconscious bodies limp as she staggered up the Vengeance's ramp. The station trembled beneath her feet, deck plates buckling with deep groans that made her trip, nearly sending all three tumbling. She caught herself on the airlock frame, cursing under her breath as another shockwave hit, sparks flying from overhead conduits. "Come on, come on," she muttered, hauling them inside and dumping them onto the deck in the corridor just outside the cockpit. Scout paused for a second, her chest heaving, then bolted for the cockpit, the door hissing open as she slapped the panel.
She dropped into the pilot's seat, fingers flying over the controls. The console lit up, but the engines sputtered, the magnetic clamps holding firm from the lockdown. "Not today," Scout said, switching to the warp drive interface. She overrode the safeties, routing power through the core. The clamps whined, then released with a metallic screech, the surge from the warp drive bypassing their absorption fields. The ship lurched free, repulsors firing as Scout throttled up.
She gripped the yoke, eyes darting to the chrono; ten minutes until collision. "Okay, think. How do I rescue Fay and Vaylin?" The question hung, her mind racing through options. Grab a speeder from a bay? Too slow, and the corridors were clogged debris and clones. Sprint through maintenance shafts? She'd never make it in time. Scout slammed her fist on the console, the impact jarring her wrist. "Think, damn it!"
She hit her head with her palm, once, twice, trying to shake loose an idea, but the constant chime and rumble of the station crumbling around her drowned everything. Her pulse thundered in her ears, frustration boiling over as another tremor shook the ship, loose panels rattling. "Come on, Scout, you're smart, think!"
She couldn't leave the ship; she'd never make it back in time. But if she bring Fay to the ship, she had to bring the ship to her. The idea formed and it was incredible and very stupid, a desperate plan that could either save them or vaporize the Vengeance in a warp feedback loop. Scout sat back, staring at the drive controls, her fingers hovering.
"Computer," Scout called out.
The computer beeped in response waiting for further input.
"Initiate warp drive at point zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one percent of maximum output. Create a localized warp bubble around the hull. Engage spatial distortion field to compress the surrounding metric, allowing micro-jumps through structural matter without physical collision. Override safety interlocks on bubble integrity and feedback loops. Route auxiliary power through the core to maintain stability."
"Warning: warp drive activation at sub-threshold velocity risks temporal shear. Bubble collapse probability at eighty-seven percent. Structural integrity of surrounding matter not guaranteed. Recommend immediate abort."
"Override," Scout said, ignoring the cascade of alerts. "Engage now."
The ship rocked violently, consoles sparking as the warp drive hummed to life at a crawl, the bubble forming around the Vengeance like an invisible skin. Reality warped, space folding in on itself, the corridor outside enlarging as the warp bubble manipulated the fabric of space. The hull groaned, systems straining and panels sparked and exploded, but Scout compensated, adjusting power flows manually, her hands blurring over the panels. "Hold together, you beauty."
"Feedback loop detected. Core temperature rising. Evacuate or—"
"Shut up!" Scout yelled, rerouting coolant lines. The ship lurched forward, the warp bubble enveloping the corridor ahead, durasteel walls rippling like water as the Vengeance "slid" through without touching, space itself enlarging and bendinb to accommodate the intrusion. She almost laughed, the sound bubbling up manically as the ship inched along, alarms screaming failure after failure—shields fluctuating, inertial dampeners offline—but it worked.
Scout gripped the yoke tighter, sweat dripping down her face as she guided the ship forward, the deck vibrating under her feet. "Come on, come on, just a little more."
(AN: What's scout up to, bunch of technobabble if you ask me. Anyway hope you enjoyed.)
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