Chapter 40
Nearly a standard week passed without significant events. The minutiae of the command structures were ironed out through several long meetings. Those that were reassigned had relocated to their respective vessels and were beginning to settle in. Despite his initial objections, Joash took up his new role with full seriousness. So much so that he assembled those under his command the very next morning to give an extended speech regarding topics such as courage, valor, and the duty of a warrior. Unbeknownst to him, Anhiel observed the speech from the edge of the hangar bay with a light smile at seeing the warrior she once knew showing through once more. To the High Admiral’s surprise, Vice Admiral Virkaen fell into his role willingly despite his initial disdain for Anhiel during the duel. Furthermore, he did excel in his role and had set to work optimizing several functions and procedures within the fleet, picking the best of either Sith or Republic procedures. Even at times coming up with a hybrid scheme that outperformed either standalone option.
On Zonama’s surface, bright sunlight shone upon the empty landing pad in the compound. An armor clad individual steps upon the metal pad and looks around from within his mask. As he does, Mirr ponders quietly to himself “She said she would be here…” As the thought finishes, familiar footsteps alert the Mandalorian to the arrival of his Master. He turns sharply, snapping his closed right fist across his chest and inclining his head, “Admiral, I await your instruction.” Anhiel continues past the man for a half dozen paces before turning to face him, stating in a mild tone “You are a skilled swordsman. However, wielding a lightsaber is much different than a conventional blade and is even difficult for a Jedi. I shall show you the basics of wielding such a weapon as one without the aid of the Force.” Mirr straightens in response, grinning within his mask in anticipation of receiving training from a combat master he held in the highest regard. The light shimmered on the overlapping white plates of Anhiel’s armor as she plucked the saber on her right hip from its place, igniting it. Her second saber remains in its place on her hip and she grips the hilt of the ignited blade with both hands, holding it out in front of her, the tip angled towards Mirr. Simply, she states “Ignite your weapon and come at me full force.”
The Mandalorian nods once, complying with the order by unseating the gifted weapon from his belt before switching the blade on and mirroring Anhiel’s stance. The purple and silver blades shine brightly across from each other as Mirr’s muscles begin to tighten, preparing to launch his assault. Only a handful of moments passed before a pair of passing republic soldiers noticed the training session that was about to begin and quickly moved to the edge of the pad to watch. As they arrived, Mirr launched forward, taking several large strides towards his smaller opponent. He raises his blade high to bring a powerful blow straight down on her head. While the silver blade descends towards its target, Anhiel steps once just to the left of the incoming attack, her own weapon positioned perpendicular to meet it. Without thinking, Mirr puts all of his strength into the downward strike in an attempt to crush his opponent when the blades make contact. In an instant, he stops the attack just after it passed through where Anhiel’s blade was originally. To his astonishment, and that of several more onlookers, the purple blade rested millimeters from the gap in his armor at the neck. Intent on the attack, the Mandolorian did not notice in time to react that his opponent’s blade had extinguished just before contact was made and was subsequently re-ignited behind his own weapon.
Anhiel holds the position for several long moments, allowing the heat of the blade to be felt through the armor before she extinguished it and folded her hands behind her back. In a flat tone, she states “You are excellent with a blade, but a lightsaber is not like any other martial weapon. It's only weight is in the hilt, and even the largest of them, such as Master Joash’s, are much lighter than your beskar blade. They can be activated and deactivated in an instant and some can even adjust the length of the blade during use. Just because the blade is present one moment, it may be gone the next, as you have just witnessed.” Mirr listens intently, recovering quickly from the surprise, already moving the blade through the air slowly to get a feel of the true weight. Anhiel continues, “You must unlearn certain habits and rewire your brain to be able to wield this weapon to your maximum potential. The greatest feats with this weapon can only be achieved by the strongest of those that wield the Force in harmony with martial might and skill, making it unlikely that a non-force user could best a truly skilled Force user in a fair duel with lightsabers. That being said, the Force is not required to excel with the weapon and there are very few who are true masters within the Jedi and Sith orders. I do not doubt that you would best any of your typical enemies as you are now but I intend to make you a threat to even those who have the aid of the Force.” From within his helmet, Mirr grins even wider than before with fierce excitement as he readies his blade once more, “I am ready, Ori’vod”.
In a blurr, Anhiel nearly disappears from where she was standing while simultaneously igniting her saber. Now just behind and to the left of Mirr, she brings a backhanded slash with her right arm, aimed at his midsection. The Mandolorian turns to catch the blade with his own, just in time. The sizzle of contacting sabers is heard cleanly by the group of onlookers now numbering nearly a dozen soldiers and staff, a mixture of Sith and Republic personnel with more still gathering around including Athin, Joash, Sun and Rend. The group of Jedi had just returned from a meditation session on the nearby cliff. The group of soldiers part for the General while saluting simultaneously, making room for the four to stand at the edge of the landing pad where they can see Anhiel’s follow up attack. The angle with which she struck her opponent’s blade moved it to the side and she continued to spin, beginning to open her back to Mirr while his blade was knocked away. Continuing the motion, a quick maneuver of her right hand flips the hilt so it is now held in a reverse grip. Still spinning, she moves backwards towards Mirr and the tip of her blade rushes towards her opponent with unreal speed. Just before contact, the Grandmaster flips the switch on the hilt and the blade begins to recede while the hilt still continues its journey towards her target. Just as the blade recedes fully into the hilt, the metal connects with the metal on the right side of the Mandalorian’s helmet. Aided by the Force, the impact is significant and sends a deep thud through the air, putting the man flat on his left side in an instant.
Groaning, Mirr begins to lift himself up after a few seconds, gathering the breath that was knocked from him. Anhiel merely watches quietly with a neutral expression until he leans back on his knees and she speaks in the same tone as before, “Do not mistake the words I am about to speak as an admonishment of your abilities, Ori’vod. Without the Force, your ability has a limit when it comes to a fair fight. There are few true masters who can wield the Force effectively to augment their swordplay. But as you have just experienced, those who can are able to exceed the limitations of the average organic. Speed, strength, intuition, stamina, all of these are amplified significantly by the Force by a true master and no one without the Force could hope to meet that threat head on.” She pauses, taking two steps forward before kneeling down on her right knee and extending her right hand to the man. Without hesitation, Mirr clasps it and Anhiel rises, pulling the armored Mandalorian to his feet as she continues, “In a battle against a Force user, you are already at a disadvantage. However, we are not invincible and most are not nearly as proficient with a blade as I am. You must learn those weaknesses, tendencies, and opportunities so you can exploit them. Even more importantly, many Force sensitives will not give you the respect you deserve, and that will be to your advantage.” After straightening, Mirr removes his helmet to gaze directly into the woman’s eyes and states with conviction, “You honor me with your wisdom, Ma’am. I shall not disappoint you.” Anhiel grins with a hint of deviance and claps him on the left shoulder once and states, “I will send some material for you to study regarding techniques. However, observe closely, Captain. You will now see four different Force users engage in combat simultaneously. Note the differences, tendencies, and weaknesses. We will pick this up and discuss later.” “As you command, Ori’vod.” With that, Mirr moves away, seating the saber on his belt once more and replacing his helmet.
Anhiel turns and strides towards the sizable group on the edge of the pad, coming to a stop just in front of Joash, Athin, Sun, and Rend. Her cool eyes look over the whole group, particularly the Jedi before her before she commands without any other details, “Master Joash, Commander Sun and…” her voice trails off for a moment before continuing, “and Athin. Please join me up here. I trust you have your sabers on your person.” Bewildered expressions are exchanged as Anhiel walks away towards the center of the pad but all three eventually follow. Once they arrive at her position, the Grandmaster turns to address them, “I wish to test your abilities as well as give Mirr a demonstration of combat between Force users.” To no one’s surprise, Sun is the first to offer a question, “Who will be sparring with who?” An ever so slight grin from Anhiel is answer enough but she speaks as well, “The three of you will duel me. Make no mistake, this is not just an opportunity to train Mirr. We will no doubt be forced to engage our enemy in ground combat in the near future. Practicing combat outside of one on one duels is imperative and I wish to test your skills.” Her eyes fall to Sun in particular as Joash and Athin were seasoned war veterans to varying degrees. But that was years ago and neither had continued to hone their skills as regularly as the Grandmaster. Joash is the first to accept, albeit with a quiet grumble as he retrieves the large patinated saber from within his jacket. Although only her eyes are visible as a result of the deep black hood and mask of her armored robes, Sun’s surprise is still evident but she quickly follows suit while Anhiel turns and strides a few meters away to prepare.
A deep chuckle emanates from Joash as he glances to his left towards the Miraluka that had not moved yet, “Don’t tell me you are scared of your old lady, Athin?” Jarred, Athin turns somewhat, moving to question where Joash got that impression but the old man answered before it could be voiced, “How many times do I have to tell you? You Miraluka are easier to read than a story for younglings.” Mildly embarrassed, Athin retorts, “I was merely evaluating the risk she is taking on by such a one sided duel with live sabers.” This summons a full-bellied laugh from Joash that lasts over a dozen seconds before he is able to recover, “You are right, Athin. This is a lopsided fight, but I believe you are about to find that it is in fact us that are taking on the most risk.” Athin tilts his head slightly, pondering the words but Sun is the one to interject, “How is that so, Master Joash?” The levity in his words and demeanor is now gone and he answers the young woman with a serious tone, “Our Grandmaster will not be holding back as she usually does when sparring with us. This will be as close to real combat as you will get without being dropped at the front. Falter or lose your nerve and someone will be injured.” The snap-hiss of Anhiel’s sabers igniting cuts through the silent air that followed Joash’s statement.
The oldest of the three responds by igniting his own weapon, the wide blue blade shooting out to its full length and he moves to position himself in front of Anhiel. As he readies his weapon, Athin and Sun move to his left and right, respectively, leaving three or so meters of spacing. The Miraluka’s blue blade comes to life and he angles himself with his left side slightly angled towards his opponent. Crouching some, he lifts the hilt with both hands towards his chest and holds it there, tip pointed straight at Anhiel. Sun swallows and crouches low before a deep green blade extends from the base of her right hand, the arm held across her chest to put the blade in a defensive position. While there had been general chatter from the onlookers during the preparations, there was now only silence. Any personnel in the compound had made their way to the pad to watch the battle. Anticipation became palpable as nearly a minute passed without anything happening to the eyes of most watching. Those attuned to the Force could sense the initial ripples emanating from Anhiel that grew to waves of power as she fully opened herself to it. To Athin’s sight, she began to shine as bright as any star and if it weren’t for his unique view he would not have noticed her movement as quickly as he did. The woman clad in white armored robes launched forward, taking three long strides so quickly most could not pick out the individual steps. Sun yelps in surprise as she narrowly deflects the initial overhead strike, spinning quickly and hopping back to get a hold of herself. At the same time, Joash gruffed as he fell forward landing on his left knee and right hand. During the quick dash, a flick of Anhiel’s wrist sent a blast through the force aimed at the man’s right ankle, knocking it out from under him.
Despite the onslaught of successive slashes and thrusts of Anhiel’s blades, Sun kept her form tight, deflecting those that could not be dodged as Athin closed the gap from behind Anhiel. In a few seconds, he was on her and thrust his blade forward. Again, she moved with blistering speed, rotating to the right to bat the strike away with a wide sweep of her right blade. Simultaneously, she dropped low and extended her right leg which connected with Sun before she could dodge, causing the young woman to topple over. Joash had recovered just as Sun fell, in time to see Anhiel finish the spin and gather herself for a leap directed at him. She soared through the air, leaving the space where Athin’s follow up backhanded slash cuts through just moments after. In the few seconds she spent in the air, Anhiel quickly outlined the next phase of her plan to herself, “Joash, while slowest of the three, is the biggest threat. I must overwhelm him before the others recover.” Blue and purple sabers clashed with such speed and ferocity it was difficult to hear the individual impacts. Anhiel pushed forward, not letting the older man make space to take advantage of his reach. Internally, she smiled, sensing the man pull on the raw Force as she had taught him. He was slightly quicker than their last sparring session but she was not holding back like she did back then. Joash’s guard and technique was still primarily that of the ancient Jedi. More rigid than fluid, fundamentally sound but weak to overwhelming speed. The latest strike had left Joash’s hands near his left hip and Anhiel began to rotate counter-clockwise but moved to the right, intentionally leaving her right side open. As intended, Joash struck with a lightning quick thrust, the edge of his blade contacting her side just above the hip. The metal material was resistant to sabers but the contact was true and she was left with a very shallow cut four centimeters long. But her opponent was now fully extended forward and she was now behind him. Before he could reposition, the woman’s right blade was at his throat, it’s wielder up against him gripping him with a strength a woman of her stature did not typically possess. She takes a moment to herself as she evaluates where the other two were, “Just in time…”
Both Athin and Sun were only two meters away when she looked and both slid to a halt, watching as Joash extinguished his blade and adds in a joking manner, “I got you.” Anhiel smirks, her breathing labored from the amount of exertion she exhibited in only a handful of minutes. She finally responds, returning the joking tone, “I will take that as a thank you for my teachings, old man.” Joash chuckles now, “I suppose you can teach an old Correllian Hound new tricks.” She removes the blade from his throat and Joash begins to step away to take up a position to observe, having been dispatched from this battle. The Grandmaster crouches low, her right leg somewhat behind, left blade held horizontal in front of her and the right held high, tip slightly angled down but directed forward.
Sun and Athin both nod once to each other then quickly rush towards their Master. Their coordination was good despite never fighting together before now. Athin attacked high as he had superior height and strength while the more nimble Padawan took quick strikes when the opportunity presented itself, all while slowly trying to move around Anhiel’s flank. Having achieved the most critical part of her strategy in dispatching Joash, the Grandmaster adopted a defensive strategy focused on Athin’s attacks, though she kept moving, striking, and deflecting as needed to keep Sun off her flank. The Padawan had grown much more confident in combat since the beginning of her training but there was still hesitation, both from inexperience and the nature of her opponent. Blows, parries, and dodges continue for more than five consecutive minutes until a low slash aimed at her shins and a high strike aimed at her neck comes from opposite directions. Anhiel leaps, pulling her arms across her chest, sabers extended out from either side as she begins to rotate quickly while horizontal. She rotates in the space between the two blades as they pass by. Her sabers catch the backside of both, adding energy to the strike so they fly wider, requiring more time to recover from. She now pulls her legs up, halting the spin and dropping to the ground. Upon making contact, she immediately launches a kick out and upwards from the ground, using the Force, her legs and her arms on the ground to put every ounce of power she could muster into it. The heel of her right boot connects with Athin’s exposed solar plexus and sends him flying back several meters where he slides a bit more before stopping, gasping for air.
Just before she could pull her foot back under her, Sun was upon her with a slash coming downward that Anhiel batted away with her left saber in a sloppy fashion for which she admonished herself. With her feet both beneath her now and still crouched on the ground she added a growl before launching forward, connecting her right shoulder with Sun’s midsection, tackling the surprised woman to the ground who dropped her saber as a result. The expression Anhiel made brought fear to the younger woman as she watched, stunned, while with a quick motion Anhiel brought her right fist straight down. A single purple blade extended from the base of her hand and was driven into the pad no more than a centimeter to the left of Sun’s head. The pair remained there for an extended period, both breathing quite heavily despite their physical conditioning. Anhiel eventually releases her grip on the hilt, leaving the blade buried in the ground while she stands up and extends a hand to Sun. The Padawan takes it and stands while Anhiel speaks with a hint of pride in her voice although her usual commanding air is still forefront, “Well fought, Padawan. You continue to improve faster than any Padawan I have seen before.” Timidly, Sun responds while bowing low, “Thank you, Grandmaster.”
Behind Anhiel, Athin begins to recover from where he had come to rest. Groaning and gasping for air, he picks up his saber and straightens up. Anhiel extends her right hand, summoning the currently embedded saber back to her hand and turning to face Athin.
Many of the Sith officers had joined the onlooking group just before Joash had been dispatched. Most gathered had not witnessed Anhiel’s duel with Darth Vyrrid, only hearing recitations of it from those present. While they already pledged allegiance to the High Admiral, their expressions while watching the battle showed they would follow her anywhere, not only because their late master had commanded it but her abilities were more than worthy. Steadily, Anhiel begins to stride towards Athin, each of her sabers held out to her side towards the ground. As she moves, she goes over the strategy for the final phase of the battle. “His Miraluka sight will make speed less effective…” Now only a few meters away, Athin prepares, noting the wound on the woman’s right hip and allows his facial features to drop slightly. The change in expression gives the Grandmaster the information she needed to finalize her strategy and she launches forward, engaging her opponent head on. Many minutes pass in a blurr, the exact number unknown by any of the onlookers as sabers clash again, and again. In the end, the result is clear. Athin lays flat on his back, gasping heavily for air with his saber laying extinguished two meters away and a single purple saber pointed down at him from the woman standing above him. As Anhiel gazes down, the continued massive exertion in the battle fully catches up with her, allowing her mental focus to shift unintentionally. The sight of the Miraluka she cares for is replaced by an all too familiar vivid vision. Amidst a warzone, a female Miraluka with dark robes and a lace lined face covering breathes her last breath. Before any of the onlookers even become aware of an issue Athin sees the wound within Anhie’s core, having remained dormant and shrinking for some time, now lashes out strongly against the remainder of her aura. He moves quickly, avoiding the blade that began to fall towards him as its wielder started to collapse. The Miraluka catches her somewhat, cushioning the fall a bit so she does not fully impact the metal pad. With his left hand, he extinguishes her saber and calls out, “Someone get a medical team!” as he sensed Rend already sprinting across the pad.