Neerada resisted the tug of a smile as she watched the pilot jump from the out-of-control speeder and into the sea. A second later and the vehicle hit the trunk, exploding and shattering into a cloud of spinning debris.
She turned the TIE about and thought briefly of flying in lower, to turn the sea into a boiling cauldron as a last salute to her enemy, but pressed for time she decided otherwise. Besides, had she not bested her foe so completely, herding them to the extent that they had been forced to make a dangerous leap to abandon the speeder? She had pursued them, worn down their nerves, made them fearful. She had broken their spirit.
That, she thought, was a far more profound triumph than simply shooting them down.
As she increased power and flew back up toward the landing site, she knew that her master would have scolded her for such an indulgence. Vader had never let his emotions betray him. Such things only made you weak, he had lectured her, and such vulnerabilities could be exploited.
But is that what had happened to him? If his death turned out to be true, had his own emotions betrayed him? She recalled a time, years ago, when he had instructed her in the use of her powers. She had asked him about family, and of what they meant to people like them. For a time, Vader said nothing. So the young Neerada had probed with her newfound abilities.
Her attempt had been clumsy and stupid.
And Vader's wrath at her intrusion had been immediate and painful.
Neerada put her hand to her throat as the pain of the choking returned. It was a lesson she had never forgotten, and could never forget.
Her anger grew. Her heart quickened. The pain from her wound brought her back to the living moment.
She was approaching the cairn. The TIE's sensors informed her that those she sought were nearby, four human males and a single young female who did not move.
That was good. She linked the TIE to her wrist control, slowed, and dived. With her last command from her wrist band, the TIE's exit opened, and the ground below loomed.
***
Princess Tayre lay still. She couldn't move. Her body was entirely numb. Colonel Arnaud crouched at her side, his gloved hand caressing her cheek.
She blinked, and then tried to smile.
Her efforts must have made some impact because the colonel grinned at her under the light of his torch.
"That's good, Princess. You're stunned. You might have a few broken bones but they can all be fixed." He looked up at the night sky nervously. "The TIE's heading backing this way." He looked back at her and Tayre could see the anguish on his face. "If the Empire has managed to break our encryptions, then they will know that your speeder was assigned to Ella. That means there is a chance they will be coming for you. I'm sorry."
There was so much Tayre didn't understand. Why was her adopted sister so important? Who was she?
She made to ask, but an incoherent mumble emerged from her parched mouth.
"Don't speak, Princess. Say nothing. Here."
He took a small device from his belt that Tayre recognised from its use by the camp medical droids. It was used to administer drugs in a painless and targeted manner. Arnaud loaded it with a small pellet and held it to her neck. Her eyes widened in alarm.
"You won't feel a thing, Princess," he said. "In a few minutes, you will sleep for a day or more, but your short term memory might be affected. It will give us time. Time the galaxy will need."
His face softened.
"I'm sorry."
He put the device to her skin and she heard a faint rush of air, but felt nothing. Then, working quickly, he stripped her of the royal insignia that she wore on her shoulder, and disposed of her personal affects. He had just finished when one of his men emerged from the darkness.
"Colonel - the TIE," he said. "It's here."
"Is the heavy blaster ready?" Arnaud asked.
"Yes sir."
"Well done. Get into your positions."
Tayre watched as the men vanished into the dark, leaving her alone. Above them, the sound of the TIE approached with an unhurried menace. It took all her effort to turn her head to see the fearsome shape approach over the treetops.
She followed it as it tilted over the clearing and killed the silence of the evening with a sudden burst of fire from its cannons. Tayre was bathed in green light as the treetops burst into flame, sending a hundred shrieking creatures up into the night sky.
And then the TIE was gone, carried out of her vision with a sudden burst of acceleration.
"Is everyone okay?" Arnaud asked from the shadows.
Three voices replied in the affirmative.
"Hold position," the colonel said. "The TIE's just trying to flush us out."
The burning trees gave her enough light to see. On her right, opposite the cairn, she identified the two crewmen who manned the heavy cannon on its support, its broad muzzle aimed skyward, waiting for the TIE to return. Her view was obscured by a sudden cloud of smoke that billowed over the clearing with an unnatural speed.
At the same time, the sound of the TIE filled her ears.
Tayre blinked as the smoke stung her eyes. And then she saw it. The figure in black, striding from the smoke with a slight limp. She tried to scream, to shout a warning, but her nerves were subdued and she could make no sound.
The black figure was upon the two men with the heavy cannon before they had perceived it. Tayre watched as a blazing red line extended from the figure's hand and plunged it into the chest of the nearest man. It impaled him instantaneously and struck the second man standing immediately behind, giving him only enough time to cry out as his blaster fell from his lifeless hand.
Both men fell sideways to the ground. The black figure turned its back on them, already forgetting them as it confronted its next enemy.
Tayre willed all her hate at the figure. She screamed in her mind, condemning it with as much anger as she had ever possessed.
Her emotions were shared. The third man of the security team leapt out of his hiding place and fired without aiming. The first shot went wide. The second stunned Tayre as the figure's red saber moved a fraction to intercept it, deflecting it off into the darkness.
The figure retreated as the man continued firing. It ducked into the smoke and danced as the blaster bolts failed to hit their target. Suddenly, the figure spun and reached out with its hand.
From the two dead men near the heavy cannon a small object flew into its palm. A blaster.
The figure whirled and twisted wildly. The red saber came up and intercepted a bolt that would otherwise have struck it in the chest. The force of the blast made it stagger, but then it raised its gun hand and fired three times in quick succession.
The Farsalt security man took the first bolt in the shoulder, spinning him around. The subsequent two shots propelled him face down into the earth, dead.
Where was the colonel? Tayre wondered. Why hadn't he intervened?
Tayre watched as the killer turned its attention toward her. She felt the person's eyes lock on to her own, even behind the black metallic visor.
"It is time," the voice laboured the words.
Then the killer strode toward her.
=================
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This shows how even simple Force powers can give big advantages on battlefields. Neerada using the Force to drive the smoke before her to hide her attack is a nice use of a staple Force ability, and it is these angles of difference that I like to explore - what other tricks could you do with Force abilities and how could you use them in interesting and novel ways?