The Rebel Faction

Trazu felt a bit battered and bruised, in the mental sense anyway, but he was glad he had succeeded in keeping his son from making a terrible mistake. Willingly at least, for the spirit was determined to have it’s way. He had little means of knowing what was going on outside of his body: his ability to perceive things via the Force was somewhat limited even when he had control of his body and was even more limited now. However, whether it was due to their relation or the close proximity, Trazu could sense Silonik’s fear. Oh how it hurt to know his son was terrified at what was happening: one so young should never be forced to go through such trauma, and not have any means to comfort him.

Be strong… He thought, wishing he could do more. Oddly, now he no longer sensed fear from his son: had he heard him?

….

Silonik never felt so frightened in his young life, being carried by an individual that looked like his father, but instead had a powerful entity in control. Worse yet he wasn’t too sure Master Leia could handle this monster: the Force Aura from this thing was overpowering. He did try to break free, but his efforts were uncoordinated and full of panic: his fear was preventing him from thinking clearly.

Be strong… A voice said suddenly in his mind. It was the same voice the spirit had initially used, the voice of his ‘real’ father. The voice had a comforting tone, with a hint of regret and now that Silonik had something else other then his predicament to focus on, he now could sense a second presence within the body that was carrying him like a sack of flour.

Father… He thought, feeling relieved and comforted that his real father was still in that body somewhere. Now knowing he had his real father’s support, he took in his situation and surroundings with a clear mind.

The spirit had slowed it’s fast pace and Silonik quickly realized why: they had entered the market place and as usual it was crowded. There was little doubt the spirit intended to use the crowd to throw his Master off, to slow her down at least. It was difficult, but Silonik managed to concentrate enough up the mental mist image of his surroundings and change his perception so that he was ‘looking’ both forward from the spirits point of view and from above. With so many people around this was fast giving him a headache, but he forced himself to ignore it as he tried to find a way to help himself out of this mess.

If he was to do anything he had to do it quickly, for they were nearing the end of the market and the crowd was already thinning. The dark mist shape of the spirit seemed to grow and darken in his mind’s eye: it was about to do something, but what he couldn’t tell until the spirit started picking up the pace again, only Forced assisted. If he was to do something, he had to do it now.

With the aid of the mist image he saw a pole that the spirit was about to pass. Silonik quickly reached and grabbed a hold of it, just as the spirit’s speed suddenly increased by two fold. Sheer luck and will of the Force kept his arms from getting yanked out of there sockets as he was yanked free from the spirits grip. His arms and shoulders felt like they were on fire and the moment he was free from the spirit’s grip he let go of the pole, landing smartly on his rear.

At that moment he just wanted to curl up and whimper in pain, but he forced his mind to ignore the pain and forced himself to his feet. Without further hesitation he ran right back into the main thong of the crowd….

The spirit had chosen to head for the marketplace, perhaps hoping to lose Leia in the crowds that commonly filled the area...


As they reached the marketplace, the possessed Trandoshan's pace slowed considerably as he dodged and weaved his way through the crowd. Leia also noticed that the spirit had apparently shifted Silonik to a less conspicuous carrying position, because she could no longer see the young Padawan. Wary that the spirit would simply drop Silonik somewhere and then use him as bait to lure her into a trap, Leia pushed hard to gain ground on the fleeing Trandoshan. However despite her best efforts, she was unable to make any progress.


After several long minutes, they had finally pushed their way straight through the center of the marketplace and were emerging into the thinner crowds meandering around the outskirts. It was then as Leia caught a full view of Trazu once again that she realized Trazu hadn't simply shifted Silonik to a different position... the Spirit in fact did not have the young Trando at all.


Had he already dropped Silonik in some secure place back in the crowd, or handed him off to an accomplice...?


Apparently the spirit realized he didn't have Silonik at about the same time as Leia did, because suddenly he halted and whipped around to look back into the crowd of which Leia was just emerging from. His body language suggested he was surprised, and agitated....


Perhaps Silonik had managed to slip away from him...?


Leia's pace faultered as she seriously considered disappearing back into the crowd to find Silonik, but when she saw Trazu's gaze lock onto her she knew it was too late to try something like that...


The Trandoshan produced a long cylindrical object from under his cloak, and ignited a bright red lightsaber. Upon the appearance of the weapon, the people around and between the two scattered for safety, causing the crowd behind Leia to stir and finally panic as well.


Leia was still holding her own saber in her hand, and she raised it up so that it was in plain sight. But again, she did not ignite it... she was reluctant to do anything that would harm the Trando in front of her. Trazu was probably still in the body standing before her, and who was to say that to kill the body was to kill the spirit? Most likely the spirit would simply move on to another host... most likely Silonik. Leia was pretty sure killing Trazu wouldn't accomplish much...


"Let's see what you are made of..." she heard Trazu... er, the spirit... mutter.


I wonder how adept at lightsaber dueling a Trandoshan possessed by an ancient evil spirit can be...?


If Trazu really was trapped inside his own body, held hostage by the spirit... he had to be able to observe what was going on around his own body at least. Perhaps there was some way he could be empowered to help them...

“What’s the matter Jedi?” The spirit taunted, noting the reluctance of the Jedi to fight him with an amused grin. “Scared to fight me?” He chuckled darkly. “Or is it that an annoying relative of my host told you about me…and you know that killing the host will do nothing to stop me?” He straightened, a mocking smile on his face. “A daunting situation isn’t it Jedi? You need to do something though and quick…for if you won’t give me the satisfaction of spilling your blood…then…” He glanced menacingly at some of the people nearby who had chosen to linger, an evil, toothy grin appearing on his face.

Without a second thought, he rushed toward a small group of those people, raising his saber high. Their fear only fueled his eagerness to strike them down.

"How will you gain the satisfaction of killing me, if you are too cowardly to even attack me!?" The Jedi had shouted at him and the spirit just chuckled as he continued to chase down the now screaming bystanders. Oh don’t worry little Jedi…this is just an appetizer. Even now, he was feeding off the people’s fear, giving him a boost of energy and power.

His ‘snack’ however was rudely interrupted when the Jedi tossed a cart his way, forcing him to evade it. No matter, for now things were getting interesting. How amusing it was for the Jedi to be throwing produce at him, which he easily dodged. Finally the Jedi had ignited her own saber.

Now we are getting somewhere! The spirit thought with an evil chuckle. But he didn’t want to lock sabers just yet, for the spirit recognized that the Jedi had one advantage on him: she had always been ‘in’ that body. Trazu’s body was still somewhat new to him, it’s limit’s not fully realized. So some measure of caution was needed: though he was sure the Jedi wouldn’t kill the body, it took a lot of effort to get this body in the first place and to start completely anew wasn’t appealing to him.

“Like chucking things do we?” He taunted. “I can chuck things too…” He focused his attention on the scattered produce, manipulating the Force to start hauling produce back at the Jedi at a feverish, pace one after the other. He finished off by seizing the cart with the Force and adding that to the volley. However, he charged at the Jedi right after the cart, using it as cover, his saber posed to strike.

Impressive The spirit thought with an amused grin. He smarted somewhat from landing on his backside from the short flight, but he was right back up on his feet again a split second later. “The body has a limited time yes…” He hissed playfully. “But I will always be. Tell me Jedi…do you know the full potential of the Force? I doubt you do…so I’ll give you a demonstration….”

He turned his saber off and hooked it back on his belt. Lifting up both hands he called to the Force and bent it to his will. The sky seemed to darken and the wind picked up. A raging whirlwind swirled around the spirits form, picking up not only dust, but nearby loose objects including produce and carts, even ripped up a good number of bricks from the street itself. Lightning flickered within the growing cloud of debris around the spirit.

“Do you feel it Jedi?” The spirit said, using the Force to magnify his voice over the sound of the wind. “The power I hold? Do you still believe you can truly take me on?” He thrust one hand out toward the Jedi, sending a bunch of the debris flying her way at terrifying speed.

…

Silonik’s hiding spot was suddenly ripped away, exposing him to the raging whirlwind the spirit had created. With a frightened shriek, he willed his arms to work with this legs as he scrambled for a new, more secure, hiding place in a nearby alley. He was nearly clocked a few times by the flying debris and almost picked up by the wind itself before securing himself in the alley. There he clung to an embedded pole, just wanting this whole thing to be over.