Project Boussh: En Garde!
by Alison Sky and Scifantasy

Sci looked at Atner with the sword, the two blaster burns still
smoking on the wall from where he had deflected them.  The guards, he
noticed, had not moved to help their leader.  It was almost as if they
knew the shots wouldn't harm him.  "How'd he do that?" the young
Terran leader asked aloud.
"I don't know," Corran said, pulling out his lightsaber, "But I intend
to find out."
"Ah, a fight with a Jedi... finally a formable opponent." Atner threw
Alison a sinister grin.  "Come forward, Jedi, and let's see what you
can do."
Corran dropped his pack and stepped forward.  Alison grabbed his arm
quickly.  "Watch out for his beats.  Don't let him get behind you."
"Thanks," Corran said, giving her a Corellian smirk.  He walked
forward, taking a defensive position.  Atner motioned for his two
guards to step off to the sides, each one still aiming a blaster at
the Terra Group members.
The two duelists sized each other up, then Corran took a swing at
Atner's arm.  The dictator blocked the attack, then blocked Corran's
lightning fast change to attacking the knee on the same side.  Corran
spun, bringing the saber around to the other side, yet Atner quickly
blocked again.
Alison watched the fight intently, looking to see little differences
in the way the two men fought.  Atner was always blocking...
retreating while Corran pressed his attacks.  When Atner did try to
attack, it was with a punch or kick, but never with the
sword.  He wasn't fighting the same way as he had with her.
Then, as Corran was blocked again, Alison saw what she was missing.
When Atner blocked, he held the sword differently.  In all forms of
swordfighting, the sword was supposed to block edge to edge, as so not
to snap the blade.  Yet with Atner, he blocked each of Corran's swings
with the flat of the blade.
Maybe it was because the surface reflected the light, just as it had
the blaster bolts.  But a fear started to grow in her belly at what
would happen if he blocked the lightsaber with the edge.  She
remembered herself in Retsim's lab, blocking the pipe as it swung at
her.  The sword had gone through the object, letting the pipe continue
on it's path, but with less inertia.  What would happen to a
lightsaber blade if Atner blocked with the edge?
Almost as if Atner had read Alison's mind, the dictator spun and
proceeded to hold the blade with the edge to the side, ready to block
Corran's next swing.  Without thinking of Sci, the guards, or her own
safety, Alison grabbed the borrowed sword and ran into the fray.

Corran could sense that something was different.  Atner's stance in
the Force had changed.  It was as if the dictator was about to pull a
trick.  Yet, Corran was already in mid-swing.
He watched as the beam of light of his lightsaber separated and
allowed Atner's sword to pass right through it, unharmed.  Almost
instantly, he felt the sting as the sword's blade scraped across his
chest and over the front of his shoulder.  He reached up to grab the
wound, then cursed as Atner kicked him in the ribs, dropping him to
the floor.
"I knew that a Jedi wouldn't be able to beat me," Atner muttered, and
he brought his sword around for another swing, his first and only
offensive sword attack.  Corran jerked back, hoping to avoid the
blade.
He heard the clash of metal on metal, and opened his eyes. Alison
stood above him, holding the sword that Emily had given her in front
of her.  Atner's sword was pressed against it, the dictator locking
eyes with the female Terran.
"How dare you interrupt us," Atner stated.
A smirk came to Alison's lips.  "You want a fair fight, then you
should make sure that BOTH sides are playing fair.  Not telling the
opponent that his weapon was wrong is not in the essence of fairness."
"You wish to fight me again, Lady Sky?"  Atner pulled his sword back
and took two steps away.  "You have hardly any hair left from the last
encounter."
A low growl came from Alison's throat.  "You'll be lucky if you have
hands to cut hair when we're done."
"Then come, little one.  Let us finish this once and for all."
Alison took a step forward, but felt a hand on her ankle. She looked
down to see Corran looking up at her.  "Be careful," the Rogue
whispered.  "And mind the dark side."
"I will," Alison said.  "And don't worry about the dark side on me,
Horn.  You may not think this, but I'm gonna enjoy this battle."
The Corellian gave her a measured look, but Alison moved away from him
and closer to Atner.

"I'll give you a gift," Atner said as Alison took up her defensive
position.  "I'll let you take three swings at me before I attack you
this time."
"That's not a gift unless you promise not to block the swipes," Alison
replied sarcastically.  "Yet somehow I don't think you'd make it that
easy for me."
"Perhaps not," Atner stated.  He motioned her forward more with her
sword.
Alison took a step forward, then swung the sword around her head and
sent a strike down at Atner's left knee... the one on her right.
Atner blocked.  "That's one," he said.
Ignoring his words, Alison swung the sword around again and struck
another time at his opposite knee.  Atner quickly blocked the swipe.
"Two."
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Alison popped the blade
out and aimed a cut at the shoulder on the same side. Atner circled
the blade up and blocked again.  "And that's three," he said, but
blocked once again as Alison reversed her blow back down to his knee
again.  "And that's four, which is too much."
Atner got his blade under hers and pushed the blade up into the air,
then brought it around to a swipe at Alison's stomach.  The Terran
quickly jumped back, then brought her blade to her right ear to block
the follow-up swing from Atner's sword.  She lifted her right leg,
planting a heel into his stomach.  She kicked hard, and the dictator
let out an escaped breath while backing up a few steps. Alison
charged, swiping her blade down, but he recovered in time and stepped
out of the way of her charge, and took a precautionary swipe at her
back meant more to keep her from coming back right away than actually
doing any damage.
"You've improved during your imprisonment," Atner stated, trying to
regain his breath.  "But you can't win here."
"Sometimes it's not about the winning or losing that matters," Alison
stated, regaining her focus.  "All that matters is justice."
"And you wish to yield the power of the law by your sword," Atner
replied.
"The only power I wish to yield is seeing you at the END of my sword,"
Alison said, and she attacked again.  She took a quick swipe at
Atner's right shoulder, and when he went to block, she changed the
direction of her strike and went for his hip.  Atner corrected himself
quickly, but he was off center.  He didn't want to allow Alison to
send another sword swipe at his face, so he quickly let one hand off
his sword and backslapped her across the face.
Alison felt her lip spilt at the slap, and she backed up a few steps.
Her vision was blurred for a second as tears came to her eyes, but she
quickly blinked them away in time to see Atner's next swipe at her
shoulder.  She brought the sword up to block the cut, her eyes locking
on the dictator.  "That was a cheap blow," she stated.
"I like to leave my mark on people before I kill them," Atner growled
back.
"I'm sure you enjoy slapping people," Alison said.  "Must give you
some power over women.  No wonder you're so bitter."
Atner howled at her comment and used the pressure on the sword to push
Alison back a few steps more.  He then brought a roundhouse kick
around under the swords, his foot connecting with her ribs.  He then
spun around the swords, brought his other leg up and connected with
her back.  Alison lost her balance and rolled onto the floor, holding
onto her sword on the way down.
"This all seems familiar," Atner said, aiming the sword down to stick
Alison in the side.
"Except this time I'm actually not suffering from just having my hair
cut off," Alison said.  She rolled a few times on her side. She felt
the blade graze against her hip as she rolled, but she ignored it.
She concentrated on getting out of Atner's reach and then quickly
getting into one knee.  "And I also know how arrogant you are and the
mistakes arrogance causes."
"I never make a mistake," Atner said, bringing the sword down at a
swipe at Alison's head.
Quickly, Alison pulled the knife out from her boot and used that,
combined with the sword, to block the downward strike of Atner's
attack.  Quickly she stood, twisting the two metal weapons around as
so Atner's arms twisted in the process.  With her left arm now over
both of Atner's, she jerked her elbow back, hitting the dictator in
the nose.  Atner stumbled back, letting go of the sword while both
hands went to his face, trying to stop the trickle of blood that came
from his nostrils.
With her sword back in her hands, Alison smiled.  She used the knife
and Emily's sword to toss her sword into the air.  Quickly, she slid
the knife into her belt, then reached up and grabbed her sword as it
came down.  The familiar grip of the weapon seemed to comfort the
Terran, and she turned to Atner, pointing both swords at him.  "I've
gotten back one of the things I've come here for," Alison stated.
"Now I'll take the other."
Atner growled, smiling.  "I'm afraid that you won't be getting that
piece back."  He pointed up at the wall.  Alison lifted her eyes, and
saw that her hair had been bronzed and placed on a shelf.  "You'll
just have to grow your own."
"You know, a plaque displaying something like that is usually a sign
of a sick mind," Alison stated.  "Not that it's going to improve the
reputation you have with us at all."
"Guards!" Atner shouted.  He waved the two stormtroopers forward.
Suddenly, Shalla and Ooryl went into action.  Shalla grabbed a knife
from her side and tossed it at the trooper closest to her, impaling
the barrel of the gun.  The weapon exploded as he tried to fire, and
the trooper was thrown backwards.

Ooryl, meanwhile, drew a bead on the other trooper, preparing to fire.
However, the trooper did something that surprised the whole group. He
turned and placed his gun at Atner's head. "I'm sorry, my lord, but I
believe your time here is through."
Sci motioned to Ooryl. "Bind him. Hands and feet." He turned to the
trooper. "Your name?"
"Dedul Ces." The trooper pulled his helmet off, revealing short blond
hair and a kind face.
Sci smiled, barely able to refrain from laughing. "Any relation to
Ster Ces?"
Dedul smiled. "My brother. After he awoke from your stun blast, he
came to see me. He told me what you did--or more precisely, what you
didn't do. He was your enemy, he tried to kill you, and yet you spared
his life. Atner would not have done the same. I knew then that I could
not support him any longer. I've been his private guard for years.
Enough was enough."
Sci frowned, confused. "Not that I mind, but why didn't you help us
earlier?"
Dedul gestured to the other trooper. "If I so much as looked at Atner
wrong, Rec there--Rec Rofne--would kill me where I stood. He did that
to my other brother, Ede, when he spoke out against Atner. I couldn't
do a thing with Rec around, not even to avenge Ede. Which reminds me."
He turned to where the trooper lay, flicked a switch on his rifle, and
fired. The red beam left a charred mark where the trooper's heart used
to be. He turned back to Sci. "I think that, by and large, the
populace is willing to accept a new ruler."

Atner spoke, for the first time since his defeat at Alison's hands.
"I've figured it out now. You're Sci. You're the one who started
this...Who brought the New Republic in to help...You. If not for you,
Rawa would be alive, and I would be where I belong...You will die..."
Suddenly, moving at lightning speed, he jumped up--freed of his
binders--and lunged for Sci. There was almost no time to react. Sci
tried to bring his weapon up, but he knew he wouldn't have time to...