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Atris twisted back, a hair's breadth away from the young woman’s lightsaber. The boy in the back also ignored her question and summoned another circle of light. She resummoned her fallen sabre and hurled it toward the caster. Guided by the Force, it windmilled in a vicious arc, only to be deflected by a thick bolt of lightning.

 

Her other blade, the one she took from the Exile, intercepted the black sword of her closest opponent. The young woman’s raw strength was abnormal, beyond the human limit. Atris channelled the force into her muscles and bound her attacker’s sabre with her own.

 

“Why don’t you answer me?” Atris glanced at the man in the doorway, who was in idle conversation with a spherical droid. The real threat was not the two children, but the fellow that she recognized as the self-titled Emperor of Krypton. “You have taken a stand against the Jedi, why?”

 

“I don’t consider what remains of the Jedi to be my enemies,” The Kryptonian Emperor shook his head, while the young spell-caster painted a thick band of runes into the air. “But I also don’t consider you to be a Jedi…” The man’s eyes flicked to the door behind her, as if he could see beyond the stone. “The Sith holocron that you spend most of your time with has changed you into something else.”

 

Atris’ heartbeat doubled, a mix of shock and fear that she locked behind her emotionless face. No one should know of the holocron, not even the few servants she kept in this private retreat. Her moment of hesitation was not unpunished, as the young woman forced her onto the backfoot with a rapid string of blows.

 

The Force guided her body, until the retreat turned to a standstill. Atris matched the girl, blow for blow, one eye on the light of the caster’s runes. Whatever spell the boy prepared, it was much stronger than the last. She let her mind reach out to her fallen sabre once more, a grip that speared it at the young Kryptonian’s face.

 

She let the Force fill her, until her skin burned from the fire of its light. The energy surged through her, a power that doubled her speed, and doubled it again. A flex of her back, a slight arc of her elbows before she stepped forward, blade in line with the young woman’s neck.

 

A black blade clashed with her own, the girl’s valiant attempt to save herself. Atris shook her head and used the impact force to rebound her lightsaber in a vicious arc, one that would bisect her opponent from shoulder to hip.

 

“Be riven by light… THUNDURUS RUINATION!” 

 

Before her sabre could strike home, the caster finished his spell and Atris’ world was reduced to a narrow point. The Force screamed out, a warning to act or die. Her second lightsaber landed in her palm, while both blades positioned themselves between her and the perceived danger.

 

Ten bolts of lightning, each as thick as her wrist, reached out and slammed against her weapons like an avalanche. Most of the electrical energy diffused against her blades, but her body still absorbed a powerful shock. Frozen in place, she could only watch as the girl’s black sword reached past her guard and inched toward her face.

 

“Well done, you two,” A pair of fingers held the girl's sword in place, millimetres from Atris’ face. Two sharp blows relieved her of her lightsabers and left her numbed hands without any feeling at all. “But remember, we want everyone here alive, even her.”

 

Atris staggered back on unresponsive legs, heart in her throat. She hadn’t detected a hint of movement before this Emperor had appeared before her. He didn’t even bother to keep his eyes on her, though she could sense his focus as it washed over her skin. His smile widened as the young duo slumped to the ground, exhausted and filled with triumph.

 

“I’m sorry, I got carried away…” the young girl’s breath came like a bellows, face flushed with the adrenaline of combat. “But we had her!”

 

“You both got carried away,” The man laughed as his gaze flicked at the boy. “If Cal’s spell had hit her directly, we’d be scrapping her genetic material from the floor.” He ruffled both of the children’s hair, before he turned to face Atris directly. “Now it’s my turn.”

 

Immense pressure settled onto her shoulders as the Emperor of Krypton stepped towards her. The Force cried at her, unable to guide her to a path of victory. She stood before an impenetrable wall, a power that was beyond her ability to confront.

 

“So Emperor, what reason do you have for taking me alive?” Atris forced her spine to straighten, a refusal to bow under the Emperor’s gaze. She may not be able to defeat this man, but she wouldn’t let herself bow. A Jedi serves no one but the Order and the Will of the Force. “These children have bested me, a mockery that surely renders me valueless?”

 

The Emperor held her gaze for a torturous moment, before the pressure began to fade. His serious face brightened with a smile, a flash of white that had her flinch back a step. He laughed at her open display of fear and shook his head.

 

“Your value isn’t judged by your ability to fight and kill… and you’re welcome to call me Dan-EL,” the Emperor motioned to the two children and they scampered to their feet. “Go make a final sweep of the base, make sure HK is treating the Handmaidens’ injuries.”

 

The two saluted and scampered from the room, set on their assigned tasks. Dan-EL turned his attention back to Atris and waved a hand. Her lightsabers floated into his hands and snapped to life. He admired both blades, before he flicked them off and tossed her the blue sabre.

 

“This silver blade belongs to someone else,” Dan-EL placed the weapon on his empty belt and looked Atris up and down. “Krypton is a place that accepts all kinds of people, fallen Jedi, Sith… all that matters is you follow the laws of the Empire.”

 

“I have not fallen…” Atris shook her head, hair a wall between her and the strangely informal man. She clipped her own weapon to her belt and struggled to remain on her feet. “I only study the Holocron to gain insight into the enemy.”

 

Emperor Dan-EL shrugged as his gaze shifted to the stone door behind her. He stepped around her and motioned for her to follow, an action that made her muscles scream. She had channelled far more power than her body could handle. If she couldn’t meditate and heal soon, she might still die of her wounds.

 

“Regardless, the Jedi Order is reduced to blind fools, hidden in the shadows,” Dan-EL raised an eyebrow and waved toward the door. Atris sighed and keyed in the code to open the way. “Krypton welcomes all to our banner, and you’ll find the minds of our people are far more open than the Masters you’re used to.”

 

They walked down a narrow hall, until they entered her secret meditation space. The holocron stood exposed to the air, its whispers at the back of her mind. The Emperor waved a hand and a golden glow fell onto her, a light that blocked out the intrusive relic.

 

“This thing is coming with us, even if you choose to stay behind,” He let his strange, black suit, wrap the holocron in tar and secreted it away. “It’s too dangerous to be left in your hands, unless you train yourself in a better form of magic.”

 

“I can stay?” Atris blinked. She’d expected an ultimatum, or threats. Instead she received a passive invitation and general indifference. “Why would you let me go?”

 

“Because,” Dan-EL held her gaze with his own, nothing but certainty in his eyes. “You’ll never become a threat to us,” his words poked at her heart, a jab that woke the trace of anger. “But, if you join us, you’ll become stronger than any Jedi could ever be.”