Star Wars: Rebellion and Betrayal

Chapter 29

Rhodes stood with a blank expression as he looked at the face that was staring back at him. As much as he wanted to be shocked with who was under the helmet, he wasn't surprised. It was something that he had felt the second he stepped off their ship. A sense of familiar, cold darkness that was more intense than ever.

Rhodes let out a sharp exhale as he raised his blade. "Lena," he softly said. "Why?"

Lena laughed as she brushed her now shoulder length hair off her face. "Weren't you listening? Oh, that's right. You have a hard time listening over the sound of your bleeding-heart. I almost preferred how you were before we were backed into that corner in Dev's fortress. Now, you are off on a hopeless moral crusade that you haven't the slightest chance of being successful at. I have come to see that quite clearly. You didn't even try to come for me when I needed you most. I held out hope for months that you or the rest of Cloud Squadron would rescue me. But no. You were off stealing deflector cores and other supplies for your rebellion."

Rhodes was doing his best to remain calm but all the guilt that he had been trying to suppress since the day she was captured was bubbling to the surface. He couldn't help the urge to defend himself. "I wanted to come for you. I really did. But Abie—"

"Don't even start with her," Lena shot back, interrupting her former master. "Your sad devotion to her cause is what started all this. And now that I think of it, I never much cared for listening to her. She used us, Rhodes. Can't you see that. We were just Abie's pawns."

"And you aren't one now?"

"The Empire has given me purpose. That was something that I never got with Cloud Squadron. You always said the Jedi wanted peace and now that the Empire is close to achieving that peace, you and the rest of the rebels are the only thing standing in the way."

Rhodes was finally letting his frustration show. His tone of voice became harsher as he said, "What kind of peace is it when citizens cower in fear of a tyrannical government that responds with brutal force to anyone who steps out of line?"

"I grow tired of this discussion," Lena said while tossing her helmet to the side. Her lightsaber soon blazed to life as she brought it up in front of her.

Rhodes closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't want to fight you."

"That's too bad," Lena yelled while lunging forward, her saber aimed right at his chest.

Rhodes' eyes snapped open just in time as he parried the blow, burying the tip of her saber into the wall. Rhodes quickly ducked as a second blade leapt out of the back of Lena's lightsaber. Had he not sensed the danger, his head would have been impaled by the second blade.

Rhodes rolled backwards before popping back to his feet. He stood at the ready, waiting again for Lena to make her move. She grunted while pulling the end of her weapon out of the flimsy space station wall.

Lena switched to a two-handed grip on her now double-bladed lightsaber before lunging again. This time, she swung to her right, an attack that was easily deflected by Rhodes, who turned his body to stop the blade just before his face. Not slowing down, Lena turned to her weapon to the other side, aiming the second blade at the Jedi's back. Lena was always faster than Rhodes, but he still had one major advantage. He was still vastly more experienced when it came to anticipating attacks.

Without turning around, he was able to counter the attack by first bringing his lightsaber behind his head. Red and green clashed for a split second before Rhodes shoved Lena back with Force.

Normally when he tried this move in sparring sessions, it would send her toppling head over heel the other way. This time, she slid backwards a few meters but stayed upright.