Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 06_ Balance Point - Kathy Tyers [89]
Mara frowned. Those were not his orders.
Ducilla raised her head. “Jedi,” she called, “have preached their philosophy of light and darkness, of knowledge and wisdom, and what have they given us? Violence and fear!”
Murmurs surrounded Mara.
“Domination, suppression.”
The murmurs grew louder.
Luke’s glance flickered sideways. He undoubtedly sensed Anakin coming, and that odd, elated determination the boy was broadcasting. Luke’s chin firmed, making him look irritated—but just for a moment. Then his lips twitched.
“How many of the New Republic’s problems—right now—could be traced to the Jedi?” Ducilla called.
And how much of what you’re saying, Mara wondered, could be traced to Nom Anor?
Anakin reached the platform, set both hands on its edge, and vaulted into a Force-boosted somersault. He came down between Ducilla’s bodyguards, who reached for their blasters. Almost casually, Anakin swept one of the Duros off balance with his left foot. The other guard fired, but Anakin’s lightsaber was already out. He diverted the shot, then swept in and sliced the blaster in two.
Stang the kid, anyway! What was he trying?
Luke vaulted onto the platform, shouting, “That’s not what we came here to do.”
To Mara’s utter shock, Anakin spun around and dropped into a dueler’s crouch. “That’s right,” he shouted. “This is what we came to do.”
As Luke drew his lightsaber, Anakin smiled sardonically.
Mara backstepped. They were both out of their minds!
Luke stepped in, sweeping his lightsaber in a wide arc, slow and flashy. Anakin parried gracefully, locked blades, and held the pose.
Then she understood. Anakin was challenging Luke to stage a demonstration, taking advantage of people’s fascination with lightsabers. She tended to forget that most citizens of the New Republic went their lifetime without seeing even one—let alone two at once, expertly handled. As Luke’s green blade crossed Anakin’s faint purple, she half smiled. Duros all around her pushed toward the platform.
She wondered if Luke would make a speech while he had their full attention. As Luke lightly pushed Anakin away, a Duros woman standing near Mara nudged her companion, smiled, and then turned back to watch. Mara sent out a Force flicker herself, launching the second guard’s Merr-Sonn out of his hands into a vine-draped tree. She ached to join them on the platform, but that would be pointless. She could accomplish more here as a sentry.
Luke and Anakin moved through a half-dozen basic drills in order, trading the lead, dropping in and out of deep stances, rising into dramatic blocks. The upstaged Duros orator and her bodyguards backed away. One guard pulled out a comlink and turned his back. Mara didn’t like that.
Abruptly, Luke broke out of the classic sequence. Making a surprise rush, he swung low. To parry in place would send Anakin off balance.
Instead, Anakin hopped back, locked blades, and stayed on his feet.
Mara saw pride and praise in Luke’s slight, somber nod.
Anakin pressed the unchoreographed attack, following slashes with short, chopping strikes. Mara was struck by the intensity, the balance, the sheer accuracy of Anakin’s use of the Force to anticipate Luke, pressing his attack beyond obvious blocks and parries. When Luke mounted a wild, sparkling offense, pushing Anakin past anything the young Jedi had faced before, Mara knew he, too, was impressed.
She’d worried about the Solo brothers’ rivalry. Now she saw that practicing against Jacen—so similar in style, so different in execution—had matured Anakin tremendously.
Only one problem. The