[Legacy Of The Force] - 08(50)

“There is, “he said. He was still looking down at the lightsaber scar across his plates. “I’m waiting for you to work it out.”

Jaina straightened up and finally decided it was safe to deactivate her lightsaber. If anyone was going to try their luck with her, they’d have done it by now. “So that’s beskar armor, is it?”

“Beskar’gam, “Beviin said behind her. “It means ‘iron skin.’ We live in our armor. And if the Mand’alor hadn’t been wearing it, I wouldn’t have let him get that close to you.”

“If I hadn’t been wearing it, “said Fett, “I wouldn’t have tried.”

Beviin, helmet under one arm and a pleasant smile on his face, drew his saber one-handed and held it vertically so that Jaina could look at it. “If you’re willing to spar with me, I’ll assess your technique.”

“Modest, aren’t we?” Jaina said.

“Does your brother know how you handle a lightsaber?”

“Yes…”

“So maybe I can show you how he might use that technique against you.”

Humility, girl. Remember humility. “Of course. Thank you.”

The barn was roughly constructed out of timber and duraplast sheeting, pierced by shafts of sunlight from dozens of gaps in the boards. All Jaina could see those gaps as now were sniper positions, vulnerabilities, and she’d never felt exposed like that before. She had strong enough Force powers to get herself out of trouble, didn’t she? She could deflect blaster bolts. She could leap clear. She could Force-throw.

Fett had psyched her out.

That was it. It had to be. It was all the family baggage, all the stories she’d grown up with about what he’d done to her father, and how he never stopped, never gave up, how he just kept on coming and not even the Sarlacc could kill him. But that wasn’t going to help her defeat Jacen. Now that she could pause to look at her small audience, she found it was a big man in dark gray armor, face obscured by a helmet, a young, blond, bearded man who seemed to be with Mirta, and another older man with magnificent black matted braids strung with gold clips, his ebony skin marked with raised scars. He gave her a knowing wink. If she’d met him in another context, she would have taken an instant liking to him.

“Don’t you get it, Solo?” Fett asked.

“You played on your propaganda, I think.”

“No, I played on your mistakes. You read my body language wrong. You assumed you were safe.”

“It’s hard to sense danger from you.” Oh, that’s clever. You’re just confirming how he can kill more Jedi. She gestured with her thumb at Beviin. “I was picking up more from our friend here.”

“And you still held back.”

She pointed to the burn across his plates. “Hey, I hit you fair and square.”

“You assumed too much. You’re just training, nobody wants to hurt you, the nice Mando is helping you, he’s standing all wrong to attack… you want to win? Start out to win. Hit first.”

“You’re telling me to fight dirty. I get that.”

“No, I’m telling you this isn’t about lightsaber technique. I’m more than twice your age, no Force powers, and I still got you to drop your guard. Winning isn’t about being better. It’s finding your opponent’s weakness and exploiting it.”

“So what’s Jacen’s?”

“What’s yours?”

Jaina chewed her lip in thought, aware of Mirta’s gaze.

She looked like more trouble than her grandfather. What if

I’d just walked in and laid into Fett, no hello, how are you, anything? Just went for him? Could any of them have stopped me? I…

The realization dawned on her. “I use appropriate force. With a small f. I follow the rules of combat.”

“Good.” Fett rolled the lightsaber hilt in his palm and then slid it into the dump pouch on the thigh of his pants. “You’re learning. Next lesson-Goran will show you how to go crazy with a blade.”

“But what about Jacen’s weaknesses?”

“They’re yours.”

“He’s my twin. I know him.”

“And he knows you. Be someone else.”

Jaina clipped her lightsaber to her belt and understood both the simplicity and enormity of her task. The solution was obvious. It was just very hard to achieve. She didn’t need to be fitter, or stronger, or more skilled; she needed to play it so out of character that Jacen wouldn’t be able to counter or anticipate her.

“If I could be that different, Fett, I wouldn’t be a Jedi.”

“There you go, “said Fett, and walked away.