Stellan stepped aside, letting the momentum of the weapon drag the Nihil with it. A body was pulled out of the fog, the ax-head slamming into the ground, sparks erupting where it struck. It was a Trandoshan and a bulky one at that, its reptilian face hidden behind a thick mask. The lizard dropped into a roll before springing up to its feet, ax in one hand, a heavy slab of a shield in the other. It charged forward, its shield raised. Stellan threw up a hand and pushed back with the Force. There was a thick crunch as Trandoshan steel met air that now had the density of a blast door. The Nihil grunted, and Stellan stumbled back, gasping at the intensity of the impact, but was still prepared for the ax that came swinging in. He brought his lightsaber around, slashing through armor and flesh. The Trandoshan bellowed in pain, Stellan planting a boot firmly in the brute’s chest. The Nihil fell back with a thud, the shield clattering away.

“Stay down,” Stellan barked, his voice hoarse from the smoke. “I do not wish to kill you.”

“That is why you are weak!”

The Trandoshan had lost both its arm and its shield, but that didn’t stop it using its thick head as a battering ram. Bony ridges thudded into Stellan’s gut, knocking what little wind was left from his lungs. He fell, the back of his head cracking on the floor, stars exploding behind his eyes as his lightsaber flew from his fingers. The Trandoshan was on him, its one remaining hand tight around his throat, the grip like durasteel. Stellan gagged, unable to breathe, his only defense his smog-stung hands that tried to pry the monster’s fingers from his neck. No. There was something else. There was always something else. He was Jedi.

Stellan pushed out with the Force. There was no focus, no aim. His senses were too dulled for that, his strength fading. Instead, the Trandoshan shot into the haze as if caught in a tractor beam, its claws raking Stellan’s throat as it was forced to let go. Stellan’s cry was drowned out by a crump of muscle against metal, followed by a second terrible crash that shook the ground beneath him. He jumped up, clutching his throat, knowing what he had done even before a keening wail cut through the smoke. Stellan stumbled forward, trying to part the mist in front of him, all too aware of what he would find.