| Archive for Rebels A Star Wars Roleplaying Community |
| Xander Vos |
Sith Strike **Canon**In light of the waning interest in RPs, I've decided to challenge the issue head on, by using the priveleges bestowed upon me by the lovely shade of purple in my username to declare this RP absolutely 100% canon.Set in the year 112 ABY, Darth Acheron has ruled the Sith Empire for a few years now, and is settling into the role. The uneasy peace with the Jedi is shattered in a brawl on the streets of Kroprulu. In response, the Sith are forced to kill the Jedi culprit, who had begun to stir up dissent in the Sith leadership. As a consequence, a crisis meeting on Coruscant was held, with the Jedi declaring all out war once more on the Sith. Currently, the Sith First Fleet, led by Darth Acheron, plunges through space towards Corellia, from which he hopes to launch an all out attack on Coruscant, and potentially Pacis itself... His hands held loosely behind his back, Acheron gazed out at the myasmic swirl of blue that was Hyperspace, entranced and perturbed all at once by the enigmatic beauty that ripping a hole in the fabric of the universe created. The swirls of blue represented the light from individual stars, light-years away, distorted and twisted by the hole in the Universe that the Super Star Destroyer Dominance had torn in the Kroprulu system. As the behemoth plunged down the tunnel of light it had created, towards its destination, Acheron's thoughts broiled in his head, furious at the turn of events over the last month, where the Galaxy had shifted from one at peace with a shakey truce between the two powers within it, to an all out war where one would undoubtedly meet its doom. Shar Aldron, a Twi'lek Jedi Knight had been given permission to land on Kroprulu due to conditions allowing the Jedi access to the Sith homeworld in the same way the Sith could travel to Coruscant free of harrassment. However, Aldron's time on Kroprulu had not been spent under the innocent guise of researching the local Thrashs - a species of herbivores that the Sith milked to provide them with their dairy sustenance - for a Jedi research project, but instead took to the streets of Tor, the capital of the Western continent of Kroprulu, distributing Jedi propaganda and stirring up dissent. Stirring up dissent towards the Sith upon the Empire's homeworld was akin to giving Master Yoda anti-ageing cream - it was an exercise in futility - but he had become known to the Sith despite his attempts at subtlety, and the meek following he had begun to draw had troubled Acheron. Arresting the Knight, a fair Trial had been held, in which Aldron was pronounced guilty of attempting to stir up treasonous activities on the Capital, and so had been sentenced to death by firing squad. Everything had been done by the books, down to the letter of the law, in an attempt to prevent the incident from broiling over into Galactic Conflict. However, when a Sith sheds Jedi blood, such an incident can hardly be avoided, Acheron mused wryly, for within the space of a week, news had somehow filtered to Coruscant that the Jedi Knight had been murdered by Sith, and an emergency meeting of the Supreme Chancellor Ignacio Portho and the Jedi High Council had determined that the only course forward was a course of war, and immediately Sith outposts on the worlds of Nam Choris, Toprawa, and Sneeve had seen the Sith forced to respond. And now... now Acheron was taking the most direct path that he could to end this war before it could truly begin. A swift attack on the Republic stalwart Corellia would allow them to advance unimpeded to Coruscant, where the Republic Senate would be forced to see reason. He hoped... |
| Dakoth |
Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap.
Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap. The sound unceasingly pulsed through the small chamber. Cale Pactar, a Jedi Knight, who was supposed to have complete control over his emotions, could not even control his foot. There was no escaping the fact that he was anxious. Mere days ago the galaxy had apparently “exploded” into open conflict, and yet here Cale was, simply staring out the window of a Corellian starport. Those first few days of the war, Cale had been entirely focused, doubling his meditation time and concentrating intensely on bettering himself in the lethal art of the light saber. Yet here in the comfort of a core world, it was easy to forget that there was even a war. It made him feel like a Limmie goaltender, simply watching his team play on the opposite end of the field. And what use does a glorified Jedi goaltender have for a lightsaber? Soon enough he’d probably be swamped in enough scouting reports and requisition orders to occupy his entire day anyway. And so, his saber sat idle and his meditation chamber empty. Cale simply stared out the station window, into the empty sea of space before him, and waited for something to happen. |
| Xander Vos |
Coruscant
Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap. Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap. Ben Vos sat gazing around the room at his felllow Jedi Masters, as they debated about how to solve the encroaching war. He was a Jedi Master, over seventy standard years old, and yet the fear of such impending doom had recessed his mind to the days when he had been an impatient teenager, anxious for action. A Mon Calamari Jedi, in the middle of a furious attack on a fellow Jedi Master who preached all-out attack at the Sith home world paused, and glanced at his Grand Master. Ben halted in mid-tap, glanced, embarrassed, at the offending foot, and put a halt to the action, but took the lull in conversation as his chance to put his opinion forwards. "I think it is undeniable that the Sith will eventually come here, and as such, we need to be ready for them. I've already spoken with Thel stationed on Pacis to draw some elements of the Home Fleet to Coruscant, but I suggest we recall all Outer Rim elements. My latest intelligence suggests that the fleet is making a stop off in the Bakura System." This information sent a murmur around the gathered Council. Only a few were too young to have been alive during the Invasion of Bakura, that had driven the Jedi Order from its millenia old homeworld to their current world of Pacis. Ben had been amongst those sent on to Pacis, his father on the other hand... His father had remained on Bakura. His father had died there. Ben's memories of the events after that, of his leaving the Jedi Order, were now just a blur, the emotion and pain that had welled within him hazed his memories of how he had left for Fondor, and how his siblings had followed to bring him back... But that was so long ago. So much had happened since then. "So I propose," Ben continued with a heavy breath, "That I lead a portion of the Council to Bakura to bring the Outer Fleet to Coruscant to lead the defence. We cannot go on the offensive against the Sith, for that shall leave either Pacis or Coruscant undefended, and we know that eventually the Sith will come for Coruscant. We must strengthen its defences." If no one wants to reply to this directly don't worry, this is more a plot point that will come into effect after the Battle of Corellia, but since it takes place here, I felt I needed to write it. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz had not slept in three days. Or, what felt like three days, he wasn't completely sure. The Jedi Master, and Council Member had however, been in a meditative state for at least half of the time he'd "volunteered" to go to Corellia and play the waiting game.
He'd checked his equipment over a hundred times it seems, so Xjrz took a deep, deep breath concentrating deeply on listening in the Force. After a few moments, he opened his eyes opened abruptly, and he ran towards the door of his room, and sped down the spaceport's corridor. He finally came across Cale's room, and opened the door. He then looked at Cale with a death-like stare. "Please, by the Force, could you kriffing stop tapping your foot?" |
| Dakoth |
Cale's foot felt as if it had simply fallen off, an abrubpt silence blanketing his room. It was entirely likely he would never tap again. Anything that managed to anger a Jedi Council member would drive a lesser tempered individual to murder.
Relunctantly turning to face the Master, Cale found his voice. "I.. I apologize Master, Its just that I can't stand all this waiting. We're being wasted all the way back here. Heck, Sith isn't even in the Corellian dictionary I bet." |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz face fell and he sat down across from Cale.
"I apologize, I'm also getting quite impatient, at least you have a way to deal with it." he said sympathetically "And no, I wouldn't say we're being wasted, not yet at least. We can make use of ourselves if we'd like, we should probably go look around, see if anything is going on that we can help with besides just sitting around here being senile." he said, standing up and fixing his robes. "And even if we can't, we can at least get something to eat." |
| Dakoth |
Reaching for his robe, Cale mustered up a small grin. Xjrz, or Mr. X'y as he liked to call him in his head, always had a way of spurring people to action. Besides, the young knight could not even remember the last thing he ate. So he fell into stride behind the Master, out into the spotlessly gleaming halls of the space station. Apparently X'y held sway even over the janitorial staff. |
| Devrin |
Joseph, his hands folded in his lap, watched as fellow Knight, Cale, and Master Xjrz left for the mess hall. He had half a mind to follow after them, but he decided to stay with the Council and listen to their reports. Joseph exhaled forcefully, something he rarely did, and leaned back in his seat. The meeting was much longer than the others that he had attended before and he had become tired. Maybe it was a good idea to get something to eat. With that, Joseph stood up, nodded at Master Vos, and left for the mess hall.
[I haz no muse, sorry.] |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz marched down the corridor with Cale in stride, as the young Jedi Knight Jospeh Tiru ran to catch up with them, Xjrz paused and waited for him. As he caught up, they nodded at each other and kept walking.
"I know what you're thinking, Cale. And sometimes I think things can be too clean. As they entered the mess hall, they found it completely empty except for a two patrons stationed over in the far corner, sharing a drink together. They paid no attention to the Jedi. The three sat down and began discussing mundane things, as they ordered their food and inhaled it, apparently they all had forgotten to eat anytime recently. Xjrz looked at Jospeh and Cale simultaneously and closed his eyes. "Relax." he commanded. And they did, only to be disturbed by a comlink call. Xjrz took a deep, almost irritated breath. "Its Grand Master Vos, we should probably head back now." The three got up without a word, and scurried back to their quarters. |
| Lord Invictus |
Lord Invictus stood in his glass-covered command center, his 'eyes', white orbs, glowing ominously beneath the dark red mask slid over his hooked nose. Below his miniature plateau, engineers calculated the capital ship of the Church's path, attempting to avoid collision with any of the many other invasion vessels.
The Mortalis, a compact Star Destroyer, housed a miniature army of Sith troops. These 'Templar' class warriors were cultists specifically devoted to the Church, their ultimate loyalties officially to Lord Invictus and the Emperor himself. However, Church doctrine had given them each a sense of pride in the order; so much so that Invictus was essentially worshiped by some of the inner-core of the Church. Invictus had decided against remaining on Kroprulu with the Church's capital building; its defense was unimportant anyway for the time being. He'd left his second there, Darth Aurum. An Anzat, he was one of the inner-core of Invictus' Church; the cultist essentially worshiped him! However, as a second to this expedition, Invictus had taken his other successor. Darth Cruor. The enthusiastic Sith was everything Invictus despised: incorruptible, gullible, valuing of his subordinates, and loyal to the Emperor. Nonetheless, he was competent, and managed to kill Invictus' other second in command in his sleep, which impressed the Grand Inquisitor. Still, his usefulness would soon be outlived. Darth Cruor, a Mirialan, approached Invictus, bowing his head respectfully to the Church's idolized master. "My Lord... we'll soon be dropping out of-" Cruor began, attempting to be as courteous as possible to Invictus; the 'great one' wasn't easily pleased. "Bow before you speak to me." "I'm sorry, my Lord?" Cruor responded, apparently confused by the order. "Do it." Slowly and awkwardly, Cruor bowed, his head gazing up into the red mask of the Grand Inquisitor. Then the Templar was shocked; Invictus' scarlet blade hung inches away from Cruor's neck, searing the green flesh as it almost came into contact. "You are moments away from death, Cruor," Invictus hissed, his voice stoic and yet... at the same time filled with an insane rage. How this psychopath had ever become Grand Inquisitor, let alone a trusted Sith, was beyond Cruor. Then again, he had murdered the competition... "Do not expect such ill-conceived mercy on my part again should you show such insolence. You are to bow before me, or the next time you will bow to this blade." Invictus carefully held the tip of the lightsaber to Cruor's neck, purging the outer layer of flesh from muscle. It was a sign; you're under a close leash, don't try anything. Not that Cruor would, but the paranoid Grand Inquisitor wished to instill a strong sense of fear in his subordinates before the invasion. "When we drop out of hyperspace, lead a small battalion via a transport to Corellia's surface to join the main offensive," Invictus explained, sheathing the lightsaber in his vestments. "I will land the main body of the Church's strikeforce elsewhere, and perhaps establish a command center; Corellia is too strategically significant for the Church not to have a foothold on." "... Yes, my Lord," Cruor uttered, attempting to conceal the pain emanating from his neck wound. Invictus quickly swerved around to face hyperspace once more. Not that it mattered. The Miraluka was without sight anyway, and could sense Cruor's presence even behind walls. It was simply a sign to get out of the Grand Inquisitor's presence. Cruor wasn't worthy. |
| Xander Vos |
A chime sounded softly on the deck of Dominance, and Acheron gestured to an aide, who lit the holo-comm screens with the commanders of the other Star Destroyers participating in this invasion.
"Gentlemen and gentlethings," Acheron started, gesturing grandly, an absurd over exaggeration of movement for such a serious occasion, "In moments, our ships shall revert to realspace in the Corell System, and we will begin deploying landing craft for the capital city of the planet Corellia. Our mission: to capture or kill the Five World Prime Minister. With him as a hostage, or a corpse, surrender of this system will come immediately, and we will be able to gather ourselves for a push towards Coruscant itself. "The majority of our forces will be required in space to deal with Golan Defense Platforms the Corellian Navy commands, as well as any craft they have in-system. Lord Kaleron [At this point an NPC as no one has volunteered] will lead the ground force, and will be aided by Lord Invictus' Church Forces." At this point the two men in question nodded their heads in understanding, aware of the task set them. "At this point I feel it is necessary to point out that we do not undertake this mission lightly. We are not sparking Galactic conflict over spilt blue milk. The Jedi have actively attempted to stir dissent on Kroprulu, in a hope of stirring an uprising against our fully legalised system of Government. I refuse to stand for it. We refuse to stand for it. And as such, we will destroy the Jedi in much the same way they had hoped to destroy us. They will taste death by our sword, and we will once again bring peace and stability to a Galaxy gone mad." At this, a brief round of mumured agreement swept through the men Acheron faced over the screen. "I have said what must be said, and now I leave you with this: Know that today, I will stand by your side and fight just as hard as each and every one of you. Every man, woman and it must do their part to bring an end to the Jedi's existence. We must end this contempable Order, for Kroprulu and the Sith!" In almost perfect timing, the ship shuddered out of Hyperspace, reverting to realspace, Corellia popping into existence in front of Acheron, a glistening jewel he hoped would soon be a member world of the Sith. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz, as well as the other two, felt a great disturbance in the Force, and immediately, they stopped, looked at each other and Xjrz activated his comlink to speak with to Grand Master Vos.
"Master Vos we -" he was cut off "Master Xj ... jammed ... Sith fleet ... sending ... ments... be with you..." the transmission then went silent. Xjrz stood, with a grave look on his face and the two young Jedi Knights were struck with confusion. The Jedi Master stood, hands behind his back and closed his eyes, for a few moments. The Force flowed through him, and he was able to think and see clearly. He went to speak, and then stopped, realizing the darkness they soon faced. "The time to act is now." he stated "We must get the Prime Minister to safety, this is our task, and we must act quickly." "Master, is -" Joseph started to speak "Not now, trust in the Force, it will guide you if you let it." he said, idly, aware the Jedi Knight knew this. "Just know that he's here." he said, gravely. Joseph and Cale exchanged glances, as they ran down the corridor. The waiting game, was in fact, over. |
| Dakoth |
Now this was being alive. Cale thought, adrenaline mixing with fear inside of him, forming an electrifying cocktail. He could already feel that something grave was about to happen, yet it was not until they had shot down a turbolift and arrived in the station's hangar bay that he realized the source of the disturbance. Straight ahead of him, through the shielded bay doors, tiny specks began to emerge from the inkwell of space. A fleet. Moments later the station confirmed his fears, lights strobing red as the call went out to man battlestations. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz raced down the corridor and heard the alarms go off after what seemed like ages after the Jedi had realized what was happening. Cale and Devrin ran in stride behind him, and he realized they couldn't stay together if they were to keep Corellia in battle long enough for the reinforcements, he hoped, Master Vos was sending. He continued to run as he spoke in a bellowing tone over the alarms.
"Jospeh." he started, "Your objective as of now is to get to the command area, and help with the main attack." He stopped, and he gaze fell on Joseph as the two Knights came to a halt. "Your battle meditation is essential to their battle effort at this point. Trust in the Force, and you will help them succeed until more Jedi and troops arrive." "I will find the Five Worlds Prime Minister, and make sure he is protected, safe and secure." He said, taking a deep breath. "Cale, you may either accompany me, or aid Jospeh in aiding Corellia's defense forces." he finished. The Jedi Master then starting to move again immediately after, hoping the Jedi Knight would make a swift decision. |
| Lord Invictus |
The Mortalis dropped out of hyperspace, its massive hold gracefully floating into reality... before crashing downward, causing a momentary disruption of communications. In his rage, Invictus' body erupted into an inferno of blue flames, shocking nearby engineers within an inch of their lives.
"You idiots!" The Mortalis' primary characteristic and distinguishable feature was bold and shocking. At the bow of the Star Destroyer, a massive, thick 'scythe' descended, meant to ram into enemy ships, tearing through their hulls. It could be rotated ninety degrees for an easy landing experience... if it wasn't damaged by the drop from hyperspace. "Poor calculations, my Lord," Cruor shuddered, stammering through every syllable before dropping to his knees in shame. "Then fix it!" Invictus snarled, waving a bolt of lightning in his hand. "What is it, lieutenant?" "No major damage to the ship reported as of yet, though the engines may have suffered some-" Invictus lifted the man up, obviously unable to articulate his anger in mere words. The crew stood in silence, staring at the silhouetted officer handing in the deck. Then, in a single instant, the body imploded on itself, a spurt of blood shooting through the mouth before being gargled down. Invictus' hand flung around, the body landing forcefully in Cruor's hands. "Dispose of it, and see to it no more mistakes are made, lest you be next," Invictus warned, brushing the blood from his gloves. "But, sir... I have no authority over the engineers-" But Invictus simply ignored the Sith, turning to the view of Corellia once more. The invasion, he hoped, would soon begin. And perhaps Cruor would meet an unfortunate end at the hands of Jedi. If not... then he'd have to fix that. |
| Xander Vos |
The hull of the Dominance shuddered as various turbolasers begun to spit fire at the behemoth. Golan platforms stationed around Corellia had taken only moments to acquire the Sith fleet as a hostile target and open fire. A conciliatory comm message may have been Acheron's choice of greeting - assuming the best of a situation seemed to have been the Jedi's greatest fault in the past - but perhaps they had realised this.
"All batteries open fire," Acheron ordered, "We have to allow the invasion fleet to land, give them enough support that the Golan platforms will have no choice but to concentrate on our craft." "Yes my Lord," one of his aides acknowledged, charging all turbolasers to strike at the nearest Golan platforms. As the Sith fleet begun to spread out into the system, more and more Golan platforms came under attack, absorbing the majority of the damage sprayed at them by the Sith. "Release the fighters," Acheron ordered, and watched as wave after wave of TIEs and Sith Fighters spewed forth from the various ships arrayed around him. The pilots were well trained, and well experienced - a rarity for pilots of shieldless craft - and Acheron had no doubt they would be of great assitance in rendering Corellia defenceless. |
| Dakoth |
Cale took a passing glance back at the space station as shrunk to the size of a walnut, the tiny black silhouettes of defense fighters pouring out of the virtual wasp hives. Seconds later the black shadows of fighters were thrown into full color, the dozens of batteries upon the Golen Defense Platforms flaring to life in a hail of green death. Not to be outdone the Sith fleet responded with it's own lethal crimson barrage. The turbolasers intercrossed in some sort of twisted light show. Clenching his teeth, Cale turned to face the pilot.
"Do you think we'll get there in time?" He asked, trying to sound calm. His body was almost shuddering, as if tiny freezing droplets of adrenaline were snaking across the countours of his skin, through every crack of his being. "What if we're too late?" He asked quickly, eyes darting back to the scene of battle quickly unfolding above. "How are we going to get back out? What if we get surrounded?" "Relax." Was all Xjrz said. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz loved the thrill of flying. He was flying Cale's ship, the Volcane, down to the surface of Corellia, in hopes of beating the Sith to the Prime Minister. Thoughts flew through Xjjrz's mind, and he couldn't think about them all at once. Unfortunately, he could also hear all of Cale's as well, as well as vice-versa.
"Calm down." they both said at the same time, to each other. They exchanged a glance, well, Xjrz exchanged his emotionless face for Cale's smirk, would be a better way to describe it. "Its strange that no fighters have headed this way." Xjrz said out loud Cale said nothing in response, as the two Jedi reached the surface of Corellia, only to see the Sith had made a dent already. "Sithspit, this is a kriffing mess." shouted Xjrz, as they landed in one of the Prime Minister's Palace's landing pads. "No time to waste, let's go." said Xjrz The two Jedi exited the vessel, and ran into the Palace. Thankfully, it was still untouched by Sith troops. As they ran through the Palace's corridors, they couldn't help but admire the Palace, even in a time like this. They made their way to the Prime Minister's chamber, when they heard voices up the corridor. "We're supposed to blow open the door, and knock him out, deliver him, and be done with it." said the first "Set the charges, let's get this door -" he was cut off by the sound of igniting lightsabers. Cale and Xjrz burst into action, cutting down the half dozen Sith troops that had inflitrated the Palace early, and beat them to the Prime Minster's chamber. When they were done, they disarmed the charges that had been set, only to open the door to find it empty. "A trick?" asked Cale "Maybe, or he is ahead of both of us." said Xjrz, continuing through the Palace walls. |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron surveyed the battle unfolding before him. The Sith transports had begun to land on the surface of Corellia, waves of Sith troops undoubtedly already heading towards the Prime Minister's Palace, where they would capture or kill the man and bring Corellia under Sith control.
In space, however, the dozens of Golan defence platforms were providing a challenge, their strings of proton torpedoes and concussion missiles, as well as volleys of turbolaser blasts were keeping both the Sith capital ships and fighter craft at bay. The turbolasers were ripping through squadrons of TIEs and Sith fighters, and the torpedoes were beginning to dent the shields on the Star Destroyers. Added to that, the Corellian Home Fleet - comprising of a dozen or so Corellian capital craft - was heading towards the Sith fleet. Whilst the Sith still undoubdtedly outnumbered their enemy, the fight would be drawn out as a result of the underestimation of Golan defence platforms the Corellians would have arrayed around their home world. "This could take a while," Acheron murmured, "The sooner they capture the Prime Minister, the better." |
| Dakoth |
"Hold on." Cale stopped suddenly as the pair was exiting the Minister's office. Picking his way over the Sith corpses that Xjrz had so kindly put to sleep, Cale made his way back into the chamber.
"Maybe its not that the minister is ahead of us" Cale suggested, running his hand slowly slowly down the sleek ivory walls of the chamber. He felt every groove and contour, not through his hands but through something much much deeper. His hand seemed to pass through the wall, through its studs and support braces, searching. Moving from wall to wall, Cale repeated the process with Xjrz watching on. As he came to the third wall Cale's thoughts rung true. A small click preceeded a small panel gliding back. "A panic room no doubt." Xjrz mused as he looked at the small control module Cale had uncovered. "It looks as if it requires a fingerprint authentication" "Not a problem." Cale replied, flicking his hands over the device, tripping it's microscopic internal circuits, bypassing the fingerprint scan entirely. A depressurizing hiss filled the room, and the two Jedi soon found themselves staring down at the floor, a wary prime minister looking back at them. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz wasted no time. Almost pushing Cale to the ground, he ran by, to speak with the Prime Minster.
"Is there any other way out of this chamber?" Xjrz asked quickly. "Yes." said the Prime Minister, getting to his feet. "...Yes, there is, its this way." he exclaimed, making his way over to a door on the other side of the room. Xjrz motioned for Cale to follow, but didn't see Cale standing where he'd left him not seconds before. "Cale?" bellowed Xjrz, motioning the Prime Minister to hide. Xjrz jumped up the steps, to find Cale's lightsaber on the ground, a hooded figure in the corner, holding his or her hand over Cale's mouth, a lightsaber hilt touching his neck. It motioned for Xjrz to stop, or else. "Who are you?" asked Xjrz, almost curiously. The figure said nothing, pushing Cale away, and Force pushing him hard into a wall, knocking him unconscious. It then picked his body up and threw it at Xjrz's feet. A flood of Sith troops entered the room, surrounding Xjrz, and the entrance to the Prime Minister's safe house. Xjrz didn't move, even as Cale's body slipped down the access ramp and landed on the safe house floor. Xrjz looked to the Force for guidance, and it told him to be patient, as so he listened. Just then, the safe room door began to shut, and Xjrz found his way out. He Force sped over to the now half-open door on the floor, and fell into it, all before the troops, and even the the Sith could move. "Fire! Fire! FIRE!." is all Xjrz heard as he door shut, but not a second later did a lightsaber already punge into it, beginning to cut it open. Xjrz threw the Cale's limp body onto his shoulders, seeing that the Prime minister had already gone down the tunnel. "Smart guy, for once." said Xjrz to himself as he raced down the tunnel, not forgetting to close the door, and destroy the controls. "I hope I can catch up." Xjrz said to himself again, the Force giving him a sense of encouragement. |
| Xander Vos |
Corellian Prime Minister Heef Yoker felt fear clutch at his heart as his feet pounded hard against the permacrete floor of the tunnel that would bring him and the two Jedi - well, a Jedi and his unconcious companion - out into an alley on the side of the Palace, where a hover-car should be waiting for them to transport them to safety.
The Sith had come out of nowhere. The Corellians had barely had time to scramble their defences before the Sith were landing all over the capital city. Yoker had gone into hiding immediately, directing the resistance from his bunker, but when the Sith had begun to storm the Palace, he and his security had agreed it would be safest if he hid in his safe room. The Jedi, somehow, had been able to find him there - and he was glad it had been them and not the Sith who had opened the door - and within moments the Sith had been upon them. Yoker knew why the Sith were after him. He had been entrusted by Supreme Chancellor Ignacio Portho with details surrounding the Coruscanti Planetary Shield. Only he knew where the codes were held that would bring the shields down and allow entrance to the planet... If the Sith were after Coruscant, they'd need him to find out they were hidden in an outpost on Borelais. He wouldn't reveal that to the Sith no matter what however, he would rather die than betray Coruscant, and with that knowledge Yoker was able to hold his head higher as they fled the Palace. |
| Darth Splinter |
"You can leave."
With that, the women in the tight black leather strutted out of the low rent tenement, scooping up her pay off the table by the door. Just before the door hissed closed behind her, an alien hand cut in. A scarred and battered Nikto stood in the doorway. "Dammit Raaton. Get out of here before the Sith troopers climb so far up your butt that they build a frakking spaceport in it." Remarked the Nikto. The building rumbled and the illumination flickered in and out. The Nikto sat at the foot of former Sith's bed. "Forbid I become your social worker, but you're not going to find anything to grasp once you crawl back to those darksiding bloodsuckers." Splinter holstered a pistol and headed for the door. "It's like an addiction, and like any addiction, one of the steps is knowledge." "You're a frakking psycho! You'll die before you belong!" |
| Dakoth |
Cale twitched back to conciousness rather suddenly, falling hard off the Jedi master's shoulder and on to the floor for the second time in one day. They were in some sort of tunnel now, dim lights illuminating its plasteel walls. Xjrz had only sped up after Cale had jostled himself off the Jedi's shoulder, which meant that he was either chasing someone, or being chased. Perhaps both, Cale realized; In all likelyhood the Minister would have bolted at the sound of Sith, and no doubt those same Sith could not be too far behind. With that in mind, Cale took off into a sprint after his compatriot. It was only then that he noticed an unfamiliar feeling. There was no familiar tapping on his hip as his feet shot across the floor. His lightsaber was rolling on the ground in the Minister's office right now.
"Maybe I should have meditated more.." Cale thought to himself, how ironic it was that he had stopped honing his finest weapon mere days after war broke out. It was a folley he hoped he would not regret. |
| Darth Splinter |
"Stop. You're not solving anything."
Splinter, one foot in the doorway to the transport, looked back at the Nikto. "I thought you weren't my social worker." "Look, you will not stand a chance against the Sith hierarchy. You'll die before they do." Splinter wore false befuddlement. "I never said anything about that..." "But you did!" "Mmm. I did, didn't I? Well goodbye then." The Nikto shook his head. "You're not making any sense!" "Lies typically don't." "You psycho! You made it all up! I believed you!" "I do suppose that is your fault for being so incredulously dense. Now I truly do know the proverbial 'crap end' of the 'intellectual stick'." In a burst of frustration, the Nikto bellowed a curse and pulled his weapon. Before he pulled the trigger, he was cut off cry of another blaster. On his knees, he clutched at the heart wound and gazed into his assailant's eyes. Splinter holstered the pistol and stepped into the transport. All the passengers stared in awe. "It was self defense. He drew first." He remarked snidely. It hadn't eased the passengers though. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz spotted a small speeder waiting for them as they exited the tunnel shaft. He motioned for the Prime Minister, who had paused to wait for the two Jedi, to stop moving towards it. Anyone with common sense would be able to realize it would be a common idea to rig an escape car with a simple bomb.
"I know what you're thinking." Prime Minister Heef Yoker said. "...And the answer is no, there is absolutely no way this vehicle is going to blow up. Regular security measures sweep the vehicle numerous times a day, and even replace in when there is an attack." Xjrz nodded solemnly, and motioned for them to move forward. Yoker and Cale both got into the craft first, when the sound of approaching troops filled the exit of the tunnel. Xjrz quickly jumped into the speeder, and they made their way through the underground maze-like trail that exited into the streets of Corellia, this particular area still untouched by battle. "Where to?" asked Xjrz and Cale, almost at the same time. "I have a few people I can contact that will allow me to get to safety, located on the-" the Primer Minister was cut off by a speeder being hit, flipping and barreling into a nearby building. Miraculously, all 3 were unharmed, as the two Jedi both made sure they were protected by a force barrier. "Make your call now." said Xjrz, as the sound of an approaching vessel made their landing seemingly too close to the now wreckage of the Prime Minister's escape vehicle . |
| Darth Splinter |
"We 'ave two more stops before we 'vacuate."
"I would like to request a schedule change." announced Splinter as he leaned on the chilling metallic wall of the transport. "Ya don't 'ave the authoritay." grunted the captain, two Correlian troopers beside him, weapons drawn. "So 'ow 'bout you sit ya behind down?" Splinter pushed away from the wall and drew his pistol, but both troopers fired their weapons. One bolt just shaved his abdomen and the other struck an innocent passenger. Splinter hit the deck and fired two shots. One hit the captain between the eyes, and the second in a trooper's chest. The second trooper fired a rapid volley of blasts that all missed. Splinter rolled and fired 5 more shots, 3 of which struck and killed the trooper. He got to his feet and charged the cockpit that only contained a pilot droid that he pushed aside. He locked the door behind him set course directly into a police center. "No one will survive!" wailed the droid. "Yeah, and Tatooine has two suns." Splinter commented as he turned to the emergency exit hatch beside him. He pulled the release switch, and the door detached, sucked into the blur of a city. Splinter bit his lip and awaited a clearing. There it was! A flat artificial park, without hesitation he jumped. Like the door, though, he was sucked back past the park and into the side of a building. His back slammed into the structure and he fell 2 meters to the ground with a fake tree breaking it. Soon after that, he had heard the thuderous slam of the transport exploding into the police center. He chuckled. "That would be for questioning my authority." He groaned in pain that quickly subsided due to his Sith training. Tapping into the force, he attempted mental communication with somebody in charge of the assualt. Through the chaotic storm of thoughts, he could just barely reach some kind of high ranking Sith official he could not identify. Regardless he sent a message. You may or may not recall me. I am Darth Splinter. I have been gone for quite sometime. I would appreciate a reunion via collaboration in battle. But before that, I am going to need a transport to you so we may dicuss further. ((The high ranking official's identity is up to whoever wishes to respond.)) |
| Lord Invictus |
Chaos.
The battlefield raging on Corellia wasn't, for the most part, an organized assault. The Sith fleet had landed at seemingly random positions, engaging hundreds, if not thousands, of Corellian soldiers in the streets. Jedi made heroic attempts to halt the advance, but the attacking armies were bolstered more and more by Sith dropships... every few minutes, fifty or more Sith soldiers would land behind Lord Invictus, strengthening the assault. The only real organization was the siege of the capital building. The Mortalis floated above the streets, along with many other capital ships. Amongst the gray Star Destroyers, the black Mortalis hung ominously in the air, the scythe at the end of its bow descending into the madness below. Assault ships continued to land cultists, the lightly force sensitive warriors prevailing through the carnage. Invictus made his way through the wall of colliding troops. In the crowded street fight, Invictus barely had room to wave his arm, let alone fight off an enemy army. He heaved his blade in all directions, slaughtering Corellians and Sith without prejudice; all were equal in death. Even he, the Grand Inquisitor, recognized this. Or, perhaps, especially he. Cruor was cowering in a corner, fighting small squadrons of Corellians in alleyways. Coward... Invictus growled, the twisted thoughts of his dark mind descending from anger to fury. "Cruor!" He lurched toward Cruor, his black robes flowing like black fumes. His skeleton-like hand gripped Cruor's neck, pressing him against a wall. Empowered by the force, Invictus crushed his successor's neck, disaligning his spine slowly and meticulously. Finally, he collapsed to the ground. Finished.. |
| Xander Vos |
"We have to get out of here, now!" Yoker said, his eyes widening as the crashing sound of battle moved slowly towards their position. In the distance, smoke, and blaster fire begun to appear on the horizon, accompanied by an array of screams and crashes.
"Where to?" The Jedi Master asked Yoker, "Where are these contacts of yours?" "It's too late for that," Yoker murmured, "We have to get to the nearest space port. I have a small transport stationed there, it should be able to evade the blockade and get us to Coruscant. We have to warn them of what's happening." |
| Dakoth |
Squinting, Cale peered through the twisted wreck of the dropship, down into the streets below. They were, of course, teeming with activity. crossfire danced from building to building. No fire was directed thier way however, the small party had remained undetected. Who could blame the Sith though, when theres a choice between staying behind cover, or breaking formation to check for survivors in a spectacurally destructive crash?
Having one weapon between the three of them, Cale could not have been happier with this advantage. He slowly walked over to the still in tact building interior, stepping into it's hall. The building was modestly furnished, Doors lined the carpeted halls, each with thier own silver nameplate impressed overhead. "An apartment building" Cale surmized aloud. "That puts us in the residential sector, the spaceports in Commercial, so thats a bit of a hike." "We'd never make any kind of progress down there" Xjrz said, motioning downward. "We'd have to fight for every inch" "Maybe we won't have to." Cale suggested "The buildings here are pretty tightly packed, if we knock out a few windows and drop a few planks we can have ourselves a nice catwalk, maybe even jump over a couple of roofs" Minister Yoker seemed to pale at the thought, and truth be told the notion left Cale rather uneasy as well, but he preferred it to trying to shout the Sith to death. |
| Xander Vos |
"Easy for you two to say," Yoker mumbled, "You can leap buildings with a single thought. I haven't exactly done much to take care of my physique over the years," he said, gesturing to his rather large stomach, "The years haven't been too kind to me."
"We have to try," the younger Jedi said, "What other chance do we have?" Yoker paused for a second, glancing down at the encroaching Sith, and paled, nodding, "I guess so." |
| Lord Invictus |
The fire had begun to die down. The onslaught of Sith warriors had overwhelmed the makeshift Corellian defenses. Still, wave upon wave of cultists descended into the palace, surrounding the complex. With the main conflict outside coming to a close, the true Sith soldiers had assembled, sword fighting with the Republic guards inside.
Lord Invictus had used Cruor's now unidentifiable body to break down the first few gates into the palace, smashing the bleeding corpse past wood and metal until the palace had become fair-game for another strike. "My Lord," a nearby Sith Cultist shouted, climbing over the piled corpses to Lord Invictus. "Orders sir?" Troops were now swarming through the palace, marble columns descending like shadowy spires, crushing entire squadrons. "Continue a thorough scan of the palace, especially the Prime Minister's quarters," Invictus ordered, twisting his neck awkwardly to face the officer; it didn't matter, as he was blind. It was, however, enough to shock the average soldier to see the mask... "Surround the palace; nobody in or out. Not even Sith warriors. If anyone attempts to escape, shoot on sight. I will... I sense nothing here.... Continue the search." Invictus sprinted to a security terminal.... perhaps it had some feed of the facility? Nothing. Even the safehouse was empty. A few closets had staff members hiding in shame, cowering as gunfire riddled the guards in nearby hallways. In vain? Failure? Invictus twitched, bending downward to examine the security feed again. Surely he had missed something? There was certainly some small corner of the palace in which the Prime Minister still clung to hope for escape. Yet... nothing? "Sir, is there something wrong?" a nearby soldier inquired, standing, illuminated by crimson flames in the doorway. The Grand Inquisitor attempted to ignore the soldier, fury over the failure building up in him. Yet he couldn't... The slight over Invictus' failure was too much for him to handle. How could he be so arrogant? So weak..? So... imperfect? The soldier took a step forward... "My lord?" "N... No-....Nothing is wrong, private.... con... c... continue th-the search," Invictus stuttered, unable to comprehend what had happened. "So far we've found no-" "Of course you haven't, you pathetic whelp!" Invictus hurled a nearby decoration at the soldier, killing him instantly with a blow to the head. Something caught Invictus' (blind) eyes... the decoration. A small model transport hung from the private's skull, embedded deep in bone. Perhaps...? The Palace's hangar... a ship was missing. Amongst the multiple fighters and transports, only one had been dispatched. Invictus heaved his quivering body toward the nearest cultist, backhanding his shoulder. "Inspect every single transport in the hangarbay!" he screeched, unable to contain his excitement. "Apprehend the Prime Minister should you find him, and destroy any existing transports that remain.... the last one... see if you can track it down. Contact all military commanders in the Sith fleet.... tell.... Order a lockdown on spaceports, and destroy anything that leaves the planet. Even our own ships." "Perhaps-" Underneath Invictus' mask, his glowing white orbs flared for a second, the misty light escaping the smothering robe. "Do it." "... Yes, sir," the cultist sighed, marching to the nearest communications officer. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz examined his surroundings, and knew this building-hopping process would prove quite a challenge.
"Well let's go." said Xjrz, pulling out his lightsaber, cutting a hole through the nearest building. The party of three crawled through, and activated the surprisingly undamaged lift, taking it to the top floor of the residential building. They reached the top, and climbed the several flights of stairs it took to reach the rooftop. "I'm hoping, sincerely hoping, some of these will have bridge extensions or something that will not call for us to jump half the planet's buildings." said Xjrz, thinking out loud. As they opened the door, Cale and Xjrz both got the same Force sense, and Xjrz Force shoved the door open, allowing it to take out two or three of the Sith troops that were already stationed on the roof. Cale stood with the Prime Minister as Xjrz, the only one with a weapon, which was mostly his fault, dispatched the rest of the troops. "I hope all the rooftops aren't like this..." said Yoker Cale and Xjrz exchanged a glance in agreement as they made sure there was no other option than to jump. "The distance between these two isn't too far at all. But getting you over will present a challenge. You'll have to trust us on this one." said Xjrz, as he allowed the Prime Minister to get onto his back/shoulders. They performed the jump, with relative ease, and landed on an empty rooftop not more than 30 meters away. The Prime Minister got off Xjrz, and they paused, looking for an alternative on this rooftop. "You both are quite lucky that I'm not afraid of heights." said Yoker "In my experience, there is no such thing as luck." said Xjrz, having a slight feeling of deja vu. They repeated this process for over an hour, some rooftops requiring jumps, others that ended up having some other means of transportation across, until they reached the commercial area of the city. They made their way through, until they eventually found the nearest spaceport. "It was nearly right next door!" exclaimed Cale, but neither Xjrz nor the Prime Minister found his remark entertaining at all. |
| Dakoth |
Cale's legs no longer really worked. He had flung himself off of more buildings than he really cared to remember at this point. Though even in his worn down state, Cale looked like he had barely even broke a sweat compared to Xjrz. The Faleen was drenched in sweat, his skin as pale as bone. No matter what Yoda said, carrying around a very hefty minister on one's shoulders took a toll. Not to mention the added stress of jettisoning Sith cultists off buildings while carrying said minister.
Fatiuge was only the first of the trio's problems it seemed. The spaceport had become a hive of Sith activity, in fact, it seemed to be the only Sith activity for miles at this point. "Somebody is on to us." Xjrz frowned, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Thats a lot of Sith for trying to capture a figurehead." Cale mused. "Sith that no doubt are needed elsewhere." Xjrz nodded, turning to the Prime Minister. "So tell me, Minister Yoker, what exactly is it that you know?" |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
The Prime Minister's face dropped, as he looked towards the ground. Xjrz and Cale exchanged a glance, and looked back at the Prime Minister. Curiously, none of them were concerned at this point about the infested spaceport they had to infiltrate to get the Prime Minister to safety, it was all slightly ironic.
"I suppose I can shed some light." Yoker started. "I am entrusted with the location of the codes to the Coruscanti planetary shield, if it were to fall into the hands of the Sith, I believe we'd have an even larger situation on our hands." he finished Xjrz and Cale's faces then matched Yoker's of a few moments earlier. Xjrz fell to one knee, and then collapsed onto his back, the recent traveling finally hitting him now that he knew just exactly what kind of threat they were attempting to prevent. He laid there for a few moments, taking deep breaths, closing and opening his eyes every few seconds. He tried his hardest to ignore the sounds of battle in the distance, and concentrated on regaining part of his strength. The Force sent him a feeling of encouragement, mixed with a slight feeling of doubt. After about 5 minutes, the Jedi Master's quick meditation was over. He was at least ready to travel, he could do more on the way to the spaceport. "We should get going." said Xjrz, looking at Cale and Yoker, who, Xjrz suddenly realized, were engaged in their own conversation. "What's the easiest way into the spaceport? Well, the easiest way to avoid detection, I mean." asked the Jedi Master. |
| Lord Invictus |
((Considering you said you were moving for over an hour, I thought that I could imply that Invictus had arrived at the spaceport already... he, after all, doesn't have to deal with combat, has advanced transports, and called for a lockdown of nearby spaceports a while back. If there is any problem with this, I'll edit))
Invictus stood in the most exclusive hangar of the spaceport. These luxury transports were the Corellian masterpieces; designed to take heavy damage, and take precious cargo massive distances; hopefully, this would be the hangar the Prime Minister would attempt to escape through. Invictus had purposely focused guards in every other hallway with a clear message; this hangar is your salvation. If the Prime Minister attempted to use another tunnel, guards would intercept immediately. If force proved necessary, non-lethal charges were recommended to injure the politician. If, through some miracle, he overpowered the guards... The Cultists were fanatical. Unlike most Sith, they would sacrifice their lives for the cause without even being troubled by the thought of death. This proved particularly useful now... when each guard attached a thermal detonator to his body. The instant he suffered a serious injury, the force sensitives would pressure the charge, killing everyone in the surrounding vicinity instantly. Hopefully the Prime Minister wouldn't utilize this to his advantage in killing off guards... Invictus trusted (barely) his guards to be able to use the force to keep the detonators cooled off until necessary. If not, an explosion would at least warn nearby guards of the approximate location of the target. Invictus climbed behind a nearby transport's wing, content to lie in wait to ambush the Prime Minister... |
| Xander Vos |
Yoker swallowed noisily, and nodded, "We need to get going. The easiest way into the spaceport should be a maintenance tunnel usually used only by mouse droids. The tunnel should be wide enough for us to crawl through, and it'll bring us out into the venting system. I've got a blueprint for the hangar on my datapad, so we should be able to navigate the vents to my personal hangar."
Cale looked at him suspiciously, "Should? SHOULD be big enough for us to crawl through? What if it's not?" Xjrz shrugged, a smile on his face, "We could always knock. What's the worst that could happen?" Not feeling the humour, Yoker trudged down the steps, "I can think of plenty of things..." |
| Dakoth |
The dull squeak of flimsy plasteel echoed through the miniscule corridor as the trio painstakingly crawled through it. Cale found himself at the back of this lovely parade, the maddening "squeak" of Xjrz's boots against the plasteel signaling once more it was time to keep moving. He couldn't see anything past the Prime minister, who was having an especially difficult time fitting through the ridiculously cramped maitenence tunnel.
The minister let out a muffled grunt. No doubt he was stuck again. It must have been the fifth time in nearly as many meters. "Big enough to crawl through, He says.." Xjrz muttered from up ahead." Cale had already placed his hands firmly against against the sides of the crawlspace, bending the low grade metal sheets out a few precious millimeters. Giving the minister's ankles a rather forceful shove, Cale dislodged the man. "We're here" Xjrz called back, his saber coming alive. Seconds later a vent grate clattered to the ground and the trio climbed up into a slightly less cramped venting system. It at least gave Cale enough room to crawl on his knees, rather than lay prone. The group fell silent as they pushed forward through the spaceport, footsteps from below and derranged chatter becoming more and more common as they entered into the heart of the Sith force. |
| Lord Invictus |
Invictus sat quietly in the transport. He needn't even look... the blind Miraluka sensed the Jedi and Prime Minister, his hand-like force sculpting their every feature in his mind's eye. The Grand Inquisitor dropped a homing beacon into the transport's hull, clicking an alert function... reinforcements...
"We're here," one of the Jedi shouted, igniting his lightsaber. The others- wait, there were two more?- climbed out of a vent after them. An interesting alternate route... Invictus leaped from his cover, extending his scarlet blade. It hung ominously, angled toward the Prime Minister. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to escape... how unfortunate." |
| Darth Splinter |
((Let's say Splinter has pinpointed Invictus' location over the duration and is coming to meet up with him. He doesn't know, on the other hand, Invictus' intentions with the Prime Minister but slowly begins to comprehend.))
*** After much meditation and training, Splinter regained his shape-shifting abilities. He took the form of a Duros mechanic roaming the spaceport to avoid any suspicion. It would be awhile before he could shift to anything besides a human again. He could sense a powerful force presence looming. Light and dark very close to one another. He turned into the hanger that boasted the confrontation. A An array of figures filled the room, Invictus being the only one Splinter recognized. He was hoping Invictus would know who he was. Splinter grinned, as much as a Duros' face would allow him as he went back to his human form: a severely scarred older looking male with white hair and black burn mark from his left eye down to his chin. Unarmed and fists clenched, he stood having no idea what he might do. He would react. |
| Dakoth |
Xjrz was not one to waste time, shoving the Prime minister back and drawing his saber in one fluid motion. The exhausted Jedi master stepped forward to confront a Sith who appeared to be rather blind. The air went to stone as the pair slowly began to circle eachother, blades drawn.
An ethereal tug at Cale's shoulder, followed by a rather corporeal one from the minister, turned the Jedi's attention to the hanger door. There stood a rather old man, whose scars had scars. He was unarmed, at least for the moment. Cale quickly scanned over the rest of the hangar bay, the only other piece of interest being a sleek crimson starship, its oversized engines striped with bands of gold. The custom craft was no doubt a perfect blockade runner. |
| Lord Invictus |
"There's no need for that," Invictus chided, indicating the Jedi's blade with a flick of his hand. "A violent end to a violent conflict... don't we all want a happy ending? Drop your blades now, surrender the Prime Minister, and I'll allow you two-" he motioned to the Jedi- "free passage to Coruscant. Have we a deal?"
((I'll assume you won't abandon the Prime Minister like cowards, as you wouldn't have risked your lives to bring him this far without the intention of allowing him an escape route)) Without a response, the Jedi continued to circle Invictus, their blades hanging wearily. "I'm afraid I expected such," the Grand Inquisitor replied, standing upright with his blade clumsily at his side. "Jedi; warriors to the end. And what a bitter end it will be... Admirable, really... but futile." Without warning, Invictus charged at Xjrz in mid-monologue, their blades colliding in a battle of good and evil... Jedi and Sith... black and white. Invictus, a physically weak Sith, quickly abandoned the saber lock, resorting to quick, yet heavy strikes on either side of the Jedi. His blade shone ominously, bright scarlet light flickering in all directions in a confusing pattern of seizure-causing explosions. And yet, blind, Invictus ignored the sparks, continuing in hacking down the defenses of Xjrz. |
| Darth Splinter |
With a mental flick, Splinter locked the door behind him and busted the locking mechanism to ensure no way past him. His deadly ominous eyes met Cale's. This old Sith had seen conflict with more menacing foes, but he was rusty and was just beginning to reconnect with the once booming force that propelled him as a Sith Master.
In his peripheral vision he targeted the prime minister whilst maintaining a battle ready stance. He lifted his head to improve his field of view and peripherally sighted a loose lighting fixture just above the prime minister. Close enough to still partially land on him. Devoting all his force strength to the fixture, he loosened the bolts that kept it in place, gave it a push and it began to plummet towards the unsuspecting prime minister but within notice of the Jedi Knight. "Act, Jedi!" He commanded as he readied his body to charge the duo. |
| Dakoth |
"Tink." "Tink-Tink." Cale shook himself off the ship, looking down at his feet to find the source of the strange noise. Three bolts aimlessly rolled about on the floor next to him. It was all the warning Cale needed.
He hastily sidestepped, realizing that he was not the target of this attack. a lamp structure hung precariously from the ceiling, dangling directly over the prime ministers head. "Act, Jedi!" The old man called out, tearing the lighting loose, the massive fixture now careening towards the Minister. No doubt the Sith wished to distract him by forcing him to catch and hold the bulky light. Unbeknownst to his assailantthough, Cale was not exactly a very disciplined Jedi, nor was he a master of the force. Panic running rampant through him, Cale did the only thing that he could think of, and force pushed the befuddled Minister. The minister flew off his feet, crashing into the side of the blockade runner. "You're supposed to be a Jedi?" The old man mocked, uncoiling his body with the ferocity of a Fero Xyn, leaping at Cale. The young Jedi threw up his fists as the unarmed Sith rammed into him with his full body weight, sending Cale sprawling backwards. ___________ Xjrz panted heavily as he struggled to keep pace with the artisan strikes of the crazed Sith attacking him. He had quickly realized that this was no grunt he was fighting, and with that came the bitter truth; this was a fight Xjrz could not win. No matter what the outcome of this fight, this Miraluka would come out alive. Xjrz sent out a powerful force shove, slamming the Sith to the floor, sending him skimming towards the open hangar bay doors, and the long fall below. The Sith flipped up upon his feet a dozen meters before this would happen though, launching another fusilade of attacks upon Xjrz. The Jedi had no choice but to go on the defensive, devoting all of his energy to merely staying alive. |
| Lord Invictus |
The force shove was powerful... moreso than Invictus had expected. It had taken quick thinking and a massive shield of the force to avoid cracking any ribs on the way.. well, the way flying into a wall. Invictus quickly caught back his senses, heaving his blade in a battle of attrition against Xjrz.
"You. Will. Die," he roared, stepping back for an instant. His left hand hung in mid air, wrapping around an invisible orb for a single instant. Then... he let go. A transport's wing spiraled toward the dueling Sith and Jedi, spinning upward at the last second. Had Invictus allowed it to continue... it was likely he'd be dead in a few moments. But, it had the effect intended... the loud crash would certainly attract attention from troops, and distract the Jedi for a single instant.... Invictus rushed forward, his blade reuniting with Xjrz's in battle. The Sith Lord's left hand crackled with lightning, allowing Invictus more distractions- sight was such an impairment. To enhance his inner-core of warriors, Invictus had personally put out many of their eyes. The less reliant they were on the physical, the better. Xjrz seemed not to be a master of combat, but he was no fool. Invictus was, as always, continually paranoid... to much to make any audacious finishing blows against the Jedi. There was always a possibility that the Grand Inquisitor was being played... was it possible the Jedi knew the next attack-no, the next thought- of Invictus before the Sith himself had dreamed it up? |
| Xander Vos |
Lasers flicked past the viewport. The battle went well. Brief plumes of flame indicated the deaths of either allies or foes, and screams in the Force told Darth Acheron which it was.
The Golan defence platforms, taking a huge battering from the Sith fleet, were beginning to crumble. The Corellian Home Fleet, sent to overwhelm the Sith, were in turn being overwhelmed. The tide of the battle was turning towards the Sith, and a twinge through the Force caused Acheron to smile. "Our Lord Invictus is making progress on the surface. I sense Jedi down there... but not enough to make much of a difference. It is inevitable really. The location of the code will become ours, and this war, so futile and selfishly launched by the Jedi, will be over." |
| Dakoth |
The situation in the hangar was fast deteriorating. The sounds of frenzied fists pounding upon the blast doors that the elder Sith had moments ago sealed grew ever louder. No doubt a tide of Sith cultists were waiting on the other side, determined to pour in. Both of the Jedi found themselves overwhelmed by thier respective opponents, and the Prime minister was only now stumbling back to his feet.
Xjrz's mind was turning over hundreds of senarios as he battled the Sith, who for a practicioner of the Dark Side seemed oddly hesitant to go for the killing blow- something he hoped he could use to his advantage. Perhaps the Sith was trying to bait him into going on the offensive, or thought Xjrz was doing just that. The Falleen cringed, resisting the fatal mistake of averting his eyes, as the Sith shot another stream of Force lightning off into the air, all the while hacking away at Xjrz's defenses. Realizing he was quickly being herded into a corner, Xjrz leapt into the air for the umpteenth time that day, landing on the transport wing that had impaled itself into the wall moments earlier. No sooner than he had touched down on it, he expanded his presence around it, sending it anlong with himself careening back towards the Sith in an effort to pancake him. Stars flashed in Cale's eyes as he reeled backwards from a force powered blow to the forehead. Stumbling back over the wayward light fixture, Cale groped around for something, anything to strike back with. In mere seconds the animalistic Sith had valuted the light, diving at Cale with an elbow plow. The Jedi rolled to the side at the last moment, his white-knuckled hand finally grasping a power cable. He whipped it around at the elder Sith, who had already recovered, striking him in the face. Trickles of blood now ran down his pale face, torn by the jagged wires of the power cable. The Sith found himself undeterred by this, and continued his march on Cale. |
| Darth Splinter |
Splinter charged the Jedi, only using the trobbing pain induced by the blow to fuel his strength. The young Jedi whipped the cable in Splinter's direction once more, except this time the battered Sith caught his end of the cable.
Using the mass amounts adrenaline surging through his body, he tugged back his way forcing the Jedi to loose grip and stumble forward. "Fighting dirty, eh?" He flung the cable behind him and motioned his fist back, force pulling the Jedi to the metallic floor. "Use what your maker gave ya!" |
| Xander Vos |
Chaos whirled around him, two high speed duels forcing Yoker to divert his gaze or risk a painful headache trying to keep up with the blurs of light from his Jedi protecor and the Sith, or the fists of Cale and his aggressor.
Yoker backed away slowly, towards the craft prepped at the back of the hangar. If he could just get in there and power up the weapons systems, this fight would become a whole lot more one-sided... |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz was exhausted. Actually, in reality, that would have to be be a vast understatement. Cale was in trouble. He was in trouble. Which meant the Prime Minister would soon be in a lot of trouble. He had to act now.
As the wing of the transport he stood on reached it's destination, he jumped high into the air, reached into his belt and pulled out his shoto, and ignited it in a single movement. Catching the elderly Sith off guard, he began a series of offensive maneuvers to put the Sith on the defensive, as he backed him towards the hangar doors. Escape wasn't an option for Xjrz at this point, he knew this, neither him nor the Sith he was battling would give up. He attacked with his main saber, than his shoto, moving at speeds that he himself couldn't keep complete track of, the Force was moving him at this point. As he backed the Sith closer towards the open hangar doors, he quickly attempted to Force shove him through, unfortunately, the Sith negated it and they both flew back a few feet, only to clash again a moment later, resulting in a saber-lock. Xjrz could feel the Sith's anger as they held their ground, and for a second he was struck with unimaginable fear or what would happen if he failed to protect the Prime Minister from his grasp. The Sith batted down Xjrz's sabers, and swung towards Xjrz's feet. The Jedi master leaped upwards, and landed towards the edge of the landing pad they stood on, outside the hanger bay doors. Xjrz threw his shoto up in the air, to distract the Sith, and attempted to Force pull the Sith towards him, but to no avail. "It's over, Jedi." mocked the Sith. "The Prime Minister will be ours." Xjrz simply smiled as the Sith charged towards the Falleen, batting Xjrz's reamining saber back and forth and finally disarmed him, his saber flying back towards the hangar, near where his shoto landed on the ground. The Sith took a second to soak in the moment, and that is what cost him. Xjrz closed his eyes as the Prime Minister, who had stationed himself in the ship that now hovered on the landing platform, and fired at the Sith Lord that was about to execute Xjrz. He blocked the blast, but only enough to stop it from hitting him directly, and disarming the Sith himself, while the landing platform taking the rest of the blow, and throwing both the Sith and Xjrz off of it, down into the battles that raged on the surface. |
| Dakoth |
Cale ducked left, another one of the Sith’s furious punches flying by his head. He was nearing the end of his ability, and judging by the thick cloud of desperation permeating the force, Xjrz was as well. And desperate men do desperate things. Suddenly a screeching howl pierced through the hangar, snapping both Cale and his assailants head in the direction of the hangar bay doors. The floor where Xjrz had moments ago been parrying the blind Sith’s attack was now a crumbling hole in the floor. Wisps of steam rose from the trurbolaser battery of the Crimson blockade runner, which now floated a meter above the ground. The only remaining evidence that Xjrz was ever even there were his two sabers, which were still rattling about the ground.
His ears ringing furiously thanks to the deafening volley, Cale staggered over towards Xjrz’s sabers, calling them into his hands, the blade’s igniting with a bittersweet hiss. The unarmed Sith suddenly found himself at a grave disadvantage, carefully backing himself away from the now lethal Cale. The Jedi soon realized that he had no time to deal with the Sith though, the doors that held back the swarm of cultists were being slowly pried open, dozens of fingers grasping at the other side. He needed to go now, the prime minister wouldn’t be able to evade a Sith Armada by himself. Pointing the tip of Xjrz’ light saber at the Sith in a warning, Cale slowly backed into the Minister’s ship, his ears still barely able to make out the frenzied cries of the cultists. Yoker practically leapt from the cockpit as Cale entered, slamming the emergency ramp seal button, sending small crystalline fragments of safety glass cascading to the floor. No sooner than he did this, was Cale in the pilots seat, slamming the thrusters forward and propelling the pair skyward. It was only then that Cale realized what had just transpired in the last thirty seconds. Xjrz was dead. He hadn’t felt it yet, but he knew it. He was probably vaporized along with the other Sith, their particles floating around in the air. He was about to fly headfirst into an armada that was responsible for tearing the Corellian home fleet to ribbons. He wasn't sure he could do it. He didn't even know if he was cut out to be a Jedi any more. He didn't even know where he would go. He only was sure of one thing; He was terrified. |
| Xander Vos |
Yoker slipped into the co-pilot's seat as the transport jumped forward, shooting out of the hangar bay doors that had opened upon entry of Yoker's personal coding. Rocketing towards space, Yoker turned to Cale.
"We have to get to Coruscant. The Jedi Council needs to be warned that the Sith are coming for them." Cale nodded, "Right. We'll tell them as soon as we get there." The craft glided into space, preparing to make the jump to Hyperspace, as the Sith fleet hovered menacingly above them. "Though that may be a bit of a problem," Cale murmured. "How the frak are we going to get through that?" Yoker howled, slamming his fist into the transparisteel in frustration, "We've gone from bad to worse. At least back on the surface there wasn't the chance of being blasted into ions." "No, only the chance of being sliced and diced," mused Cale, "It could be a lot worse." As if on cue, the craft begun to shake and jink, as if under a power other than it's own. "Reverse the thrust!" Yoker shouted. "I'm trying! Nothing's happening," Cale growled, yanking at the yoke. "Oh it's worse," Yoker murmured, glancing in the direction that the craft was being pulled. The Sith command ship. Emperor Acheron would be looking forward to their visit. |
| Lord Invictus |
((I'm assuming Xjrz and I are falling out of the hangar building?))
Invictus, unarmed and injured by the blow hovered toward Xjrz as they floated to the battle on the surface, both prepared for a brutal fight above the carnage. "You've mocked me... you've humiliated me..." Invictus cackled, tossing wave after wave of lightning bolts after Xjrz. "Insolent little wretch!" The distance between them closed, Xjrz deflecting each lightning bolt skillfully. Invictus reached his left hand onto Xjrz's collar, grabbing the exhausted Jedi by the neck. The Grand Inquisitor's right hand, gloved in a dark brown leather, shot forward, knocking the Falleen's chin sidewise awkwardly. "You-!" Invictus roared insanely, his entire body crackling in blue flames. Xjrz's feet rushed up, knocking Invictus' fragile ribcage with the force... "Argh!" the Sith Lord spat, blood rushing from his mouth as he and Xjrz both collapse, their falls slowed, against the surface battle. Lord Invictus lurched away from Xjrz, blindly launching force pulses toward that which he couldn't see... even with the force. The Sith Lord tore his mask off, laying it against the concrete streets decimated by conflict. He vomited, a black, bloody fluid flowing from his mouth uncontrollably. "Back... back!" he screeched, attempting to pull his cloak over his face in vain. Yet... despite all efforts... there it was, visible for all to see. Invictus' glowing white orbs spiraled like mist in all directions, veiling the rest of the Sith Lord's facial features in an aura of ominous truth... The Grand Inquisitor pressed his hand against his ribcage... at least one rib had cracked from the kick, and possibly more... "Medic..." he hacked into his radio, attempting to heal himself somewhat with the force. ((If you'd like, Jedi, you can take Invictus prisoner- perhaps even take him to Coruscant with you.. Just please, don't kill him. His death was going to come in the future...)) |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz couldn't believe what had happened. But now wasn't the time to think about it. He quickly stomped on the comlink the now incapacitated Invictus had croaked into, and began to work. He stripped the Miraluka's robes off, as well as his own, exchanging the clothing between them. Thankfully, they were about the same height, so the clothes managed to swap nicely. Next, he located the Sith Lord's mask, and put it on himself. He threw the now Jedi-dressed Sith onto his back and made his way back to the hangar where he assumed he would find the Sith Lord's ship, or another means of transportation.
Not wasting much time, Xjrz found himself back in the hangar bay, but with no sign of any ships. He continued searching the hangar, and eventually found a private docking area near the top of the bay, inside he found himself a Sith transport, and headed into it. Throwing the Miraluka into one of the cabin's and locking the door, Xjrz made his way to the cockpit. Stripping the black robes off he located the refresher and cleaned the robe of the black vomit the Sith had so graciously gifted Xjrz with. He felt a slight feeling of anticipation, since piloting was one of his strong points. He finally lifted off, and made his way off of Corellia and back into the battle above. |
| Dakoth |
Cale slammed the ship’s yoke back in frustration. Not that it did anything, they were completely under the control of the city sized Star Destroyer whose tractor beam had latched onto them. He swiveled the pilots chair around, violently getting up.
“Why in any of your damned nine Corellian hells would you blow away Xjrz?” Cale shouted, throwing his arms up against the ship’s bulkhead. “What gives you the right to just kill him like that?!” The Jedi demanded furiously, as if he were about to lunge at Yoker. “I didn’-” The minister began, only to be cut off by the hiss of a silver bladed light saber. “He dragged you through half a city and saved you from a Sith interrogation! So you vaporize him?!” Cale was pacing up and down the cockpit rampantly, blade held steady in his hands.” “Look, Cale I don’t know what you think you saw, but I didn’t, I’d never shoot at Xjrz!” The minister truthfully pleaded, hiding the fear in his voice that only an enraged Jedi could cause. Cale didn’t hear him though. Or he wouldn’t. “You know what, Minister, maybe you’re right, maybe your secret codes are worth dying for.” Cale said, seemingly regaining his composure. Yet the fire in his eyes had not abated. “I’m sure than minister.” Cale began, his voice carved from ice. “You won’t mind a small sacrifice.” The JedI brought Xjrz’s blade within inches of minister Yoker’s head, his hand steady as steel. “After all, I’m sure if Xjrz would trade his life for your safety, you would gladly trade yours for that of a trillion coruscanti civilians.” |
| Xander Vos |
"You wouldn't kill me, it's not the Jedi way," gasped Yoker, trying to push himself backwards, away from the lightsaber blade, but the solid hull behind him refused to yield to Yoker's demands, holding steadfast.
"Much has happened today," Cale said, staring deep into Yoker's eyes, "After all I've seen today, after all that's been done, who's to say what the Jedi way is? Sacrificing one to save a trillion is a net gain of only just under a trillion lives saved. A politician for innocents. Who would bat an eyelid to hear of how you tragically died just before the Sith were able to capture you?" A shudder ran through the ship at that moment, as a docking bay clamp sealed itself to the hull. Resolve flooded into Yoker's voice, "Time is running out Jedi. Make your decision." |
| Dakoth |
((( Hope this is ok. )))
"Frak you" Cale spat back at the Prime minister. "You'd really let Coruscant burn just to save yourself! You're no better than the Sith, you treacherous slimeball!" Yoker smiled a toothy politician's grin. "Theta: 173-902-440 Gamma: 008-369-119 Beta: 455-455-455 Omega: 924-048-001" He let out a boisterous laugh. "Well then, noble Jedi, you'd better off yourself now too. You know, billions of lives in the balance and whatnot!" Cale's hand was quivering with rage, he was so focused on the traitor in front of him that he didn't even notice the faint wisps of gas beginning to trickle in through the vessel's filtration system. "I plan to, scum." Cale replied, his heart thundering in his chest like the drums of war. Biting down Cale tried to close his eyes, steady himself, escape, but it was to no avail. He couldn't shut reality out as he flicked his saber into the minister with a single, painless stroke. His life flooded out before him in a torrent of unimaginable pain, he found himself drowning in the Jedi temple, suffocating amongst the tranquil forests of Pacis, burning as his parents wished him a happy birthday, and finally, he saw the tip of his saber, calling for him to turn it upon himself. Demanding. And then Cale saw nothing. The nerve gas being pumped into the cabin causing him to fall flat upon the floor, Xjrz's saber coming to a rest harmlessly next to him. |
| Xander Vos |
"My Lord, we've captured a vehicle that matches the markings of one that just blasted out of the Prime Minister's hanger."
"He may be aboard, in which case the codes are of great importance," Acheron mused, "It also means Lord Invictus is dead, or worse, he has survived his failure. Whichever the case, feed a nerve gas into their craft and send a detachment of troops down there to capture the pair of them. We need to seperate them immediately to prevent the Jedi doing anything... rash." "You really think he'd do anything serious to prevent us getting the codes?" The aide said skeptically. "Don't underestimate a young Jedi under stress," Acheron smiled, "Emotions can boil close to the surface, and hate... anger... can be far more accessible than in a Jedi Master. He may yet be of some use to us." ((Acheron obviously doesn't know Yoker is dead, but he'll no doubt have receieved reports from the surface which is how he knows Cale is a young Jedi Knight.)) |
| Darth Splinter |
((Splinter is now a stow away))
With Xjrz occupied at the helm, Splinter stealthily crept out of the storage compartment. His species' ability allowed him to effectively mask his force presence, even in the light of a Jedi Master. He slipped into the wounded Sith's cabin, much to the Miraluka's confusion. Invictus groaned with what little breath he had. "Rest yourself, my lord. I'm not here to rescue anyone... yet. We must attack the Jedi from within. Well, maybe not you. You're in no condition." With that, Splinter slipped away into the storage once more. |
| Lord Invictus |
Invictus slid his mask over his face once more, heaving his robes tightly around his thin, almost dead body. The Grand Inquisitor attempted to heave himself from the ground, but fell in pain as his ribs crackled, obviously not healed entirely yet.
Very gingerly, the Sith Lord crawled to a window, viewing the cockpit... Xjrz stood, piloting the ship into space. Invictus lifted his hand ominously, attempting to amass a killing blow at his fingertips... yet he could not. The Sith Lord frantically searched for something with which to combat the Jedi... and found it. Hidden in his storage compartment- placed for Invictus' paranoia- was a small blade. Invictus slid it under his arm in his sleeve, using what little force control he had left to hold it in place securely. ((Note: I'm fine going to Coruscant. This knife is just going to be used to attempt, and fail, to kill Xjrz.)) |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz felt a flicker of hate in the Force, but as soon as it had appeared, it vanished, and he wasn't completely sure what it meant. But somehow or another, Xjrz had failed. He didn't know how or why, the Force simply told him as such. He couldn't risk a rescue mission at this point, not knowing what had transpired since his escape, the dark side clouded his ability to see. There was only one option: Bring the Sith Lord back to the Jedi Council on Coruscant.
He got to work putting in the coordinates to Coruscant, but first secured a transmission to Grand Master Ben Vos. "Master, I'm afraid I have failed, I'm not sure how but the Prime Minister and Cale are both in danger, if they're not already dead. I do however have a Sith prisoner I am transporting to Coruscant now. I will share more details when I arrive." he finished, closing the transmission. Hopefully he'd be able to save someone by the end of this, he thought, as the stars stretched into lines and he entered hyperspace. |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron was most displeased as he stood, gazing in at the interrogation chamber in which the Jedi, who they had discovered was a Knight by the name of Cale, was being held. When they had broken into the craft in which they had escaped from Corellia, the Sith had discovered an unconcious Cale, but a very much dead Corellian Prime Minister. The lightsaber wound in the man's abdomen told the story of what had happened.
Still... the boy had shown anger and passion to make the decision to kill the Prime Minister. To be willing to sacrifice one to save many, the boy showed the traits of a true Sith. Perhaps there was some hope for him yet. Acheron leaned forward to speak softly to one of the men monitoring the controls to the torture chamber. "Wake him up," he said. With those three words, bursts of strong white light, and loud sirens begun to shriek in the chamber, jolting the Jedi from his slumber. The temperature in the room began to alternate from boiling hot to freezing cold, sending rivulets of sweat coursing down his face only to freeze within seconds, melt, and flow down his face once more. After only a few minutes of this, the Jedi began to scream primally, unable to control himself in the face of such continuous pain, his Jedi teachings unable to help him in a situation where he was unable to hold his concentration for more than a second before one of the elements snapped it like a loose thread. Acheron held up a hand, "Enough. I will speak to him now." The door, unlocked, slid open, as Acheron walked slowly into the room, gazing at the pathetically weak Jedi Knight, shackled in a Force Field ((Like Obi-Wan's in AOTC)). Acheron begun to slowly pace around the Knight, looking him up and down in contempt. "You have cost me a lot of trouble today, Jedi," he said calmly, "But after surveying the automated recordings of your vessel, it appears as if, shortly before his death, Prime Minister Yoker imparted with you a particular set of information that you would do well to give to me. If you value your life at all." |
| Dakoth |
Cales head hung down, freezing beads of sweat melting down his skin. He did not look up to face his interrorgator. He could sense enough who stood before him. Someone dark. Someone who commanded power. Someone who tended to kill people for denying him. Cale knew he would not get out of this alive.
So, he did what was natural. He laughed; a twisted guttural laugh. "Oh my? Has the Minister died? You must let me notify his family at once! I always told him that junk he put in his stomach would be the death of him!" He was met with silence. "Just off me, your evilship." Cale grunted, complete despondency overtaking any sort of warped charisma he had left in him. He found it terribly ironic how many noble Jedi had died today, all for the sake of pitiless wretches who were more concerned with fleeing than camraderie. Here he had sold his life to try an escort a slimeball through an impossible blockade. Xjrz had died, merely because the minister was too cowardly to carry out his true duty. And perhaps even worse, Xjrz had let it happen to preserve some archaic Jedi dogma. Just because some millenia old textbook says murder is dark, doesn't make it always wrong. The council feared this though like fools, they would have let trillions die simply out of thier vain code. They did not understand that true courage was to venture into the dark woods, not stand by the lighted campfire. And because of this, Cale mused, he was to die. The Jedi had killed him. "We both know thats how this is going to play out. Just end my stay in this honorless galaxy." (((P.S. ...please don't! ))) |
| Xander Vos |
"No... you're too valuable to me alive," Acheron mused, "I know you possess in your knowledge the code to retract Coruscant's planetary shield, and you will tell me it, one way or the other. If you will not surrender the information voluntarily, I will have my best officers rip the information from your mind. However... they have been known to be clumsy at times, and the information they rip may be more than they need, leaving you somewhat catatonic." |
| Dakoth |
"So what." Cale rebuked, hate in his voice. "Either way you're just going to kill me after you get the codes. Why do I care what I'm like when you do it?" |
| Xander Vos |
"Because," Acheron hissed, "There is always an alternative to death." |
| Dakoth |
"You lie!" Cale snarled. "Just like the Senate, Just like the Council, you Sith are nothing but weak, cowardly liars!" |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron closed his eyes for a moment, soaking in the heat radiating from the young Jedi.
"Good. I can feel your anger. It is a powerful weapon, Apprentice. The Jedi preach detachment from emotions but require you to feel empathy at all times. They're a bundle of contradictions. Only as a Sith will you truly experience the raw power of the Force, and be able to use it to whatever ends you deem necessary." |
| Dakoth |
"No! I've been told of your Sith! They're nothing but cowards hiding from the Jedi in the outer rims!" Cale protested with strained confidence. "They are only strong enough to hunt defenseless civillians, thier power isn't real! It can't be!" |
| Xander Vos |
"You seem to focus your hatred on cowards..." Acheron mused, "Why is that?" |
| Dakoth |
"That sniveling wretch Yoker would rather betray his oath of loyalty to the republic than do the honorable thing. He killed the Jedi defending him just to try and escape." Cale fumed, making no effort to control the hate that was being pumped into him. "and Xjrz, he let it happen, just becaue he and the council were to scared to do what the situation called for. Unlike me. And yet I know I'll be condemned by the fools, even though I saved thier hides." Cale spat in disgust. They don't deserve me." |
| Xander Vos |
"You're right, they don't," Acheron said, soothingly, "They don't understand what needs to be done to make things right. They falter on the path to a cure, and leave all those around them sick and dying," his voice hardened, "Only the Sith are prepared to do whatever it takes to assure peace. You need only look at one of your own, Sharal'dron, the Twi'lek Jedi who attempted to stir a rebellion on Kroprulu itself. The weak fool thought the people of Kroprulu were being opressed by the Sith, in much the way the denizens of Coruscant live in poverty and squalor.
"What he found surprised him. Instead of living in the fear that he assumed one would under the Sith, he found them peaceful, angry at his intrusion, but happy with their lives. He was put to death of course, but serves as a poignant reminder that the Sith are the only ones able to put this broken Galaxy whole once more." |
| Dakoth |
"But.." Cale found himself confused. "The Jedi say..." His eyes looked around the the chamber as if searching for Xjrz to give him an answer. But Xjrz was dead and would have no answers for him. "They say the Sith want only to destroy, only to kill!" |
| Xander Vos |
"And yet there are no mass genocides on Kroprulu, no civilian uprisings against the Sith. They live in peace," Acheron smiled, reaching a hand forward to cup Cale's face, so as to look him squarly in his eyes, "Join me, my Apprentice, and together, we can show the Jedi the error of their ways." |
| Dakoth |
"You.. You're seriours aren't you." Cale stammered as his loyalties fell in burning shambles about him. "You would take me.. Let me help you make this galaxy right?" |
| Xander Vos |
"It is the only way to make this ailing Galaxy whole once more," Acheron said, his gaze burning into Cale, "Join me, and together we can put right all that is wrong." |
| Dakoth |
Cale's face begun to light up in a convulted smile. "If only I'd seen this years ago.. I could have saved so much time..."
"Theta: 173-902-440 Gamma: 008-369-119 Beta: 455-455-455 Omega: 924-048-001" Cale recited, the devious grin Yoker once had, now etched upon his face as well. Soon the Republic would pay the price of thier cowardice. |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron leaned back with a broad smile on his face. He had succeeded.
"Release him," he spoke calmly, and, holding Cale to make sure he didn't collapse onto the ground, watched the blue light flicker away into nothingness, as Cale dropped softly to the ground. Hunched over, still in pain from his treatment, Cale glanced at him with a smile on his face, sulphur eyes burning brightly. "You have done well, my young Apprentice," Acheron praised him. "Set course for Coruscant," He said, just as calmly, "Alert the other fleet elements to Rendez-vous there." A shudder ran through the craft, as Acheron and Cale began walking towards the bridge, as the craft presumably leapt to Hyperspace. |
| Dakoth |
Cale kept pace a foot behind Lord Archeron, his new master, as the pair strode to the bridge of the massive Star Destroyer. He had never felt so alive, so with a purpose before today. This was the war he had read about, where bold action trumped hiding away in the core worlds simply waiting for the enemy to attack.
Archeron was the very embodiment of all the Galaxy should be, Cale thought as he felt the pure fear and respect exude from passing officers and crewmen. This was a man whom they would not dare betray. He would not sit back and let others use him for thier own ends. No, Archeron would dive into action and make the galaxy worth living in. There would be no more crawling through vents, and hopping from buildings. The power of the Sith, he now saw, demanded entrance through the front gates, straight through the middle of town. And what better way to prove this than swatting aside the rest of the Republic to wrest Coruscant from its hands. "That reminds me." Lord Acheron's voice boomed, sensing the eagernesss welling inside his new apprentice. "You will need a name, apprentice. You shall henceforth be known only as Darth Elac." "Elac, my Lord?" Cale asked, his excitement rushing to the surface. "It is the ancient Sith word for courage. It suits the Sith, you, well, don't you think? "Its perfect, my Lord." Darth Elac grinned wickedly as he stepped into the bridge turbolift behind his new master. |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron stood on the bride, impassive, as the blue rings of Hyperspace fled past them. Much of what had taken place on Corellia disturbed him. It annoyed him that he had had to supervise the battle from space, intent on wiping out the Corellian fleet at the price of several of his craft.
He had since sent for reinforcements from the Sith home fleet, and he hoped they would be able to make the journey to Coruscant, arriving only a short time after Acheron's forces. Invictus had not made it back to his command ship... whether that meant he was dead or was now a captive of some sort of Jedi resistance that had made it off-planet, Acheron wasn't sure. Whoever had taken Invictus, if indeed he had been taken, would be known by Darth Elac, his new Apprentice. "Apprentice," Acheron asked, drawing Elac towards him, who had previously been wondering around the bridge taking note of the crew's actions. "Yes, my Lord?" Elac asked. "Do you know what happened after you and Yoker left the hangar? What happened to Lord Invictus and Xrjz?" "I believe they were killed, my Lord," Elac replied, "Yoker blasted them and they fell to the surface of the planet. They surely didn't survive the fall." "He's dead then," Acheron nodded, "Very well." |
| Lord Invictus |
"Death is such a small impediment..." Invictus recalled the famous words of Revan, examining the steel blade hidden in his sleeve.
Invictus lifted the blade to his chest, contemplating the phrase for a few moments. For those slow instants of suicidal thought, the blade hovered calmly in the containment chamber, threateningly ominous.... Invictus, a man so quick to deal out death, could not muster the courage to welcome his greatest companion home... could not kill himself. Instead, he raised his hand to the window into space, launching the blade through the glass with all the power he could muster. It shattered, the glass pieces floating harmoniously before being sucked into the great vacuum of nothingness. Steel plating rushed down, covering the gaping hole in the ship, securing it. Invictus rushed behind the door, readying to kill Xjrz, the ignorant Jedi scum, while he had the chance. There would be no hesitation now... ((Hopefully neither of us will die. This is simply an attempt by Invictus I had to make. He's still physically weak, so the fight won't be very long, if it happens at all)) |
| Xander Vos |
The Jedi Council chambers were a frenetic cauldron of energy, and Ben struggled to stay calm in the presence of so many chaotic presences.
"Please, remain calm," he ordered, his voice carrying over the unproffesional blabber of the other Council Members. "I've just received word from Master Xrjz that he's safe, and is returning to Coruscant now with a Sith prisoner. Cale and the Prime Minister, however, are missing, presumed dead. Now, either their deaths will save us, as the code will have died with Yoker, or the Sith are now on their way to Coruscant-" Again, the Council Members began calling out from different directions, trying to have their voice heard over the rest. "SILENCE," Vos thundered, "I've received an automated report from the Home Fleet that they have just jumped to Hyperspace from Borelais, and will be here before the Sith, in which case we will have plenty of time to prepare for the expected assault. Calm yourselves and remember your places as Jedi Council Members. "This will be a trying time for the Jedi and the Republic, and our actions over the next few hours could determine the fate of the Galaxy. These are tumultuous times, and we must tread carefully." |
| Devrin |
Joseph sat with his head in his hands: his mission to protect Corellia from the Sith was a failure. Of course he had known that he couldn't defeat them alone, but he had at least hoped that with the help of Master Xjrz and Knight Cale they would have a chance. To make it even worse, there were now rumors circulating throughout the entire temple that they were dead.
His friend and fellow Knight, Cale, was last seen with the Prime Minister and had managed to get off Corellia. This brought a faint glimmer of hope within Joseph, but the odds of them escaping the Sith that were in orbit above Corellia were slim to none. He lifted his head up and sighed deeply, leaning back against the bench as he did so. His heart was heavy with the losses of both Xjrz and Cale, but he knew that they would want him to keep fighting against the evil and darkness that was the Sith. With that last thought lingering in his mind, he stood to his feet and strode off to the Council Chambers. |
| Dakoth |
The twisted vortices of hyperspace before him, Cale, now Darth Elac, stood somewhere he never dreamed of being. He was at the side of Archeron, the most powerful Sith he had ever seen, and even now they traveled towards Coruscant in preperation to seize the entire galaxy. Elac could imagine no greater destiny than this. To think, that mere hours ago he had only the hassle of paperwork to look forward to. Such a bland existience was that of a Jedi, constantly limiting thier potential, bowing to beings of far less worth. It disgusted him that he had once been a part of it all.
But thier torment was at an end. Soon he would arrive on thier doorstep as thier savior. For in death, the foolish Jedi would finally be free of thier crippling ways, absorbed into the force to better serve the Sith. Archeron, once more proving his omnipotence reached into his belt, procuring an ornately carved bronzium hilt. "I will not see my apprentice upon the field of battle with some tame Jedi blade." Cale's hand found itself gravitating up into the air, seconds later the heavy bronzium hilt snapping into his open palm. "Know now that you hold a blade of a true Sith. Already it has tasted the pain of a dozen Jedi. It feeds off your hate, it grows with you. It will not fight you, will not fail you like the weak constructs of the Jedi babysitters." Darth Elac took a deep bow, fastening his new weapon of war to his belt. Rising, he spoke cautiously. "But.. What of you, master?" "What of me?" Archeron scoffed. "I am far more than a single weapon. You will learn this in time, my apprentice." |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz was startled awake as the ship lurched as it exited hyperspace, upon the appearance of the beautiful planet of Coruscant, or otherwise known fondly as home. He set the autopilot and was preparing to comm Grand Master Vos, when the Force called out for him to move. He obeyed. The Force yet again saved his life as the incapacitated Sith Lord had regained consciousness ironically close to Xjrz being home-free.
"You guys don't give up do you?" said Xjrz The Sith said nothing, and swiped again as Xjrz dodged to the side, and hurled a Force Shove at the weakened Sith Lord, only to find himself in a similar exhausted state, the Sith Lord barely took a step back from the weak blow. Xjrz threw a punch before the Sith could recover from his last attack, and he was tossed backward a few paces, only to recover ever so gracefully, as he had done it a million times before. Before the Sith could make another attempt on Xjrz's life, Xjrz pulled his blaster from his belt, and had it pointed at the Sith Lord, who stood frozen in place. As the feeling of success was about to flood Xjrz, he senses yet another presence, just as it was making his attack from behind Xjrz, who kicked backwards, catching the assailant square in the chest, throwing him backwards, Xjrz shot the Sith Lord first, in the thigh and then in the shoulder, and turned to the second, who had came back as if nothing had happened, kicking the blaster out of Xjrz's hands, and landing a series of accurate punches in his face and throat area. Xjrz called the Force to create a quick barrier, blocking the next few attacks as he got back on his feet, as the two engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the attacker clearly much more experienced. Xjrz knew he had to act fast before the ship landed on Coruscant. ((OOC: I'm leaving it there for Splinter to finish I suppose, I don't want any of us to die yet either.)) |
| Rive Caedo |
"Holy mother of meteors! --- Are you still at that?"
Admiral Kaldon Kresh leaned in behind one of the younger Jedi aboard the bridge of the command vessel. The Jedi was staring at a small digital pad with the Sith insignia rotating slowly upon it and the word "connecting..." beneath it. "Ain't no way you're going to get anyone to pick up - not now." The Jedi looked back towards Kresh, though was obviously trying to keep the screen in the corner of his eye, "But Admiral, there was an official statement that Shar Aldron was convicted of treason. Treason! He wasn't even part of the Sith Empire! How can he be convicted of treason!? This is obviously a huge misunderstanding." "You ask me, the Sith knew exactly what they were doing. Shot up a Jedi for no good reason and tried to make themselves look in the right. Looks like it worked too since I don't see any neutral systems rushing to help us out." The admiral glanced at the tactical screen displaying a relatively paltry array of ships compared to what he would prefer to have at his back. "But son, it don't matter one bit whether one bit whether a Jedi named Shar Aldron even existed." Kaldon reached over the shoulder of the Jedi and flipped the comm channel off, "All that matters is that the enemy is coming. You can worry about 'why' once you're off my ship." The Jedi nodded, "Well maybe I can get the senate to authorize a change to the planetary defense codes. They've probably been compromised..." He reopened the comm network. Kresh laughed - his Ishi Tib beak making a clattering sound as he did, "I think you'd have better odds at getting the Sith to apologize and turn tail when they get here than getting a passcode change pushed through the bureaucracy in under a week." |
| Darth Splinter |
Back on his feet, the Jedi was in a battle ready stance. Splinter swiped his leg against the Jedi's, sending him to the ground. On his back once again, the Jedi launched a force fueled kick into the Sith's groin, causing Splinter to stumble backwards. By the time he recovered, the Jedi was pointing the blaster at Splinter again, but Splinter plucked from the Jedi's hand with ease. Now in Splinter's palm, he bent the barrel and unexpectedly chucked the damaged gun at the Jedi. The Jedi dodged it and force pushed Splinter against an escape pod hatch, flipped the switch, and the dazed Sith fell back into it. The just as the Jedi was about to flip the jettison switch, Splinter began to force choke the Jedi. Struggling, the Jedi feel to his knees as Splinter climbed out of the pod. With what little strength he had left, he flung the gun back at the Sith right between the eyes. Splinter crashed against a wall, slamming his head again knocking him out cold.
The exhausted Jedi let out a gasp and then began to cough after being released, satisfied with his blood tasting victory. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
The Jedi Master thanked the Force. He used what little energy he had left and moved the assailant to an empty room and locked the door. Xjrz took a second to catch his breath, and crawled slowly back to the cockpit. He collapsed into the pilot's seat, and started the descent to the Jedi Temple. He arrived within the hour, and landed the shuttle after contacting the rest of the Council. They were waiting for him in the hangar bay. Xjrz stumbled out, and informed them of the two adversaries on board. The Jedi apprehended them and locked them away. Xjrz was escorted the medical bay where he was treated for his injuries. He then stood before the rest of the Council to give a full report.
"...and the Prime Minister fired on us. I believe his intentions were good, but I can't help but shake a dark feeling that he wasn't concerned for my safety. I have no information regarding the whereabouts of Jedi Cale or the Prime Minister, and since they aren't here, I fear the worst." finished Xjrz. |
| Lord Invictus |
Invictus gripped his shoulder, allowing the ecstasy of pain to coarse through him, rising up as his adrenaline kicked in.
"You-!" He screeched, his abnormally deep voice empowered by the force. Then, in a surge of electric energy, he collapsed to his knees... Failure was anticipated, but the attempt had to be made. Hopefully the other Jedi and his captive Prime Minister hadn't been very lucky... else Invictus would have to make his escape alone on Coruscant. "Failed here... but I will butcher you sanctimonious idiot of the Jedi later..." Invictus hissed, pointing to the Jedi before him. "I yield for now, but, in one month's time, your city-planet will be ashes. I swear to you, that I will personally kill you... or perhaps you will serve me in the future. Only time will tell, Jedi." A silent, yet grim, response was all Xjrz could field. "Understandable... soon, however, you will see the fruits of the Dark Side. All do." |
| Xander Vos |
Ben glanced around at the Council, not so much surprised by their sudden silence, but in grim determination, as he too felt the ripple of dark energy crash across them like a breaking wave on the sands of Mon Calamari...
____________________-----Wipe-----____________________ Lord Acheron's private room, spartan in appearence, but still strong in presence, shuddered slightly, as the flagship dropped from Hyperspace. Glancing at himself in a mirror, holding the Force Staff upright in his right hand. Whilst Acheron was not normally prone to moments of narcicism, this moment was one that he hoped would be remembered for years to come: the end of the Jedi Knights. Striding purposely up the corridor the turbolift, Acheron gazed up slightly at the ceiling, feeling rediculously normal as he waited for the soft tone to sound and the doors to slide apart. The Emperor of the Sith, waiting in a turbolift as the war began to rage beyond the bridge's viewport. As the turbolift slowed to a stop, and the doors slid open, Acheron allowed a smile to split his face, as he could see from his position the Sith fleet - and its reinforcements from Kroprulu - appearing around his own craft. Beyond that, however, was a sight that caused his grin to falter slighty. Slipping from Hyperspace with sanguine gracefullness, Jedi Star Defenders were beginning to move towards his fleet, the outer reaches of the two fleets beginning to trade turbolaser fire as the conflict spread through the ranks. The Battle for Coruscant had begun, well and truly. |
| Sirak Sazen |
It was all falling apart. Any peace and stability that Jedi like Sirak Sazen had fought and sacrificed for was in vain. All it took was one spark to like the powder keg of war. Despite Sirak's pleas not to go to war, the mind of the Jedi Order was set. Being a Council member for little more than two months, he held little leverage.
There was silence in the tower, but the mixed emotions throughout the Temple created a deafening screech in the Force. Sirak ran his hand gently over the lightsaber on his belt. He hadn't used it since taking his position on the Council. He hadn't even left the planet. The role caused a drastic change in Sirak's usually active lifestyle. His first taste of action in a while was looming, and as much as Sirak tried to deny it, he was hungry. Then, he felt it. They all did. A dark ripple in the Force ripped through the Council members. They all looked at each other with mixed looks. The time had finally come. |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz sat in complete calm on his quarter's floor. Eyes closed, hands in from of his chest, he held a nearly completed lightsaber hilt. He was murmuring a few words as he sat, the hilt pulsated as it was being constructed, floating inches away from the palms of his hands. He had constructed a few lightsabers in his lifetime, but this time it was different. He was building a blade of war. The lightsaber that would be constructed here would serve as an instrument of death, because many would end up falling to it. He hated that thought, even if he were killing an enemy, it was still killing all the same. The Jedi Master soon started to hear the sounds of the Temple growing with the beginning of battle in the space above, and he wanted to be able to join, since he'd be more useful in the air, but he focused hard at the task at hand. He move his hands below the hilt, as he finished, and it fell neatly onto his hands. With one swift action he jumped up and ignited it, grabbing the shoto he had constructed as well, and they joined with perfect unity, the silver of his lightsaber, and the blue of his shoto. He couldn't help but grin.
Xjrz hurried to the hanger bay where other Jedi prepared for battle. He spotted his ship, Crazy Diamond, a modified A-wing that was older than him it seemed. He didn't mind, he loved his ship, and it had saved his life many times. He was sure it would continue the favor in the coming days. He started doing a few checks, and waited for other Jedi to join him. |
| Dakoth |
Once more at the helm Darth Elac pondered as he sat in a freshly cleaned state of the art starship. The same starship that had stood witness to his rebirth. How ironic, he thought, that once more was he piloting this sleek crimson vessel towards Coruscant and the Jedi temple. And yet his motives could not possibly be more different.
His spidery fingers flashing about the console, Elac brought the ship's engines to light. The craft, which he has since learned was christened the Crimson Duke disengaged it's docking clamps with the massive Star Destroyer that has previously held it captive. It's shields humming to life, the Crimson Duke shot out into the Sith Battle formation, falling in behind the sea of TIE fighters eagerly charging the newly materialized Republic Fleet. |
| Xander Vos |
Chaos reigned beyond the viewport, and yet Acheron, his crimson eyes closed to slits, was at peace. He felt around him the silent cries of fear as dozens of pilots lives were snuffed out, could feel the uncertainty beginning to well in Captains of Star Destroyers around him, and used the Force to quell their anxiety, and fuel their hunger for conflict.
The battle was effectively a stalemate, the Star Defenders of the Jedi an unexpected reinforcement in what was to be a surprise attack on an unguarded Coruscant. Acheron's Apprentice, Darth Elac, had been sent, as a result, to lead an elite squadron of Sith Fighters to take the battle to the Jedi, and destroy their fighters ship-to-ship. |
| Dakoth |
Far too easy thought Darth Elac as the Crismon Duke's turbolasers slagged yet another Republic fighter. It was hardly fair, Elac had realized. He was a Sith, dominant in the force, piloting the most advanced ship that Corellia's wealth could buy. Meanwhile the blind Republic pilots got to fly factory standard fighters made by the lowest bidder. He took no joy in this simple job, but on the bright side, Elac knew it was the closest thing to paperwork a Sith would ever have to do. |
| Xander Vos |
"Captain," Acheron asked, calmly, "Input the codes we received into the Coruscanti planetary computer, I want those shields down presently so we can begin launching assault craft. I want to target the Republic Senate and the old Jedi Temple. Intelligence suggests that the Jedi have taken up residence there of late."
"Sir, it will take quite some time to slice into the computers and input the codes in the apropriate manner," The Captain replied. "Then we shall just have to continue the assault on the Jedi Defenders. No matter," Acheron smiled, "In fact, I will pilot my personal craft into battle, and join my Apprentice. Notify me when the shields have been lowered, and I will lead the planetary assault myself." |
| Rive Caedo |
"As we suspected, no torpedoes or ion blasts are being fired at the planetary shield, sir." The tactical officer for the Neutron Pulse stated monotonically.
Kresh nodded, "It's only a matter of time before they use the access codes to bring the shield down then. I want you to transmit this message to the Coruscant Defense Ministry." The admiral tapped lightly upon the keys of a datapad and handed it off to his subordinate. The officer responded with a slight shake in his previous monotone, "You're... advising them to lower the shields now?" Kresh clicked his beak and pointed towards the Sith starships engaging with the rest of the Republic craft around them, "With any luck, a number of Sith craft will take the opportunity to enter the atmosphere. The shields will then be brought back online - preventing further early assault - and we'll have a substantively smaller number of enemy craft to mop up here." |
| SkywalkerAndVader |
Xjrz finished his last few checks when he noticed other Jedi also preping their own ships for battle. Jedi Master Sirak Sazen, as well as the other Jedi Knight Devrin, who accompanied him and the now missing Jedi Knight Cale to Corellia, were in the hangar bay. Xjrz nodded in their direction, not caring one way or another if they noticed him or not. The final warnings went off in the hangar, and everyone started to jump into their ships.
Xjrz started the routine check-ins as the ships began to lift off. "This is Jedi Council Member Xjrz asking Makeshift Squadron to check in, Makeshift 1, standing by." he bellowed over the channel, loud and clear. The rest of the Jedi that made up the squadron checked in, and by that point they were all in the sky, making way to the battle above. ((OOC: I hope its OK that I threw Devrin and Sirak in there, if you guys had other plans, that's fine, just ignore that, I just figured it would be alright.)) |
| Xander Vos |
Acheron, in the hangar, preparing his craft, received a report from the Captain, "Uh, sir, we're receiving reports that the shield around Coruscant is lowering."
"I thought you said it would take you much longer than this?" Acheron growled, "We don't have the assault craft prepared. No matter, send out what you can and I shall lead them down to the planet." "Sir, we didn't do this. The planet is lowering the entire shield of its own accord. It makes no sense. Normally if there were craft entering or leaving the planet they'd lower a segment, not the entire grid like this." "Perhaps fortune is in our favour, Captain," Acheron replied, "Continue with the invasion plans. No need to rush the assault craft, we'll be planetside in no time." Finishing the final checks, Acheron eased the Starred Night out of the hangar bay, and acknowleged with a wag of his wings as a squadron of Sith Fighters lined up behind him for the flight towards Coruscant. "Hang close to me men, the fighting may get rough, and strict discipline will need to be upheld in the coming hours." |
| Lord Invictus |
"I sense a disturbance in the Force, Captain Argus," Invictus sneered, standing upright in the center of his cell. "Could you enlighten me to the situation at hand?"
Outside, orbital bombardment tore through the city; Invictus' capital ship had apparently shown up.... with the rest of the fleet? Argus ignored the Sith- most of the psychopaths in the lower ward of the prison received the same treatment- before grabbing a rifle. He indicated with his gloved hand two guards. "You two, take the prisoner to a lower level of the complex for interrogation... the rest of you... cull the rest of the prisoners; we can't afford an escape," Argus ordered, nodding anxiously at random intervals. "Yes, Captain!" the others shouted in unison, proceeding to their duties. "Guards, would you mind handing me my mask?" Invictus requested, motioning with his (anti-Force) handcuffed gloves to a small item on a nearby desk. "It's immoral for a Miraluka to reveal his eyes. I apologize for the inconvenience, but...." Invictus kept his cloak over his face, ominously directing his sight elsewhere when the guards opened his cell. "Prisoner Invictus, please prepare for inspection-" one stated, obviously angered over his removal from battle. "Yes yes, I understand, but please give me my mask first..." Invictus stated. After a brief debate, one guard handed the metallic sheet to Invictus, who immediately turned away. Invictus seemed to fit it on his face for a few moments, then twisted around with unnatural speed, slotting the now deadly weapon in one guard's neck. He tore it out with both, handcuffed arms, slicing through the second guard's chest with equal precision. "Strange, isn't it," he whispered to the dying guards. "That you have so much protection from such an archaic entity as the Force, but the proper application of physical force is enough to defeat everything your precious Republic offers..." Invictus cracked open the handcuffs with the mask, tossing the chain aside. Invictus lifted his cloak up from his face, revealing glowing white orbs. The dying guard's moans turned into screeches of terror. "Be at peace," Invictus snickered, absorbing what was left of the guard's life before slotting his mask back on, bloodied and more terrifying than ever. Invictus seized one of the guard's knifes, shattering a nearby table with a single, massive blow. Inside, he seized his lightsaber. Igniting the blade, he stalked upstairs, to the Argus' 'culling'. Above, various sociopaths lay, their guttural last curses slung at the guards. Apparently, Republic guards had no moral qualms with slaughtering an entire section of a prison.... odd. Invictus stalked forward, carelessly tossing his blade from side to side. Guards and prisoners fell in massive numbers in the narrow hallway until... Argus heaved around, shocked. He raised his rifle, the scope aligning with Invictus' chest. "Those were two of my best guards... you-" A knife spiraled forward, colliding with the guard's chest. Rather than killing him, it merely penetrated his armor and outer flesh. It dug deeper, tearing through muscle. Invictus smirked, his hand pressing forward moreso every second. The blade monotonously made its way past the rib cage... then stopped before it could reach the Captain's heart with a killing blow. Invictus walked over to the half dead Captain, kneeling down before him. Removing the blade, he lay it down by the Captain's side; a merciful death was too much. The Grand Inquisitor flung the exterior doors open, stepping ever-so-slowly to his captured starfighter. |