The air was hot, it burned his lungs, and every ounce of exhaustion layered into every muscle felt like steel in his veins. It was the cuts on his arms, the cuts on his legs, the scar bleeding and burnt up the side of his head. Everything that could disarm his mind tried, from the pain to the fear, to the danger that surrounded him now.
He had come to Odavessa with a simple purpose - end the threat the Sith Empire posed, kill them before they could return to the Galaxy. Stop the machinations of the greatest among them, and he had brought every favor he had with him. Wyatt never thought about the glory of this, he thought about the peace he could impart on generations - the peace he hoped to give the Alliance he helped spark into life, to prove to the Jedi across the Galaxy how far one could go to make a difference.
All that kept him sane in this moment was an instinctual drive to survive, and the whispering gentleness of the Force. Like a being of eternal light gently wrapping him in its embrace, it told him to breath, told him to ignore the pain, forced his arms to twist and block as another came for his throat. He couldn’t feel the depth of his exhaustion as long as the Force carried him; but he’d made so many mistakes in this fight, and there were another dozen coming.
Darth Ophidia, Alina Tremiru, and the distant Alisteri Haxim were his greatest threats. Backed by a dozen Sith Knights, all he could do was hold them off from reentering the temple’s main gate and stopping the duty he had given Valery Noble. To cut off the head of the Sith, end the Worm Emperor before he could continue his onslaught of the Galaxy.
That was his only thought as he held the gates from the fury and brimstone those ahead of him attempted to impart. High on the stone stairs, he carried the advantage of high ground - and as every opponent leaped to end him, he cut them down with a single slash. He’d long since lost count for how many he had killed - seventy three? Four?
The carnage had been lost on him - he couldn’t even mourn the deaths he imparted anymore. Blood filled his vision and he couldn’t make out the corpses and injured from the living - the only exception was their stillness. Another leaped at him, and his blade struck up - cutting them from waist to should, leaving two visceral depictions of the Sith left.
Yet in his hip he felt the surge of pain renewed, and turning his gaze he saw the deep yellow eyes of Ophidia. All that stopped her blade from cutting him in half now was the speed at which his wrist grabbed the handle, deactivated it from his core, then sent a force enhanced kick towards her chin. It launched her away - but she landed gracefully, as only a Sith of her caliber could’ve compared to Wyatt’s strength.
His vision began to blur, and the others surged in their assault. The first was cut down just as quickly as all the others - but the more that came required a second, third strike to fall. He could feel his swings getting sloppy, his fingers grip loosening; and once more he was accosted from multiple directions. A stab to the thigh, a swing for the throat, and one fell - but the white haired Alina had already struck.
Her blade caught his on the end of his swing, and her twist sliced his wrist from the arm. He thought he screamed out, but he only felt the sensation not the action - and so he fell to his knee as the others began to approach. His vision was tunneling, black walls coming in - but he could hear his radio come to life.
Wyatt couldn’t hear it over the sound of his heart beat, but he knew it was confirmation of their success. Despite his pain, the mortality he now faced, he smiled at that - eyes bright despite the blood covering them. He mouthed something, just as the Lady of Beasts stood over him. A message to the others.
“May the Force be with you.”, he called out to those that assisted him in the assault on the planet - those of the Jedi Covenant most of all. Allyson Locke , Julius Sedaire , Romi Jade , Coren Starchaser ,
Ryan
Korr , Cedric Grayson , and anyone else who had helped him to get to where he was now.
Ryan
Korr , Cedric Grayson , and anyone else who had helped him to get to where he was now.
Ophidia planted the blade into his chest - and silence overcame him. He could hear the fires rage, the smoke lift to the air, the turbolasers landing in the distance - but for once he could fully sense the environment he was in. Among it all, he heard the gentle, loving whisper of the Force in his ear -
“It is time to go, Wyatt.”
He thought to himself, ‘Yes, it is’, and fell backwards off the Sith Lady’s blade. When he landed, his body fell away; leaving nothing but clothes in its wake.
