Private Cold Vengeance

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve took Rhea's silence and curt nod as answer enough. With a plan set in stone, she took off, circling right around the crypt as the other woman moved left. She let the shadows consume her, lurking around the walls and between cracked altars as Nils rambled on about their journey, their faith. Every word he spoke was poison. How a Jedi Lord could've fallen so far and taken so many with him, she'd never understand.

But she would make them regret that choice.

Years of training kicked in. From what Valery had taught her, Maeve drew on the Force to conceal herself, turning invisible as she neared patches of firelight. She could only mask the upper half of her body though, still not yet learned to the complete technique of Force Cloak, but it served her well enough. She kept her footfalls light and silent, and her dagger sharp and clenched in her hand.

One by one, Maeve took down the guards on her side of the crypt. A slit throat. A thrust in the heart. None of them made so much as a sound as she wandered between them, falling like dominoes. Across the chamber, she could see Rhea making similar progress, and with relative ease. Although she was an outsider to their crew, she was finally starting to feel like she fit in with them, as if she belonged.

As she reached the final guard, shockingly without alerting Nils or the other former Ashlanite soldiers scattered about the crypt, Maeve cut through him like the wind. He fell in a heap, mired in the fog that Zhaleh had summoned. Everyone in position now.

All that was left to do was strike.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

Lives were quietly snuffed out, amidst the manifestation of a thick fog that fell upon the chamber like a shroud. Then suddenly sparks flew as controls went haywire, courtesy of a magnetic field being manifested around them. One of the men handling the controls cried out in pain, as he was given a shocking zap from the feedback. "Get a medic!" one of the engineers supervising the drilling ordered. "My lord, the machine's malfunctioning! We'll get it up running, but we need some time," then the fog began to roil in, depriving them of visibility. "What the hell is this?"

There was a fiery glint in the bearded ex-Jedi Lord's eyes. He did not, however, lash out against his minion. "This fog is not natural. Men, vision goggles on. The enemy is upon us!" he shouted to make himself heard. There was a sharp crack, followed by an ion burst. Between the magnetism and the ion detonation, the controls short-circuited.

Amidst the intense blaster fire that soared through the dense fog, Shikoba and Vagt sought cover in the mist. The Vashyada yelped in pain when a blaster bolt grazed her shoulder. The Bothan grabbed her to hurl her into cover. Through the darkness, Rhea was rushing towards them, sword drawn. Cultist soldiers were fanning out, scouring the darkness for their attackers. Most were common soldiers, but some were lesser Sith. From afar, the pair could see the corrupted Jedi Lord draw his sword, lightning crackling around it with such intensity it was almost blinding to stare at it. Dark Sister.

It was cold in the tomb - bitterly cold. Even more so than on the surface. But blazing heat surged through Elpsis' body like wild fire. She was not a stealthy assassin, so she had left that part to others. Nor was she particularly technically skilled. But there was a certain field she unquestionably excelled at.

Celaena was close by. "For Kaeshana!" the Eldorai cried out as a burst of flame swept from her hands to set two cultists aflame. Elpsis heard their screams, and was satisfied. Blaster bolts slammed into her armour, and she grunted, shields absorbing some of the impact. A gesture, and the shooter's power pack exploded, taking his hands with him. But her focus was not on the minions. Breaking into a sprint as hell broke loose around her, she hurled a large thermic lance, conjured by the Force, towards the fallen Jedi Lord.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Chaos erupted after the final perimeter guard fell. With the drill sabotaged, Nils became instantly aware of their presence and called on his men to sweep around the crypt. From her vantage point, Maeve could see the rest of the crew lurking in the heavy fog, using it as cover as they struck out at what cultists were within reach. Blasters sang and eventually, at Celaena's call, fire burst across the tomb, swallowing several men.

They had it handled, Maeve could tell. The real problem laid at the foot of Darth Bane's statue, on a makeshift dais of rock and bone.

Lighting continued to crackle and thunder as Nils held up Dark Sister. A terrifying weapon of unimaginable power, it was nothing like Maeve had imagined it would be, and the air was practically thick with its corruption. She hoped the fiery spear Elpsis had hurled would be enough to disarm the fallen Jedi Lord, but Nils swatted it aside like it was nothing, dissipating the fire into wisps of smoke.

"Well, if it isn't the Young Phoenix," he called mockingly and flourished his blade. "I should have known Firemane would send their favorite dog to come after me, but to attack here, on these sacred grounds?"

He descended from his spot beneath the statue and sloughed off his robe, revealing his full armor in all its glory. "You profane this place with your presence, Kerrigan." He spat her adopted name like it was dirt, the disgust for her and her family plain. "Tell me, how fares your House? Your mother? Is she still comatose and drooling into her sheets?"

Dark laughter filled the room. Maeve shuddered at the almost inhuman sound, but she was more concerned than afraid, her eyes turning to where Elpsis stood, alone. She knew so little about her. So little about her past. But if there was one thing Maeve knew, it was that none of it mattered. The only important thing was ahead of them, not behind.

To the Sith, and to the singular goal of killing his ass.

Rising from behind one of the sarcophagi and striding into the open, Maeve's voice cut through the din of violence, "Don't listen to him. Every word that comes out of his mouth is poison." She ignited her lightsaber and stopped at Elpsis' side. Around them, blaster bolts rang and swords clashed, but right now, there was just the two of them and Nils. Just as it should be.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

"We're the last Kerrigans, Elpsis. You, Adril, Livia, me. The last ones who count. But Kerrigans are people of a special cut. Whatever stands in our way, we will defeat it." Those were the words Siobhan had told Elpsis the day after her daughter had faced the dreaded Witch-Necromancer Matsu Xiangu. Elpsis believed she'd finally earned her mother's respect as a warrior. Of course, her mother had pushed her into becoming the heir to the corporate empire on that day.

It had been a chain around her neck. But it had taken ages for Elpsis to work up the courage to put her foot down and say no. Never a beloved daughter, not even the heir Siobhan had wanted...just the one she had left after disease, calamity and madness had claimed her adult daughters one after another.

Now she was gone.

And only Elpsis was left. The unwanted standard-bearer of the glorious Kerrigan legacy. It always sounded like an absurd joke. But she was not alone. She had her Qadiri and Xio sisters, as strange as some were. And...she was no naive Padawan who was mentally shattered by an enemy's taunts. She bore the scars of more battles than she could count. Through betrayal, strife, heartbreak and trauma, she soldiered on. Out of duty...and because it was all she knew.

"You talk too much," she said flatly, in a voice as a cold as an icestorm on Hoth. All around her, the fight was ongoing. She heard the whine of blasters and the roar of Vagt's bolter. She felt Rhea's bloodlust as her blade sung a song of purgation, she felt Celaena's fire, and Zhaleh's cool resolve, fire and ice uniting to smite. And she dimly heard Shikoba's chant as as the Vashyada called forth the spirits of the unjustly murdered. But that all faded into the background for her.
"So be it," the fallen Jedi Lord retorted. The lightning crackling around Dark Sister dramatically soared in intensity. "Jedi, you're so close to realising the truth...yet chained by the antiquated dogmas of pacifists and hypocrites who scorn and chain you." Then a veritable storm of lightning surged towards the pair in forking arcs of dazzling hatred. So bright that it was all but blinding, illuminating the dark, fog-shrouded hall.

Stepping forward in front of Maeve, Elpsis angled Inferno to meet the onslaught of dazzling hatred. Dark power passed through her, and her blade. Her white eyes flared, the cracks etched into her face burnt like glowing embers, as she absorbed the power. And with a growl, she reflected it back. The Sith Lord staggered slightly, snarling furiously. But Dark Sister only ramped up the heat and the pressure of the electric outburst of hatred, amplifying it.

The howl of writhing energy could be heard across the hall as the Sith Lord blasted her. Elpsis grit her teeth, feeling searing agony. She dug in her cybernetic heel to remain standing. Her magitech arm glowed dangerously, dramatically surging in temperature. She could feel the part of her shoulder that was organic burning. Amidst the onslaught, her blade was bent back towards her face. The only choice was to attack.

And so she advanced towards him, through the storm. Each step was pain; each step brought her closer. She drew from the deep well of her fury to feed the incandescent whiteness that burst from her hand, the charring flame surging towards his face. Ideally, it would burn his face and hair and hurt his breathing. If not blocking it would distract him for a moment at least. Held in the iron, metal grip of her magitech arm, Inferno rose and she slashed.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve's eyes widened in astonishment as Nils lifted Dark Sister to the ceiling, conjuring another blinding storm. Lightning rippled between them, spider webbing outward in a flash of jagged filaments, threatening to render them both to ash. Instinctively she raised her lightsaber to defend, but was surprised when Elpsis shielded her and took on the brunt of the attack, her Force-imbued blade soaking in the Dark Side.

Again, Maeve saw those cracks in her skin. Part of her feared the other woman wouldn't be able to stomach the attack, until of course, she deflected it back at the fallen Jedi.

But it wasn't enough. Dark Sister was a weapon of unimaginable power, and even the strongest Jedi couldn't withstand it forever. Even as Maeve tried to reinforce Elpsis with the Force, one palm raised to her back, she felt the unbelievable storm of the Dark ahead of them. Still, one step after another, they approached Nils. If they couldn't redirect his attack back at him, fine. They'd just have to cut off his head.

As Elpsis came close enough to strike, Nils seethed under the blaze of her fury, and literally so. Patches of his hair singed and his flesh burned against her fire. His teeth gritted together as he tried to resist her, tried to push her back, but with Maeve at her side, she simply kept coming.

And yet still, it was not enough.

"You will not have what is rightfully mine!" Nils roared, and his grip tightening on Dark Sister, he brought it down to meet Elpsis' slash. Rather than a simple parry, though, when their blades met, an explosion rippled out, a result of the witch's fury and the Sith's madness crashing together. The ensuing blast would throw them all back—Nils into the statue, and Maeve into the side of an altar, her back cracking against stone.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

The clash of lightsabre and Sith sword was calamitous, triggering a thunderous explosion. Caught in the blast wave, Elpsis was hurled through the air like a ragdoll. The blast knocked the wind out of her, and there was a sharp crack inside her chest. A tell-tale sign of a cracked rib. Her flight was broken when she slammed into a pillar.

Blood streamed from the back of her head, and pain shot through her back. As she lay there on the cold, hard ground, stunned and disorientated, a lesser Sith minion of Nils seized his chance. Ere she could regain her bearing, a torrent of lightning soared through the air towards her. She cried out, too still too disorientated and in pain to focus.

The Sith minion raised his cursed blade. In the next moment, he cried out in pain and spat blood. An enchanted blade pierced his chest from behind. As he tumbled to the ground, Rhea withdrew her sword, face bloodied and sweaty. Wasting no time, she helped Elpsis up. There was no time for thank yous. A grim nod of acknowledgement passed between them. Then suddenly Rhea was in motion again, as a burly warrior swung his mace towards her, narrowly missing her. She ducked beneath his heavy blow, but he kept on coming. "Go!" she shouted to make herself heard over the cacophony of sound, and slashed at his leg.

Rallying, Elpsis called Inferno into her grasp. Lightsabre held firmly in both her hands, she homed in on her quarry. The fallen Jedi Lord. Blood dripped down her face, intermixing with sweat. She pulled upon the tangled web of power that was the Force, and directed that power outward. The power of the earth rendered the statue above him pliable, causing it to fall towards him....just as wildfire surging through her body superheated them.

But Nils had regained consciousness too. With fury in his eyes, he blasted the crumbling statue ere it could crush him. As it shattered, smaller pieces of rock nonetheless fell upon him. Hot enough to for the hot shards of stone to sear his flesh and force him to tear off his heavy cloak that had been set aflame. And Elpsis was advancing in the interim. She strongly favoured her magitech leg and limped, but she advanced nonetheless, implacably. I'll keep him busy. Elpsis could not say for sure what state Maeve was in, but the Jedi would hear her voice resonate inside her mind. With a snarl, the Sith raised Dark Sister to block when she swung Inferno with cybernetically powered strength.

With Dark Sister's power and the greater weight of his weapon, he pushed her sabre away. But in this moment he howled in pain, and there was a sickening crunch, as Elpsis stomped his foot with her cybernetic foot. Amidst the sweet sound of bones breaking, his foot was set on fire. As the Sith reeled under the onslaught, Elpsis thrust. The tip of Inferno hit a weak spot in his armour, striking the side of his torso.

The Sith roared as the scent of cooked flesh wafted into the air. He staggered, feeling intense pain. It took his strength in the dark side to remain standing. His eyes blazed with naked fury. Swinging Dark Sister akin to a baseball bat, he slashed down at her flesh leg. With the injury he had sustained, there was little precision behind it, but the sword struck with concussive power. Not only did that wound her through her armour, it contained lightning and thus blasted her away.

He would have smiled if he had not been in such pain. "You will not take what is mine!" Hobbling, he drew ever deeper on the well of the dark side, giving himself to Dark Sister. His eyes glowed with hatred, and his veins bulged. Dark, shadowy tendrils sprouted from the ground, and began to converge upon the wounded Elpsis. "The dark master is reaching out!" Shikoba called out, while defending herself from Sith minions with her staff.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve felt something inside her bruise as she smashed into the side of an altar, the muscles in her back aching as she struggled again to rise. Blood sang in her ears. The explosion from their duel had knocked the air from her lungs and gave her a dizzying headache, clouding her vision, and for a long moment, all she could do was watch helplessly as Nils and Elpsis re-engaged.

It was like the world had tilted on its axis. Rock and plaster rained from the ceiling and a cloud of smoke washed over her as the grand statue of Darth Bane crumbled, nearly flattening the fallen Jedi Lord in almost ironic fashion, but the man was not that easy to kill. Rage drove him, and even burned and bruised and broken, Nils stood. His dark eyes set resolutely on Elpsis. That was how Maeve she he was going to kill her.

She tried to rise again, a hitch in her breath. Dark Sister's power could not be stopped or silenced, and as it swatted the other woman away, black tendrils rose from the ground to meet it. Called up from the dead around them and the nightmare beneath the floor, they chewed into Nils, possessing him, and the sound of his voice now layered into a dozen.

"You do not deserve the honor of burial in this place, but I will just have to make do," he threatened, as the shadows charged towards Elpsis.

Light exploded across the room. The dark tendrils momentarily dispelled and Nils shrank back, blinded. Between the fingers over his eyes, he would be only to see one thing: Maeve, standing at her full height, arms outstretched and palms open, as she commanded a wave of Force Light.

As the light dissipated, Maeve turned to Elpsis, now at her side, and offered a hand. "You're stronger than I thought," she said, and made an expression that almost looked like a smile. "Come on. We didn't come all this way to lose to a fool." She turned to Nils. "Like I said before. Student or master, I guess we'll just have to kill them both."

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

Around the duo the fight continued, though the Firemane team was getting an edge. As Vagt was directing his minions, a Sith minion suddenly charged him with a cursed blade. Reacting quickly, the Bothan Sergeant pointed his bolter at his foe and fired. But all he got was a disappointing click. With a a lazy gesture, the Sith flung him like a ragdoll. Vagt felt something inside him bruise deeply as he was smashed into the ground. His back ached and his fur was coated in blood. Groaning, he picked up a sword from a fallen Jedi, narrowly parrying an overhead blow. However, he was no swordsmaster, and as the Sith launched a flurry of strikes he was pushed back, almost stumbling over a corpse.

The Sith's relentless strikes pushed him towards a broken altar stained with glood and gore. Narrowly, he held back the Sith's sword with all his might, sweat dripping down his fur as he struggled against his foe's superior Force-enhanced strength. As he felt an invisible pressure tightening around his throat, he grabbed a thermal detonator from his belt, quickly primed it and stuck it to the Sith's torso. Then he gave the Sith a hard push, and was showered in gore as his foe vanished in a bright flash of crimson.

Suddenly light had erupted across the room. So bright that it momentarily banished the seemingly all-consuming darkness. A Sith trooper, face shielded by his helmet, raised his weapon at Maeve as she cast. But ice rapidly formed around his rifle, and with an expression of terror he felt it spread across his hand and towards his forearm. As frostbite began to take hold Zhaleh shot him with her pistol.

Struck by the blinding blast of light side energy, Nils shrank away, crying out in pain. His face was contorted into an expression of fury. With the damage he had sustained earlier from having his foot stomped by Elpsis, he was hobbling. And there was a small, burning gash in the side of his torso. He breathed heavily, but the power of Dark Sister kept him standing. Indeed, it was said power that now guided his moves.

"Yes," Elpsis said grimly, taking the proferred hand. Her flesh hand was hot to touch. It was time to finish this. Inferno ignited once more, and she moved forward, driven by one thought alone: to kill the Sith. Nils was only just recovering from Maeve's blast. Still blinded by the light, he could nonetheless sense and hear his foes. Black tendrils sprouted from him once more, and as Elpsis closed in they sought to seize her. Moving up from her foot, the tendrils began to spread over her legs. A cold chill spread across her body, as if ice had suddenly flooded her veins. She could feel her energies waning. Her inner flame was dimming. Other tendrils were surging towards the Jedi Shadow.

A fireball dissipated in Elpsis' palm, the flame going out ere it could manifest. "You will perish...and your Jedi friend will suffer a fate far worse than death," the possessed ex-Jedi Lord hissed hatefully. With an angry growl, she poured every bit of power she could manifest into Inferno. With a powerful stroke, Elpsis clove him from shoulder to belly through his armour.

Nils' body crumpled in a bloody heap. For good measure, she sliced off his head. But as his head hit the ground, a large black cloud suddenly poured from his mouth. It was accompanied by a surge of energy that knocked Elpsis back, and possibly Maeve depending on her proximity to the heretical Jedi Lord's corpse. The cloud flew straight towards Maeve, diving towards her.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

As their hands touched, Maeve felt the heat and fire in her skin, almost scorching, but she did not let go. She lifted Elpsis up and together, they stared down the wounded Sith Lord, ready to end this fight.

While Elpsis charged for him, Maeve raised both arms and summoned the Force, trying to force Nils to a standstill, tethering him to the spot in order to give the scarlet-haired witch a chance to strike. And by Ashla's favor, did she strike. From clavicle to navel. With a fiery grumble and a stinging wave of heat, Elpsis split the Sith Lord right in two, and as he fell to the crypt floor in a smoking mess, she beheaded him too, making sure the deed was done. Making sure he was dead.

It was over. Finally, at long last, it was over.

Maeve released a pained breath. Her back and ribs were bruised, and the muscles in her arms ached from so much fighting. She had exhausted a great deal of her stamina and energy over the last hour, but now, she could recover—or so she believed.

Because as Nils' head fell, so did she, thrown back by the rupture of the Dark Side and a cloud of thick, black fog. A fog that rapidly descended towards her.

Then, into her.

Maeve gasped. Her breath caught. Desperately she tried to fight off the spirit that had fallen upon her, her thoughts screaming in resistance as she drew on the Force. But so little was left. The spirit was just as powerful too, and an exhausted Jedi would not be able to withstand it. She could not withstand it. As a Shadow, she walked dangerously close to the Dark Side, so it did not take very much to fall into it.

The dark cloud sank in, rooting into her mind. Then, she turned to Elpsis, offering a thin, impossible smile so unlike Maeve that it was obvious it was not her doing. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said and pouted, her voice layered as Nils had been. "Did you think this was over?"

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

Finally, it was over.

Except...not really.

Ere Elpsis could act. she was thrown back by the eruption of dark side energy. She landed hard, suffering more bruises no doubt. A few more to add to the pile. Her muscles ached and her limbs burnt from searing blasts of lightning. There was a sharp pain in her chest from her cracked rib. She saw the the black fog descend upon Maeve, and forced herself up, amidst a flare of pain.

And was too late.

The darkness burrowed itself inside Maeve's mind, seizing control of her. Elpsis' dead white eyes narrowed. The fury pushed her to stand again, despite her pain and tiredness. She...knew what it was like to be trapped inside your own body, a puppet being pulled on strings. She would not let the Jedi suffer that fate.

"You talk too much," she stated flatly. Her fury exploded in the form of a telekinetic blast she sent forth towards the possessed Jedi's legs, aiming to give her a good slam...and distract the Sith spirit. She had to keep the Sith busy...ideally without fatally wounding Maeve. Mentally she reached out to Shikoba, seeking out her presence amidst the chaotic battlefield. Need exorcism. Now, she relayed to her with evident urgency. "The shadow is lost, but not devoured. A war of minds is rages inside her. I can banish the discordant spirit, but I need her tethered," she heard Shikoba's voice echo inside her mind.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

As the dark cloud feasted on her mind, Maeve descended into a deep trance. The world around her fell away, and it was like she'd gone into a dream, waking up somewhere far from the tombs of Ziost.

Green fields. Blue skies. Her fingers clawed into the soft grass of a meadow, wildflowers blooming around her, and the smell of oak and lavender was sweet on the air, startlingly familiar. A stream gurgled nearby and birds sung overhead. Somehow, Maeve had changed from her armor to a cotton robe, a dress she hadn't worn since her childhood.

That was when she realized where she was. Home.

"Maeve?" a voice called, warmer than the sun on her neck. Instantly she felt goosebumps break out across her arms. She knew that voice from anywhere, the low and baritone sound of her father. But how could that be? He'd died years ago, back in that wretched cell during her captivity at the hands of Sith cultists.

But none of that seemed to matter anymore. Thoughts of escape and resistance fled her mind, and suddenly, Maeve had no idea how she'd even got here, or what she'd been doing only moments before—all she could think about was just how nice it was outside.

———​

In reality, as the Sith spirit worked its way through her and tried to weaken her will with memories of her family, it would turn back to Elpsis, eyes narrowing to slits. Her lip thinned to a line. When the witch hurled the Force towards her, she flipped and leapt away onto one of the sarcophagi. As if surprised by its own strength, the spirit laughed.

"Oh, this host is so much more agile. She will do nicely." The Sith weighed Maeve's lightsaber in one hand and considered. "It's not Dark Sister, but I suppose it'll have to do." Then, without another word or threat, the spirit pressed low and lunged directly at Elpsis, intending to split her head open.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

With impressive speed, the possessed Jedi lunged at Elpsis, lightsabre soaring right towards the soldier's head. In the nick of time, Elpsis raised her cybernetic hand and, quite literally, caught the burning plasma blade. Searing heat spread across her cybernetic arm. It was no conventional cybernetic, for it was powered by the Force, not a battery. It was built to withstand heat.

There was a bright glow around her metallic fingers. However, the artificial hand's temperature soared. Metal blackened and heated up painfull. Smoke coiled from her hand. It became too much, and her little finger crumpled to the ground. Still, she stood and held her ground, keeping the possessed Jedi at bay. Her hair looked like it was on fire, and beads of sweat dripped down her face.

She reached out with the Force. The battlefield around them was littered with wreckage - broken weapons and tools, rubble. Harnessed by her shaping powers, the pieces of metal leapt up, being welded together as she sought to wrap them around the Jedi's legs. If this was successful, it would obviously not hold her for long...but buy time.

Meanwhile, Shikoba was hastening towards them. The Vash was bleeding from a cut on her forehead, she had sustained her fair share of knocks and was on pain. But she clutched her glowing staff firmly, as she navigated the chaotic altar room. And as she ran, she chanted, mentally reaching out to the trapped Maeve. "Daughter of the stars, fall not to the dark shadow. Resist! Your power is greater than you know, and his is one of malice and revenge. Recall your own mind, give thought to your own will, resist the shadowed dominion he lays on you!"

As Shikoba tried to touch her subconsciousness of the possessed Jedi, Rhea began to move in their direction, weaving a path through the darkness as she dodged blaster bolts and projectiles.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve's possessed body grinned further as she drove the lightsaber deeper against Elpsis' cybernetic arm. Molten steel dripped onto the crypt floor and wires hissed as they were melted away. Normally, her blade would have cut through the arm with ease, but the Force resisted her, and the Sith spirit inside grunted at the considerable effort.

Even as debris circled and wrapped around her legs, the spirit showed little care or worry, instead focused completely on trying to slash into Elpsis' face. "Now or later, you will die, daughter of Kerrigan, as many have before you."

———​

Meanwhile, inside the illusion fabricated by the Sith, Maeve walked towards her father's voice, lost in dizzying nostalgia. But she stopped as she heard a faraway voice, a whisper on the wind. Daughter of the stars, they called, and she turned to it, away from her family's cottage in the distance and towards an empty field.

As she searched, Maeve found no one.

Confusion rippled through her and she turned back to the cottage, where her father stood outside the door, a blurry silhouette waving at her to return. "Maeve?" he called again, and although she felt that tug on her chest, this time she hesitated. Just what was she doing here again? What had she been doing before?

Maeve blinked. The stranger's voice continued to ramble on, some words she could understand and others she could not, but one stuck out to her like a knife: Resist.

As Maeve felt another mind brush against her own, memories followed. Her life as a Jedi Shadow, her hunt after Nils, and then, oddly, red hair and white eyes. A face bubbled to the surface of her thoughts along with a name. Elpsis Kerrigan. More came after that, from Shikoba to Rhea, and understanding dawned on Maeve again like the morning sun. None of this was real.

She gave herself an internal shake. When she did, her possessed body shuddered too, eyebrows furrowing. She was fighting back.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

Debris wrapped around Maeve's legs, restraining her her limbs like improvised shackles. But even so the Sith spirit that was using her as an unwilling host showed no signs of concern. Rather than attempt to escape confinement, the Sith went on the offensive once more. Maeve's lightsabre cut through the air, sweeping towards Elpsis.

Elpsis brought up her lightsabre to parry and tried to dodge...but not quickly enough. The sharp pain in her leg worked against her. Maeve's lightsabre swept past her face, but not before the Sith spirit had sliced through part of her right ear, cutting off the tip. White-hot anguish exploded inside Elpsis. She cried out in pain, gritting her teeth. Still she stood, despite the burning pain, as implacable as a statue forged from granite.

Lightsabre held in both her hands, she struck back, launching a slash towards Maeve's sword hand, aiming to strike her wrist. Her lightsabre was powered down...so if successful, it would deliver a shocking, stunning zap rather than maim the possessed Jedi and hopefully make her drop the blade. The downward cut was fuelled by pain and mechanical strength.

As Maeve fought against the demonic presence trying to lull her into an eternal slumber within her own subconscious, she would suddenly perceive an almost ghostly figure. An apparition of Shikoba stood before her. It flickered badly, perhaps a sign of the strain the Vashyada was putting herself under. But she stretched out a ghostly hand towards the Jedi. "Maeve...Maeve...I see you struggle with the dark shadow. Take my hand, together we will overcome this shadow. For as night falls, so must day come again!"

While the Sith spirit and Elpsis faced off against each other, Rhea had crossed the distance. Enchanted blade in hand, she snuck up from behind the possessed Jedi...and tried to club her over the head with her sword's hilt. If successful it might help advance the exorcism.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve made no show of remorse as her lightsaber brushed against Elpsis' ear, severing and burning skin. There was only the Sith Lord inside her and the black pits of her eyes. Even when the young woman struck back and shocked her wrist, delivering a painful electrical current up her arm and forcing her to drop her lightsaber, the possessed Maeve didn't stop. Instead she shot forward and seized Elpsis by the throat.

As she choked her, she laughed. "Go ahead, Kerrigan. Stop me."

The spirit must've known Maeve was fighting back now, so it had little time left to spare. It wanted Elpsis to kill her. It wanted her to strike.

But Maeve wouldn't let it. As she struggled against the weight of the Sith on her mind, she was surprised when the figure of Shikoba appeared in the meadow, standing in the flowers like a venerable ghost. Still, when she extended her hand, Maeve hesitated. The voice of her father was still calling for her, almost pleading now. "Maeve? Maeve, come home!"

She shut her eyes. "I'm sorry, Father," she whispered, and with her resolve renewed, Maeve reached out and took Shikoba's hand.

———​

Disarmed, conflicted, and now concussed thanks to Rhea's blow, Maeve's possessed body stood little chance against the wave of resistance she now hurled against the spirit inside her. One enraged thought after another, she pushed the Sith back until at last, it was screaming out of her mouth in a cloud of black mist—the same that had emerged from Nils when he died. It furiously soared and spiraled to the ceiling.

The dark spirit was searching for a new body to possess.

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

The lightsabre cluttered to the ground, but abruptly Maeve's hands wrapped around Elpsis' throat. She choked, and as she gasped for air, her fury rose...but that had to be what the Sith wanted. She tried to force Maeve off, roughly grabbing her arm. In that moment, Rhea clubbed the possessed Maeve over the head.

And Elpsis felt the real Maeve soar to the surface. Suddenly there was a loud, enraged scream that heralded a cloud of black mist surging from Maeve's mouth. "The Dark One seeks a new host!" Shikoba, tired and sweaty after her detour into Maeve's trapped mind, cried out in alarm - and probably rather needlessly.

Ignoring the pain in her sore throat, Elpsis quickly stretched out her cybernetic hand to literally punch and grab ahold of the black mist and seize it in a vice-grip, like she would do with a foe of flesh and blood. Empowered by the Force, the magitech arm had some rather unusual attributes. The spirit struggled in her grasp, and she howled in pain as black tendrils assailed her, trying to burrow their way into her flesh and soul. The cracks in her face widened, and black veins manifested on her forehead. But she didn't let go, holding the spirit by its ectoplasmic head in an implacable grip. "End it!" she shouted, throat burning.

Rhea thrust her enchanted sword towards the spirit. Lightsabres were incredibly rare on her homeworld, and even now she was not that familiar with them, preferring her Force imbued blade...which could coincidentally damage dark side spirits. One strike would not kill it, but gravely weaken it. "Jedi, light it up," she called out.

Meanwhile, the surviving Sith minions, having seen their leader was down, were either fleeing or throwing down their weapons and surrendering. Celaena shot and burnt fleeing Sith troopers, unleashing her fury upon them before Vagt directed her to secure the altar room.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

Maeve stumbled back. The shock of her possession left her utterly drained and she barely had the energy to remain standing, but she refused to bend or break against the swirling spirit above her. She had expelled every drop of black mist from her body, and now Elpsis had somehow seized it in an iron grip—the same way Maeve had seized her—forcing the spirit to thrash and scream against her hold, trying vainly to escape.

She wouldn't let it. None of them would.

As dark and fiery veins spread across the witch's face, Maeve spared no time. She reared back and called the Force to her in waves. She summoned Light to her palms, wrapping it around her arms before it spread from her shoulders like an angel's wings. It was the most Light she'd ever conjured. Unimaginable power flowed through her, and then, with a righteous cry, it exploded out from her unfurled hands.

Force Light crashed into the spirit. With an earth-shattering scream, the Sith withered against Maeve's attack. Between the burning grip on its throat, the enchanted sword lodged in its side, and now the holy burst of light, it stood no chance. The dark spirit shrieked and imploded into a scattered cloud. Whatever its physical form was, it shattered against their blows, gone at last for good.

Maeve released a pained breath. Her lungs ached and exhaustion weighed on her like a heavy blanket, and she rested a hand against an altar, trying to maintain her footing. She wanted to collapse. She wanted to crumple. How she hadn't already was a miracle of Jedi fortitude. But her weariness was not something on the surface, but in her mind and soul, and even now she still heard the echo of her father's voice.

Maeve shook her head. "It's over," she murmured. "It's done."

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

It was done. Rhea stretched out a hand to Maeve, helping her up. "I'm glad you're not possessed anymore. I used the hilt rather than the blade," the Rattataki said earnestly.

Elpsis was covered in sweat, tired and in a lot of pain. Her mutilated ear was badly burnt. "Not yet," she stated. As she took a deep breath, she grimaced, for the pain behind her ribs intensified. The sensation was like a metallic taste on her tongue. Irritably taking a moment to recover, she inhaled and said: "We need to deal with the artefacts."
"You need medical attention, Captain," Vagt growled.
"Can wait," his boss retorted flatly.

"Oh, stop being so foolish," Shikoba interjected, forever unbothered by protocol and privilege of rank. "Humans," she glanced at Maeve. "I shall attend to you later. I hope you are less foolish. For one annoying human with more bravado than sense is enough." Undaunted by the death glare Elpsis shot her, the Vashyada druidess made her way over to her, though she was a bit shaky on her legs after her exertions.
"We can get you pointed ears if you want, ma'am," Celaena said teasingly.

Elpsis groaned when she felt Shikoba's cold fingers touch her wound, necrotic energies flowing through her. The druidess' brand of healing was not gentle, but it could stabilise her for the time being. "The Bane?" she asked.
"Still beneath the earth," Vagt reported crisply. "What's to be done with the sword? Bet some bigshots back home would like it." Indeed, Dark Sister still lay on the ground not far from them. Its power remained palpable, and its whispers could be heard. It hungered for a wielder.

"Nothing good can come from wielding such a tainted weapon," Zhaleh opined.
"Anything Sith must be destroyed," Rhea stated flatly. "But we can't destroy it with conventional weapons."
"Melt it," Celaena suggested, then frowned. "I guess it's one thing even the boss can't melt. Fine, throw it into the sun. If it doesn't destroy it, no one else gets it."
"Nice to see no one's being an idiot," Elpsis remarked, groaning. "We throw it into the sun. As for the Bane...Vagt, how much explosives do we have?"
"Enough to collapse the tomb," the Bothan Sergeant had a satisfied gleam in his eyes.

 

[Maeve Linahan]

"I appreciate the small mercy," she told Rhea with a grateful nod. The two of them hadn't always seen eye to eye, but she had more than earned her respect.

So had the others. Elpsis included. The scarlet-haired witch had suffered a great deal, and at Maeve's own hands, and was not unaware of the bruises around her neck or the burn scars on her ear, and she felt a stab of guilt at her side. This had happened because she'd been too weak to resist the Sith spirit. She hadn't expected Nils to be in league with such power.

Just what would've happened had she gone into the tomb alone?

Maeve made no protest as the others discussed Dark Sister's fate. As a Jedi Shadow, she was tasked with the cleansing and destruction of all artifacts related to the Sith, and though she may not have personally overseen it, she trusted Elpsis and her crew enough to toss the damned blade into the nearest star. Surely that would serve to erase the relic from existence.

Approaching the blade, Maeve removed and threw her tattered cloak over it. That way, at least, one of Elpsis' crew could carry it without risking possession. "Do what you will with Dark Sister," she told the others. "I'm grateful as long as we can bury this wretched tomb along with the Bane. No one should ever be able to have access to it again."

She turned to Elpsis. As much as her muscles ached and burned, as much as she hated to admit it, she offered the woman a short bow and said, "I thank you, Captain Kerrigan. I owe you my life. You and the rest of your crew."

Elpsis Kerrigan​

​

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Maeve Linahan

Elpsis gave Maeve a curt, but respectful nod. It seemed she didn't hold a grudge over getting part of her ear cut off. "You fought well. You're really wasted in the Jedi order."

"Zhaleh, you carry the sword," Vagt ordered. "Celaena, Rhea, help me set up explosives."
The snow Qadiri looked like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. "Why Why do I have to carry the tainted blade?" she exclaimed unhappily.
"You're dependable," the Bothan Sergeant assessed laconically, albeit accurately.
"Normally I'd like to hear that...but why not Shikoba?"
"I am needed to conduct an exorcism should one of you fall prey to its siren temptations," the Vashyada druidess countered, while applying a dressing to Elpsis' mutilated ear.
"I'm sure you can manage, snow sister," Celaena added unhelpfully, slapping her on the shoulder.
Zhaleh sighed in defeat, but eventually her natural optimism came through. "Very well, the task is important and I shall complete it." Cautiously, she picked up the thankfully shrouded sword.