Private Family dinner

[Darth Insatious]

For the past couple of months, Cas has been getting various dreams while sleeping. At first, it had been tame, almost pleasant dreams of his sister and himself. Other dreams have been of his mother making dinner for him, having a pleasant evening together. Then it was of Cas walking up the stairs to his parent's estate, knocking on the door, which would then swap him to having dinner with his family. One dream in particularly one night, Cas had a dream of his family again, though this time a stranger sat by the dinner table. However, no matter how hard he tried, the stranger's appearance was clouded in darkness.

Cas started to have multiple dreams of seeing this hooded stranger, clouded in blackness, though he never spoke to it as it happened to perform different task in each dream.

After that first dream of seeing the hooded person, they began to turn into nightmares. The first nightmare after the stranger appeared in his dream, started to appear more and more around his family. He could feel a strange coldness, like death itself from the hooded stranger, stared back at Cas without he was able to see the stranger's face. The same nightmare happened throughout the week. Always the same scene of the hooded stranger in a blurred blackness from Cas' view, eating and laughing with his family, yet radiating death.

Then the nightmares stopped for a good month, yet the hooded stranger from his nightmares every now and then popped into his mind, eating away Cas' thoughts. Then the nightmares returned, just worse... much worse. He would find himself, standing in his parent's living room, surrounded by many friends of the family. Music played softly in the background as Cas found himself suddenly starting a conversation with one of the other wealthy family, cracking some jokes. As the family started to laugh, he heard his mother's voice behind him and as the young Kiffar turned around to greet his mom's friend, he stood face to face with the hooded person that had haunted his dreams and turned them into nightmares.

And yet.

As he stood face to face with the hooded figure, his face with still clouded in pitch blackness. The moment Cas shook the stranger's hand, the sensation of feeling one's life force getting drained, washed over Cas, knocking him out of breath and onto his arse. Laying there, unable to move, he heard his mother's disappointed stare, followed by the stranger reaching out his blackened and tar-filled hand towards him. Right before Cas felt death touch him, the Jedi Knight heard his sister and parent's cry for help, before he jolted awake in his bed, drenched in sweat with half of his duvet pushed onto the floor.

A low beeping from his holopad kept on call for Cas' attention. Upon checking the message, he received a message from his sister of all people, asking him to return and try to make amends

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

It was the middle of the night at Silver Rest, and Cas Tynen - the lightheared quipster, the motor mouth - was in visible distress. Bed drenched in sweat, the Jedi Knight was in a deep sleep but was tossing and turning aggressively. That, coupled with the anguised look on his sleeping face was a far removal of his usual upbeat personality.

Cas shot up in his bed with a loud gasp, sweating and clutching at his chest. The panicked Jedi Knight scanned his quarters for a few moments before patting down his body, this was real, meaning he just had a nightmare. The same nightmare that had been plaguing him for weeks. Unaware of the dark forces behind his nightmares, Cas believed it to be his precognitive abilities cryptically warning him of his family's safety. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to recall the dark figure that plagued his dreams - who they were, why they felt so familiar and why the Force was preventing him from seeing them.

His inner thoughts were interrupted however when the sound of his holocommunicator notification beep. Sighing, he reached over to grab it and was surprised to see who was being projected on his holo. It was Ciara. The two had recently began talking again following an assignment that required him to return to Kiffu alongside Zemira to investigate a Sith presence - during said mission, the twins had a breakthrough and began the path to mend their relationship.

"Sis... it's the middle of the night." he yawned, Ciara snickered and her static-y voice from the connection responded "It's not back home." she referred to Kiffu. Cas rolled his eyes before returning them to his sister's shrunken form, Ciara would continue once she had his attention once more "It's Mom and Dad." Cas visibly cringed, muscles tightening and his brown eyes averting their gaze. His relationship with his parents had always been rocky due to their conflicting natures as well as conflicting viewpoints on what Cas' "destiny" entailed, now even more so following him fleeing his home and clan. "Cas, I know that look. They know we've been speaking again and they want you to come home... to make amends. Despite everything, they miss you. We all miss you." she bit her lip, glancing away for the moment "Please just think about it, okay?" she said before departing and cutting the transmission.

Cas groaned and fell back into bed, he stared at the ceiling and contemplated. He'd been carrying around this baggage for the past six years, maybe it was time to clear the air - or at the very least, come to an understanding with his parents. His stubbornness fought against it briefly, but ultimately his compassion won out. Sitting back up, Cas got out of bed, got dressed and packed the stuff he'd need before heading out. He couldn't sleep anyway, so may as well rip the band-aid off now. Following leaving a message for Yenna and any others that he'd be gone for a few days, the Kiffar made his way to the hangar and with BB-5 he flew out on his Phenex. Making his way to Kiffu. However, he had the gnawing feeling that something was wrong.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Nothing much happened on the trip to Kiffu, and only as he descended through the planet's atmosphere, did he see trading ships going from and to the planet. Many of the other ships were mostly trading vessels, fueling the trading industry for the Kiffar people. It was around midday when the Jedi Knight landed on Kiffu with a clear blue sky and perfect weather. It was almost as if the weather wanted Cas to make it up with his parents once and for all, so he could focus all of his time on the force.

Upon landing on his parent's private pad by their own luxury ship, everything looked exactly like he left it. It was grand, expensive and stood out from many of the other noble Kiffar families within their clan. Upon exiting his ship, Cas could hear a bark and around a corner came a fully grown Kath Hound running towards the Jedi Knight, stopping a few feets from him and just kept on barking. The Kath Hound did not let Cas pass, though it didn't attack either. As the Kath Hound kept on barking at Cas, a door from his parent's mansion opened, followed by his sister's head popping out to see why their Kath Hound went off like that.

When she saw who the Kath Hound barked she quickly rushed up the pair, "Cassy, down!" commanded the girl, following by giving her brother a smirk. "Do you like my nickname for him? I think it suits him" teased Ciara, feminising Cas' name for the Kath Hound. While the Kath Hound had stopped barking at Cas, it was still on high alert over the stranger, given that it was adopted after Cas left his home.

Kneeling down, Ciara scratched behind Cassy's name, "Cas is a friend, Cassy, now behave" told Ciara the Kath Hound, who seemingly understood, because it dropped his guarded stand. "Come along, mom and dad are waiting for you inside" explained Cas' sister, nodded for him to follow her. Just before they entered the mansion, Ciara stopped with her hand on the door and turned around, "just a heads up, mom and dad received a holo message from your order, saying we would receive a guest. We expected it to be from you, being all formel and such, but I guess not" explained Ciara with a shrug and lead Cas inside, where his parents stood, presentable as the day Cas saw them last.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

As Cas docked his starfighter onto the landing pad, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was... off. But, that was crazy right? Despite the past, this was still his family. They wouldn't... betray him would they? The stafighter's canopy slid open and the Jedi Knight vaulted outside the cockpit and onto the Phenex wing before hopping onto the landing pad. As he did so, BB-5 popped out of his astromech socket and rolled along to follow his master. Cas took a moment to glance at his parent's new luxury ship, talking out loud "That's new... wonder what happened to our older model." Cas' father, Cona, was the one responsible for Cas' love for flying as well as his enthusiasm for starfighter and speeders galore.

His ears would perk when he heard a faint bark in the distance, at first he believed himself to be hearing things... only it came again. Then the sight of a Kath Hound running up on him prompted the Jedi Knight to ignite his lightsaber out of reflex, once he realised the Kath Hound didn't intend to harm him and only halt him from passing Cas rolled his eyes. Extinguishing his lightsaber, Cas waved his hand in the Kath Hound's face "Move, mutt! I lived here long before you did!" arguing against the Kath Hound's incessant barking.

Feeling the presence of his sister, Cas turned his attention away from the Kath Hound as Ciara made her way over. She called it... 'Cassy'... was she for real? Yes, she was, he glared at her with an intensity she was all too familiar with since childhood "You replace me with a Kath Hound and nickname him 'Cassy'? Should I be flattered or offended? Don't answer that." he raised his hand in front of him, halting her from making a snide joke. Cas followed his sister to the entrance of the house, nearly bumping into her when she suddenly stopped. However, what she said next was cause for concern "...What? That's impossible." he protested "No one knew I was coming until a few hours ago... I--" the Kiffar stopped. Something wasn't right... why would the Assembly send a 'guest' they didn't even know where he was. No one did. Only that he'd be gone for a few days.

BB-5 seemed to be suspicious too as he relayed a few distressed beeps before fidgeting on the spot, prompting the Jedi to comfort his droid with a light rub on his head. Cas followed Ciara inside and saw his parents standing in front of him - they were older, of course, but they were the same. Their demeanour, the way they held themselves... all the same. It made him wonder if they'd changed at all.

Cona was a darker shade than Cas with green eyes and a black qukuuf that was a line going upward from his cheek, across his eye and ending at his hairline - aside from those distinctions, he was essentially the spitting image of his son albeit with a more mature face and a full-beard with longer dreadlocks. His mother, Aria shared her son's skin tone and eyes but the similarities ended there - she had a thin face and a pointy chin with a pointy nose with a look meaning she meant business, a look that scared him as a boy.

"Mom, Dad." the tension was thick, six years they hadn't seen each other with Cas leaving without so much as a goodbye and even before that, they weren't on great terms before he left. Cas could even sense Ciara's slight discomfort and uncertainty, noticing it was quite intense, maybe he felt her emotions moreso due to their status as twins. "Cassalius." his father said in a monotone voice, yes, Cassalius was his full name and he hated it "It's... good to see you again, son." Aria said, interlacing her fingers together with a stoic look - although, he could feel that she meant it through their natural connection in the Force. "Yeah... yeah, it's good to see you too." he glanced down, this was painfully awkward and a lot of unsaid feelings were rushing back to him "Uh... do you know anymore about this 'guest'?" he queried, hoping to flip the subject and the room's current atmosphere.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Both parents looked at each other, when he asked the million credit question. It would be clear to Cas, even before they said anything, that they didn't. "No, we do not. But that seems to be a Jedi thing" said Cona in his monotone voice with a hint of disapproval, more directed at Cas leaving without a single note. "Dad, please!" Said Ciara with a low insistent voice, which did seem to pull Cona from digging deeper in old wounds, at least for now.

"Let's not stand here. Why don't we move this to the dining hall?" Suggested Aria as if this was a business meeting and not her long lost son returning after 6 years. It was very clear both parents had trouble opening up and not restart old wounds, just waiting to be dug up again. The Kath Hound Cassy had stopped barking for the moment, following Ciara for the time being while keeping an eye on Cas.

As Ciara, Aria and presumably Cas, sat down in the designer couches, two placed in front of each other with a long table between the two furniture. While the other sat down, Cona went to fetch a drink for himself and partner, returning with what they usually drank on business meetings.

The tension didn't get better, at all as Cona and Aria tried to find something to talk about with the son, yet nothing came up as they sipped their drink. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Ciara finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "Have you finally learned how to kick ass?" Asked Ciara, earning Aria's snap, "Ciara!". To which the Cas' twin reacted with a slightly offended "what? I want to know".

A sudden knock could be heard from the front door. The Cassy the Kath Hound immediately snapped his attention to the direction of the front door. Soon the first knock was followed by another two knocks on the door, which was enough for Cassy to bark and then dash for the front door in order to protect his home.

"I got it!" Said Ciara before anyone else could react, giving her a way out of the awkwardness that was between her twin and parents. Grabbing hold of Cassy's collar, Ciara opened the front door and stood face to face with a cloaked man. "Can I help you?" Asked Ciara cautiously, holding the Kath Hound from pouncing.

A friendly smile spread across the hooded's man's face, making it hard to see his face truly. "Ah, you must be Ciara, Cas' twin, its nice to finally meet his relatives. Many apologies, I'm an old friend of Cas from the Jedi Temple" introduced the hooded stranger without actually introducing his name. Giving the stranger a look over once more, finding the man very strange and slightly creepy, but with Cas being gone for 6 years, who were to know what kinds of friends he made.

"Dad, the Jedi from the Jedi Temple is here" called Ciara. Looking over his shoulder, Cona rose from his seat, along with his wife to greet the guest. Pulling Cassy back by the collar to calm the still barking Kath Hound down, Cona now stood face to face with the Jedi. Standing in the entrance, the Jedi pulled down his hood, revealing an older man, dark grey hair and full-beard.

Going right back to the strict, professional and presently posture, Cas and his twin sister all knew so well when their parents wanted to greet special guests.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"No, we do not. But that seems to be a Jedi thing"

The youngest Tynen rolled his eyes at his father's apparent lack of change, as passive aggressive as always. However, Ciara was at his defense... like she always had been - despite their differences and whatever they went through, she always had his back... only now did Cas realise that he didn't appreciate her loyalty enough when they were younger. He offered her a faint smile though, one which she returned. The Jedi Knight followed his clan into the dining room before sitting at the end of one of the couches, although stubbornly, Ciara sat on the same couch as him as she playfully nudged his shoulder, sensing his tension.

Her question about 'kicking ass' brought a wide grin to his face as he prepared to make a comeback, although Aria quickly swooped in and derailed that conversation. Cas' smile quickly faltered after that. A knock was then heard, grabbing everyone's attention and temporarily erasing the tension that smothered the area. Although, Cas quickly felt cold and the hairs on his organic forearm raised... as if the Force had temporarily removed the electrons in his body. Glancing toward the door, he hesitated to move before eventually finding the nerve to stand up and followed the others shortly after.

Missing the initial conversation, he had arrived where he heard the unseen figure say "-I'm an old friend of Cas' from the Jedi temple." although there was one issue, Cas didn't recognise this man's voice. Once making it to the door way, he came face to face with the man and Cas' expression immediately contorted into a sucpiciously puzzled look. He'd never seen this man, who claimed to be an old friend in his life. Without hesitation, the Jedi Knight extended his cybernetic arm and grabbed the front of the man's shirt, using his arm's strength to force him away from his family as Cas moved both of them outside.

Summoning his lightsaber with the Force into his right hand, the Jedi Knight quickly ignited his yellow blade and hovered it horizontally over the man's throat. "Who the kark are you? I've never seen you in my life! No one knew I was coming here!" the yellow glow, illuminated the Jedi's brown eyes as he stared into the "Jedi"'s with intense hostility. After the dreams he'd been having lately, he wasn't going to be taking any chances. Tightening his grip around the man, Cas shook him slightly but his right arm remained still "Talk, or your head’s taking a vacation from your neck. Permanantly."

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Everything happened so fast when Cas acted, that it took his family by surprise by the sudden act of violence. Cassy started to bark loudly, forcing Ciara to grab hold of the Kath Hound's collar, so it would just run after Cas. Cona and Aria immediately followed their aggressive son, finding him threatening the older gentleman with his lightsaber. "Cassalius Tynen, let go of the gentleman this instant!" demanded Cona sternly with his commanding tone.

"I would like to apologize deeply for my son's disrespectful behaviour" apologized Aria profusely to the older man, held by Cas. Despite Cas' threat and rather rough treatment, the old stranger just had an intriguing smirk, as if he expected this to happen. Ignoring Aria's apology and Cona's attempt at reprimanding his son.

"Cassalius Tynen," said the old man, repeating the Jedi's name. It was strange, despite the lightsaber by his throat and threats, the old stranger almost dared the young Jedi to go through with his threat. "How a lovely name," said the stranger, still keeping his smirk on his lips. "Tisk tisk. You really shouldn't keep secrets from your dear parents Cassalius" said the stranger with a sigh as if he was disappointed in the young Jedi.

Keep eye contact with Cas, staring at the Jedi with a tilted head, "your family really should know of our little adventure at the battle of Voss and how you got that scar of yours" started the stranger to explain to Cas' parents.

"What's he's talking about son? What war? What scar?" Asked Cona confused and actually showing a slimmer of worry for his son.

"Oh yes, it was quite to battle your son and I was in," said the stranger, now grinning rather eerily. Cas would suddenly feel spikes in the force, multiple dark side signatures approaching their location. Just to make matters worse, the Jedi Knight would feel a very familiar dark wound in the force from the stranger who in a split second, disappeared out of his grasp and reappearing 5 to 6 feet away from Cas and his family.

Two Death Troopers came walking up the path to the house, flanking the stranger who shaped into none other than Insatious himself in all of his dark side glory. An all too familiar, yet eldritch voice filled Cas' mind and his parents, "I tooold you, that I would find you Cas!"

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

"Dad! I don't know who this man is!" the young Kiffar argued, although as he looked over his shoulder he could see Cona's look. The 'Look' that no matter at what age Cas was, forced him to obey his father. Glaring at this stranger, Cas puzzled at how this man knew so much details about his life... just who the hell was he? His lips curled and his teeth bared as the Stranger recounted the Battle of Voss and the scar on his back. Ignoring his father's questions, internally, Cas began putting the pieces together - the only person who knew all of this information. No... it couldn't be... could it?

Cas' grip on the Stranger only tightened and adrenaline caused his lightsaber to shudder when the realisation hit. The hairs on his arms shot up, the Force removing the electrons from them. "Mom... Dad..." he sensed more Dark presences closing in on their location, it was cold, ice cold. "... You need to leave. Now." and with that, the Stranger vanished from his grasp causing Cona and Aria to gasp in surprise. The Tynen clan all turned around to meet the arrival of the infamous Death Troopers as well as Cas' nemesis "Insatious." he growled with contempt.

"Cassalius, who is this?" Aria asked in an understandably concerned tone "Now isn't the time, Mom. You and Dad need to get out of here, get Ciara and go." Cas twirled his lightsaber and took one step in the direction of Insatious and his small army, ready to fight them all for a chance for his family to escape. However, he felt a hand clasp his shoulder and halt him in place "I see your Hero Complex is still intact." Cona stated, looking over his shoulder Cas met his father's eyes "Dad, what're you--?" "No matter what happened, you are our blood. We aren't letting you these alone." Cona demanded. "But--" and then Aria stepped in "We're responsible for some of your training, Cassalius. We know how to fight." "We are Guardians after all." Ciara interjected, seemingly having come out of nowhere with Cassy in hand, handing her parents some blaster rifleds, vibro knives, stun batons and some thermal imploders.

"I know better than to argue you with you." Cas smirked, curling both hands around the hilt of his lightsaber. Like electricity, Cas channelled the Force's energy and allowed it to surge through his legs as he pounced at the Sith Lord who'd been tormenting him. As he came down, Cas would slam his lightsaber at Insatious either hitting him, or hitting whatever he used to defend himself "You think you can come here?! Put my family at risk because of your grudge against me?! You're karkin' sick! SICK!"

As the Jedi Knight attacked the Sith Lord, the remaining Tynens opened fire at the Death Troopers guarding Insatious as a means to make sure they didn't attack Cas. "I didn't think this is how we'd reconcile but... I'm not against it!" Ciara hollered amidst their blaster fire. "What are these things?!" Aria pondered.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Insatious didn't say anything as he parried the Jedi Knight's strike, leading the blow past the Sith Lord and redirecting his attack further away from his family. Insatious just started to follow the Jedi, coming in with a series of strikes of his own. The first strike came from the side, which was followed up by another from below if he decided to block the first attack.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Tynens would find themselves gunning for cover in their home using the door frame to shoot through. The otherwise quiet area was soon filled with blaster fire, covering the concrete with scorch marks upon scorch marks. Cassy stood and barked viciously behind cover at the Death Troopers for a bit when he suddenly turned around and barked the other way around, and up at the ceiling.

As Cas held Insatious busy or was it the other way around? Would see a dropship heading straight for the large mansion's roof, hovering right above where the living room was. The side of the dropship opened and three more Death Troopers jumped out with something that looked like satchel charges, followed by the dropship flying away toward space again.

"Cassy, what are yo-"

An enormous explosion went off, breaking Ciara off her question and the explosion could be heard in the entire area as the roof of the house blew up. The Death Troopers on the roof entered, landing in the middle of the living room. "Behind us!" yelled Cas' sister and just managed to drag her parents by the neck-collar of their clothes, dodging more blaster fire.

Cona managed to kill one of the Death Troopers as they dropped into the living room, but the family soon found them surrounded, using expensive furniture as cover for all sides.

Cas found himself powerless to stop the dropship, as Insatious kept putting on the pressure, staying in the offensive. His voice could be heard in Cas' head again. "One way or another, I will get what I want!" came the bodiless voice in his mind, like invisible spiders, ravenously searching for weaknesses in the boy's mental psychic.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

Of course Cas wasn't arrogant enough to believe his duel with Insatious would end so quickly. It didn't matter. Right now, the priority was keeping his family safe by any means necessary. The Kiffar blocked the primary attack, swinging his lightsaber at the side Insatious struck at, then angled his lightsaber downward where the amber plasma would meet and in turn black Insatious' low attack. While Insatious' blade was still positioned low, Cas lifted his cybernetic arm off of the hilt of his blade and swung his fist at the Dark Lord in an effort to backhand him.

Whether the attack landed or not, Cas quickly directed his lightsaber to the ground and dragged it along, creating sparks from the blade's connection to the floor. Flinging his lightsaber upward and in the direction of Insatious, Cas hoped the sparks would temporarily blind the Dark lord long enough for Cas to somersault over the Sith's head and land behind him. Ready to strike once more.

Behind Insatious, he noticed the incoming dropship which left him distracted as his sudden fear for his family's safety echoed through the Force's currents. Cas was distracted long enough for Insatious to begin attacking him once more, forcing the Jedi Knight on the backfoot. Feeling the darkness, Insatious' darkness crawling around in his mind, penetrating the Jedi Knight's mental defenses and using his own fear against him - Cas continued to defend himself and met Insatious' cold, emotionless mask with a look of horror "Please! This is my family! They've got nothing to do with this! Just let them go, this is between me and you! Please!" he begged and pleaded, emotions growing stronger, Cas hoped, prayed there was a semblence of humanity left within Insatious. Enough to allow his family to safely get clear.

MEANWHILE...
​

"This is unlike anything we've faced!" Cona hollered amidst the blaster fire, quickly peeking over his cover to send a few rounds at the new batch of Death Troopers. Ciara quickly rummaged through her belt and pulled out a smoke grenade and hurled it in an overarm throw over the couch. Immediately after the metal casing touched the wooden floor boards, smoke burst out of the grenade and enveloped the whole area in smoke. Giving the family enough time to counter attack.

With the Tynens being proficient in psychometry, it meant that they were Force-sensitive, while not fully trained like Cas - they knew to rely on and trust their instincts. Although they couldn't see through the smoke, they had feelings of where the Death Troopers may be. Working as a unit, Cona, Aria and Ciara erupted from cover and sent off several shots at the Death Troopers - injuring and killing some - before ducking back into cover. "As far as family reunions go, at least we aren't dead." Ciara quipped "Not the time, Ciara." Aria quickly interjected before motioning for her husband and daughter to move to different cover.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Insatious sent more and more preassure at Cas' mental powress, pushing his capability to the absolutely limit, clawing his way through the walls Cas had placed.

Of all the attacks Insatious could have expected from Cas, a simple backhand to his face, was not one of them at actually took the Sith Lord by surprise, sending him back a few steps, which was what gave Cas the opportunity to somersault over Insatious' head. The sparks themselves didn't really do much, as the Lord had a mask on and would simply bounce off of him.

As Cas landed behind the Sith Lord, instead of Insatious turning round to block Cas' attack, another lightsaber flung from the Sith Lord's robe igniting in the air and blocked the Jedi's attack. Once Cas was distracted by the constant slashing and strikes from the floating red lightsaber. While Cas was busy fighting the bodiless lightsaber, Insatious actually just stood and looked up at the dropship. The Darth just watched his Death Troopers enter the mansion and looked back at the boy playing Knight.

And for once in all of their meetings, Insatious replied back to Cas as he with a hand wave in front of his mask, making it disappear in smoke. "If only you knew the knowledge blood held within the force" commented the Sith Lord with a rather normal voice, with a hint of excitement. If Cas had time to look at Insatious while fighting a ruthlessly fast floating lightsaber coming at him, he would see the lord's true face. Insatious didn't look like some kind of horrific monster or the boogeyman hiding under a child's bed. No, he looked like any other old man, though with the visible heavy scars and corruption of the deep seeding dark side of the force. He was rather a pale man, with long grey hair and beard to match.

And yet, when the Jedi felt the man's connection to the force, he felt the darkness, the eerie corrupted wound in his connection to the force at the very core of his being.

Despite the family's brave attempt at fighting the Death Troopers, they would soon find out, why they were called Death Troopers. The Death Troopers that they had managed to kill, their bodies began to change, to crack and twist. Through the smoke, one of the dead Death Trooper lurched to the family with its open skeleton mouth in an attempt to eat them.

If it hadn't been for Cassy launching itself at the Death Trooper, the zombie-like trooper had been on top of them. "Cassy, no!" Cried, Ciara as the hound desperately protected its owners as the rest of the dead troopers jumped it. Releasing a mixture of loud whining, whimpering, yelping, growling, snarling, and even howling before it was torn to pieces.

Against Ciara's will, Cona and Aria used the distraction to moved into the smoke and find their way to the door that led to the private landing path. Colourful green lasers flew past them as the remaining alive Death Troopers pursued the family. It also didn't take long for the dead troopers to refocus their ravenous hunger at the family, charging after the family. The dead troopers slammed directly into the door Cona blocked with his body, so Ciara and Aria could get to their ship.

"Go! I'll buy you time!" Shouted Cona, putting his whole weight against the solid door as the ravenous dead Death Troopers slammed and hammered against the door to get through. "No! No! Mom, let me go! DAD!" yelled Ciara now desperately as she tried to fight against her mother's surprisingly strong arms. "Ciara I'll be right behind you!" Yelled Cona as he also was thrown forwards from a powerful impact at the door on the other side.

"Your dad will be right behind us!" Said Aria as she pulled Ciara along for the family ship.

As Aria and Ciara ran across the platform, they were in a line of sight of where Insatious and Cas were. The sound of a spaceship starting and Aria standing by the ramp to the ship with an outstretched arm for her husband. The moment Cona dashed from the closed door, it burst opened, following 3 dead zombified Death Troopers ravenously chasing Cas' father while the alive Death Troopers started to fire at Aria and Cona by the door.

Insatious turned to Cas, masked on again, returning to the monstrous and eldrich persona, the Sith Lord apparently had enough, because Cas would feel his entire body freeze in an instant by invisible means. If Cas somehow managed to break his force stasis, he would have now both of Insatious' lightsabers cut him down.

Insatious would then with the help of the force, float the frozen Cas by his side, facing the platform, giving Cas front row seats to his family's attempt at fleeing.

The familiar eerie whisper of a voice filled the Jedi's mind. "Your family will never be safe. I know their smell, I sense their liiiife force. Oh, the sweet life force" whispered Insatious' voice hungrily.

Right as Ciara took off from the platform, Cona jumped with an outstretched arm, getting hit in the back, shoulder and leg by the alive Death Troopers, before Aria pulled Cona into safety. Seeing her dad getting shot so many times, putting him in critical condition, Ciara was pissed off at the Sith Lord for putting her family in danger. "I'm sorry mom and dad!" apologized Ciara as she proceeded to lit up the entire landing pad and front of the mansion with the ship's cannons completely destroying the Death Troopers.

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

THEME
​

Cas kicked himself mentally, he shouldn't have expected anything less from Insatious. The floating lightsaber trick caught Cas off-guard, he'd forgotten about that since Voss - evasively backflipping out of the way, Cas avoided a fatal attack from the Sith Lord. However, he was forced to defend himself from the masterless lightsaber "Fight me yourself, you bastard! COWARD!" he hollered in frustration as he hammered through the lightsaber's attacks.

Catching a glimpse of the Sith Lord's face as he fought for his life, he was surprised to see his features so... human. He'd honestly thought the old man guise from earlier was simply that, but no, this was his true face. It was ironic, behind the cold scary mask he had the appearance of nothing but a man... although, his actions proved he was anything but. The Dark Lord was nothing more than a forsaken monster. Cas began to grow even more desperate, more Death Troopers arrived and his family had no experience or knowledge that these things could resurrect, he needed to help them but Insatious was a barrier.

The Jedi Knight fought as hard as he could, evading attacks acrobatically, blocking and delivering harsh attacks of his own against the controlled lightsaber, hoping to get passed it and to Insatious. Or at the least, to his family. Calling upon the Force like he never had before, it sparkled through him and invigorated him as if he'd been hit by a lightening bolt, bolstering his capacity to continue fighting. Deep down, Cas could feel the call of the Dark side - its dark pull, just begging him to use its power to defend his family, to give into his fear and his hatred.

Then he felt his body freeze, his muscles and everything else were unresponsive no matter how much he tried to move. Cas' brown eyes darted around in frustration and Insatious' would feel Cas' resistance through the Force, his bodily violently shaking to expel the control the Sith had over him. The Jedi heard Insatious' voice invade his mind as he was forced to watch the Death Troopers press their assault against his family. His eyebrow furrowed harshly, his teeth were gritted and he growled violently as the Jedi continued struggling against Insatious' will.

They were so close, so close to escaping... they just needed more time. The Dark side of the Force continued gnawing at Cas' temptations, he knew that if he gave in... just this once... he'd be able to save his family. Closing his eyes, Cas embraced his fear and his rage and allowed the Dark side to come to him as if he were a lightening rod, feeding off of his negative emotions. The Jedi Knight concentrated the Force around him as if he were a blackhole before violently expelling it, amplified by the power of the Dark side, it was the most powerful repulse Cas ever produced. It would knock Insatious several feet back, as well as creating a large pulsating wave at least several metres across the surrounding area.

Breaking out of his stasis, Cas opened his eyes and revealed the blood red and yellow irises, showing how deeply immersed in the Dark side he was currently. His grip tightened like a vice around his lightsaber hilt as he glared at the Sith Lord. "I'm going to kill you." he uttered with cold and fierce intent.

Darth Insatious

 

[Darth Insatious]

Insatious could feel the dark side growing, it was almost unbearable delicious how the light was getting snuffed out in the Jedi. As the force barrier shattered and the negative emotions couldn't be held back anymore, it was such a powerful transformation, that it actually forced the Sith lord back a few steps. If Cas wanted the Sith Lord's attention, he sure picked the right way to do it.

Clipping both lightsabers to his belt, the Sith Lord just watched the young boy getting swirled in a torrent of Dark Side energy. Sadly for Cas, their meeting would end prematurely as right before the newly fallen Jedi Knight's eyes, Lord Insatious dissipated into dark red smoke. The wind started to catch up, blowing from the side, sending a warm breeze Cas' way, carrying away the remnant of the smoke.

Whether Cas realized it right-a-way or it took a bit, it was obvious that the Sith Lord got what he wanted from Cas. Before the Jedi Knight, he saw his childhood home, half-destroyed in rubbles with Dead Death Troopers crushed under the roof. His dad was in bad critical condition, with his mother trying everything in her power to keep her husband from dying.

Ciara had no choice, as it was between losing her and Cas' father or land. Ciara chose to save her and Cas' father and blasted away from Cas and their home, in order to get Cona medical help. Not to mention, Ciara was in high panic mode and didn't think to ask her Jedi Knight brother for help.

With Dead Death Troopers in his broken home, Insatious gone from his sense and sight and a father in critical condition, the Jedi Knight Cas Tynen, was once alone with his thoughts to reflect on what just happened.

The only thing that might give a hint at where Insatious was, would have been from the sound of a ship jumping to hyperspace, leaving the planet, rendering it impossible for the Jedi to follow now.

//Exit thread

Cadere

 

[Cadere]

His teeth were bared into a snarl as he stared down his adversary, dirt flew when Cas' feet kicked off the ground as he broke into a high speed run. Sprinting toward the Sith Lord, whom had stupidly returned his lightsabers - Cas raised his lightsaber to kill the Dark Lord with all of his hate, not caring if his actions would certify his fall to the Dark side completely.

In a swift and aggressive motion, Cas swung his lightsaber in a downard diagonal angle in an attempt to strike down Insatious. Except... nothing, his yellow blade struck through the crimson smoke, separating the mist-like energy of where Insatious used to be. Standing upright, his glowing yellow eyes darted left and right as he searched for where Insatious could have possibly gone. He couldn't sense... anything, no wound in the Force, no nothing. Completely distracted, the sound of a ship's engines' boom and as the Jedi Knight glanced up, Cas witnessed his family jumping into space.

The sight of his family leaving stirred something in him, the hot fire that was his rage simmered down to a smouldering flame of sadness. His eyes returned to their original color as reason returned. Cas sensed nothing now. Bowing his head down, the Kiffar let out a sigh before strolling toward his now tarnished childhood him.

Entering through a broken glass window, Cas stepped inside and glanced around the chaos. Approaching the shredded couch, Cas took a seat on it and hung his head low while relaxing his arms on his thighs - catching a glimpse of Cassy's remains on the floor, the poor Kath Hound's blood and body parts were scattered, forcing him to avert his gaze and stare at his own feet. Cas buried his head in his hands - what was this all for? Insatious got exactly what he wanted and his family had abandoned him even though they said they wouldn't. Cas was alone again, like he always was. Just him... and his darkness.

//END THREAD​

Darth Insatious