It takes two

[Coren Starchaser]

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Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsox4q5B8ps​

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Unnamed Moon
Former Alliance Listening Post
Expansion Region
0200 Local Time

Sith space was not where he wanted to find himself. But this was where he had found a number of his men and women. General Coren Starchaser was working on making sure all his rebels were accounted for. And that meant getting the ones in the worst possible places. Anyone who was nearby to the Core was getting it the worst. The Rim, most moved towards the Confederacy and Coalition, but here? No. They were kept in the hot zone. And that meant they needed to just last.

A lot were being collected and moved, some to the Silvers, others back to the Coalition, and yet even more were striking out on their own. Sol, Sovv, and Starchaser had sent out messages, warnings, and reports to all commanders. The time was to hide, to build, and to be ready. Support who they could, the Republic was doing the right thing, but it was up to them. He was only hoping that the forces of good would be there when the call was sounded. He knew it would be some day, soon, he hoped. The First Order and the Sith Empire could cast shadows, but as the shadows were cast? The light only seemed more bright.

This moon, however, was dark. It was night when [member="Romi Jade"] and Coren arrived with Alliance SpecOps teams to help pull people out. A Mon Calamari MC42 Riptide was a few short light minutes outside the system. The team had come in leading a number of low-chance-of-radar-intercept shuttles to the planet and were landing outside the hidden compound. Buried in the mountains, it was defensible enough to not cause the Sith to move onto it, until now. That was why the shuttles were here.

Alliance SpecOps were setting up, lead by Coren and Romi as the droids and soldiers were being moved. Sith were coming over the mountains and falling into the traps set, and blaster fire. It didn’t take long before Coren, during the oncoming lightning storm, activated his lightsaber, moving ahead to intercept the blasters coming forward. In the Force, the Jedi Crusader’s blue-teal lightsaber ignited as he folded space around him, getting himself into the thick of the fight, a few slashes and a blast of the Force later, and they had bought a moment.

Checking his comms, he nodded and looked at Romi. “Shuttles are mostly loaded. You feeling alright?” Just needed to make sure that his team was ready for the fighting retreat. One ship was going to hold back while the rest made the move. He knew that one of the droid-slaved corvettes was going to pop into system to give the shuttles cover and an egress location for the jump.

Still, something felt… darker here.

Turning, his blade hummed as the lightning flashed. Darkness was approaching.

[member="Darth Carnifex"] and guest

 

[Romi Jade]

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Unnamed Moon​

Former Alliance Listening Post​

WITH: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Pull people out​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/ZCk4RiKH9H0[/youtube]

The grooves in her boots dug somewhat into the durasteel plating aligning the loading ramps. The incline forced her to apply most of her weight to her one leg and balance what she couldn't through the other. Dark, and damp...there were very few spot lights besides those along the side of the railings.

"Lets move people!" She wove her arm in a repetitive sequence as more and more people filed in. They were a couple of shuttles in at this point but...

Her body shuttered, a distant explosion sounding much closer than the previous two or three from before; the Empire was closing in. You'd think by now...she was use to the sounds of war

A bright flash of streaks cut a jagged arc across her face, prompting her to look towards the sky after being taken back by a sudden bright flash. Immediately following, she would have guessed exactly what it was after hearing the low rumble that would soon befell the entire area; A storm.

She broke out into a light jog, mostly fueled by urgency. Twisting her way towards the front of the crowd, she moved up behind Coren, peering over his shoulder. Soon her eyes turned a wicked red, with orange flurries to follow; Fire.

Their location had been compromised, finally.

Coren warped the essence of space around them, seemingly vanishing. He went ahead to buy more time. She turned "We've gotta get those things up in the air people! Move!" She nodded to their special forces detail (the two of them standing by) and they knew what to do.

Coren and Romi made their initial approach a merciful one, it would have been a different scenario had they been the ones on the assault. Until those shuttles were up, it was about security. More so flanking Coren, she remained steadfast in her desire to provide what cover she could during the evacuation. In one motion her lightsaber leapt from her belt, and she was quick to level any stray fire in her wake upon drawing it to life.

A quick pivot, allowed her to spin into the next barrage of plasma bolts. But, Romi scattered them all, knocking them further off their course to decrease their chances further of finding a new target. She caught Coren's gaze when he looked back at her, she nodded "I'm alright."

She took a moment, "But something about this feels off..." She surveyed their surroundings, "I can't quite place it just yet but..."

With some haste she walked towards him.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Oh, how they scurried.

Like rats from a sinking ship, these rebels and their Jedi handlers. But, like rats, they had proven to be quite an annoyance to the Empire of the Sith, particularly to the man who held the Empire together through sheer force of his black iron will. It was his vision that drove the Sith to unity in the common pursuit of magnificence and dominion on a galactic scale, perhaps even greater than just that. So when information reached him of vermin in his midst, he did not hesitate to be the one to put them down if possible.

So as the Crestfallen II landed in a clearing on the mountain's slope the Emperor of the Sith emerged from within just as another of his contingent was making an aggressive push towards the enemy stronghold, though stronghold was perhaps an inadequate name for the cobbled together rebel base.

"Do you smell that, old friend? Fear."

Carnifex's voice was modulated from behind his battle helmet, which had been modeled to resemble a blank face, as his eyes scanned the horizon through enhanced vision. The advanced visor minimized the light given off of distant explosions, allowing the Sith Lord to better pick out details amidst the fighting.

He then made a noise that sounded like a mix between a cackle and a disgusted snort; "And Jedi."

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Darth Carnifex"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"]

Jairus had never been one for armor.

That was a lie.

In the old years, during the days of the One Sith, he had wrapped himself in the living pieces of the Yuuzhan Vong. Carapace. It had been strong, protective and for many years he had enjoyed a camaraderie with it. Until the day came that he had killed it. Bathing in the licks of lightning. It had been necessary. Even then, the Sith Lord had always felt a bit wistful about it all. What if he had taken it with him? Would it still be alive even now to protect him?

"No."

The Sith murmured in response as he looked up to the sky. Darkness, storm, the atmosphere was ravaging with conflict. Perhaps it was simply thematically appropriate. "Not Jedi." He corrected as they walked towards that conflict.

He felt it tug at him.

"Dead men. Fear and dead men."

Part of him felt a bit awkward about this all. After all, he was assisting [member="Irajah Ven"] with her vengeance on the man walking next to him. It wasn't personal, of course. Kaine hadn't done anything to Irajah after she and him found one another. And Jairus was reasonably sure that Zambrano was polite enough not to touch something of his. But. Connections and relationships could not be denied. While Jai didn't feel passionate about this project of Ven's?

He wouldn't decline to help his love where it was necessary.

Such is the way of love, no?

 

[Coren Starchaser]

This war, this eternal war was a constant struggle. He looked back to Romi from where he had moved himself. The war had found more outliers and he was hoping to pull these back into the fold. It wasn’t like he was some Spectre, tasked with fighting back Reapers. No, this was for life and the whole of the good side. He was going to get this listening post off this planet and back to the Alliance in Exile. The data out to the allies scattered on the Outer Rim around the galaxy. His lightsaber was blasting back bolts while he organized the Force and threw up a barrier.

“Should delay the troops a moment.” He said as he looked back to his partner. Another shuttle was taking off, but that was when he felt the darkness.

“They’re coming.” He turned, grabbing his rifle and blasting a concussive shot into a group of soldiers. Switching to a burst shot mode, he approached the area where he could feel the darkness the greatest. He had the Force flowing through him, ready to put up a barrier, but he checked the powerpack and set up a shot. Waiting for a Sith to show up, and then he’d fire.

“Get them moving.” He ordered to anyone listening, turning from [member="Romi Jade"] and down the range. His helmet closed down. Not to help with the shot, but to protect him. All the same, he waited. And once they came into view, shots would be fired. And a personal barrier would go up. Romi was behind him enough.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]
[member="Jairus Starvald"]
[member="Romi Jade"]

 

[Romi Jade]

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Unnamed Moon​

Former Alliance Listening Post​

WITH: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Pull people out​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/ZCk4RiKH9H0[/youtube]

Her eyes fluttered; the wind was picking up.

“They’re coming.”

Her head turned sharply in his direction then back, and her face had gone still. The eerie feeling grew from the ground up, her senses finely attuning themselves once they'd locked on to the anomaly. Her head lowered, while her hand simultaneously went through a sequences of tremors and spasms brought on by her tensing her hand to and from.

"I..remember this...feeling"

Romi jabbed her lightsaber toward their detail, "Get out of here. This'll get bloody." The soldiers eyes narrowed. "Ma'am we can't leave Gener-"

"He'll survive. I'm not going to leave him here." she retorted. "We'll buy you more time." She motioned with her head, before taking a few steps closer to Coren but remaining behind him.

True to their nature, the two of them were running toward the melee rather than fleeing from it, no matter how bloodied they were or who was winning. This moment of stasis as they waited, saw their surroundings grow darker and danker. However, Romi had already decided, and she was going to see this through. The longer they waited, the more apparent it became just as to what it was that was coming for them....

Ironically, the both of them were going to find themselves faced with their toughest challenge again; they were pushed to the edge last time.

"Time for you to do one of those six to eight things you do best Coren..." She teased.

[member="Darth Carnifex"]
[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The Emperor chuckled, a deep belting guffaw that sounded inhuman behind his featureless mask.

"Is there ever truly a difference?"

Dead men and Jedi, Jedi and dead men. One became the other and one was the other, it didn't matter their creed, their tactics, their upbringing... In the end, that's all Jedi were good for, yearning for the length and breadth of a grave in their pursuit of short-sighted righteousness for the despotically weak. They clawed at the foundations of power, whittling away order until all that remained was chaos and depravity that consumed the galaxy like an unquenchable wildfire. Centuries of progress and evolution tossed aside to elevate morality and ethics, pitiful terms for pitiful shortcomings, on a pedestal above everything else that drove the galaxy to its inevitable utopia.

But no longer.

Carnifex surged forth through the undergrowth, leaving Jairus behind as he closed the distance between himself and his prey. The other man was more than capable, he did not need the Black Iron Tyrant to burden him with his own violence. Darkness hummed in his veins, radiating out through his body like the most succulent of contagions as he waved his hand through the air and sent a dozen enemy soldiers hurtling towards their doom, their bodies wracked by different afflictions as they convulsed and died in the air.

Power again sang its siren song, and the Emperor of the Sith returned its melody in kind. Foul electricity, the color of freshly spilled blood, erupted from his fingertips to dance across the open air in a desperate search for conduits to ground its might. Chiefly, it arced towards the two Jedi who rushed towards him in kind, intent on raking their bodies with flesh-curdling intensity.

And there was a cry upon his lips, one that soared high above the tumultuous cacophony of the struggle.

Nyashjontû Wo!​

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[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Darth Carnifex"] | [member="Romi Jade"]

Sometimes he wondered if he wasn't too old for this.

This was the same beat he had danced for decades now.

Some of those years together with the current Dark Lord.... and he had told himself he had been done with it after the One Sith. Oh, not... this. Not the fight, the Darkside, but. The war. The endless endless war between Light and Dark that never seemed to end. That was just a cycle. Over and over again. Whatever there actions were? It always fed back into it. He sighed as he watched Kaine move. Even now, after all those years, the Black Iron Tyrant moved like a hurricane.

Rushing into battle with the eagerness of a bloody frenzy.

Jairus?

Utilized that hurricane by being the slow rising flood behind it. The dark water encroaching and choking off the last desperate breaths. "Mine." The whisper went on the air. Over and over again. His presence swept behind it, seducing and curling into the ears of the sentients around Coren and Romi.

While Kaine hacked and hacked.

While they focused on this behemoth of a creature.

Jairus spun his webs one more time. Slowly coaxing the people they wanted to help, the people that were helping them. Swaying them to his side. At least for a moment. At least long enough to turn their guns and their swords and their teeth and their nails against the two Jedi. They were the crux point. The hinge that ensured this operation was successful. The light around which everything else revolved. And as Jairus spun his webs he could feel Romi's presence.

Oh, so, familiar.

"I wonder.... did you miss me?"

 

[Coren Starchaser]

Starchaser was more than ready for everything that was coming. Romi wasn’t far behind and that meant he had his connection to her to pull on. Besides that? The Alliance had purpose on their side, with the Alliance and Jedi standing firm against the Sith. To defend the galaxy from their tyranny and brutality. Looking over his shoulder, he nodded to the Alliance teams. “Move!” He ordered. He could feel the darkness, that death field that was only followed by a SIth, a Sith strong enough to cause even Starchaser to falter.

Looking down range, he could sense the coming, the one known as Carnifex, the eternal emperor. Well, not Coren’s emperor. And when the man came into view, Coren was firing, one, two, three shots at the lead Sith. With that shot being fired, he could feel the darkness encroaching, this one different, this one that Coren had no real defense trained against aside from the pure light of the Force.

“Incoming! Steel yourselves!” Came the order as the Jedi Master reached into the Force. He was feeling the overwhelming darkness, it was stifling, removing his connection to the light, but not his connection to the Force. Dropping his rifle so that it hung on its strap, he grabbed his lightsaber, igniting the blade and diving into the Force.

Hoping to bolster those around him, he reached to that pure essence he felt, the light side, the goodness, but more specifically the purpose. “Stand!” He shouted as he leapt forward seeing the lightning coming, and launching a concentrated blast of the Force, hoping to stun, or stutter [member="Darth Carnifex"].

[member="Romi Jade"]
[member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Romi Jade]

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Unnamed Moon​

Former Alliance Listening Post​

WITH: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Survive. Buy Time​

ENENMIES: [member="Darth Carnifex"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/kJHpmSIZjNk[/youtube]

Her face screwed up in incredulity.

Hiss-crack!

She watched on as those jagged, precipitous lines of red energy surged to attack her, to trip her up. Yet, before her own position could be compromised she grew lose and used the physical momentum of her retreat to dive into a roll. She came around clear on the other side of the platform, slashing wide and level with a streak of scarlet plasma. She'd been waiting deep in their Jedi formation, and just as her hair shone with reflected highlights from the encroaching lightning, her eyes were ablaze with another sort of light, one that matched the feral snarl on her face.

In the few seconds when combat broke, Romi could hear only her own rasping breath and the throbbing of her heart, and then the silence was broken by Coren's voice

“Stand!”

With them both slightly separated now, her autopilot kicked in; silent and focused. Romi sprang upward from a crouch and cannoned into a lengthy stride. A few steps in, she felt it....

"Mine."

Oh yes, she felt that. The chill to come after saw her quickly pivot, as if it she heard it from directly behind her.

"Wha..."

She was soon met with a flurry of fire, directed by their own allies. Eyes wide with disbelief, Romi had to move again, and quickly. She twisted and let a a few bolts pass by no more than three centimeters from her body. Her lightsaber's glowing blade swooped in an up-turning circular parry and moved through a wild blur of motion, the tip even brushing against her pants leg. Through the furious, humming blur of her scarlet streaks she held her own as to protect herself and Coren's flank. She bent at the knee, and launched herself into the air.

Landing in the middle of the pack, she went into a frantic dance, twisting and parrying. They'd have to fire precisely or not at all to avoid harming their fellows. She leveled one with heel to the face in her entrance, and soon she was dropping into a squat mid-way through and then back up as to avoid cross fire. On her way up, a quick pivot saw her turn about and sliced across, carving through the barrels of two rifles. She knocked them off their feet with a quick concussive display of kinetic energy.

She was quick to throw her opposite hand up, forming a protective barrier at the last minute to defend against more oncoming fire. She held her own with a fierceness that showed no sense of weakness from her debilitating illness.

"I wonder.... did you miss me?"

Her lips parted for words, but she was overtook with surprise.

"You...?"

She turned.

"I thought I ended you?" On Gree, she knocked him off what I suppose you could consider a bridge?

"Well this just got interesting..."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Arms thrust forward, fingers outstretched, the Emperor of the Sith caught Coren's blast in the Force and redirected it energy outwards to the environment around him. The ground was displaced and foliage blasted into bits by the cascading redirected energy, but Darth Carnifex remained unperturbed. He summoned his lightsaber into his right hand, a sharp snap-hiss bringing to life the blade of scarlet energy that had slain so many Jedi throughout the years.

"Coren Starchaser! I had thought I'd smelled your stench upon this world, vermin!" taunted the Emperor.

The last time they had faced off like this was on Dubrillion when the errant fool Cedric Grayson and his witless cronies had sought to attack a world so deeply entrenched in the Empire's bosom, and were gifted with crushing failure as the resolute soldiers of the Empire drove them back into the stars.

A snarl burst past his lips as he flung himself at Starchaser, his blade flashed out to strike against the teal plasma of the Jedi's own. Sparks flew from their violent impact, a spitting hellfire eruption of clashing energies that illuminated the darkened woods around them with splashes of color. The Emperor settled into his trademark style, his weapon moving fast and hard against the Jedi Master who stood against his tyrannical might.

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[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Darth Carnifex"]

"I thought I ended you?"

This made him smirk.

Their first meeting had begun with her in his arms.

"You aren't nearly as effective at ending things, as you believe." Jairus responded with clear-cut amusement. While Zambrano focused on Coren, he could already feel the light clashing against the dark, Jairus decided this was as good as time as any.

For a second round.

He utilized Kaine dragging attention to himself. Letting him become the center, while the other Sith Lord hung back. Cloaked by shadows and the heat of destruction. His presence was subtle. It drenched out the light when it approached. Like a sheet of oil covering the surface of an ocean. Darkness. It didn't let the light to pass through. It forced their troopers to take bigger risks. To shoot and to kill and to rend. To move against their Guardians, no matter what it would cost them.

Their fire would start hitting one another.

It deprived Jairus of drones, but. That was okay, wasn't it? It would only serve to distract Romi and Coren. Make them feel the deaths of their own people.

"Why don't you step into the shadows, Jedi? Your friend is quite busy right now." All of a sudden Starvald's mind would rear itself against Romi's. Attempting to pierce and shatter her defenses. It would take time.... but in that time? There would be pain.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

It wasn’t going to take much to inspire Coren Starchaser to fight here. He knew who the man coming at him was, all too well. The way the galaxy worked, there were always going to be people who countered one another. As light was to dark, so Coren was to Carnifex. At least as well as anyone he knew to be. The Emperor of the Sith Empire and the General of the Alliances and Jedi. They were both beacons of the sides they stood upon, and the stories of their battles kept their sides full of morale.

The last time Coren found himself in opposition with the Emperor was Dubrillion, wasn’t it? That and Coruscant. Oh, Coruscant. The fall of the Galactic Alliance. Taeli Raaf and Carnifex had come to raze the Jedi Temple. But they couldn’t raze the Jedi ideal. Starchaser could feel the other sense, the one that was working to manipulate and control the minds of those that were assisting him. Reaching to the Force, Coren could feel the tendrils, practically see them in the Force. And that was when he opened himself up to it.

With a tug, Coren began to pull on the tendrils near himself and the Alliance soldiers closest to him, pulling that energy towards himself. With formal Sentinel training, and the fact that he had spent decades perfecting energy manipulation, it wasn’t a far reach to at least disrupt the Sith. And that caused a grin to crawl across the Jedi’s face as he tightened his grip on the saber. The blue blade moving faster as the General’s movements were keeping in time with the much larger opponent. Martially Coren knew he coiuldn’t stand up to the Emperor, but it wasn’t going to stop him.

A step back.

And another.

“You won’t win.”

[member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Darth Carnifex"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]

 

[Romi Jade]

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Unnamed Moon​

Former Alliance Listening Post​

WITH: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Survive. Buy Time​

ENEMIES: [member="Darth Carnifex"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/kJHpmSIZjNk[/youtube]

"Coren Starchaser!"

The roar of his name caused her body to flicker, and with the flood of twisted energy flooding into she looked on as the Emperor himself sought to wreak havoc. This was going to require them both...

"Core--" She wanted to rush off in his direction but she couldn't...there was that same voice resonating in the crevices of her mind.

Slowly, the muscles in her face began to tighten..."Men...I rejected you on Gree already. This time, I won't be nearly as nice." She retorted with a viciousness.

Hmm...

She pressed two fingers into her temple; pain shot up her neck and rested just at the back of her skull before dispersing into the other portions of her head. But...she had to keep up the barrier. if she didn't...she and Coren would be flanked with blaster fire from their very own...

"The reason you weren't man enough for me back then...was because you aren't nearly as straightforward. Come out of the shadows! I'll finish what we started then..."

She sought comfort in her bond with Coren, it kept her centered in this storm. Her eye began to twitch, as she fought off the throbbing head pain. The only thing she could think to do....

She took a deep breath...and released in one breath.

Skrrrrreeeee!

An ear splitting screech protruded from her mouth like a detonation in the direction of their forces. This was better than expending energy over time on a barrier. She could knock a few of them out of the game with this. A slight bend of the neck saw her pitch increase.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I have already won, fool."

The Emperor's steps were deliberate, purposeful and cautious as he engaged the Alliance General in single combat, making no effort to purposefully overextend himself against the physically smaller opponent. His blade struck out like a viper's bite, smacking and crackling against his blue beam of energy with ever-increasing intensity as the monolithic Sith Lord pressed the offensive. The earth was pushed up where his boots pressed against the ground, carving canyons of smoldering conflagration as he whipped his blade around to strike at Starchaser, the smell of ozone and burnt flesh permeating the air around them.

"The galaxy is engulfed in war, the Dark Side has prevailed."

Power flooded through his body as he reached out with his left hand, gripping the bodies of several still living Alliance soldier and ripping them up from where they stood. He flung them through the air like breathing missiles towards Starchaser, intending to divide his attention as he again lunged with a furious flurry of blade strikes.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Darth Carnifex"]

"Last time you almost got crushed by the ground, you never did thank me for your life."

He'd always have that.

And she'd always be reminded of it.

Every breath she took, every act she made, it was all because a Sith Lord allowed her to live in that pivotal moment. That amused Jairus. The fact that she used her life for good? It didn't truly bother him, because... there would always be Jedi. There would always be the light. You might as well have your own hand in it, no? "Besides, last time I had more important things to think about than a lone girl grasping for the Light.... failing." He saw the conflict in her heart.

That was weakness.

A lack of resolve.

Just as Starvald was about to push harder against her mind? Her screech escaped through her teeth, its force raging against her own troops and knocking them down in equal measures. It didn't kill them, but they'd probably have some ruptured ears to think about later on.

More's the pity.

The Sith Lord stepped out of the shadows and into the night's moon.

"Hello." Then his hand raised up, launching a kinetic blast towards Romi's form just as she screeched her lungs out. Keep it simple. Remove their balance just as they are busy with something else.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The Heir Apparent of the ass-kicking variety of Jedi. Starchaser was following the footsteps of Luke Skywalker after the Yuuzhan Vong threatened to eliminate the native life from the galaxy. Jedi Knights were guardians of peace and protectors of the innocent. The Sith? They were not. Jedi had it in their power to remove the Sith, and fight them back at before they could become more of a problem than they already were. While each Jedi had their own relationship with the Force, and their greater role within it. Reaching out to [member="Romi Jade"], Coren made do with what he could to strengthen their bond for the coming fight.

The tendrils were definitely affecting him, that mentalism was not something he was really versed in, but the darkness? He could pull that, transform it, and feed from it. The Force was a river, and every user had a cup. Some just knew how to make juice from stones. And that was definitely Coren when the dark side was around. He heard the voices. Carnifex. Romi. Soldiers. Carnifex’s lackey.

Prepping for one of his partner’s signature abilities, Coren steeled himself within the Force. Approaching Carnifex, the blue blade was ready, but the Sith Lord had other plans. Taking a half step forward, the Jedi Master had appeared a dozen feet backwards, the Force erupting in a small blast of light as the Jedi folded space. Pulling on the light side the way Coren did, it was only a matter of time until it could be exploited. But the Jedi was doing his best to take the extra second to slow the falls of the soldiers, not perfectly, but well enough to prevent serious injury, as his blade met the Sith.

“And that chaos will not remain so long as the Jedi are ready to step against you.”

[member="Jairus Starvald"]
[member="Darth Carnifex"]

 

[Romi Jade]

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Unnamed Moon​

Former Alliance Listening Post​

WITH: [member="Coren Starchaser"]​

OBJECTIVE: Survive. Buy Time​

ENEMIES: [member="Darth Carnifex"] [member="Jairus Starvald"]​

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Spoiler

[youtube]

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/kJHpmSIZjNk[/youtube]

Skreeee--

Ugh!

What air she had left had been expelled from her lungs in an instant; it felt like she'd been hit by a large vehicle. Her form had been tossed into the air and thrown across the field a bunch of feet before she her back eventually collided with the solid railing off to the sides. Two duratseel poles had dug themselves into the length of her back. She made an animal noise that was a clear mix of irritation and pain, she'd flail for a moment as she tried to get up, but sank back to sit on her heels. She crumpled against the wall for a few more seconds for the pain to subside.

"Why won't you just go away!?"

Scattered flashes illuminated the left side of her face in multi-colored highlights; it was an iridescent sheen left over by the clash of lightsabers in the distance. A quick glance over, she saw Coren and the Dark Lord himself encased in an invisible aura that resonated throughout the outpost.

She propelled herself up from her crouched position, she ignited her lightsaber and held it with the tip low and to her right. Her head dropped, and while entirely fixated on Jairus in front of her, she silently communicated her thoughts to Coren. Romi vaulted from her position into a Force-leap and then dropped down to the ground and raced after Jairus to close the distance, her lightsaber close at hand; she was trailed by a scarlet snake.


She fairly flew after him, pursuing him over piles of rubble and debris, around and through stands of towering fire; her autopilot kicked in.
She had every intention of closing the distance, and when she did....Her glowing blade flashed forward in a furious, humming blur. For whatever stroke she could muster, she hoped it the weapon would find a crease in that magnificent face of his where her hand had not previously.


But it was never that easy...

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He held his weapon against Starchaser's, pushing against him with only a modicum of his true might. His restraint might have been noticeable but baffling to someone like Coren, why would the Sith Emperor hold back against his most tenacious enemy?

"You don't understand, Starchaser. Your struggle only feeds the dark."

At that point, he shoved back with considerably more strength, more than enough to send the smaller Jedi tumbling backward if he didn't catch himself in time. A second lightsaber shot out from his cloak and into his left hand, identical to the one he held in his right. With effortless motion he connected both at the base of their hilts and twisted, locking them together to form one singular weapon; a double-bladed lightsaber. With a snarl of hate, he lunged at the Jedi Master, his weapon spinning like a scythe through the air to attack Coren with such ferocity it made his previous attacks look positively tame.

The Emperor had fully sunk into the mindset of Juyo now, his emotions refined and sharpened to such a lethal degree that every one of his strikes was aimed to murder rather than simply maim. Split-second action and staccato-like hits wore on against the Jedi Master's defenses, unrelenting and merciless in their intensity. Carnifex was a truly a master of his craft and put on display exactly what had allowed him to take and maintain leadership of the Sith.

He gave Coren no quarter and expected none in return.

Though he was aware of Jairus and Romi's position nearby, they were almost nothing more than an afterthought. Something distant and inconsequential to his own actions that it was like they weren't even there at all. But there were times when his attention did divert to them, and with almost flippant ease he flicked a finger and sent one of the dead bodies hurtling toward Romi's backside to give Jairus an opening.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jairus Starvald"]​