Private On to Triumph or to Judgement Day

[KitKatt]

"Looks like we're up. You snag the hair, I'll clean and keep an eye out for our demonic friends."

Kat nodded and headed towards their target. He was sitting at the bar, drinking a blue smoking beverage. All of the charisma and bravado from before was gone, perhaps sapped now that his totem was lost. What had the witch said about totems and those who lost them? If he was already possessed the demon would need the totem, and the host would come find it. That's right. It didn't look like the demon had fully possessed him though, considering he was sitting idly at a bar and not out searching. Kat was no expert in demonology however so she couldn't be certain.

She moved through the crowds without a single glance. In fact eyes slid away from her, as if just by looking at her a person might catch the desire to be a janitor at some sleazy club. It might be nice to have one of these smocks just to avoid wandering eyes at times. She would have to check what colors they came in.

She had reached the bar and began picking up empty cans and placing them in a garbage bag, working her way towards the target. When she reached him she pretended to stumble, knocking into him and grabbing his hair in the process.

"Get off me!"

"Sorry" She grunted, pulling the janitor hat low over her face as she straightened up and released the man.

"Can't you control your damn staff? Damn they smell!"

The bartender looked up and scowled at Katarine.

"The waitresses will get the empties! You just clean up the mess. Leave the customers alone."

"Right."

She walked over to where Hawk was cleaning up the spill and sat the garbage bag down on the floor with one hand, shoving the hairs safely in her pocket as she did so.

"I've got it but I think they suspect." She jerked her head towards the Mandos who were over by the dancers. They were now finally interested in the janitors and heading that way.


Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk nodded, his eyes already tracking the movements of the Mandalorians. Their search pattern had changed a moment ago, it was no longer random and only appeared to be so. They were moving towards him and Kat while trying not to look like they were. All pretense was dropped now that they knew they had been rumbled and the Mandalorians began to stride across the dancefloor in their direction.

With the wave of his hand, Hawk activated the nightclub's fire systems. A horrific wailing sound filled the club; the music died, and then the sprinklers erupted. The revellers screamed and dashed for the exits as Hawk rounded the bar. Clearing the innocents out before things kicked off was priority.

"Surrender now Jedi and you can join with our Lord, you have proven yourself to be a cunning enemy but the rise of Tenebris is inevitable and only by serving him will you survive."

Hawk clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth thoughtfully before cracking the mop over his knee and giving each shard a little twirl.

" I don't think so."

The Mandalorian tipped his head back to laugh, and as he did so Hawk launched one of the broken pieces of mop through the air like a javelin. It found the gap between the Mandalorian's helmet and his neck and sank in. The Mandalorian let out an inhuman shriek that slowly bubbled away as blood pumped into his lungs. He clawed at the stick unelessly and then fell forward, dead.

The other two Mandalorians backed away and Hawk moved to follow, but then another figure emerged from the darkness as the water cascaded from the ceiling. It was the warrior in black armour that he had envisioned back on the hunt planet. Hawk paused as the figure pulled a lightsaber hilt from his hip and a crimson blade burst into life. Purple energy ran up the blade and forked off like lightning as he swang it.

Hawk leaped to one side to avoid the swing, the Sith blade slicing nothing but air, but the purple demon lightning exploded across the dancefloor and the ceiling tearing them up as it did. Emboldened, the other two Mandalorians moved forward again, and to Hawk's horror the one he had struck down leveraged themselves from the floor and yanked the piece of mop from their throat. Hawk could not sense the lifeforce of the Mandalorian, he was dead, but whatever demonic entity had inhabited him had reanimated the body. If the Sith was similarly possessed than there would be no fighting him.

The purple lightning arched towards Hawk again and he instinctively brought up his hands catching the dark energy. He staggered under the force of it and his stomach churned at the feel of the malice behind it, but he held it. The demonic dark clad Sith inched forward projecting the purple lightning at Hawk, and Hawk gritted his teeth against the onslaught, his hands and forearms feeling numb...but then a light appeared beside him and a man stood there in golden robes that shimmered and seemingly shone with their own light

"Hello Inedia," The stranger spoke.

"Salutare!" The Sith rasped in a demonic growl.

Instantly the possessed Sith changed his focus to the newcomer, but the newcomer raised his hands and a wave of green fire rippled across the club buffeting the four Mandalorians back.
Another flash of light; and another, then three more one after another announced the arrival of more golden robed strangers. Sensing the turn of the tide, the the four picked themselves up and made a swift exit.

"My son and daughter of the light," the first stranger who had appeared smiled at Hawk and Kat as he addressed them. "The great Lord Lychnus has temporarily subdued the deceiver Tenebris thanks to your help, but many of his followers managed to slip into your world to sow chaos and fuel his escape. We followed, but we will not possess the bodies of unwilling mortals and can only manifest our celestial spirit in physical form briefly without them, you must go before they return in greater number for we will not be able to aid again at this stage."

The celestial being dimmed and then was simply gone. One by one the others winked out of existence, and at that same moment the sprinklers ceased.

"It's a good job our robes will still be dry, can't stink like a sewer and be soaked through while we go buy some fudge to prevent the rise of a malevolent God," Hawk laughed heartily at the insanity they found themselves in the middle of. "Come on, let's go and pick up the fudge so the witch can cast her spell."

Even though Hawk laughed, he was very concerned. It seemed that the God Lychnus was struggling to maintain control over Tenebris, and his followers were unable to offer him and Kat much in the way of help. Meanwhile Tenebris' demons were wreaking havoc on Coruscant; empowering their Mandalorian hosts, and what's more one of the superbeings was also a Sith. Was it true that Tenebris' rise was inevitable?

 

[KitKatt]

Everything happened quickly and a panic started. People were running towards the doors and trampling over each other to get out of the club, clearly afraid it was on fire. Kat noticed a small child fall and scooped it up before it fell victim to the adult feet stampeding towards the door. She barely had time to wonder what type of parent brought a child to a place like this, when one of the dancers frantically started calling out for the child. Kat felt a twinge of guilt for her earlier judgement. The dancer probably had no money for childcare and was doing the best she could. The Jedi handed the small child over and turned to help Hawk, but weird figures were already doing so. Just as quickly as they appeared they were gone and the danger seemed averted, at least for now.

"Come on, let's go and pick up the fudge so the witch can cast her spell."

Kat nodded, glad to be leaving the club and the dead bodies that seemed to be controlled via dark magic. She was beyond concerned with what she had just witnessed at the club, and the warning from those weird figures that had saved them. It troubled her all the way to the shop and back to the brothel, where they were thankfully intercepted by the daughter without having to make an excuse to sneak upstairs.

Once they were back in the witches quarters the woman smiled at them in amusement. She did not seem surprised to see them in such a state, but it did appear she found it comical.

"You two have been through the ringer I dare say. We can offer you accommodations to freshen up in a moment. Did you obtain what I asked for?"


Hawk Hinata

(( sorry it's a little brief. Difficult to post on my phone. ))

 

[Hawk Hinata]

"That's putting it lightly," Hawk stated with a lofted eyebrow as they handed over the items that the witch had asked for; Hawk noting that her eyes lit up at the sight of the fudge. "We'd be most grateful for the chance to freshen up," he added noticing how she wrinkled her nose as she had made the offer.

With time against them, Hawk relayed the events that had occured since they last stood before her.

Now in possession of all the items she had asked for, the witch pulled a lever concealed upon a shelf causing a panel to slide open, before beckoning them into an overly warm yet gloomy room.
Green light spilled from a cauldron at the centre of the room while clouds of acrid steam rolled down its sides adding to the mist that pooled upon the floor.

The witch approached the cauldron and began to mutter in an arcane language, the light within intensifying as she added the ingredients. Hawk could have sworn he saw shadowy images move within the light, but he could not make anything out.

Louder and louder she chanted; the mystical words flowing from her almost as if she sang them, and then she stopped and raised her hands. From within the cauldron something small and metallic rose up. As it span slowly Hawk could see that it was a rather ancient looking compass.

"Take the compass Jedi, it will guide you to what you seek. But I fear if what you have told me of these demons is true that if you seek them out, you will be destroyed."

"If we do not, everything will be." Hawk stated in a matter of fact tone.

"Mother, I will go with them. I will restore our honour."

"I do not wish it daughter, but I have seen you with them in the mists. The galaxy needs them, and sadly they need you."

Hawk stared at the witches with open astonishment; the last thing they needed was the young witch coming with them. The young woman looked to be in her late teens or early twenties at best, and Hawk had no desire to watch over the girl while fighting demon enhanced Mandalorians and (An image of the demon enhanced Sith in black armour rose in Hawk's mind) worse.

Hawk was just about to respond that she was absolutely not coming with them, but upon looking at the young witch he felt a nudge in the force that stopped him. The force willed the young witch to go with them and he had to trust in that will.

"Now, how about that room to freshen up in?" Hawk remarked in a cheery tone as he took the compass.

 

[KitKatt]

To say all this magic made Kat uneasy would be an understatement. As she watched the Witch chant over a cauldron, the Jedi felt her stomach turn in knots. She was not ready to accept that the magic forced upon her was real and somehow controlled her destiny. Yet how could she keep denying it when there were literal demons wandering around? It made her head spin, almost as much as Hawk accepting the daughters invite did.

Kat wasn’t sold on the idea of babysitting, though this was a grown woman and not a child. Accidents could happen though and it would be a poor repayment to the Witch if they brought back her daughters body.

They were lead to a shower facility which presumably their workers used to freshen up between clients. The warm water helped unclench Kats stomach, as long as she didn’t think about what this shower had seen in its days.

After a good long scrub Kat found herself sitting on the windowsill, wrapped in a towel and waiting for her clothes to be washed. The hospitality was very welcoming and that gave her a further pang when she thought of what might happen to this woman’s child.

When the door to the room opened she felt Hawk without even turning to look and see who it was. She could still feel him quit strongly after the dyad.

“Feel better?”

She smiled at him, but knew he couldn’t possibly feel good when the galaxy was in such danger. At least he could feel clean. It wasn’t much but it was a start.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk found Kat sat upon the windowsill after his own - lengthy - shower was done. A light warm breeze blew over them, rippling through Kat's still damp hair, suddenly making Hawk very aware that they were both only wearing towels. The Jedi Master cleared his throat to cover his awkward entrance and dragged his eyes away from Kat's shapely form, fixing his gaze on the cityscape that sprawled before them.

"Yeah, it's amazing what some hot water and soap can achieve."

Subconsciously, Hawk's fingers moved over the scars upon his chest. To listen to people talk you'd think he was immortal, but he had had a few close scrapes in his time. Hawk's fingers found a particularly nasty scar that he knew had a twin upon his back, a lightsaber wound from a duel he had fought as a young Knight; he had been lucky to survive.

"I can feel the anger even from up here," He commented closing his eyes and focusing upon his breathing. "This would be so much easier if they didn't actually have good reason to be angry. Coruscant has filled from the bottom up with crime, corruption, and the evils of poverty while an elite few sit atop it all in indulgent opulance."

Hawk's emerald green eyes flew open to peer at the huge corporate skyscrapers; the luxury residences, and the private starport for luxury starships. The anger and hatred he could feel was centred upon these things. The poor and vulnerable citizens of Coruscant looked up every day to see these constant reminders of the huge inequality of their lives.

"Shi-" The sound of Hawk swearing was cut off as the skyline exploded.

Huge fireballs erupted from several floors of the huge skyscrapers; the luxury residences blazed with bright orange flames, and a mushroom shaped cloud rose from the destroyed star port. Hawk watched on in growing horror as emergency vehicles racing to the scene were blown out of the air by rockets from dozens of armoured figures flying through the chaos.

"Lets go. I'll grab the compass. We have no chance of stopping the chaos until we find their base."

Hawk surged to his feet, almost losing his towel but managing to maintain his modesty, and most of his dignity before darting inside to grab the magical device. As if on cue a droid rolled in with their laundry, fresh, warm and lightly scented with lavander and something else rather pleasant that Hawk did not recognise.

The daughter followed the droid in casting a seductive glance at Hawk as he grabbed his clothes and disappeared into the en-suite to change. If the force hadn't made it clear to him that she needed to come, he would have gladly left the complication of protecting a young woman with a crush on him from the murderous demonically possessed Mandalorians and their dark clad and no less equally possessed Sith leader.

 

[KitKatt]

"This would be so much easier if they didn't actually have good reason to be angry. Coruscant has filled from the bottom up with crime, corruption, and the evils of poverty while an elite few sit atop it all in indulgent opulance."

Her deep green eyes slid from the skyline to Hawk as he spoke. She could see the scars on his chest and knew all too well they were from a lightsaber. She had her own on her back shoulder. It was a gift from Malice Draclau, who was likely long dead by now, though from age or battle she could not be certain. The only thing she was certain of was that Hawk was the only relic that remained of her time. The thought made her feel suddenly lonely and she had to fight the urge to embrace him.

Before she could give in and act on that urge the sky was lit with fire. The carnage outside brought both Jedi to alert. They dressed quickly and readied to leave. Kat was still uncertain about the daughter coming with them but Hawk seemed decided on it. Perhaps he had felt a pull in the Force. Kat had felt something but wasn’t sure how to interpret it.

The three of them raced from the brothel.

“I have a speeder. It will be faster!”

The daughter lead the Jedi to the aircraft and they climbed inside. They took to the busy traffic lanes, following Hawks navigation. They didn’t get far however when blaster bolts rained down upon them. The Mandos who had been looking for them from earlier were now trailing behind the speeder and taking advantage of the convertible style to shoot at them all.

Kat stood and with a snaphiss her white blade started to deflect the bolts away from the daughter, who was trying to lose them by weaving in and out of traffic.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

The Mandalorians were upon them almost from the moment they left the brothel in the speeder. The daughter weaving through chaotic traffic as people fled the carnage and emergency services battled to restore order. Hawk could see a number of skirmishes between rioters and security personnel in the streets below with more and more fires breaking out as makeshift incendiary devices were thrown. It seemed as if the whole cityscape were now glowing with a flickering orange flame and the sky darkened with smoke.
Kat's blade span through the air deflecting fire away from the daughter as Hawk guided her with directions from the compass, yet he was mindful of the chaos around them. People would be dying far below them, their deaths and the anger and hatred that had bubbled over into this civil unrest would be giving strength to the dark god Tenebris. How long could Lychnus keep him subdued with such a buffet of dark energy for him to gorge upon?

Suddenly the compass began to spin.

"We're here, it's the old communications building." Hawk yelled over the sounds of battle.

Hawk looked down and sighed as he saw a single dark clad figure stood upon the roof waiting for them. It was never easy was it?

"Take the daughter with you when we land and find out how they're communicating. We need to disrupt their link to the rioters. I'll keep our friend here busy and hold the roof so you have a way out." Hawk called to Kat as the daughter took them in.

Hawk leaped from the speeder as they landed, intercepting the purple lightning that spewed forth from the demonic Sith's blade with his own.

"Indedia wasn't it?" Hawk asked as the lightning ceased. "The hungerer...famine?" Hawk added as the force provided the information.

"You will die here mortal, even should you kill this body I will make it fight on. The Lord Tenebris has foreseen it; not even the greatest warriors of the time can stand against me." The possessed Sith rasped ignoring his question.

"I knew an acolyte of yours once, Malice Draclau, the horseman of fami-"

"The Regnum were weak, hardly worthy of bearing the names of my brothers," Inedia spat, cutting across him before tilting his head to one side in confusion.

"Ah you see Inedia, I am not of this time," Hawk smiled though his glacial blue eyes held no mirth within them.

"Semantics and arrogance will not save you, I can feel your fear" Inedia snarled, but now there was a sliver of fear that edged his own words.

"The bravest are not those with no fear; this world is full of people whose fears have taken them to a dark place. But those same people went to work every day; raised their families, and lived every day with the fear of poverty on their backs, and they never caved into it until you brought your magic to bear against them, and yet even now I can sense that many resist you. The bravest are those who stand firm in the face of fear."

The fight began then, Inedia launching himself through the air with a shriek of pure hatred and his blade a blur of crimson around him. Hawk stepped to one side deflecting the blade and sent a lightning fast riposte towards the armpit gap in the beskar plates. Only the inhuman speed of the demon Inedia allowed him to turn just enough for the blade to scorch across the chest plate instead. Hawk's goading had worked, luring the Sith away from the roof access entrance to the communications tower, his focus completely upon Hawk.

 

[KitKatt]

“Let’s go!”

“Shouldn’t we help him?”

“He knows what he’s doing.”

Kat pulled the daughter over to the roof access door and after some quick slicing work the door slid open.

“Aren’t you worried? That looked like a Sith.”

“It will take more than a misguided darksider to kill Hawk Hinata.”

Kat was taking steps quickly, praying Hawk felt as confident as she was trying to sound. Something strange was stirring in her mind. It had been such a blessing to find Hawk, and if he were to vanish again the loss would be devastating. She couldn’t dwell on it.

Once inside the main building they slowed slightly and Kat closed her eyes. “Most of them are two floors down. Let’s start there.”

She had barely gotten the words out when two droideka rolled onto the scene. They looked a lot more modern than the ones she knew but there was no mistaking what they were.

“Back!”

Kat’s blade worked overtime, shielding the daughter who was retreating backwards into the stair well. When they crossed the threshold Kat reached up and pulled a large lighting fixture down, smashing the droids.

“That doesn’t seem like this groups style. Droids I mean.”

“They are probably security for the proper owners. Let’s go.”

They raced down the hallway until finally armored clad Mandos stood to greet them. Kat deflected the twisted energy they shot at her while the daughter used her whip. When the two men were down Kat noticed an ear piece laying on the floor. That must be how they were communicating. If she could jam the signal that would solve one of their problems.

Unfortunately problems always came in numbers and the discarding bodies were reanimating.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

The duel continued at a blistering speed. There was a clear disparity in swordsmanship with Hawk's skill with a blade the far superior, however this was compensated for by Inedia's beskar armour; enhanced abilities, and complete disregard for the safety of the body he inhabited.

Flashes of purple lightning lit up the roof of the communications tower as Inedia sought to overwhelm his Jedi opponent with brute force, but Hawk gritted his teeth against the onslaught and held the lightning at bay with blade and palm outstretched.
The lightning arched upwards and, in a shower of sparks, it melted through a section of the ancient antenna. With a groan and screech of tearing metal a huge section of the antenna fell. Both Hawk and Inedia leaped up into the gaps between the falling metal, wasting only a heartbeat to find their balance before continuing the battle along the length of the fallen antenna, with Inedia advancing and forcing Hawk back onto a section of antenna hanging over the edge of the building.

"Die!" Inedia hissed, his voice completely inhuman as he swept his blade down at the antenna and sent purple lightning arching towards Hawk at the same time.

Inedia's blade sheared through the antenna connecting the part Hawk stood upon to the rest and the purple lightning streaked towards the Jedi Master, but Hawk saw all of this in slow motion. Sparks hung in the air like stars glittering in the sky; the crimson arc of Inedia's blade left a lingering trail, and the lightning crept towards him slowly finding the path of least resistance through the air. Hawk's own body strained to push through this perceived slowing of time, his feet taking two steps toward the Sith before the muscles in his legs bunched tightly and the force rushed into him. Hawk propelled himself into the air, the lightning sizzling beneath him as he soared; he flew over Inedia's head and watched as the Sith frantically brought his own blade back up in an attempt to cut him down in the air. The Sith's blade found nothing but air, and he twisted on the spot just in time for Hawk to land behind him and the aqua blue blade to cut cleanly through his neck.

Inedia's head rolled one way and his body collapsed the other, but even as the head landed the body began to rise, and laughter rose from within the helmet. As disturbing as this was, Hawk took a calculated step backwards as the section of the antenna hanging over the edge fell away, a long twisted shard of metal coming up to spear the Sith through the groin and emerge from the exposed neck as it went, taking Inedia with it. The head screamed in agony as if it could still feel everything the body was experiencing. Hawk fought down the urge to kick it over the side, knowing that the decapitation; spearing, and even the fall were unlikely to stop the demon using the body. It would hopefully take the mess that was left of it a little while to extract itself from the wreckage of the antenna however, and he intended to use that time to find out if he could force the demon out of the body using the head as a test subject.

Hawk sat crossed legged upon the roof with the helmeted head in front of him, ignoring the groans of pain and obscenities it hurled at him. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, finding his centre and opening himself to the force. The head appeared as a void that radiated tendrils of darkness in his mind's eye, and beyond it he could feel the anger; the hatred, and the fear of the people of Coruscant as violent clashes broke out across all districts. Closer again, he could sense Kat and the daughter some way below along with numerous other dark voids. A piece of his mind tugged at him wanting him to aid them against the Mandalorians below, but the stronger rational part of his mind quelled the urge. If they couldn't stop the demons from reanimating the Mandalorian bodies than one extra blade would be meaningless.

The Jedi Master's mind expanded; his senses stretched as far as he could stretch them. The darkness was overwhelming and it all poured into him like a thick tar clogging his veins. He had opened himself to Coruscant in the hope of finding those who resisted; of finding hope, kindness and compassion amidst the chaos, but his vision blurred and the darkness seeped deeper into his being.

 

[KitKatt]

Kat felt her stomach turn as she watched the bodies start reanimatin. The one whose helmet fell away had blank eyes full of hatred and a faint purple glow. How many were already possessed on this planet?

The two women scrambled down the hall, leaving the bodies to fight with one of the security doors. it wouldn’t take them long to get through what with the small arsenal mando usually carried.

When they made it to the second floor they were met with four armored beings guarding a chamber.

“This must be it. let’s draw them out.”

”That will take too long. Leave it to me.”

Without waiting for Kat the daughter launched forward and called out to the guards so they would take chase.

“Sithspit!”

If the daughter got hurt becayse of a lack of patience Kat was going to be angry. The Jedi cursed again and forced her way into the previously guarded room. It contained monitors and a communication relay. The monitors looked as if they were showing a structure deep under the planet, and in the middle of that structure was a very familiar lake basin.

Kat activated her lightsaber and plunged it into the towers surrounding the room. They sparked and buzzed and then she heard static.

“The signals gone out! Damn thing never works. Go see if you can reset the frequency.”

The door slid open and a Mando walked into the room. He barely registered the damage before Kat attacked. She kicked him in the back and sent him flying into one of the sparking towers. When his armor made contact his body has a spasm as the electricity courses through it. A moment latter he slid down onto the floor and collapsed. Kat stood at the read, her blade in front of her, waiting for the moment of reanimation but none came.

“Electricity stops them.”

Then the daughter screamed from down the hall.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk's head fell back, his mouth contorted as he fought in vain against the darkness. It crept through his body and mind like a black plague, and Hawk had never felt anything like it before. The Jedi's eyes shot open; the whites bloodshot and the pupils a rancid yellow.

"I have you now Jedi. You will be Inedia's replacement host and through you I will rise again...but first I will use the remnants or this dyad to destroy your friend. Her mind already believes it is weak and fears so much. I will make her fears real, and they are all she will ever see until they drive her insane, and eventually to suicide." Tenebris' voice reverberated painfully in Hawk's skull.

It was as if his consciousness travelled alongside the will of Tenebris as he flowed through the thin connection that was what remained of the dyad. Hawk's attempts to resist were laughable against such power.

"No, don't hurt Kat, please." Hawk pleaded with the malevolent deity, but only laughter boomed in his mind.

The rage that had flooded into Hawk, allowing Tenebris access to his mind, flared within the Jedi at the sound of the monster laughing, and Hawk grabbed hold of it, harnessing the rage of every rioter on the planet and launched it at Tenebris. The dark god was not expecting such an attack and the stream of consciousness that had been approaching Kat's mind was knocked off course.
Together, Hawk and Tenebris entered the daughter's mind and she screamed. Every muscle in the daughter's body went rigid and her head lolled back. The daughter's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she rose slowly from the floor. Hawk could sense terrible fear and suffering from within the daughter, and he was horrified that he had caused Tenebris' evil will to inhabit her, even though his intent had only been to save Kat.

"Well that's quite enough of that." Came the sound of the mother's voice. "Do you really think I'd send my daughter in unprotected you vile parasite?"

Green energy erupted from a locket around the daughter's neck and she returned to her feet as the energy wrapped itself around the will of Tenebris.

"This power is beyond you hag, how do you come by it!" Raged Tenebris from within the pulsing emerald cage of light.

"It is the power of the clans. My daughter wears the heart of Dathomir and it will abide no evil."

The irresistible will of Tenebris fell away from Hawk's mind as he raged against the power of the heart of Dathomir. The Jedi Master knew that even such a powerful artefact could not cage the dark god indefinitely, but he now had a little time.
Hawk focused his mind deep inside himself, fighting against the pull of the darkness that inhabited him, but even now it was so strong.

"Remember your own words my son, the smallest of lights can dispel the darkest of fears." The voice of Lychnus boomed in his mind much as Tenebris' had, but it was not painful, instead it felt comforting.

At his core Hawk found the source of his power, a tiny light that shone with such intensity that it was hard to look at even with spiritual eyes. Hawk touched the light with his mind and it pulsed.

Light ripped through Hawk's body, burning away the thick darkness that had filled him. The overwhelming darkness that had felt so insurmountable moments ago now fled before the searing light. The yellow evaporated from Hawk's eyes and his mind once more filled with the people of Coruscant, but now without the corrupting influence of Tenebris he could feel those who resisted; he could sense the decency and goodness of the hard working but downtrodden people who thought the riots were the only way to be heard. The light built within him, more and more until Hawk's body radiated light even to the non-force sensitive eye.

Back on the roof, Hawk reached out a hand and placed it upon the helmet of the decapitated Sith. Light blazed. The roof of the old communications tower shone like a beacon and millions of eyes turned towards it in wonder.
Tenebris burst free of the emerald cage and screamed as he was bathed in the force light; his dark will retreating back to the realm where he resided, and as the light radiated outwards to encounter the possessed Mandalorians, the demonic inhabitants also fled.

The Mandalorians who had been reanimated simply collapsed upon the spot, the dark energy that had kept their bodies functional having disappeared. The sudden departure of the demons left the rest feeling their mortality rather keenly.

 

[KitKatt]

When Kat reached the daughter something odd was going on. The necklace seemed to be offering some sort of protection. She could hear several voices that did not belong to the daughter. One sounded like the mothers. Maybe the mother had given the girl some sort of protection. That would make sense.

What did not make sense is all of the dead suddenly dropping ... well... dead. The reanimated bodies fell down and those that were left standing were shaking their heads like dogs trying to get water out of their ears. It would have been comical in a different situation.

Kat knelt down by the girl while they were distracted and helped her sit up.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes... yes I think so." She clutched the amulet she was wearing with tears in her eyes.

"We need to get back to Hawk and decide what to do about the riots. Possessed or not one Mandalorian can put up a hell of a fight, let alone twenty."

The daughter nodded and got shakily to her feet and together she and Kat went back into the communication center. The bodies in there were motionless and still. Whatever was controlling the dead seemed gone. At least for now.

Kat had destroyed several of the towers in the room, but the buildings internal systems were still functional. It was just unable to broadcast a signal outwards into the airways. She flipped the switch for the roof intercom, hopping it would be Hawk that received her message and not some Sith.

"Would the gorgeous Jedi Master on the roof please report to the communication center for debriefing? Move quickly so we can set out party favors for our guests."

Sure enough there were already jetpacks in the air. The Mandalorians must have noticed their demon friends abandoning them and were racing back for instructions from their Sith leader.

"What party favors do we have to offer?"

"Oh these will do."

Kat reached down into the bag of one of the Mando who had fallen. At least twenty detonators were laying at the ready.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

With the pulse of force light, the energy that Hawk had gathered left him. The ability was something he had discovered many years ago during an invasion of Naboo. All had seemed lost and darkness was everywhere, but then the people of Naboo had risen up to aid the overwhelmed Jedi and Hawk, fighting two Sith in tandem, had felt their fierce hope and love of the families they fought to protect. Everything had seemed to stop for him in that moment and he realised he could not just feel those near him, but he could feel all of them. The light of their hope seemed to be drawn to him, and then in one great wave of light side energy he had reached for the two Sith and purged the darkness from them and closed them off to the force.
The ability did have its drawbacks though. Hawk had to borrow so much energy, and the debt had to be repaid.

As the last of the light left him, Hawk's vision blurred. The energy from a planet with the population of Coruscant was like nothing he had ever felt before. For a brief moment he had felt like a god of the force itself; perhaps able to shirk off the cage of his skin and become an entity of light if he so chose. With the energy of so many individuals it was also incredibly difficult to maintain a sense of self and returning to a singular identity afterwards was most disconcerting.

Hawk tried to rise, but the skyline continued to swim in his blurred vision and his legs felt like they were encased in duracrete. In fact his while body was leaden; a mass infinitely greater than the being of pure light he might have become. The Jedi Master flailed around as if his boots were made of ice, until finally he settled on the dignified position of face upon the ground and posterior to the sky.

Kat's message blared over his communicator hurting his ears and he groaned. Forcing the demons out of their reality had been but a small victory in the greater game, and it would be for naught if they could not stop the rise of Tenebris.

A small smile tugged at Hawk's lips as Kat's words made him laugh. If they lived through this, and life in the galaxy as they knew it didn't end under the reign of a deranged dark god, he was going to kiss that woman.

With arms that shook, Hawk pushed himself up, and with strength beginning to return to him his legs managed to lift him to his feet.

"The beautiful Jedi Master in the comm center will be happy to know I'm on my way." He chuckled in response.

The daughter listened to the exchange and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Hawk arrived in the comm centre a few minutes later. It appeared that the remaining Mandalorians had fled the immediate area, and with Inedia no longer able to reanimated the Sith's body it would likely take them some time to reorganise for an attack . One upside to the ongoing riots was that travel to and from the surface would have been restricted. They did not have to worry about the Mandalorians escaping Coruscant and starting again somewhere else.

"What's this about party favours?" Hawk asked as he entered, subconsciously checking Kat over for injuries.

 

[KitKatt]

"The beautiful Jedi Master in the comm center will be happy to know I'm on my way."

Kat saw the daughter roll her eyes and gave her an apologetic smile. She knew the girl had taken a fancy to Hawk, and truthfully there was nothing to be jealous about. At least nothing concrete. There was still time for a young curvy witch to tempt the male Jedi Master.

Kat couldn’t help but notice how much that thought annoyed her. She felt her nostrils flare, something they did when she was annoyed, and quickly glanced away from the daughter. Luckily a distraction in the form of Hawk arrived.

"What's this about party favours?"

The daughter was quickest to answer.

“I noticed that we have some detonators. Could make for an excellent trap if the Mandos decide to come our way.”

Kat felt her lips turn upwards in a half smile as the witch claimed credit for this idea. It wasn’t exactly what Kat had in mind. She wanted to negotiate a surrender if possible, but the idea had merit as a backup plan. Of course that all depended on the Mandos wanting to regroup with their Sith leader, and it still didn’t cover what they were going to do about the riots.

One step at a time.
Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk lofted a bemused brow as the daughter lied to him about something so mundane. Although several lifetimes ago in reality, one did not become Grandmaster of the Jedi without knowing when one was being lied to, and he could sense the slight frosty tension that hung in the air between the two women. Suddenly realisation dawned upon him and his face reddened with a slight blush.
The young witch was not without her charms, but Hawk found Kat more than merely physically attractive. She was of course lovely, but there was a beautiful balance of vulnerability and strength within her. He had thought about kissing her and holding her to him on a number of occasions since they had found one another, but there was just as much joy when they talked or fought beside one another. Even in the moments when they had sat silently in each other's company, he had found comfort in her presence.

"I believe they will have gone to protect the summoning pit of their Lord Tenebris." Hawk cleared his throat and spoke to break the awkward moment. "The Sith who led them...fell...in our battle." A smile quirked at the corner of Hawk's mouth at the slightly macabre pun. "I would have thought it would be nearby-"

Hawk trailed off as the sound of pounding boots echoed up the hallway outside the room. Moments later the door burst open and Hawk's blade flashed to life as he readied himself for a fight. However, it was not Mandalorians who burst through the door. It appeared to be regular city folk, though most held makeshift weapons while a few sported old looking blasters.

"Fek me, it's a bleedin' Jedi!" A stout faced man with shoulders and chest too large in proportion for his stubby legs sneered.

"I suggest you all return to your homes, there is great danger here." Hawk said and disengaged his lightsaber.

"How about you sod off back to your temple; tool of the oppressors." Yelled a sour faced older woman whose matted ropes of hair, that hung lankly framing her face, were streaked with silver.

Murmers of support rippled through the other city folk who had gathered at and around the door of the room.

"Yeah, you call yourselves keepers of the peace, but you're just keepers of the status quo." A voice from just outside the door added.

Hawk sighed, he could feel anger of the crowd and what was more he could feel what they were building themselves up to do. They were going to attack him the moment one of them plucked up the courage to make a move. Hawk had no desire to butcher a bunch of city workers, especially when he sympathised with their plight, but that meant he had to act before any of them could do something stupid.

Thrusting out a hand Hawk used the force to wrench the weapons from the hands of those who had come through the door. Metal bars; makeshift clubs and one of two blasters clattered to the floor in front of him, and then Hawk turned his hand upwards. A half dozen of those in the doorway flew up becoming pinned to the ceiling. The few who remained in the room quickly scrambled out and the doorway cleared as they fled. Gently, Hawk returned the others to the ground.

"I suggest, very strongly, that you return to your homes." Hawk reiterated. "When I am done with the evil that threatens our galaxy; I will come for the evil that makes decent people so desperate."

Finally, Hawk released them from his power and they too fled; the man who had first spoke to Hawk pausing for a moment only to give the Jedi a nod of understanding.

"I think we are going to need to head down...these things are always underground..." Hawk began to walk to toward the door. "...never an evil lair somewhere with nice beaches and ice cream." He smiled almost talking to himself.

 

[KitKatt]

Hawk blushed and Kat caught a flicker of emotion through the Force, but it was fleeting and difficult to interpret. She turned her head sideways a little, almost like the feline animal her nickname resembled.

"I believe they will have gone to protect the summoning pit of their Lord Tenebris.”

Kat nodded and sighed. She had feared as much the moment she saw the lake on the monitors.

“Summoning pit?”

Before either Jedi could explain the citizens showed up. Hawk was decisive and got them to leave without injury. Katarine marveled at this. How could he just always know what to do? Kat second guessed herself at every turn. The Witch also seemed awed at Hawk, though judging by the Force it was more amazed confusion at sparing lesser lives. Witch culture was a little different than Jedi culture.

"I think we are going to need to head down...these things are always underground.”

Kat nodded. “When I destroyed the communication signal I noticed one monitor was trained on a door in the basement. It looked too new to be part of this buildings original design. My guess is it’s the entrance to a tunnel that leads East. We saw the jet packs take to the sky and head this way, but they weren’t coming here. They were going wherever that tunnel leads.”

They took the building lift as far down as it would go and then went down two flights of stairs until they were in a dingy room with a door on the far side. Even from here Kat could feel darkness.

After she got the door open she paused and groaned. “We are going to have to get dirty again aren't we?”

“Excuse me?” The Witch laughed and raised her eyebrows.

“It’s not as much fun as it sounds.” Kat winked at Hawk and lead the way through the door into a tunnel that sloped downwards. Indeed they would be going underground.

Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

The trio trooped down the communication tower and through the out-of-place door. Dark energy hung in the air like cobwebs of evil (and here they were fool enough to enter the lair of the spider that wove them. Hawk could sense the fear of the daughter, but she did not falter in her steps. The Witches of Dathomir were a proud race, and Hawk knew that helping to defeat such a great evil would restore her family honour and their exile from Dathomir would come to an end. Even still, that alone would not have been enough to allow her to come with them. The force had willed it, and so far it had proven right. Without the talisman she had carried he would likely not have had time to summon the force light and been consumed by Tenebris' darkness; becoming host for the demon Inedia and perhaps even being forced to kill Kat and so many more.

The sloped floor became increasingly damp, and soon enough the small lights ceased. Hawk illuminated his blade to light the way, and chose not to think about what the dampness was underfoot.

Hawk didn't know how long they had walked; time didn't seem to exist normally there. It could have been five minutes, and just as easily it could have been five hours. Eventually however the corridor, (or was it a tunnel now?) opened out into a cavern.

The cavern was a high as an old cathedral and around it raged tall fires of purple energy, allowing Hawk to set eyes upon the small pool of what was quite clearly blood in the centre. It did not seem as large as the one they had seen before, but Hawk could sense that it spread out beneath them and this was just the bottleneck of a much larger reservoir below.

Above them, in hollowed arches stood ranks on Mandalorian warriors, unmoving like metallic gargoyles.

"Oh don't worry about them, they're quite dead and are with me now. I think they make excellent ornaments though."

The voice was pain and fear itself. Hawk held his hands to his ears and shook his hear violently as if trying to get the sound out. The daughter had turned completely white and her legs had given in beneath her, and now she mumbled incoherently to herself upon the floor. Hawk tried to look for Kat, but he found he could not turn his head. In fact he could not move a single muscle.

Absolute spine-tingling terror pulsed through his veins as, from the pool of blood, a figure emerged. It was not the half formed bloody spectre of before however, it was a fully formed dark god. Hawk felt the muscles in his legs forced to bend and he fell to his knees.

"Did you really think you stood a chance against a god?" Tenebris asked, a hand lightly caressing the side of Hawk's face and blood dripping from a hair-thin cut left in its wake.

Tenebris' hand closed around Hawk's throat and with great ease he lifted Hawk into the air.

"I am going to kill you Hawk Hinata, but before I do I will peel the skin from your lovely Jedi friend here. I will sustain her life force so she feels every cut. I will take my time removing her fingers and her toes. I will put her eyes out, and only then when her screams are all done will I remove her tongue and allow her to die. Her slow agonising death will be as nothing to the torment that follows however. I will seize her energy as it seeks to become one with the force, and I will trap in for all eternity in the hell-void in the world beyond. And then, I will enjoy doing the same to you."

Every word the dark god spoke was a new agony. It felt like the sound would split his head apart

"Yer wng" Hawk tried to speak but his throat muscles were still paralysed by whatever evil spell Tenebris had over him, and the fact he was being choked.

Suddenly Hawk was able to breathe as Tenebris loosened his grip and the spell holding him slid away.

"You're wrong." Hawk gasped to repeat the words he had tried to speak before.

Before Tenebris could respond, Hawk's blade bloomed into life and swept up towards the arm that held him, but Tenebri's other hand snaked out and caught hold of the blade. He held it for a moment, as if studying it with curiosity before slowly pushing the blue energy into Hawk's chest.

"It's not often a mortal gets under my skin Hinata," Tenebris' voice boomed as he continued to slide the blade between Hawk's ribs. "But you've always been something special haven't you. Maybe it's better this way, she gets to watch you die, and you get to die knowing what I will do to her before her energy joins you in hell." Hawk's body convulsed before finally Tenebris rammed the blade home and the Jedi's body went limp.

Tenebris tossed Hawk's body aside as if it were a toy he was done with. Hawk's body hit the floor some twenty feet away, slid for a moment and then come to rest. His emerald green eyes, usually so full of life and laughter now stared blankly and unseeing in Kat's direction.

"Monster-" the daughter hissed at him from between her teeth, tears slipping down her face as she could not move either.

"Silence whelp," Tenebris commanded and with a flick of his hand he span her head around on her neck so that she was facing the wrong way. Her dead eyes now staring at Kat too, Tenebris' spell preventing her body from falling.

"Now my dear, you must be hungry and you have such a long night ahead of you. I insist we feast the deaths of your fallen friends first." Tenebris spoke to Kat

With the wave of his hand a banquet table appeared before them. The table brimmed with every kind of food imaginable and candles burned along its length. Another gesture summoned two high-backed ornate chairs, one at either end of the table.

Tenebris took a seat at one end and gestured to the other seat for Kat to join him. It would have been futile to do anything but obey.

 

[KitKatt]

All Kat could feel was pain. It was blinding and binding and yet somehow it was two different forms of pain. She watched in horror as the god came out of the lake and the darkness pulsed through them all. As usual the darkside made her feel weak and dizzy, the mutation in her genes kicking into overdrive. The darkside was her own kryptonite and it effected her just as it would any man of steel. This was expected, and Kat had known full well how crippling a duel down here might be the moment she entered the dark tunnel and she felt what was beyond. What she had not expected was the other pain. This pain came from the very back of her mind, in the special place the permanent bond with her twin claimed. While Tenebris caused pain to course through her body her mind was thrashing against the walls of a makeshift cage.

She opened her deep green eyes, squinting against the pain and watched the horror unfold. Hawk was pierced with his own blade and Katarine screamed. She had seen too many friends fall. Too many lovers lost. Too many good men die by some dark agenda. It was overwhelming and her scream seemed to echo somewhere in the depth of her mind. It sounded hollow and she could barely focus on the tears streaming down her face. Hawk Hinata could not end this way. The hero of the Jedi, the champion of light. It would not end this way.

A moment latter the daughter was killed and fresh misery engulfed Kat. A mother would lose her daughter, a pain Katarine couldn't even imagine. They never should have brought the girl. Her mother would wonder what happened as their skeletons rotted down here. It wasn't right. It could not be happening. Kat only half registered the dark entities taunting and threats of what he would do to her. She was so focused on the losses she had just sustained. The losses the entire galaxy had just sustained in the case of Hawk. The galaxy needed Hawk Hinata.

"Now my dear, you must be hungry and you have such a long night ahead of you. I insist we feast the deaths of your fallen friends first."

It took her a moment to realize that Tenebris was talking to her, so consumed was she with Hawks fall. She tore her eyes away from Hawk and realized with a jolt that she had not fallen to her knees like the other two. Kat was standing there, meekly looking up at the tall and horrible form of Tenbris, who seemed to have set her a place for supper.

"Bring my friends back."

He laughed at her pathetic request and waved his hand. Dark purple tendrils of the Force reached out for Kat, clasping her wrists in makeshift cuffs and pulling her towards the table. She moved several feet before white energy came from her wrist and broke the dark tendrils. A faint white glow shown around her neck, coming from the runes that had been sliced into her skin by the cult she had been born to. They glowed for a moment and then went dark again, but it was enough for Tenbris to notice.

"Enough Jedi tricks!"

He kicked a chair towards her and it hit her with such force she fell down onto it. With a wave of his hand he pulled the chair to the table, so tightly that it pushed into Kat's chest, making it hard to breath. He laughed and sat down opposite her. Looking across the table at him made her want to vomit. His twisted visage was otherworldly in it's horror. Kat was still trying to understand how she had avoided his dark tendrils. That had been no Jedi trickery she had ever learned. She hadn't even meant to do it, and had no idea where it came from. The dark Jedi cult had pounded into her head that she and her twins had otherworldly power, but it was all a hokey religion Kat put no stock in. She was confused, as this entire journey had been confusing with magic and witches and gods and a bunch of stuff Kat did not believe in. Her head was spinning, and in the back of her mind there was still painful thrashing. Being so near Tenbris and his darkness was making her dizzy, but on the outskirts of her vision she could see a soft white glow. She tried to focus on the glow. It had never been there before.

It took her a moment to realize Tenbris was speaking to her again.


Hawk Hinata

 

[Hawk Hinata]

Hawk was in hell. No metaphor or hyperbole; actual hell. A landscape of barren torment and suffering where trapped souls could exist in perpetual agony, yet Hawk witnessed it as something of a bystander. The air shimmered before him, a barrier to the chaos.

"Do not despair my son, the deceiver has trapped you here but my will protects you."

Hawk turned to see Lychnus approach behind him; the benevolent deity wreathed in blinding light and radiating power.

"Time passes differently in this place. You could experience an eternity of torment in the blink of an eye in the mortal realm. It is the source of Tenebris' power, a dominion of darkness and pain." Lychnus spoke sorrowfully.

"I couldn't stand against him my lord, and now everything is lost...Kat-"

"Remains as yet unharmed," Lychnus held up a hand and interrupted him. "The young woman has power that she rejects, and with good reason. Tenebris senses it too and won't kill her until he understands it."

"Can you release me into the force?" Hawk asked.

"Is that what you want, my son?"

"Am I not dead?"

"Not entirely, Tenebris has seen to that himself. His arrogance has left him blind to the danger you pose."

Hawk snorted with laughter at this, he hadn't been able to so much as strike the dark God when faced with him, and here was Lychnus talking about how much of a danger he was.

"A long time ago Tenebris and I fought. We fought for longer than you can imagine. It was the force that tipped the balance when it came into being with my son."

Hawk recalled the story that Phoenix had told him the first time they had encountered Tenebris.

"When mortals came into being the power of the force swelled; it fed from them and flowed back into them, though none were aware of it. Tenebris attempted to harness the force for himself, imbuing some mortals with midichlorians so they could commune with it, but corrupting their minds so they wielded it for evil. In this way he sought to corrupt the force and make it a part of him...but he underestimated mortals. A few rebuked his influence and became the first Jedi, the eternal balance restored. Do you know how they did it Hinata? Do you know how they rebuked him?"

"Did you intervene?" Hawk asked.

"No my boy, it was love. It is the oldest cliché in the book because it is the oldest power in the cosmos. Love of darkness, destruction and pain were Tenebris' when he emerged from the cosmic void, but those were pale and selfish manifestations. My love gave birth to the force, a power greater than either myself or Tenebris, and the love of those few Sith birthed the Jedi."

"Enough storytelling, what does any of this mean?" Hawk demanded, aware that he was being rude to the god protecting him from hell but not caring at that moment.

"Do you love miss Ryiah?" Lychnus asked him with a penetrating look.

"You already know the answer to that," Hawk responded.

"Than open yourself to me freely. There must be no doubt in your mind or fear in your heart, or you will be destroyed. You will exist nowhere, not even this hell. Only love will enable your body to contain my power."

"Do it." Hawk said without hesitation.
____________________

As Kat sat at Tenebris' table, in the gloom to one side, Hawk's body stirred.