TEST YOUR MIGHT

[Mammut]

Lightning crackled through the sullen skies of Kamino. Swollen clouds fat with rain dumped ceaselessly on the ocean below, which in turn boiled with dark, frothing rage. Orcus glared around at the planet's darkening wroth, his mood a mirror even as he piloted a lone shuttle down to a station below, the source of the distress signal that had been issued to Darkwater Security.

A certain someone had attacked his clients. Orcus had gone to deal with it personally. Darkwater had a reputation to uphold, after all.

The shuttle settled onto a rain-slick landing platform and the Herglic Sith Lord lumbered down the boarding ramp. Slung across his back was a massive shield formed from the same Vonduun Kerr Skyrric that the Vong wore as armor. Despite the rain, he wore only black cargo pants and matching oversized boots, leaving his rippling upper mass of muscle exposed to the weather.

As he moved toward the entrance to the station's pristine white interior, a flipper strayed to the great saber hilt clipped to his belt.

Eyes as black as an ocean trench narrowed. A presence was here... oddly familiar.. it was as if...

Recognition crashed through him, along with a sudden typhoon of anger.

"[member="Jacen Cavill"], BETRAYER OF TRUST. COME OUT AND FACE ME."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

"As you wish."

Despite the volume of the Herglic's voice, Cavill could barely hear him over the wind beating in his ears and the massive waves crashing below. Heavy rain drops pounded against his frame, soaking the Iron skin body suit he was wearing. Lightning strikes illuminated his powerful figure, and displayed the old Sith symbol he bore proudly on his chest. Darkness covered him, and filled him at the same time. Red and yellow eyes stared at the Sith who had foolishly decided to come and interrupt his work. Despite their distance, he could feel the rage from the one they called Hion.

"Please let me go!"

Weakly formed words barely met his ears, despite the proximity of the source. Unlike dozens of slaughtered Kaminoans, the human was still breathing despite his precarious position. Sickly pupils stared as the man struggled while his throat was in the vice grip of Kryptus. "You really want that?" Dark power laced his voice, and it appeared it took effort to form the words through his rage. A weak nod was his answer, and a serpents smile crossed his face. Tendrils of darkness shot through the muscles and ligaments, his rare gift showing itself. A loud snap could be heard over the thunder as the man's throat was crushed and his spine snapped st the cervical vertebrate. The rush of blood forced his eyes to pop out, and Cavill released him as his life left his body.

Then he watched it as gravity pulled it back down to the surface near Hion.

It only had half a mile to travel. Now what to do with Hion, he mused. A plan of action formed, and he acted on it.

The same sphere of power that protected him from energy, blaster bolts, and the elements was what allowed him to hold himself high up. Cavill's telekinetic powers were limited to only his own body, and he wrapped his focus around himself and shot himself back down to the planet. Thankfully he had the sense to not wear his cape or any of his artifacts save for three. The telekinetic gauntlet of Moridin was on his right hand, and the rebuilt gauntlet of Kreshh was on his left. Daesumnor was strapped to his back, it's hunger for souls pressing against his own thoughts. The wind blew his wet locks behind his hair, and he bent his knees right before making contact.

Smash!!!

Durasteel bent in upon his impact, the very ground crumbling around him. Walking right out of the crater, he pulled his lightsaber off his belt. His thumb rested on the ignition switch, but he was ready. Only ten meters deprecated him from the Herglic, and he smiled before speaking."I guess you have an issue?"

The man's body landed between them, and Cavill's smile only got bigger.

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

 

[Mammut]

A cascading sheet of water erupted out from the site of Kryptus' impact and splashed across Orcus, followed a heartbeat later by a splattering of crimson gore from the falling, broken body of whatever poor fool the crazed Count had slain. Standing in the bleak darkness and chilling rain, Orcus would barely have noticed but for the warmth of the blood, hot against his flesh. Newly spilt.

Wide lips slid apart in a gaping grin that revealed rows of too-white conical teeth. Teeth made to rend flesh, snap bone and devour what was left.

"Kryptus," the impossibly deep bass rolled out, an abyss that promised no break of dawn, a fathomless pit from which no light crept. More chilling than the torrentous rain, deeper than the crashing ocean, louder than the crack of thunder, it brooked no equal.

He strode forward, every step bearing the load of eight hundred muscle-bound pounds. The Herglic's blubbery hide was thick, blacker than midnight, with a stomach of rippling alabaster. Only his chest and teeth were visible. The rain and darkness swallowed everything else.

"Two stars cannot chart their courses in the same sphere," the rich oily tones faded beneath a sudden flash of lightning and the rumbling of wrathful skies. The forking tongues above illuminated the shattered corpse between Kryptus and the Herglic.

Orcus looked pointedly at the body, then kicked it out of his path as one would kick an errant bottle. The corpse folded around his booted foot with a soggy crunch before it was sent skidding across the rain-slick landing pad.

He glanced up at [member="Jacen Cavill"].

"You've entered my sphere."

A massive flipper reached back and unlimbered his shield, while his right hand unclasped a greatsaber from his belt.

Snap-hiss.

Orcus bathed in the sudden illumination of the red blade. Droplets of rain sizzled along its length with audible staccato hisses.

"These waters are neither calm nor temperate, but never let it be said that Orcus did not show his foes mercy. Hauum."

He smiled again and there seemed but passing little mercy in it.

"Black clouds loom on the horizon, Kryptus. Leave lest you test the ends of my fickle patience and I lay your shattered bones to rest beneath the ocean's waves."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

There was a whole lot of talking, but not a whole lot of listening. In his other areas of interest, the physical marvel would listen to this type of ranting. "Quite the orator you are, guess eating isn't your only talent." It was quite the bold insult to make, especially for a human being. Herglics were notoriously self conscious about their size. Typically it was seen as quite the cultural offense, and would cut off any talks or relations with the species. Sickly eyes traveled the massive expanse of creature before him, and another thought crossed his mind. All I'm doing is pissing him off, and maybe that isn't a bad thing. A strategy presented itself, and a grin began to appear against his pristine features. Water beat down on his chiseled frame as he eyed up his opponent.

Alabaster and onyx Herglic kept advancing with the greatsaber in his hand.

Drops of heavy precipitation bounced off the massive expanse of his chest, and he looked all too pleased. Vibrations made the deck underfoot tremble in the creature's wake. With nothing but time, space, water, and a bit of blood between them he knew where the confrontation was leading. Drawing Daesumnor from his back, he held it with the blade pointed down at the deck. Alchemical hunger resonated against his own power and the two energies coalesced as he bonded with the weapon Rave Merrill had constructed for him due to his great service to her in the forming of the Tion Hegemony.

"Fancy of you to jiggle over here, now are you going to do something. Or are you going to keep spouting off all this poodoo while I'm trying to get work done."

Cavill's feet spread in a wide stance, and he balanced on the balls of his feet. Anticipation took over as he gripped the hilt tighter, ready to assume a Djem-So stance and take on the beast.

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

 

[Mammut]

A tremble of visceral hate rippled through Orcus. For all the thickness of his hide, the verbal barb struck deep. A javelin provoking more wroth than shame. Humans. Always thinking themselves a cut above the rest. They would have his people mortified for their size, merely because it did not conform conveniently to human standards. Homo sapiens had wrought atrocities on the level of the Yuuzhan Vong, or the Infinite Empire. A petty play at dominance, circumstantial at best. In the end, they were fragile creatures, easily broken.

“Impudent boy,” Orcus boomed, “We will see if your body breaks as easily as your pride.”

A well of hideous might fountained from the verbal wound, a geyser of rage. The Dark Ocean roared, threatening to drown him in the surge of sudden power. Stygian strength poured into his limbs and they quivered with raw adrenaline.

The world turned red.

The feel of soaked skin, the noise of the howling wind and cracking thunder, and the smell of ozone faded into the background until only the sight of Cavill’s visage remained in Orcus’ focus.

Orcus charged.

None would consider him agile, but in a straight line he moved like an eight hundred pound land speeder; all engine and no breaks. The rain poured down, bleak and heavy in the night, but he saw [member="Jacen Cavill"] beneath the illumination of another tongue of lightning.

The Herglic bore the Vonduun shield on his left arm and kept it tight, so that the underside of the forearm nearly touched the rippling musculature of his abdomen. His right flipper bore the great saber, slightly raised overhead.

Cavill was tall by human standards, yet the Herglic towered over him, an implacable black and white mass of solid sinew. Both beings wielded enormous power and both utilized the raw strength attacks of Form V, but the Way of the Krayt Dragon beggared the smaller man.

The sheer size of the great saber only served to amplify the disproportion, for not only was it double the length of a normal lightsaber in blade and hilt, but its width was nigh that of a clenched fist. Even a light brush could sear away a gaping chunk of flesh. And Orcus did not paint his skein of violence with feather touches.

Orcus swung before he even drew within reach of Cavill’s puny saber. Mountainous thews propelled the great saber forward in a classic Falling Avalanche, with the length of red plasma sizzling down toward Kryptus’ right shoulder in an overhand stroke. It was predictable, but that did not render it easily countered. The Dark Side augmented Orcus’ preponderance of strength, rendering a backhanded blow that had been capable of shattering a jaw into one that could now snap necks and send men flying.

Putting a defending blade in between the great saber and its target was one thing. Stopping the great saber was another matter entirely. Powered by the Herglic’s vile brawn, the dolorous stroke against a defending blade could shatter human wrists like porcelain. And for all Cavill’s theatrics, he was still human. The Dark Side could only give a mortal being so much before that being started to corrode, like a man who had built up more strength in his muscles than his body’s bones could handle.

The need for blood devoured Orcus. He would see this human cleaved in twain, or else smote bodily into the ground for his pointless arrogance.

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Your feet simply can’t leave the ground in a fight, and if they do, you better have a reason.”

Every combat class he had ever taken had started with those fundamentals, it was simply a pillar of fighting. There was no need for a man of his size to move if he was in perfect placement, unless he had a strategic advantage to do so. Whether it was learning from the Echani, his military training in the Sith, or lightsaber combat the principle was the same. So despite the whale being furious at his carefully chosen words, Cavill merely planted his feet. He only had one opponent to worry about, and he could spot him a mile away. There was no need to send his focus elsewhere,feth, he had killed the other resistance.

Cavill’s entire world shifted inwards as he focused on only himself. The center of the galaxy shifted towards him, and his piercing eyes stared down the charging Orca. Blue shifted to yellow and red as rage coursed through the furnace of his heart. Most Sith fed off fear, but Jacen embraced the very monster he had become. There was no need to fear the power that coursed through his veins, he powered the beast. Whatever source of conflict that was felt by most simply wasn’t there for him. The life he could have had was gone, and he had embraced his one and only love. So a smile crossed his pale features as his feet planted.

Kryptus loved combat, and he loved the power he held.

Vibrations traveled up his body, joining the energy that was practically humming across the protective aura he had summoned. It was the crux of his flight, as well as his enhancements. Powering the muscle wasn’t enough, he had to protect and absorb to keep up the fight against even more powerful opponents. The overhead slash would normally have called for him to block and sidestep as he drove a stab into his opponents ribs, but he was out manned here. I can match him a few times, best to not do it so soon. Kryptus had been fighting earlier, but judging by the sheer aggression on hand, the whale was expecting him to fight on an equal plain.

If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.

His lightsaber deactivated as he went into a diving roll to the left and past his opponent. Immediately rolling into a crouch, he activated his blade and slashed behind him to Orcus’ achilles tendon. Facing away, he didn’t even stick around to see if he made impact or not. Kryptus wrapped his will around his own form and lifted off with great speed up, up...and partially away from his opponent.

Turning to face the whale, Cavill was nearly fifteen meters in the air as his eyes burned red and the hate spewed forth, his deadly sight firing a short burst at the Sith Master below him.

I always prefered raw fish, he mused.

[member="Darth Orcus"]