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He smiled a thin smile, the faintest glimmer of his teeth shining past cracked lips that bled with even the slightest movement. His own blood momentarily seeped into his mouth, and he savored its metallic taste for a time as he watched Gabriel do batter with the horrible beast he had constructed mere moments before. But it was only a minor display, a fraction of the power of he held over the Dark Side that allowed him mangle the spirit and twist the flesh. However; in the end the creature he had constructed was no match for an experienced warrior such as Gabriel, but that was to be expected. Perhaps Vornskr merely meant to show Gabriel what he was capable of besides bashing away with a saber or conjuring forth bolts of lightning from his fingertips to singe flesh with his dark majesty. Still, he found himself fascinated with the brutality used to dispatch the creature, and a low chuckle began to brew within his throat.
"Perhaps, dear Gabriel, perhaps. But you'll find I'm not so easily destroyed, as you can see..." He extended his right hand to reveal the shiny black stone that had replaced his arm, its edges jagged and almost otherworldly. "I'm quite versatile. Survival is a key aspect of the Sith, and I've become rather good at it." It was true. The man known as Vornskr had lived a long life and had survived many things from assassination attempts to being dethroned by the Republic to even the bowels of Chaos. He may be put down, but he wouldn't stay down for very long. "I've seen things you'd be incapable of visualizing in your most vivid imaginations, Gabriel, I've seen the darkness beyond the light of the stars and I've seen what awaits us all beyond the frayed edges of reality." His words were practically whispered, his voice breathy and reverently.
With a simple flourish of his wrist he called his lightsaber to his hand and activated its blade, the hateful light bathing both of them in the gloom. "And now its time you saw for yourself." The Sith Lord lunged forward with blade outstretched the pierce [member="The Revenant"]'s flesh.
The crisscross lattice of interwoven sabers, it begins with a spark. The clash of beams, prism and energetic, they meet in the middle as this cylinder of doom touches the red soaked rancor interface. A parry and deflection, the Sith Lord lunges into a battle against a warm opponent, wrought iron already cast against the fire. Perhaps it didn't burn as hot as the Vornskr, but it could maintain. Gabriel would smile at the notion of living in a world, blind of prophetic vision that this man might have, having known the insanity behind a crimson eye.
The Master, clinging to few force powers and vigilance in the fight of sabers, made quick work of the first attack with a regard towards efficiency. A step to his left, a block that would deflect the straight shot, and a simple bounce upward, over hand, to bat towards the man's exposed shoulder. Stepping away, exiting the blood circle, , he lowered his saber to etch the ground beneath his feet. Starring at the Sith Lord, he felt the stifle inherent in a trapped cavern. The weight of the Mountain above him, Gabriel longed to feel the cool wind cut across flesh. Out of the frying pan, into the freezer.
Left hand lingering out and upward, he jimmied his force signature into a crevice and crack, feeling for the inherent looseness of the rocks. With a grip and a gestures towards the Sith Lord, boulders rocked and loosened free, tumbling towards the man. Simultaneously, Gabriel leaped upwards towards the newly created ledge. The hole formed provided access to the stonework stairway, leading up to the mountain top above. Gazing down towards Vornskr, the Arkanian hybrid squinted as he disappeared into the stair well in a sprint upwards. This was a fated fight, it was meant for cosmos and celestial bodies above. Not to be seen by rotting corpses and skeletons and the souls of those who didn't matter.
Or maybe it was simply a strategic choice. There was nowhere to go in such a chamber, coffin pre-built for the destructive form of fighting these two partook in. He wasn't prepared for death, not today.
Location: Kaas City Objective: Kill The Dark Side Allies: [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] Enemies: [member="Darth Kentarch"]
She lifted a hand and gave a small wave. The two other Paladins moved away, disappearing into the city on their own missions. They would be fine, she had no doubt of that. Nightmare, though, remained near to Coci for the time being, intentionally keeping with the others rather than branching off to do her own thing for the time being. Though she was operating both as a Shadow and as a Paladin, her role at the moment was primarily the latter.
Beneath her robe a sleeping, serpentine shape stirred, but she touched it lightly and it stilled. A few other shapes moved, but then stilled as well. Even Nightmare had her secrets, though these secrets were good for her and bad for her enemies.
"I have no doubt that they watch us even now."
She couldn't specifically point to someone watching, but she knew it to be the case. They would be attacked soon, but she still didn't draw her discblade. There was no need for it, yet. Her eyes drifted briefly to the Grandmaster before she turned them outward again. With both of them together, they were a force to be reckoned with, but they were also a prime target for enemies. She was nothing but another one of their number to anyone else, and that was the way she wanted it.
"You two shouldn't be together here. You're inviting more trouble than necessary, and it won't come in an easy to combat form, I'm sure."
Location: Kaas City
Allies: N/A
Enemies: All
Equipment: Durasteel shredding claws and fangs, and unbridled fear and rage spawned from pain of torture.
I couldn't find a better image, so lets use our imagination kids. Imagine karking huge fangs, and mean spikes running down his back.
.
The beast was prowling in the containment cell in an encampment of Black Sun troops, deep in the jungles of Dromund Kaas. Snarling, spitting, and blinded by rage and fear. Fresh marks marred its coat, dried blood flaking from its fur as it trembled in it's thirst for the blood of it's captors. Somewhere, someone, sent word to release the beast. They directed the cage in a particular direction, before deactivating the one wall of the containment field. The beast tentatively took a step or two out the opening, shaking it's massive head slightly, distrusting this. They'd played this game with the beast before. They held freedom before it's nose, time and again, before snatching it away with blinding pain.
One of the guards approached. A charged rod in hand. What happened next happened fast. Impossibly fast. Had the poor fools Master been present, he might have survived. But no. No one was there to save him. The beast moved like darkness. Fast. Deadly. Remorseless. In a flash, fresh blood painted the ground, and the body of the Black Sun guard lay, lifeless and still as his lifeblood flowed freely from his almost completely severed neck.
Guard primed energy weapons of various sorts, preparing to subdue the beast once more. No. Not again. The beast roared defiantly, sending a couple of the lesser Black Sun members scurrying backwards. But those weapons were still aimed at it. The beast knew pain. Knew it intimately. And it was done. No more pain from these weaklings. No, they released the beast, and it was not giving them another chance to put it away again. Turning, the Force welled within the creature, and in a blink of an eye, it was gone, undergrowth swaying slightly, the only sign that it had passed in any given direction.
The beast managed to encounter a different kind of jungle. One made of duraplast, duracrete, and various other unnatural materials. It prowled silently. Unseen, unheard, and largely unnoticed. It's Force signature was reflexively reduced, a survival technique it had learned from various escape attempts from [member="Lord Ajihad"]. The only sign that it was around was that feeling of being watched. That shadow in the shadows you swore you saw moving in the corner of your eye, but couldn't see when looking directly at it.
The beast sensed a particular quarry. Particular... prey...
Weaving carefully between buildings, always just out of sight, it was a miracle it got in the range that it did towards those it sought. Their only warning that it was there was not a guard. Was not a visual queue. Not even the Force gave any real relevant warning. Though the explosive shelling by another hostile force provided more than ample distraction for the beast to close in on his target. After the chaos of the assault, after his quarry had regained their footing, the beast made his approach, largely unnoticed.
No, it was the rumbling, violent sounding snarl the beast issued, that allerted [member="Coci Heavenshield"] of the massive beasts presence. Weighing in anywhere between 350-400 kg, the large black-furred beast was an imposing sight to behold. Large, sharp spines ran in twin rows down along either side of its spine. Twin fangs extended well outside it's maw, each one a dagger in its own right. It's hide was riddled with savage scars. Some appeared as if administered by whips, some by blades. Some scars seemed years and years old, but many seemed new. Fresh. Not even scarred yet. The beast radiated pain. Distrusts. Confusion. And most prevailing, Fear and Rage.
The thing most amiss. The thing most likely to give pause to the humanoids the beast now threatened, were the eyes. While filled with fear, pain, and anger... They were this unmistakable golden hue, giving off an appearance of great intelligence. Intelligence over-ridden by fear and anger, but intelligence none the less....
"You are right Nightmare", normally this would be prudent, not to center two leaders of the Sanctum, but there is reasons for it they are not aware of. It is not a matter of husband and wife being together out of need but united they form a conduit of power and energy unmatched by others, Thurion and Coci have done so on more than one occasion, a combined power on Midvinter that saw the end of the Undead, one feeding the other to give palpable united power. Secondly, there is plan. "But not today", she concluded.
She squeezed Thurion's hand as he held her and smiled to him. Coci turned to look into his eyes, a fixed stare which to on lookers would appear unusual however, she is focusing through the force, her tendrils seeking the 'watcher' someone is close by there had to be. Like stokes from the hand of master painter, the force moved outward touching the environment, the landscape thick with darkness and then she found it. A void in the force .. many years Coci has lived in the shadows, a Jedi well practiced in infiltration and assassination, concealment paramount to being successful in this field and although for the most part that life is behind her, she still possess the skills and has keep them fresh. And it is because of this, she can recognise the 'signature' of someone enfolded in the force. "The tower ..", but the sentence would remain incomplete.
The roaring sound of fire blaster the air around them, her saber ignited and she defected the bolts, but they would not have time to stop the damage done to the bridge supports. The violent vibrations came to their feet and the bridge began to collapse, and crack into large pieces before falling. The sense of weightlessness made her stomach rise .. "Jump!", she yelled to them all around her. She would have to let go of Thurion's hand in order for him to negotiate the jump with safety, yet she would know his every movement through their bond.
Gathering the force around her body, to her legs she jumped off the falling chuck of bridge and using the larger falling piece as leverage to help the descent, she bounded from on piece to the next. Her force awareness telling her Thurion was close by. Leaping off one of the large pieces, with little more left she cushioned her landed through the force and found the ground. Immediately her eyes looked upward to see the others and to give assistance if required. Bodies are falling, Rangers and with arms extended she focused her invisible 'hand' grabbed them stopped certain death.
Why was it, that the subject of death so oft begot one to dream? In life, we spend our entire lives dreaming of what lay ahead of death... imagining some fantastical location where one resides for all eternity. Yet death is not a destination. It may hold a place within the force, but death is a time... death is a dream. Thus if he hated to dream, he hated to die. A hatred so passionate... it seemed to only feed him into life... the very strength of dying granting him powers beyond the understanding of those around him...
To die, was to sleep. To sleep, to hate. To hate, to live. To live with strength anew... to live once more with power immortal.
Within his mind's eye, he observed an unfamiliar reality... obscured by deceit, and structured with fabricated truth... Order imposed upon Chaos aharmonic to the natural chain of causality. He saw himself in his childhood, he grew as he did in life. His father died, but there was something... unnatural about it. An Empire that hadn't been there before. A hatred grew for this Empire, a passion to destroy it... the will to grant the strength to destroy it, the strength to rip the power from it... yet where was the victory? What chains had broken? What freedom was gained from it?
It was not there in a world ruled by One, and a One that wasn't himself.
If he could not have that control to feed him... did any deserve that control? Indeed, this conclusion was most clear. Something once more however, was amiss... something, echoing. A voice... familiar, but foggy within his slumbering memory. The blistering closed inner maw that contained the preserved presence of the Lord of Gluttony rumbled slightly within his Asylum... dust falling from objects surrounding [member="Vilox Pazela"].
It had been some time since Syala had found herself on any sort of battlefield, imminent or otherwise. Her path as a Consular didn't allot her time in excess to develop her talents in the decidedly more lethal applications of the Force she was so closely attuned to, but such was the reason she called herself a Shadow as well. But this wasn't a mission intended only for that hidden sect of the Sanctum, and so she was here as a Jedi and nothing more. Their intent was to determine if another infringement into their space was imminent, and to do what they could to suppress it if that was the case. For all of her inherent passivity she was more than prepared to clash with the dark again.
Upon arriving on the planet she hadn't remained with the others immediately, walking her own path through the cloying web of darkness that encompassed this world, senses extended ever outwards. It was through this method alone she detected the distress that emanated from those other Silvers, those she knew as kindred despite not having found herself gathered with their number for a time. Now she was returned, and ready to prove herself once more. The sound of simple collapse met her ears as she neared their location, what senses she had honed after the loss of her sight delivering a clearer picture than her once-functioning eyes could have ever lent.
Stepping up beside Coci she didn't offer any sort of greeting, merely extending and adding her will to that of the other, aiding her in lifting the Rangers from the brink of death and back onto solid ground. Only then did she bow her head in some gesture of deference and respect for her ability, the smile that would have typically formed on her lips remaining still due to the circumstances that currently befell them. "I'm sure you have felt it, but we are being watched. The Sith are closer than we think." They always were. "This silence won't last for much longer."
Lines of blazing energy flashed in the darkness only to collide with tremendous force enough to send sparks flying out with a incandescent brilliance before fading away into the faintest of embers. Their movements were in sync as if perfectly choreographed, their minds attuned to the battle and aware of each other's moves before they even made them. A stab to the heart was deftly countered by a simple adjustment of feet and a block to redirect the blade away from the center, while a strike to the shoulder was just as easily countered by a roll of the wrist to spin the weapon around in an arc to clatter against the offending blade and push it away. There seemed to be an element of humility to the Sith Lord this time around, for his hubris and arrogance had nearly lost him his life on Taloraan and he was not one to repeat the exact same mistake twice. Thus his stance was more fluid, less overly aggressive and infinitely more tactical, yet the underlying symptoms of unfathomable hatred still lingered just below the insubstantial surface.
A sharp pang of danger tore through Vornskr's senses alerting him to the sudden dislocation of the cavern ceiling behind him, and in response he whirled around instinctively to swing his blade up and through the assaulting object. His blade easily sliced through the rock and with an extra application of the Force the two smoldering halves were thrown to either side of the room, one of which crashed into an unfortunate neophyte still deep in ritualistic meditation that he never registered his fate even as the rock crushed his bones and spilled his blood upon the unhallowed chamber floor. More boulders tumbled towards him, but he easily removed them with a flick of his wrist and a sharp release of his anger resulting in some of the rocks being utterly annihilated. His eyes quickly trailed up the peer into the new rift torn in the cavern ceiling, his hungering glare catching Gabriel just before he disappeared up the exposed stairwell.
He deactivated his lightsaber and lunged directly upward to grasp the ledge and quickly haul himself over the side, activating his weapon the moment he had scrambled up to steady footing. He sensed the man climbing higher and higher into the mountain, no doubt heading towards one of the natural entrances carved by time and nature into the face of the landmark. He had expected to keep Gabriel confined to the crypt, a fitting location for his resting place, but if their fight was destined to occur beneath the watchful gaze of the heavens then who was he to deny him?
And he would enjoy tossing his mangled corpse from the mountainside.
An extinguished saber guided the man upward, the to and fro, as he tasted fire in his lungs. The armor was heavy, meant for short distances, and he took the long path with the clap of metal against stone. With each step, he felt the cold chill of the world crawling in, encroaching upon cavernous outcropping. The armorweave robe whipped about him, tattering edges against his speed and against sharp walls, scuffing the armor as he was belched from the grip of the mountain.
Steps, heavy and meticulous, trudged forward to pull him from narrow corridor into an open and flat platform, carved out from the rockface. The stone fire chamber sat amid a circular level, the peaks of the mountains charging upwards and away from him. Seats leveled the parameter, carved of stone, for the auditorium in which he now seemed married. The choice was death in the chamber or life on top of this mountain, the choice seemed right. But now, with the crack of lightning and thunder, the whip of the wind, the bite of freezing rain, he wondered if there was ever a choice to make in the first place. As he felt the tossing and turning of the robe, the blood hued beamed crawled out from the rancor tooth with a snap hiss.
He had so much to live for, [member="Avalore Eden"] had taught him that. Through pain and perseverance, existing comes with it's own value of altruism. That life might easily be extinguished, it's the flame that keeps burning that must be commended. And while he remembered the words spoken by [member="Chevu Visz"], of her love for him on Taloraan, he wondered what it might mean. Would it help him now, to know that he could die upon this mountain, leaving so many behind him to wonder why? The sound of rain against tin roof, it smacked of a particularly soothing song against his vanguard armor with every billow of the robe. Gray and black hair, tied in a braid, slowly began to dishevel in the cacophony, as he waited for Kaine to follow him to this sepulcher. They were intertwined now, destinies of lone metal formed to alloy, cast through a mold without ever knowing the true purpose.
He lifted his head towards the stars above, smiling as he heard the movement of his former friend, eternal enemy. A back to him, there was a respect to this engagement, two who respected each other in their own ways, but agreeing that their coexisting simply couldn't persist. "I won't let you kill me here, Vornskr." He'd turn to meet the deathly gaze of the Sith Lord. Another clap of thunder, a blast of wind, frost collecting in the beard. Puffs of air escaped his lips as he waited for the banter to move forward, for the dance to truly begin.
(sorry, finals hit me like a truck, and my muse is kind of burned out, this post won't be exquisite)
Location: Kaas City Mission: Protect the Black Prophet. Kill Jedi SKOOM!
"Do you smell them, Black Prophet? Their hypocrisy? THEY SPEAK BUT DO NOT FOLLOW THEIR OWN WORDS?! COWARDS, THE LOT OF THEM! THEIR HEADS WILL ROIL THE MUD, SO LET BALAGOTH'S WILL BE!"
The Tower rose from prostration to its lord, ever in reverence of the great consumer of the void. It would be the will of the lord of destruction himself that these infidels would be cleansed by holy fire, baptized in their own blood. But where? WHERE WERE THEY?! Did they slink in the shadows like rats merely to mock him?! To insult Balagoth's will?! TO BLASPHEME AGAINST THE BRINGER OF DEMISE HIMSELF?!
No, the tower merely needed to look out with its magics to see, yes. Simply be calm and look now. Yes, he could see them THE HERETICS! The defilers were gathered in one place! No, there were more, he could feel them now, several dull lights hidden as if behind thin sheets of cloth. Perhaps they were merely other soldiers in Kaas city, or no. One could not be sure. Tubal would let them be for now, as dim as they were they must be inconsequential to plan of the Black Prophet. He would deal with them later, those jedi, that swarm of churin were too...ANNOYING!
The Tower reached out, he reached out farther and farther, searching for a weak link amongst them. Among them he could not find one who's will could be turned, not one who's soul could be enslaved by Balagoth's will. Or perhaps he was too weak. Strong heretics indeed. Of course now, they knew he was there, one by one, the harbingers of the light would know that someone, no SOMETHING wanted in, and it rode in on a whisper so faint that the words within could not be interpreted. Of course, the Tower was a fool to attempt to take a mind without being able to point to exactly where it was.
One could not simply sate the destructive god's hunger. The Tower welcomed those who would so foolishly followed the scent that he gave them. It would be wise to follow [member="Syala Daivik"] 's words.
He felt the chill on his face as the frigid gale rushed up to meet him at the cavernous opening, a wind that swept across the terrace like a banshee's wail that curdled the blood with its haunting echo. He braced himself against the stone wall as he hauled himself up another step to stand on equal ground with Gabriel who waited eagerly for his arrival, weapon activated and his back turned towards him as he gazed up at the forlorn stars. Vornskr breathed in and out with a sharp urgency as if the ascent from the cursed tomb had winded him, but his exhaustion was attributed more to the malignant power that gnawed at his body, the dark majesty that he wielded so brutally eating up his physical existence more and more as he gave into its voracious calling. He was strong of mind and spirit, but his body was burdened by the darkness within his soul and as time continued on its eternal march it began to fall apart at the seams.
Still he laughed a bitter chortle and activated his own blade as Gabriel turned to regard him with a solemn stare and a single sentence spoken so matter-of-factly it caused his blood to boil despite the chill that clung to him so insistently. "Your compliance is no longer a factor, Gabriel. One of us will die this day, but I have tasted the ashes of my own demise once Gabriel, what of you?" Death was no stranger to the Sith Lord, for he had faced the realm beyond reality first hand and escaped its hellish grip to terrorize the living again. He had knowledge of gaps where space and time had been sundered by Akala, and he had the power to abuse such loopholes to cheat death indefinitely. But would he have to do so again on this day?
His own strength and the Force would decide that, and without further ado he lunged forth to continue their scuffle.
"Ash of demise...and the ice of this existence." He held up his left hand, palm upward before the charge, the clink clank of freezing rain struck against the metal peacefully. He was no longer Sith, he never was, but he felt the misery of this life and the agony of its passing. There was something missing from the universe, something missing from him, and he moved through his life as a shade of what he could be. But forever more than what he was, shrinking void in the center of his chest, once filled with pain, now slowly filling with the memories of those he cared about. The anger that Vornskr felt, it was the mantle from which Gabriel stepped upward, ascending far above this fight with a righteous goal. Someone would die upon this mountain and they would do it gripping the failing tethers of the darkside, abandoning them in their time of need, gasping in awe for the stars and storms above.
The first attack came as it always did, amp and fully charged with the swing of the saber. The clash of beams in the rain, the singe and sizzle, as sparks ignited with the back and forth. A low attack blocked,Gabriel stepped forward with a slide across wet stone. A strike aimed high, countered with the swift defense from a breaking man. But this was all different, the overwhelming memory of Taloraan and the power of the Sith Lord, it seemed the exchange had changed him. Gabriel pressed outward, ducking back as a horizontal blow flung doom and dearth overhead. A step to his right, he swung in a similar fashion to an uppercut. The crimson beam smacked against stone in his arch upward, stifling the speed as it sprayed water against the foe, colliding with his opponents beam as the crackling energy held against each other.
Nemesis pressed in place, Gabriel pushed against the withering corpse of his enemy as lightsabers locked, his left hand bracing against the hilt for the needed reinforcement. Even in the cold, even in the rain, he could smell the sulfur of decomposition. The power of the darkside turned iron red hot far too many times, degrading the metal, and now the effects could be seen for all the world. "Time will be your undoing, Vornskr!" Gabriel was merely the catalyst, the chemical bringing this reaction to a head. Embers from the force, he pushed away from his opponent, sliding back across wakes of rain and ice. Stopping quickly, he ran forward, battering blow coming back down to blot this particularly gruesome stain away from the annals of time forever.
Location: Kaas City Allies: [member="Coci Heavenshield"] | [member="Nightmare"] | [member="Syala Daivik"] | [member="Audren Sykes"] | 2x Squads of Antarian Rangers Enemies: [member="Darth Kentarch"] | One Sith Equipment:Valkyri armour | Lightsaber
He could feel her tensing up as she reached out through the Force to detect the nearby presence of the Dark side. He needed not ask what was wrong and instead awaited her to point him in the right direction. Just as she made mention of the tower, however, their forces were ambushed in the form of blaster fire raining down from above. "Get to cov--!" His words were drowned in a loud explosion, after which the bridge they stood upon began to crumble. There was no time to get to safety, and just like Coci ordered Thurion let himself fall to the ground below, skipping from one crumbled piece of bridge to the next to reach the bottom faster. With a heavy *thud* he shook the earth upon impact, creating a small crater in the process. Not nearly as agile as his better half, but still!
The rangers all followed suit, leaping off the edge as the bridge fell apart and using grapple hooks to control their fall. They weren't rookies, after all. Even so, Thurion joined the others in cushioning them as they touched ground, making sure none was injured. "Well... I guess they know we're here now, huh?" he calmly spoke before stepping forward and summoning the Force to pick up the larger pieces of the destroyed bridge. He then proceeded to launch the rubble at the rooftops from which they were ambushed, effectively causing the top floors of the buildings to collapse.
Exiting hyperspace were three ships, and three alone. First and foremost, much like one in service to the Hutt was a Primeval-class Tactical Destroyer, the Primordial. Following along both the port and starboard flanks were two Cathedral-class Battleships awaiting further orders.
Aboard the Primordial, Catalys Maijora pondered on the nature of the Hutt's forces. His actions previously were destructive and relentless, not unlike the supposed nature of the Primeval itself. Yet unlike the Primeval itself, his actions also were seemingly unprovoked; he attacked on a whim, and offered no quarter.
The presence of a foreign fleet was a change the Exemplar did not expect... For better or for worse. Perhaps they'd be willing to talk, considering that an enemy of my enemy is my friend.
"Hail their fleet, I wish to see who is commanding this force... And their nature." The Umbaran ordered. [member="Friedrich Stahlmann"]
[member="Zambrano the Hutt"]
>Exiting hyperspace. >Awaiting further commands. >Hailing the SSC Fleet.
And just like that what she'd said was proven true. Lances of weapons fire shot out at the bridge, cracking the structural pillars that held it up, sending cracks trembling through the bridge. Her footing was shaky for a moment and then briefly righted itself as Coci called for them to jump. She'd already been moving as soon as that brief lull had appeared because she knew it was the lull before the storm.
She darted from one piece of broken bridge to the next, avoiding the long fall down below that the others too. With Force enhanced speed, and her matukai training behind her, she made it across the fallen debris, crossing the bridge relatively easily and unharmed. Though it left her well above where the others had ended up down below. It didn't lend to her being able to closely work with them, but so be it. Nightmare was a Shadow. She was used to working on her own.
Turning about, she reached to her wrist and pulled back her sleeve, as if it had been too tight. After a moment, something seemed to work its way down before a snake-like head appeared and the creature crawled forth. When it was fully free, she grabbed it and it snapped into rigid position.
"Good."
The amphistaff obeyed with precision. The work that Gorak had done was quite useful. She was certain that this would be a surprise for her foes, and she began to use it like a cane, walking along in search of whatever she might find. In its rigid state, it would be easy to mistake as something other than what it was.
Audren would not have been surprised to find Sith or Primeval witches/whatchyamacallits watching them. This was their territory after all, somewhat equivalent of a Forward Operating Base if he understood the term correctly. And Nightmare voiced his own sentiment well enough: with all of them gathered as they were, their value as a target skyrocketed. A Grandmaster and a Master, along with whatever Nightmare was and himself. From what he understood, that was a significant chunk of Sanctum Jedi forces all in one area.
That fear proved itself as blasterfire fountained from surrounding rooftops. At that distance even the Rangers could begin reacting to the gunfire, and it wasn't surprising to see them do so. There was an aborted yell by Thurion that the Padawan didn't really pay attention to. He was instead sliding towards the side of the bridge, where a duracrete riser provided some slight street cover. He over-slid, actually, which caused him to elevate somewhat in order to finish arresting his forward movement. This in turn allowed him a glance over the side, just in time to see the rockets speed under the bridge. He didn't see the impact, but he most certainly felt it.
Feth.
His left hand caught the riser while his left leg crouched a bit, then straightened. Thus he pushed over into a Force-aided back flip, landing squarely on a piece of rubble that had yet to fall. His impact destabilized it somewhat and it began falling at that point. It provided him with enough of a point, however, to leap for another piece of rubble. Much like actively running in the forest, except he was falling at the same time. The falling part was slightly disconcerting. Fortunately, the rubble and the still-standing portions of the bridge blocked any of the heavy repeater fire that might have hit him. Thanks to the clarity provided by the Force and his training, the Sephi was able to make it to the ground. He was intact, if a bit dusty.
As if the Sith soldiers weren't enough, the group was set on by a rather large feline. The creature was scarred and radiated fear and rage through the Force, but there was an undercurrent of recognition there as well. He didn't know why, he'd never seen this thing before, but that was all that caused him to hold back the blaster fire his trigger finger was itching to release. Whatever it was, it hadn't attacked yet; it had simply snarled at them. He'd hold off hosing it with burning plasma until it actually started something.
Problematically, the group was still in danger. Nightmare had disappeared, but they'd been joined by Syala. They were protected from the blaster nests above by the remnants of the bridge - Thurion's pointed retaliation helped there too - but they were still in Sith territory under Sith watch, and another attack could come at any moment. A mental probe certainly had.
"We're exposed, need to move. This is going to become a game to them."
A game to the Sith, just like on Raxus Prime. Except not...why had that come up in his thought process?
Location: Kaas City
Objective: Chaos
Allies: N/A
Enemies: All
The beast continued snarling, as it processed the varied threats. It had been so wrapped up in seeking out it's quarry, the first Force signature it'd recognized, that of [member="Coci Heavenshield"], that it paid no mind to the other signatures near the target. But now that the beast was here, it's hunt was now significantly more complicated. Fangs bared, and threats hanging tangibly in the air, it glared from face to face. Until...
"We're exposed, need to move. This is going to become a game to them."
The great beast's eyes snapped to Audren's face, fur standing even more so on end. Those words, they rang with an unnerving familiarity to the beast. A core-rumbling roar was emitted, as the beast took a threatening step forward. Confusion, however, tore through the beasts mind. Why, did [member="Audren Sykes"]' words sound so fething familiar. He could almost hear the last bit spoken through a different voice, a melodic one. A voice very familiar to the predators mind.
A shake of that great head, and the beast would snarl a broad threat, a warning of unknown impending danger, towards the group. The beast knew not what it would do, and when a aggressor have no clue as to what it was going to do to its victims, a scary time was to be had indeed.
Like before they traded blow after blow with no real shift in the tide, equal forces battering against each other with all their might only to find the other just as unwavering as they were. Vornskr found himself unable to keep a roar from slipping past his lips as he thrust forward for another attack only to hear the dull twang of his blade catching on Gabriel's instead of the satisfying sizzle of blade piercing flesh and bone. Lightning crackled overhead as they fought in the freezing rain, their damp clothing clinging to their skin uncomfortably as they twirled back and forth barely skirting within each other's reach. Water splashed around them as the heat of their duel combined with the brilliance of their lightsabers melted the snow and ice that had blanketed the terrace ever since the world's cataclysm at the hands of the Mandalorians so many years ago. Perhaps it was fitting, the heart of the Old Empire that once teemed with life now reduced to an icy husk.
Some would call it poetic.
They swung again in conjunction and their blades lock with a violent crackle of opposing energies and wills, and Vornskr glared into Gabriel's eyes for that brief moment they were intertwined. And then both of them pushed away from each other, Vornskr twirling back several paces and turning to face Gabriel as he quickly recovered to charge directly at the Sith Lord with his blade outstretched to deliver the killing blow. Vornskr quickly shoved his left hand outward to send out a concentrated wave of Force energy to crash into Gabriel and hopefully send him flying back. Either way Vornskr would leap back himself to land half-ways behind a nearby pillar, and harnessed the Dark Side he planted his right foot against the cracked stone and gave off a resounding kick. The force of his kick shattered the base of the pillar, and sent it crumbling down towards Gabriel like a tumbling missile.
"And I will be your undoing, Gabriel" he retorted, but he too knew that his body was running on spare time as it was and the more they fought and the more he called on the Dark Side to give him strength the more and more that time allotted to him diminished. And soon he would disappear from the physical world, but would rise again like had done so before.
A battering ram knowing the iron door, it recoiled from its bash. Gabriel felt the force hit him across his body mid leap, lifting and sending him sailing across the stone platform. Using the force, he righted his orbit, hitting the ground with a back flip that sent him sliding even further away from his foe. The place was large, it felt like the blood of thousands had wept down this cliff face, spilling into the city below as some rushing sacred flood. Forever sanctifying the land, for the millennium that followed. A hand gripped out to cling onto rain polished stone, halting his movement. His eyes searched the ground, feeling the overwhelming presence swept away beneath these stars. The two fought upon the burial ground of generations, the pyre of soot and ash and soul. Steamed from the body and sent into atmosphere. And in recognition, a train that wouldn't be derailed, he charged forward just in time to see the sails of a pillar in his future wake, debris fluttering out from its broken base, contrails fluttering in the dark.
Coursing the force through his body, he pushed off hard from the ground and leaped forward. Chest ascending upward with the vaulted dive, the pillar passed within inches of him on its wobbled trajectory below. A left hand stepped out from the tight acrobatic display, touching the etchings and slashes against the stone. He saw it, the life of so many, flesh whipped and ripped from the bone. Mothers and children and fathers, taken from their homes. All to be offered to this darkside sabbath, observance of religious holiday for the mere sacrifice of their enduring soul. It made him angry, in a life that had been turned upside down, he recalled a time when he would have partaken in the very same display. He had done so on Selvaris, so many times, seen to the death of all those innocent people. The acts of his past couldn't be helped but he couldn't redeem himself, redeem these people and their toils in life, if he died here.
Gripping on to the column, both with hand and with the force, using the inertia of his dive, he continue his vault and spin, moving perpendicular to the ground as he twisted. Bolstered by the cosmic tendrils of the presence around him, he felt the quake through his body in response, as the pillar whiplashed from its path. A missile sent around the moon, it turned back to its origin, as Gabriel flung it back towards the Sith Lord. And as his feet hit the ground, he would follow it back towards the Vornskr, realizing his strength in the close distance. From afar, lightning or other such powers, with time provided, might be his undoing once more.
The crack of lightning strung branches across the sky as the pillar cut through hard rain, footsteps behind for a vanguard turning towards berserk. The clap of thunder applauded their dance, as the sounds of explosions and Fleft-wauf wails did in the Taloraan skies. But for a moment, Gabriel imagined that the world itself would now fight against him, forever tempted save the life of this righteous son. A true child of the darkside, bolstered in every facet of it, the Master pushed the presence of the lightside like sharpened needle, focusing it towards the heart of this planet. Towards [member="Darth Vornskr"].
The bridge collapsed, several soldiers were killed but many were saved by the Silver Jedi. Holding together, Kentarch decided to continue his campaign to drive them apart. Reaching for his comm he quickly spouted of some new orders. "I can confirm both Coci and [member="Thurion Heavenshield"] are in the same location. All units divert to the bridge of the previous order. Requesting artillery on the collapsed bridge." Kentarch looked to the location the transports had landed. If a Combat Air Patrol could establish air superiority, they would be stuck planet side.
The collapsing of a building caught his attention, as Thurion had summoned the force and smashed debris from the bidge into nearby Sith and Primeval forces. Exhaling quickly the Sith continued on his communicator. "See what you can do about a CAP over this airspace." As he spoke, reinforcements poured blaster fire poured onto the Jedi's location as more troops had entered the battle. Shock troops, the Sith Lord cared little of their fate, as long as they kept the Jedi pinned down or split them apart.
