The Fate of Hion

[Gorba the Hutt]

Engaged by three foes, Orcus felt danger all around him. Precognition was not his foremost ability. He whirled toward the danger from behind, but fell for @[member="Carn Dista"]'s feint. A hot bar of plasma seared through some of the smaller orbalisks on his neck and into his right trapezius muscle. The stench of burning blubber filled the air and Orcus let out a furious hum of pain. At that moment, @[member="Yusan Fenn"]'s attack landed on his left arm. The blade did not burn through the orbalisks, but further enraged the Herglic Sith.

His vision went red at the edges, like a fine mist of blood. And how he craved blood. He longed to grab these weaklings and crush their skulls, to rend them in half and taste the crimson innards. He could almost hear the sound of their bones snapping with a wet pop. Chills ran along his spine. Oh how he craved their deaths. Those who would challenge him, those who betrayed them. In his state of battlemind, the pain from the wound on his neck barely registered. He knew neither fear nor pain, only an unrelenting rage.

"FOOLS! YOU CANNOT QUELL A STORM, NOR TAME THE RAGING SEA! I AM THE OCEAN'S WRATH!" He bellowed.

Then he bellowed.

The child of the waters opened his mouth and from it rushed a power indomitable as Nature itself.

"HAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!"

The Force Bellow tore a furrow in the permacrete ground before him and moved toward @[member="Daella Apparine"] and Carn Dista with the speed and strength of a megaton bomb explosion. Powerful enough to blow limbs off, rupture internal organs, and level a duracrete wall. He turned his head as he bellowed, sweeping the wave of blast overpressure toward Yusan Fenn as well.

@[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] @[member="Kira Liadain"] @[member="Kiskla Grayson"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

Thankfully not being the initial target had its perks, having secured himself better on the ground and landing safely as the Herglic's blast sent him flying back two meets. He had to shake his head before aiming his eye sight at the Herglic and activating both sides of the saber staff now, he sent what force energy he could back up into his legs and bolted forward, spinning the blade in a quick precise fashion so to let it cut along his front if possible before shifting into a more reserved stance with a meter between them as he backed up a few paces. "Stop this Hion, now. Your only making things worse, you are only injuring people." He pointed with his left hand to those that had been caught in the force bellow and were not the Jedi, innocents. "You are harming the very innocents that you once wanted to protect, what happened to the man that wanted to bring order and peace, because all i see now is a blood thirsty animal that can not control itself. So i say this once, get ahold of yourself or i will kill you in the end." It was a bold promise, but in that moment Yusan did what he did best, he let himself snap, his body shifted and his hands gripped the blade, his mind reached out and took ahold of the crowd's fear and Orcis' rage, he would use all he could as weapons. "NOW ARE YOU A SITH OR DO YOU FIGHT FOR THE PEACE AND ORDER OF THE GALAXY?" He yelled back to Orcis, his eyes focused on Hion's.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Yusan's blade skittered uselessly against the thick chitin covering Orcus' chest. The Herglic clacked his teeth, reveling in his own superior might. The words of the Vice Chancellor fell upon deaf earholes. Pain from the orbalisks, the dark whispers of the Soulsaber, and immersion in Force Rage all turned Orcus into little more than a mindless monstrosity good only for slaughtering those too weak to overcome it. And in his present state they were all too weak. None could stand before him now, at his zenith of power. The Jedi would rue the day they betrayed him.

The massive parasite-covered Herglic opened his toothy mouth to silence the Vice Chancellor, when he felt the waves of the Force ripple with danger. A concussion missile sailed from a nearby gunship. Orcus turned, shielding his face with both arms. The missile hit him dead center and he went up in an explosion of smoke and flame that sent bystanders cowering, hands clapped to their ears. As the smoke began to dissipate, Orcus was revealed, knocked onto his back. His helmet, not made of orbalisks, had shattered partially and melted into his blubber. Half his face was burned and one eye had turned a milky-white. The gloves covering his flippers were partially burned away, exposing what had once been a smooth-oily surface and was now a sticky, charred mess.

The Soulsaber was not in either of his hands, nor on the plaza itself. It seemed to have simply disappeared.

Orcus shuddered, life still within him. His wounds began to knit closed, even as he got back to his feet. He felt pain that he could not comprehend. It fed into the madness of his Force Rage, fueling his mindless strength. The adrenaline pumping through him from the orbalisks caused his muscles to nearly burst through the blubber. Veins webbed across his body and he opened his mouth, unleashing a Force Bellow that tore into the gunship. The overpressure shockwave shattered the cockpit and tore away an engine, sending the gunship off into a smoking tailspin down, down, down into the undercity. A dulled explosion followed a few seconds after.

The Herglic raised his arms to the skies and hauuumed in triumph. None who walked upon this mortal plane could best him, Wrath of the Ocean.

@[member="Yusan Fenn"] @[member="Daella Apparine"] @[member="Kira Liadain"] @[member="Carn Dista"]

 

[Sal Katarn]

A robed and masked figure broke away from the gathered onlookers. The concussion missiles explosion had caused the Herglic to lose the Soulsaber. Where it had gone, most knew not. But Anaudius knew. The follower of Liad had come to the Republic as a Morossian diplomatic attaché. A diplomatic spy, but a legal one. Everyone had attachés. And everyone knew that their real reason for being present was to spy. Legally. Anaudius had been following the Herglic's exploits for some time now. He, like many others, wanted that Soulsaber. The artifact would go well in Liad's temple. Perhaps Liad would even grant that he might bear the weapon himself.

Several minutes later, Anaudius found himself a hundred stories below the plaza. The Soulsaber had fallen here. He could feel it, almost as though it were calling to him. He glided across the ground, barely making a sound in his dull, brown robes. There it was. Anaudius stared at the black cylinder with a bronze-hued dragon's head for an emitter. He remembered his first sight of that blade. Wielded by his brother. In Mikhail's hands it had wrought a tapestry of woe. A powerful weapon. A weapon that would now be his. Liad be praised.

The twisted zealot knelt and retrieved the Soulsaber, then masked his presence in the Force. No doubt the Jedi would be drawn to ire if he escaped with such a powerful artifact of the Dark Side. No matter. He could still hear the sounds of battle above. They were distracted, for now. He made good on his escape, trailing down to his speeder. Then he traversed from speeder to spaceport, from spaceport to ship, and from ship to hyperspace. Gone, leaving none the wiser.

 

[Nyxie]

@[member="Anaudius"] (((Uhhh... I was just about to post about that. Can you maybe give us a chance rather than magically disappear from the world without anyone contesting you? You came and left the same post, and pretty much fit 30 minutes of activity in one lol. I'm not whining or anything, just asking, lol. I know it's probably part of some plot but still. Sorry and yeah. Had to delete my post over that.)))

Original poast toast:

Spoiler

Alachei's meditations were interrupted by the sound and raw feel of a missile as it coursed through the air above and consequently into the herglic's body. Her right eye shot open to look on, immediately inspecting the crowd around to make certain no bystanders were injured by the blast or debris. Now things had escalated further than was necessary. The noble mnenchei slowly and casually rose to her feet, finally stretching her arms out. In the Force, she could feel the reverberations as the blade seemingly fell loose from Hion's possession. It had coursed down and fallen somewhere on the platforms greatly below. Knowing the grave danger it posed to the public, the shaman immediately sprinted off one of her red gunships which she commanded to descend with haste as she instructed them to it's presumed area of landing.
There it was, leagues below.... As Alachei's eyes laid upon it, her heart began slowly filling with an unquenchable desire. It was her ever-growing lust to touch the blade, fueled only by its dark influential taint.
(edit) Then, another figure appeared, seemingly in pursuit of the same thing, albeit likely for a much more sinister agenda. No matter what, Alachei could not allow this. Between her desire and her honor, a force of duality of its own, she could not allow the stranger to touch the blade. There was no telling what would happen. Her arm flung forward as she aimed it at him, signaling the gunships to fire their composite turret and laser cannons at him, which they did ever so carefully to minimize or prevent collateral damage. Luckily, there were none present in the immediate area to be threatened in the somewhat remote stretch of airspace. With a quick flick of the wrist, guided through the air by the Force, Alachei catapulted the saber Deiramasana Aloku at the man while using her other hand to attempt to Force pull the soulsaber from under him as he attempted to kneel and seize it.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

@[member="Deira"] (Its a plot thing from Gambit. Do what the song says, Let It Go )

The Jedi Master gritted his teeth at the explosion, but something came to his senses in the aftermath after he had taken cover from the Force Bellow. The soulsaber was gone, he could sense it moving further and further away...

Now was their chance. But Josh's methods were not violent ones.

"Hion!" He called out to a man he once called his friend. "The soulsaber is gone! Break free, Hion!" He called, pleading to the soul trapped in Orcus. "I believe in you, Hion! You can fight it!"

He braced himself in case Orcus attacked...

 

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan had been too close to escape a shockwave of the missle and found himself staring up at the sky with ringing in his ears, but that subsided to hear others injured now and to see the gunship decend into the depths. Yusan pushed himself up, his own anger and annoyance getting the better of him as he at first limped towards Hion before stopping and raised his saber to level it in Hion's direction, Josh's words had rang through though as he looked around Hion. He was right, it was gone, but if Hion didnt surrender he would have to attack again, Hion was truly no longer himself. @[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Kira Talith]

Slowly, but surely, clarity came to Kira by degrees. She'd fallen forward, laying prone on the ground throughout the entire fight, face down. Blood was trickling from her temple, and in the presence of the Soul Saber, only amounted to amplify emotions and fears that she'd been struggling to get a grip on.

As she slowly began to lift her head, her blurry vision began to clear, and there in the distance, she saw Hion. Her padawan, lost in the throes of the Soul Saber and that of the darkside.

Her heart broke. She had failed him.

What could she have done different? Hindsight is always twenty twenty. However, it was clear that Hion's rampage was not going to stop. Several highly skilled masters were already in the throes of battle with the Herglic -- and even a flyby of a shockwave missle was not enough to dent him.


As the shockwave slammed against the crowd and it's intended target, Kira, slowly with trembling fingers lifted her hand.

​

"Hion.... " came her hoarse whisper, as the Force went surging through the Jedi. Electric Judgement and Force lightning; there was a fine line between the two. A very fine line that could be easily crossed, and while some with strong will and character could learn the power of force lightning without falling to the dark side -- it's use was viewed as inherently corrupting.

One was with the intention of sapping an opponents strength and power, while the other was a purely offensive, dark side energy based attack that challenged this energy down the user's limbs and sent out hurling arcing bolts of electricity.

This is why Kira, even though her affinity with manipulating electricity, rarely used this power. Some things are better left untouched. The more one used electric judgement, the more likely one was tempted by the dark side.

But very few were able to resist the effects of a Soul Saber.

Which is why, as Kira lifted her hand, energy went crackling in a cerulean hue, "Stop...." She just wanted to stop him. Stun him. If she could only just get him to stop fighting...

​

In that instant, arcs of electricity went flowing down her arm, crackling in her palm and then shooting out of her fingertips in arcs of electricity towards the Herglic.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

At the scent of blood, the Firaxan sharks become gripped with a frenzy. Their eyes roll back and they savagely attack anything in the area. This was what Orcus had become. Feral darkness gripped him. He did not see light. He did not see hope. He saw death. He felt pain. He heard only the ocean's raging howl, the storm inside, pushing him to fight, to kill. The vision in his eye began to slowly return as the orbalisks healed him. They did not want their host to die. He had to stay with them. In agony. For eternity. Eyes blacker than the abyss fixed upon one of the Betrayers. The blonde one spoke some foolish words. Soulsaber? This was never about the Soulsaber! Arrogant fool, did he not see that the Jedi themselves were the cause of Orcus' rage? The Herglic opened his mouth to issue a retort, when a danger rippled through the Force.

He turned, holding his arms out to defend his face, and saw @[member="Kira Liadain"], Force Lightning spraying from the tips of his fingers. Orcus stared, frozen in shock. And then the real shock came. With no lightsaber to defend himself, the lightning hit him full blast. Crackling blue tendrils seared across his body, zapping against the orbalisks and frying them. The parasites on his chest, the largest ones, received the brunt of the jagged, cerulean spears. These squirmed against his flesh, then tore away from his body - releasing toxins into his bloodstream as they did - and dropped to the floor. Smoke rose from the electrocuted insects. They lay on their backs, legs curled inward in death.

Sparks of electricity danced across Orcus' and he convulsed, muscles spasming violently. Waves of pain rolled through him, greater than before. And then came the greatest agony of all. Toxins from the parasites traveled through his bloodstream. He felt as though his veins were on fire. The lightning subsided, allowing him control over his muscles once more, but the pain surged ahead. Orcus hummed in agony and tore at the exposed blubber on his chest with his charred filppers. Even in the midst of Dark Rage he felt this awful pain. For any humanoid, the toxins would have been lethal. But due to Orcus' sheer size, they were merely incredibly painful.

Red misted his vision, clouding it fully. He could not see. Why could he not see? He took two steps toward the Jedi, where he felt their presences burning like bonfires in the night. Kill... he had to kill them!

"HAUUUUUUM!" He bellowed, waves of destruction issuing blindly from his mouth and tearing furrows in the ground. Splinters of permacrete flew through the air as the shockwave ripped into the ground. Bystanders screamed and moved aside, but Orcus was bellowing blindly. His bellows fell upon empty ground. "HAUUUUUM!" The overpressure blast tore through a statue, sending it flying off the edge of the plaza. The sightless Herglic stumbled forward, red mist of Dark Rage giving him only anger, but no means with which to expend his anger. Frustration surged inside him, feeding the hurricane of his rage.

"YOU BETRAYED ME!" His baritone voice thrummed, full of desperation and futile, frustrated wrath. "YOU ALL BETRA-"

A lancet of red energy zipped into the gap in Orcus' armor and slammed into the blubber of his left pectoral. Hot plasma ate right through his flesh in an explosion of crimson rain.

The Republic Commandos had taken a back seat in the fight thus far, but now they saw their opening and took it. The hostile's armor was critical. Time for the professionals to do their job. They opened fire with precision aim.

Bolt after bolt followed on the heels of the first and peppered the massive Herglic with blasterfire. The healing of his remaining orbalisks couldn't match the rate of fire of the rifles. Each packet of energy hit its target, dead on. People thought that just because you had Force Powers meant you were immune to blasterfire. They were wrong. Dead wrong. Jedi Council Master Cole Trebor? Jango Fett put him down in four shots. Even Ki Adi Mundi couldn't stand up to a squad of expertly-trained professional soldiers. Orcus didn't stand a chance.

The Herglic's chest became a mass of shredded, red flesh that spouted scarlet fountains. He stumbled, frantic steps carrying him backward until he collapsed near Kira Liadain. The commandos ceased firing as soon as the beast went down, then began reloading mags. Just in case.

Orcus' rage slipped away, leaving only the pain. He gasped raggedly for air, but no air came. The red mist faded with his rage and he stared upward into the sky. He felt blood gathering in his mouth, spilling outward across one cheek. He shuddered. He wanted air. He needed air. He tried to lift a flipper, but his arms wouldn't move. Suddenly, he felt gentle hands around him. He looked up into a small face framed by blonde hair. Master Liadain.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," he gargled through blood, waves of sorrow crashing over him. Drowning him. He noticed the blood on her face. Had he done that? Regret. Crushing regret. He had tried so hard to do the right thing. Had he done the right thing? How could he? He'd hurt Master Liadain. Tears rolled down his burnt face. He'd lost the greatest gamble of all. Lost. As he always did. He could hear the voice's of his father and mother now, rebuking him. Foolish. Foolish and brash. "I-I... never was... g-good at gambling," he said, more blood gushing from his mouth. Darkness closed in around the edges of his vision, blinding him. A blackness he did not think would go away. The Herglic continued to shudder on the ground. Was he dying? He had to be. He felt so cold. Like he was at the very bottom of the ocean. He would have liked to have seen the ocean... one last time.

He saw again. Yet he did not see. He witnessed an entrance to a cave. A curtain of fire opened for him as he was inexorably drawn toward it. Suddenly, he heard the terrible screams of a million voices trapped in endless agony. He could hear their cries of pain, the gnashing of teeth and the roaring of fire. Endless torture. "N-no!" he cried out feebly. "N...no!" He knew what this was. The consequence for his crimes.

"Master Liadain," he called, voice weak, barely a whisper amidst the gurgling blood from his mouth, "I cann...n-not see you. Wh...where are you? I'm s-so sc-sc..ared."

Death and fire took him and he fell limp in Kira's arms.

@[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"] @[member="Carn Dista"] @[member="Daella Apparine"] @[member="Diana Moridena"] @[member="Yusan Fenn"]

 

[Serah Oricion]

Yusan's eyes watched aas the man died, his saber shut down and was returned to his side before he spoke. "Well, it seems that is the end of the Herglic, a shame really had he never touched that blade he might have been able to continue on as he was and not as he is. A monster that only found himself and his path in death, he should find peace in the void because what he has done is likely to keep him from peaceful rest." Yusan limped away, great his leg was acting up, though in his head a silent prayer was said for the once noble Jedi Knight. For all that Yusan had said his thoughts were the opposite, he hoped Hion found peace because of that cursed saber's influence.

 

[Kira Talith]

@[member="Hion the Herglic"]

|| In my arms ||​

So Hion, did you always want to be a Jedi?​

​

It would be a sight to behold, the tiny 1.52m blond Jedi, cradling as much as she could of the Herglic's gigantic 385kg's of mass . Bloody stained hands lightly went sweeping over the thick rubber like skin of Hion's face, the tips of her blond hair lightly brushing as her head fell forward.

No, Master Kira. I never wished to be a Jedi until.... just now, I believe. Hauum.​

"S'kay... it's alright Hion." the scent of charred flesh and blood lay in a heavy cloud around them. "I'm here." she told him quietly, as tears began rolling down the Jedi's face.

Why do the Jedi fight? I have read the code, but I don't understand why exactly.​

We fight to protect those who cannot protect themselves​

To keep balance.​

The Jedi serve others, rather than rule over them, for the good of the galaxy.​

She had failed him.

I hate killing, but I believe I have been seduced by the thrill of fighting. ​

It is horrible, I know, but it's the only thing I'm good at. I don't know what to do​

​

"I'm right here." She could feel the repercussions of his pain, his agony. Yet there was nothing she could do; she was no healer and his injuries were severe. Not to mention the armed men still pointing their weapons at the bleeding Herglic. But she didn't mind them. Not now. At the very least, the soulsaber was not around to cloud her judgement.

Jedi respect all life, in any form. ​

The path of the Jedi may not be the most kind, ​

and there will be plenty of difficult choices up a head. ​

But it is a matter of doing what is right, Hion. ​

Her right hand left a smear of blood across the thick black rubbery cheek, wiping away the blood gurgling from his mouth, staining her hands red. Wet drops fell from her face as she felt him fade in her arms.

Then, he was gone.

And she wept.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

No... No....

As Hion went down and collapsed into Kira's arms, he could feel the rage leave him... For a moment, he thought they had won... They had freed Hion...

And then he had felt the life begin to leave him...

"Hion!" he called out, eyes wide. The Jedi Master's stone cold, business face was gone. He rushed to the Herglic's side, falling to his knees as he gritted his teeth and watched the Herglic in Kira's arms.

"Come on... You can beat this, Hion..." he said quietly. His seriousness had disappeared, leaving in it's place a young man watching his friend die...

But it was no use... He felt Hion's life ebb away.

"Damnit, Hion... You can't... No, damn you..." he whispered, choking up sobs. He put a hand on the dying (Or likely dead at this point) body of the Herglic and started applying the healing techniques that Rianna had shown him...

"You can't... You can't die, Hion... You just broke free... We finally see the old you again... You can't..." the Jedi Master trailed off quietly, his hands shaking frantically as he tried to heal him. But most likely, it wasn't any use...

No, no.. He was stubborn... He wasn't going to give up on Hion even if it killed him... He couldn't watch another Jedi die... Not again...

"Hion...." he whispered. Inside, he knew he was too late...

Tears dripped down the face of the Jedi Master, as he worked with all he had to try and salvage the life of the Herglic...

Finally, his own energy left him... It hadn't worked.... He'd failed... The Herglic still hadn't moved...

He watched, with devastated eyes... He hadn't been able to save him....

And finally, he wept. Gritting his teeth, he stared down at the ground, his long blonde hair covering his eyes as tears lined his face.

"Hion...."



@[member="Kira Liadain"]
@[member="Hion the Herglic"]