The Last Stand

[Darron Wraith]

Coruscant

Atop A World Devastator

With each step the Jedi Master took, his twin blue blades struck down a droid. Whether it was from deflecting bolts, or by mowing them down. Their numbers on top of the massive machine were dwindling by the second as the pair made their way to the top of the World Devastator. For each swing of his blade, numerous opponents fell. Though Adamant Company as parted, even in pairs they were lethal. If looked at from overhead, two swathes were being cut in the mass of robots as the two teams worked. "Jaxton, stay close to me and we can stop this thing dead in it's tracks!"

The fellow Jedi did as ordered.

Zeltron and human male worked in tandem against the onslaught, imposing their will on the situation. Against living combatants, Darron would have ordered a retreat. This was simple blade practice for the highly skilled Jedi though, and desperate times called for him to be on the offensive. While this onslaught went against everything he stood for, the defense of all life was the one good being done on this day. If they succeeded, life could resume. If they failed then all hope would be lost on this day, as all the Factions would have their spines broken in this onslaught. Growing tired of the numbers, the GrandMaster pulled all the Force energy to him.

As he raised both arms and released a scream, a titanic shock-wave was released from him mowing down droids for at least 30 meters. A path had been cleared. "Lets get on that bridge, Jaxton."

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"]

 

[Soeht]

Once more, Darth Apparatus glanced at the World Devastator. As @[member="Dark Onyx"] attempted to reach Darth Apparatus through the Force, he too would get the same response @[member="Darren Shaw"] received - absolutely nothing. The Sith Lord turned back toward Onyx, possibly noticing what he did.

Then with a twitch of his left hand, Darth Apparatus called upon the dark side of the Force to psychokinetically lash out against Onyx. Another telekinetic strike with the Force attacked Onyx - this time at his chest. The strength of the blow could have caused tremendous pain and possibly break bones.

With more droids arriving on the scene, Darth Apparatus turned fully toward the World Devastator and began to make his way toward it. If allowed to leave, all Onyx, Darren, and @[member="Kiyala Demont"] would have to contend against to reach the tower would have been their wounds and an immense number of robots.

 

[Darren Onyx]

Onyx gave out a yell of pain. He fell backwards onto his side after the powerful strike on his chest. He could feel his bones shift. He could tell he broke a rib or two. He lifted his head to see @[member="Darth Apparatus"] leaving the fight. He gave a small sigh of relief. They just might make it after all.

He looked over @[member="Darren Shaw"] and @[member="Kiyala Demont"]. He tried to wave them over but his injury didn't allow it. He screamed out in pain as he tried to stand.

 

[Reyven Samoth]

@[member="Thraishe Krine"]

"We're going inside. Just steer us towards the center, as high up as you can go. I will make sure we don't hit anything." He kept his focus. Timing would be crucial. He was going to punch a hole in this thing for them to go through. Once inside, he'd have to see how good the defenses were.

 

[Jaxton Ravos]

Atop the World Devastator

Jaxton followed the grandmaster, lightly atfacking the droid forces that gathered around him. In his studies of Makashi, he had easily learned how to fight without trying to kill an opponent. Thus Jaxton gave the appearance of fighting and defeating the Clockwork forces, but only delayed them. In return the Seraphs and other droids he fought did not fight with full Force, and let Jaxton conserve his energy. Finally, Master Wraith exerted a great deal of energy, shoving off all opponents within thirty or so meters.

"Lets get on that bridge, Jaxton." Darron said to Jaxton, and Jaxton decided enough was enough. He left his blade ignited and kept a stance of Makashi, declining to use the more powerful Djem So. Even if he was wrong, Darron was a strong man anda good friend. He would save him ifhe could.

"I can't let you do that @[member="Darron Wraith"]. Omni offers us an end to the fighting, to the chaos, to the Sith. As a Jedi and as a friend, I won't let you hinder the unification of the galaxy."

 

[Seydon of Arda]

Atop the Devastator / @[member="Ben Watts"]

Scattered beam-shots razed into the pitted durasteel 'spine' of the Devastator, the wide girth of the vessel itself pitching and yawing as it reoriented to face the planetary west. Thost atop were forced to grasp their hands around cruddy broadcasting 'spines' that extruded from the steely skin, senses assaulted by the measureless roar of gusting pylon-repulsor engines. The machines came on, whisking up from the Devastator underbelly, seeing Master Watt's prone shoulders as he busied with cutting a route through the stubbornly armoured vessel hide. The boy stemmed the tidal onrush of Seraphim, raking dodging, skeletal frames with twin-blades, sundering machine after machine. Then Ben's call came to depart into the Devastator's innards; he risked a glance back over his shoulder, the Master dipping into the grossly lit storage bay.

A moment later he was following, rolling to catch his toes into the make-shift entry portal and propel himself downwards. Swift fracas' of beam-fire scorched the air in his wake, caking his nostrils with the scent of dreg-like ozone. The fall through the trails of maintenance chaining and ancient, disused scaffolding was a scratch longer than he anticipated. He whisked through the decomposed air, arms milling as he lacerated opponents of opportunity: hovering Seraphim that whisked to and fro to observe Ben's brilliant defense strokes below. A half-dozen machine corpses, sundered from collar-frame to pelvis-chassis, clattered into half-melted refuse piles dripping with overheated steel. Knight rejoined Master, together utilizing Ben Watt's impeccable, shielding Soresu with Seroth's scorching Djem So. Together, they strayed out of slashing reach from pressing 'Blade' droid-fighters, manuevering through the half-lit bay towards a pair of far doors that, with all hope, would open to a bulk-loader lift.

Seroth cocked his right wrist and severed the sword-hand of a Blade, retracting his sword and poking it through its opening facial sonic-emitter. His left arm whacked aside an incomming stab to his liver, a fast left, right, left, right, up combo that exposed a finely segmented torso. The second lightsaber stroked in, stabbing through the collar-frame and sternum, cutting over the psuedo-belly and finishing with a bisecting flick. Their backs to the lift's clasped door-jamb, Seroth patted Ben to hold the defensive line while he finagled with the stubborn servo-motors. "Just a quick moment." He said.

Centuries of stored obsolescence and virtually nill maintenance labour had sealed the mechanical portions of the lift-frame shut. Seroth pressed his gloved palms flush to the three-foot thick door-hatches, calling on his uncanny, cool concentration. His mind's eye painted antiquated servo-engines and corded lengths of steely track to haul the doors back and forth along. The boy imagined an unseen hand clasp over the stubborn gearing, wringing the rusted axle's through their forgotten motions, tucking the tracks along to forcibly open the lift doorway. The Force throbbed with his command, grinding the lift doors wide as a mental-check caught the safety snares and held them. Seroth turned over his heels and grabbed Master Watt's unceremoniously around his waist, hurtling themselves into the shifting lift. Cumbersome hatch-doors whisked and slammed back into place, assaulting their ears with harrowing belts of screeching servo-motors.

"...Whew." Seroth sighed.

 

[Thraishe Krine]

@[member="Reyven Samoth"] if you say so! But that's suicide!" Thraishe pulled up hard on the control stick, sending them straight up the side of the World Devastator.

It would be rough, but if they could pull this off, it might just end all this.

 

[Garza]

The lightning came towards him from the Sith lord. He must have forgotten that he was holding the Sith Sword. Making the lighting dissipate in power until it only made a little spark on his armor where there was still some static electricty .

Darren saw that the Sith lord backed off. He didn't know why. When @[member="Dark Onyx"] screamed of pain, he ran over to him and let Onyx rest his weight against himself. "Now would this count as 4 times?" He asked jokingly. He looked over to @Kiyala Demont and yelled "Come on lets get out of here before more droids come."

 

[Darren Onyx]

Onyx was in pain. His chest felt like it was caving in. He could feel it. He broke a few ribs, might have even punctured a lung. He wasn't a doctor but he knew when he was injured.

Then he looked up to see @[member="Darren Shaw"] who was trying to help him. He could hear him yell for Kiyala to come over as well. His vision was slightly blurred and his ears were ringing from all screaming, explosions, blaster fire, and all the noises the war around them had. He started to cough a little. Blood. He gave a small chuckle upon noticing it was blood he was coughing up. "That... that isn't usually a good thing..." he said with a small chuckle before continuing to cough.

He lifted his head backwards and could see past Darren. In the distance, the tower stood waiting. He knew the only way to contact M4 was from the tower, and he knew that, being one of the tallest towers in the Galactic City, it would be crawling with droids.

He didn't care. All he cared about was getting Kiyala off the planet and taken to Korriban where she would be safe. He didn't know why but there was something about her. Something that made him want to help and train her. The thought was ended as a missile hit nearby. The explosion only decreased his hearing a abilities. He tried to sigh but only coughed more blood. "This is only the begging," he silently whispered to himself.

 

[Reyven Samoth]

@[member="Thraishe Krine"]

As the speeder angled up towards the side, he dropped the barrier he'd made of Force energies, letting the droids throw themselves in front of their speeder and form a barricade. However, he didn't need to push them aside. The next attack was a blast of pure Force Destruction ahead of the speeder, dissolving the wall of droids and the side of the World Devastator, giving them an entrance into the beast. He gripped the bike tightly and hoped that the driver could make it into the hole.

 

[Garza]

Darren looked down at Onyx as he was carrying him to see that his friend was coughing up blood. He knew what happened. He had blood in his stomach or in his lungs. Ether would hurt in a while but blood in the lungs was not good at all. Darren made Onyx stand up straight that way it was harder for the blood to travel up the body. He began to walk towards the building that they would use to leave. Onyx was going to go with the girl. The injuries that he had could kill him if left untreated.

However Darren was staying. He was going to get rid of these droids that killed innocent lives. he was going to get Onyx off planet, even if it meant knocking him out.

@[member="Dark Onyx"]

 

[Darren Onyx]

@[member="Darren Shaw"] @[member="Kiyala Demont"]

Onyx held in his pain while he was walked along by Darren. He hurt. But he learned at a young age to embrace pain and to always expect death.

His father always lectured him, "You should never fear death or pain. Both are natural and both always happen. There is no way around it." It was his pep talks that made Onyx think he knew he was going to become a Sith. It's almost like his father was Sith.

Onyx was shaken to reality with another nearby explosion. He turned his head slowly to avoid pain and eyed Kiyala. "Who are you?" He asked. He wanted to know why he was drawn to her. He wanted to know why he was risking his life to save one person out of the entire planet.

 

[Thraishe Krine]

@[member="Reyven Samoth"]

Thraishe was cutting it close with this maneuver, but managed to swoop into the hole in the side. It was swarmed with droids trying to shoot us down and repair the damage.

"Are you ready? "Thraishe shouted back, "we're coming in hot, hold on."

He manged to pull the speeder to a stop and hopped off, slashing down some droids.

 

[Reyven Samoth]

@[member="Thraishe Krine"]
He hopped backwards off the speeder bike and ignited his sabers again, slashing through two droids near the entrance he'd just made. "These things are endless. It's quite irritating, really. It might have been a better idea just to strike it with a Force Storm and let whatever damage that would cause to Coruscant be done. Hindsight, I suppose." He sighed and began pushing his way towards whatever counted as an engine on this thing.

"We'll just have to gut it and leave."

 

[Thraishe Krine]

Thraishe followed close behind @[member="Reyven Samoth"] slashing down droids along the way.

"Now might not be a good time, but can you train me?" Thraishe said as he stabbed a larger droid.

 

[Ben Watts]

The two fought well together and Ben could not help but admire Seroth's fighting style. His training with Darron had paid off, he was lethal, and he was getting strong enough to even give Ben a run for his money. His skill at Form V was impressive, the two of them cut through droids without breaking much of a sweat, getting to the elevator door was the easy part. As Seroth began to open it, Ben instinctively covered him, defending against any droid that was foolish enough to get within range of Ben. Concentrated, precise, Ben only attacked when he knew the strike would cut down the droid.

Unexpectedly, Ben felt an arm wrap around his waist, and for a moment Ben was caught off guard. He almost struck back, but quickly, he realized it was Seroth whisking him into the elevator doors. His face contorted into surprise as he was pulled in and the doors shut in front of him. Deactivating his lightsaber, he let his arms drop as the elevator shot upwards. Turning to face Seroth, he smiled, he was proud of the Jedi Knight and how far he had come. He was no longer a student but was becoming a respected Jedi in Ben's eyes, an ally, and a strong one at that.

"You were good out there," Ben said, wishing to give credit where credit was due, he knew just how awful it was to accomplish so much and receive no congratulations. It was painstakingly difficult to achieve ones goals, only to be shot down by the lack of recognition. He did not wish for anyone else to feel that way. "You'll be given the rank of Master befo...." His sentence and sentiments were cut short as the elevator came to a screeching halt. Looking around, and reaching out with the force, he tried to figure out what was causing the stop. "The droids stopped the elevator, they are coming from above." Great, now they were going to have to crawl their way down, this was going to be fun. The sounds of the droids trying to get in through the top quickly filled his ears, trying to cut their way in.

"Be mindful of your lightsaber." Ben said as he ignited his own, they would be fighting in close quarters, not a good thing when the droids they were fighting could so easily infect them.

 

[Darron Wraith]

Coruscant

Atop The World Devastator..

"I can't let you do that Darron Wraith. Omni offers us an end to the fighting, to the chaos, to the Sith. As a Jedi and as a friend, I won't let you hinder the unification of the galaxy."

A cold chill ran down his spine at his fellow Adamant Company member's tone. Gone was the emphatic speech of the Zeltron, instead a mechanical inflection was there. Slowly turning to face his friend, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order could see the subtle changes that he had missed. Gone was Jaxton's confident posture, instead he slouched as if possessed. Looking at him closely, he could see an unfamiliar glaze over his eyes. Yes, whatever this man stood for, he was no longer for that at the moment. Even the way he held his lightsaber was different, yes that was a Makashi stance but something was off about it. Thank the Force I didn't let him touch me during the assault to get to this point. What would the Jedi Order have done had I been infected with the nanites? Another shudder went down his spine as he fully faced his former comrade.

"Out of respect to who you are normally, I'm going to say this to you Omni. Remove yourself from near me and I won't be forced to take out your nanites."

Another moment of silence passed, and blue eyes noticed the subtle tensions on the massive Zeltron. I can take Jaxton out in a duel just fine, but do I risk his life? There was also the risk of getting infected accidentally, not to mention the time such a careful fight would take up. A thousand scenarios played out in the Jedi Master's mind as chaos raged on around the pair. The fight was becoming more and more tense, and precious seconds were being wasted just standing there. Perusing his options, Darron saw one that would enable him to accomplish this mission without killing Jaxton...hopefully. Another sigh escaped his lips as he steeled himself for what he was going to have to do, and how he had prayed daily he would never have need for this power again.

"Jaxton, if you are in there. I'm sorry, this is for your own good."


His brow furrowed as he deactivated both of his electrum plated hilts, their blue blades disappearing. Without hesitation, he clipped them to his belt. One last pleading look was met with mechanical ignorance, and Darron knew he had to use what he had so desperately hoped not to use. Not because of the fact that it was of the darkness, no, this power was of the light. If one could use it without emotion, as the holocron had taught him all those years ago, it was just energy. It was just how powerful the blast was, and the collateral damage it would inflict, that had held him back from using it. Scanning the area though, there were no Jedi around save for him. I'm so, so sorry brother. I hope you can forgive me.

Raising both of his hands at the Zeltron, the Jedi Master centered himself in the Force, and channeled all of his energy. With one last relaxing breath, the world crystallized around him. In that one clarified instant, he could feel all of his power come to him and he pulled from the darkness of the battle. Using Vaapad in conjuction with this power allowed him to up the juice of it, and he would need it. If memory served from all the briefings, the nanites couldn't survived severe electrical shock or electromagnetic pulses. As the moment faded, Darron exhaled and let the Force fly from his hand.

Green bolts of lightning flew from his outstretched hands in cascading arcs aimed at Jaxton and everything around them for thirty meters around. For the first time in years, electric judgment was being used...

@[member="Jaxton Ravos"] @[member="Seroth Ur-Rahn"] @[member="Ben Watts"]

 

[Isar]

Coruscant
@[member="Darren Shaw"] @[member="Dark Onyx"]

Against the coming tide, there could be no hope for the world of flesh. Amidst the swarms of Seraph droids, an unfathomable multitude that darkened both sky and land, emerged a beast of nightmares. It emerged from the Seraphim as a krayt dragon would emerge from a roiling cloud of insects. Bristling with spines, claws, and poison tusks, it towered above all else on the battlefield at ten feet in height. Breastplate and vambraces, once bright ultrachrome, were now stained by dried gore caked in mud that crusted a dull brown. It wielded a terrible mace, half as tall as the beast itself, and once more of ultrachrome, though the glistening red of freshly spilt blood dripped along its ridged end. Gleaming red eyes were set deep in the beast's head. They were filled with a beastial malice. The terentatek sniffed the air. In the beast's cranium sat the Artificial Intelligence of a Hunter Killer droid, long ago installed in an abominable feat of technology by Omni. It was called Sev3n. Created one thousand eight hundred and seven years ago.

Sev3n's sensory processors scrolled down the incoming data from the terentatek's nostrils. Linked to the beast's motor skills, as well as higher brain functions, Sev3n could process and control everything the beast thought and did. Though Sev3n could not sense the Force, the terentatek could. It was information. And information could be analyzed. Force users. The terentatek's head swung to lock onto Darren and Onyx. Sev3n's recognition systems came up positive. These fleshlings were known to it.

The monstrosity strode toward the two hapless beings. Their might already greatly taxed by battle with Darth Apparatus the stood little chance. Against such a creature, there could be no victory.

"Statement: mortals, I will now divest you of your lives."

The mace whipped down with astonishing speed. A tremendous crack split the air. Permacrete shattered. Sev3n's combat systems were primarily attuned to engaging targets long range. The Terentatek did not have this capacity. However, it did wield enormous strength. The terentatek reached down and grasped a giant hunk of permacrete, which it tossed into the air. Sev3n's analyzations calculated its trajectory instantly. It swung the mace. The giang construct of durasteel and ultrachrome hit the hunk of permacrete dead on, shattering the hunk. However, the swing was calculated to millimeter precision. Chunks of permacrete the size of human heads shrieked through the air toward Dark Onyx and Darren at speeds in excess of ninety miles an hour. A shotgun spray, meant to turn them into meaty pulps. Which was what they were anyway. Meat sacks.

 

[Darren Onyx]

Onyx fell back out of Darren's arms from the sheer force of the new enemy. Onyx looked over to see one of Omni's warriors. Sev3n has his name was. Onyx had heard of his power. Onyx tried to stand but his injuries wouldn't permit it. He looked over @[member="Kiyala Demont"]. "RUN! HIDE!" he commanded. He wouldn't let her die.

 

[Soeht]

In time, the World Devastator shadowed Darth Apparatus. Standing below it, the Sith Lord looked up to see the black machine hover over Coruscant, with arcs of lightning stretching down to the cityscape below. With ease, he sensed the fight for control of the World Devastator and judged that his involvement was necessary.

Seraphim droids flew up to prevent the Republic's forces from taking control of the destructive device. Darth Apparatus requisition one for his use by grabbing a hold of it with his right arm. The droid sagged in the air for a moment as its repulsorlifts attempted to adjust to the added weight. It took no more than a few seconds for the Seraph to generate enough power to fly both itself and Darth Apparatus up toward the top of the World Devastator.

Within a few minutes, Darth Apparatus and the droid soared above the World Devastator. Quickly, Darth Apparatus found where he assumed he was most needed. He dropped down after releasing his grip on the Seraph. A loud thud shook the immediate area as he landed on the World Devastator. At the moment of his arrival, @[member="Darron Wraith"] had been using lightning conjured by the Force on @[member="Jaxton Ravos"]. The Sith Lord stood just outside of the area of effect the electricity had.

Rising to his feet, Darth Apparatus drew a lightsaber in his right hand. He ignited it to show a bright red blade that gave a crimson hue to his armor. The dark side born of hatred and loathing saturated Darth Apparatus.

A voice crawled forth to Darron, "Y҉̗̹̱̩̣̳̤͉o̷̷̷͖̯̮̬̻̟͚ͅu̴̶͉͎͓̳͚̘̼͢r͔̟͟͜ ̴̨̦̰͇̩̗̹̰̗̳i҉҉̻̝̼̟̬͘n̫͉̹̼͎̼͠t̳e͞͏̺̥̭̮̪r̮̟͉͇̣̕͜f̪̘͇̲̰͙́͠e̢̙̞̟̘̻̫̣͘r̴̭̞̠̺̪̝̖͞͡e̳̩̘͖̕͘ͅn͉͍̣͟c̶̛̤̙̪̖̙e̜̻̼͉̻͈̺͇̙͠ ̨͚̗͈̣̫͚ͅh̨̟̤͜a̜̩͖ͅs̶̢̯̘͖ ͞͠͏̩̥e̷̻̣͔̙̗͘͘ͅņ͇̟̰̮̬̘͔̞́͞d̸̺̜̖͉̟̞̪e̬͎̝d͓̻."