The Shores of Cinder

[Jyfo]

[member="Deus Gor Bel"]

Useless bantha fodder, this one is. Jyfo thought to himself. Although, this may help me. Jyfo had just taken in a large amount of dark side energy, so perhaps helping this elder mercenary find his droid would help balance the scales, so to speak. That was the key to all of his efforts, his studies. Balance between the light and the dark.
Groaning softly, Jyfo stood up and stretched. Joints popped and creaked with the effort. He would need an easy next few days to recover. He could walk there, most likely, and his lightsaber would do the rest. Simple enough. "Let us not waste any more time then, right? Take me to this droid of yours."

 

[Deus Gor Bel]

[member="Jyfo"]

Well wasn't that just the most dandy turn of events; it was all falling into place, piece by piece, and success would soon follow with the thunderous voracity of a raging thunderstorm - fierce enough to inspire fear upon such rain-drenched worlds such as Kamino. However, now was not the time for fantasizing of such alliterations - now was the time to spurn to action, and renewed energy, throttled by half-a-life's worth of spent adrenaline, coursed through Deus' veins. He raised a hand in stalwart salute, arching it directly over his concealed brow, then motioned for the weakened man to follow; burying the truth behind his intent deep beyond the layers of conscious musings. It was not wholly malevolent, just a gray-shaded effort, as most things were to him, and he prayed this might hide his purpose; instead of fixating upon this fear, however, he spoke to distract his mind: "So how does that thing - the lightsabre - work exactly? Any more of that wizard magic make some plasma pop out the end like a bith-in-a-box or some... middle-aged tusken with a- Pardon my vulgarity, I am a mercenary after all. We have a wild sense of humor, I assure you; so, what's in that thing? Little banthas powering the plasma through a wheel, running along eternally? A micro-universe? Indulge, tell me about it - I'm rather technologically savvy."

 

[Jyfo]

[member="Deus Gor Bel"]

First Jyfo had to serve Gorebell with his lightsaber, and now he had to service him with information. Jyfo was beginning to wonder if having a companion on his journey was really the best choice for him after all. Stepping over a charred rock, he searched his mind for the right way to explain a Force user's most sacred weapon. "Lightsabers are made with kyber crystals found across the galaxy, usually found on the planet Ilum, but not limited there. Traditionally, a Jedi would go there to find a crystal that called to him or her. I don't know if that's the path I took, obviously, but it seems logical." Jyfo sighed and continued walking, the soreness in his body evening out and slowly becoming more bearable.
"From there, they would start to construct their own sabers, utilizing everything from modulations circuits to energy gates, emitter matrices, and the like. I don't know if I constructed my own saber, so I have not dared disassemble it for fear of breaking it." Jyfo hefted the metallic saber in his hand and looked at it with sad and longing eyes, lit up by a nearby mama pool.

 

[Deus Gor Bel]

[member="Jyfo"]

Kyber crystals, modulations circuts, energy gates, emitter matrices; sounded like mineral-ly goodness to Deus. "Yeah, mhm," he feigned of interest, stepping down the hill of volcanic rubble towards the cavernous maw; his groans of exhaustion growing ever louder as they mixed with the tides of impatience; he stepped over the skeletal remains of his former opponent, the BX-droid known as Charmer, and directed the Jedi towards the cave from which his friend had unknowingly descended, and met his untimely and unmourned demise. "So, let me give you a rundown... I was busy fighting a few droids-" An obvious exaggeration. "-with my own be-damned bare hands-" An unbelievable truth. "-trying to recover R4. However, with that gunshop flying hereto and hitherto and hairwhere, the vibrations of the engine-thingies weakened the cooling magma, causing a cave-in." Relatively geographically acceptable terms, though he might earn a kick in the shebs from a mechanic for that one. "Now, therein lies the problem - the more blatant fact of the fething wall of rock isn't the only obstacle. Volcanic gases are spewed forth from the boiling magma; usually they disperse with the open air and alleviate us the deathly effort of breathing them. However, with the cavern collapse, and underground magma pools in the vicinity, I fear it may have created an air-pocket. Now, I know what you're thinking: 'Oh, Deus! What shall we ever do-' Oh, my name's Deus, by the way. 'Oh, Deus. What shall we do?!' WELL I'LL TELL YOU!"

His fingers worm there way to the crown of his scalp, and peel forth the mask, sticky with a week's worth of sweat - fearful, Jyfo may be, of the odor that emitted. "Since the little prissy princess can't stop fussing about the importance of her lightsabre, then perhaps you are willing to borrow this mask - it filters toxins-" Not really, it filters smoke, but who would no the difference if there was no poison to begin with? "-and I have only one. You, since you're such hardcore little professional, can go down there, carve him out, and waltz right back out all handy-dandy, and then we might make our way to Coruscant as some grand threesome!" He tosses the helmet to him, uncaring if he was paying attention or not. He was an old man, a face, once perhaps very handsome, now withered by a century's worth of scowls and scars, disfiguring the appearance horrifically - okay, maybe not that bad, but he still wasn't exactly pretty - though he held some sort of weathered allure to him, perhaps some inkling of wisdom lost deep beyond the membrane of sarcasm. His hair was pulled into dreadlocks, perhaps the style of his ethnicity, and was drawn back in wiry bands, pulled taught behind his head. His right eye was traced in black ink, giving him an odd, unmirrored appearance that crossed the eyes, and intensified his gaze; a gaze which watched Jyfo with untrained forcefulness, far unlike that of his presented demeanor.

 

[Jyfo]

[member="Deus Gor Bel"]

"Oh, my name's Deus, by the way." One lie uncovered, and a truth revealed. Jyfo noticed how easily the mercenary strolled right by his prior lie, and that lead him to believe that Deus was an experienced and talented liar, the sort of which Jyfo had little patience for. Eyeing the weathered man with extreme and plain to see distrust, Jyfo let him continue on.

"Since the little prissy princess can't stop fussing about the importance of her lightsabre..." Lovely. The damsel in distress himself, with his shorts in a knot from his beloved droid, blatantly insults one that is only trying to help. Jyfo raised an eyebrow with amusement as Deus continued on, fabricating - Jyfo couldn't quite place why he believed he was lying, he just knew - a story on how his beloved droid was trapped and Jyfo needed his repulsive mask. When the mask was tossed to him, Jyfo simply watched as it struck the ground and rolled a few meters away.

Having kept silent thus far, Jyfo looked at Deus and spoke while connecting with the Force. "It is a most unwise maneuver," he began, feeling the Force flood into him, regaining his strength, "to lie to and mock one who has only helped you thus far." Jyfo tapped into the dark side, as he did earlier, yet keeping the energy minimal. He felt power slowly race to his fingers, and a few sparks blaze. He didn't quite have the strength to actually unleash a Force attack yet, but he hoped this would cause the eccentric merc to shape up and fetch his droid himself, after dragging Jyfo all the way over here. "Now it would be quite a shame if you met the same fate as those commando droids. I recommend you get your companion yourself, if he is so valuable to you."
More sparks erupted from Jyfo's hands, as to emphasize his statement. Easy, now. Can't go overboard again.

 

[Deus Gor Bel]

[member="Jyfo"]

"To lie and mock," crowed Deus, cautiously stepping around the man in ire-ridden grace; he watched the man, head half-cocked to the side, like a precarious bird watching a territorial dispute - a clash of pride. Electricity danced upon Jyfo's hand, likely in warning, though if his earlier waning strength was anything to go by, he would not last long expending such power - though, judging by those droids, it might just be enough. Deus drew a hand within the folds of his dress, retrieving that weathered blaster, though not ripping it free as to provoke aggression; rather, he sought it as a comfort. "Sith? No, I provoked your hubris; surely, you would have struck me down if you were. Though you balance upon the dark side, rather impressively at that - it's a hard burden to bear. But both sides draw upon emotion, both feed into complex aspects that contort and contradict; from what to you gather power?" He motioned towards the cave's entrance, hollow and large, hungry for encroachment; he smiled, "We're going down there, willingly or no."

 

[Jyfo]

[member="Deus Gor Bel"]

Very interesting. This aging mercenary seemed a little knowledgeable about the Force, though he was a bit mistaken in his statements. Jyfo had memorized both the Jedi and Sith codes, and the Jedi code clearly stated: "There is no emotion, only peace" a the first line. No, Jedi were reluctant to call upon emotion; therefore Sith were nearly always better fighters. However, the Jedi's connection with the Force itself seemed stronger, and they could not be overtaken so easily by pride and greed.

Shaking his head, Jyfo addressed Deus. "I draw upon both the light side of the Force as well as the dark. The brutal fighting power of the dark, and the calm intelligence and the serenity of the light. A bit taxing on my sanity to be sure, but I profit much more than any Jedi or Sith in their usual training. I do wish, however, that there were more like me, that I could learn from them."

Glancing inside the pitch black cave, Jyfo felt a shudder in the Force. Something was in there, something living. He felt a predatory feeling emerge from the cave, washing over him. Something was in there, and it wasn't friendly.

 

[Deus Gor Bel]

[member="Jyfo"]

"Yet both philosophies are contradictory; do you lack a master or do you simply lack principle? A dogma? You strike me as a lost child or, rather, as a hypocrite," assailed Deus, his gaze locked in a stern fixation upon the man. Indeed, he understood what lurked below, and what was necessary; even by stalling the fool, it would be more than enough to draw the beast from its cave, and now all he must do is relay this pressure further upon the strange man. "If you seek knowledge take time to understand both philosophies - their depth and their lies; note both are composed of falsities, they both rely upon emotion that composes the depth of their being, conscious or no. Nothing can remain submerged eternal, all is buoyant - including your ignorance." He felt it, the thing in the dark - he knew not how, or why, but there was a tremble beyond the senses; it came from the darkness. He stepped to the side, resisting the temptation to react to the threat; the Jedi would know what came soon enough, and he must act swiftly. He drew his blaster in a threatening manner, as if to quickly assail his ally - rather, it was in preparation for what was to come - though, he hoped, his aggressive tone of the conversation may lead the man to believe it was a threat towards his own safety, and would prompt him to act. Meanwhile, the shadows below bulged, a deep, tusked silhouette, wide and colossal, sniffed - attracted by the temptation of gluttony.

 

[Jyfo]

[member="Deus Gor Bel"]

Jyfo stifled a sigh and turned away from Deus, not offering a retort. Bickering was pointless, and if Jyfo could not take an insult without becoming shrouded in anger, then he really was no more than a hypocrite. And that was something that Jyfo would never be.

A large presence nearby attracted his attention. Very large, and dangerous. Jyfo quickly turned and gazed into the depths of the cave, focusing on the beast that was approaching ever closer. Jyfo's lightsaber ignited, filling the cave with its amber glow. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the rush of the Force fill him. He was ready for the monster.

 

[Deus Gor Bel]

[member="Jyfo"]

The plan had bloomed to fruition; it came, he knew that now encroached upon them and, if he failed to act soon, he might join his lost companion within the depths of the beast's belly. It began to emerge from the cavernous maw of the earth, a great, crimson monstrosity, with tremendous tusks; it shadowed over them in its girth, fueled by such gluttony yet to be exhibited to him by any creature. No, the lightsabre was not enough to have drawn it forth - what does it want then?

The gunship flew overhead again, the deep hum of its repulsorlifts and engine rumbled within Deus' gut like a vibrant bass - his eyes followed its trajectory, tracing its path until it circled upon the distant horizon, depositing more black, mechanical figures. "How many-" he began before the realiziation struck him: there was, in fact, a bloodthirsty beast emerging behind his line of vision; he only turned just in time to see it charge. He drew his blaster, already gripped in preperation for the Jedi, and fired on the creature - his bolts sizzling with a hyperbole of ineffectiveness. With no time to curse, as per usual, he drew himself back, into a run - his safety uphill, towards the opening of the crater. He drew out his gun behind him, unsure of where the beast lay, and began to fire, praying he hit something of note.