The Source Of Her Pain

[Connor Harrison]

Sakura
Haruno System, Expansion Regions​

The E-wing tore through the atmosphere of the planet Sakura, on the other side of One Sith space; away from comfort. Away from the Light.

It had taken days on Voss to piece the Sith together from Balgorath, and more days out with Ranger scouts to find the id of one known as Sage Bane. The monster who mutilated Syala. He pushed the yolk hard as his eyes burned into the picturesque planet below.

This was a mission of vengeance; one he would return from, but one he was carrying out alone to strike at an enemy who felt they could do what they wanted without reprisal. He could hear the screams from his former Padawan as the Sith blinded her left her to die. It was now Connor’s time to face him.

Flicking an open channel on his ships’ communication, he spoke hard, with no emotion in his voice and with purpose for any wavelength picking up transmissions to hear.

”Sage Bane – identify yourself. This is Connor Harrison of the Silver Jedi. You left a message for me. I’m returning the call.”

Right now his heart was pure as any Jedi, but his vision as dark as any Sith.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Space over Sakura, aboard the Arcanus Obscurus

​

Red fluorescent beams gleamed in his eyes as Sage Bane walked through the blast doors and onto the bridge of his Subjugator-class Assault Corvette, Arcanus Obscurus. He had been summoned there to take an unexpected call that was received over an open channel, a call that paged him directly. Sage’s crew, standing at rapt attention before the impassive eyes of the Hand of the Dark Lord, flicked a switch on the terminal and played back the message.

”Sage Bane – identify yourself. This is Connor Harrison of the Silver Jedi. You left a message for me. I’m returning the call.”

A predatory smile crept onto his face as Sage stared straight out into the stars for a moment, lost in thought. His thin, pale fingers toyed for a moment with the commlink terminal. Then, he opened up his line. A honeyed and condescending tenor came through.

“Connor Harrison. I see you got my message. You know your Knight was very, very rude to me. I was minding my own business at the Belgaroth Scrapyard and suddenly there she was, telling me to leave.”

He paused to let his mocking words sink in, savoring the aftertaste as they left his lips. Then he tutted at the Jedi Master.

“I gave her two chances to walk away, but she, of course, refused. For shame, Connor, do you not teach your students any common sense over at the Silver Jedi Order? She gave me no choice but to show her the error of her ways.”

Sage’s "lesson" was a trial for Syala, the Jedi Knight who had studied under Connor. First, the Sith Lord resurrected a small army of rotten cadavers, and watched the girl chop them to bits for his amusement, then after terrorizing her mind with gory illusions, he attacked her with both lightsaber and amphistaff arm. The child was skilled with blades, but woefully inexperienced in dealing with amphistaves. It was obvious which one won out. As a coup de grâce, the fanged heads of his black, leathery tentacles sprayed a geyser of acidic poison in both of her eyes, blinding her. Finally, Sage rode off on his black-maned Guarlara, leaving the girl to suffer in darkness.

What was it that Syala had called him? Oh yes, a "shell of his former self?" She was right in a way. He had taken that shell of a young man, hollowed out from the abuses of slavery and, with the help of his Master, Matsu Xiangu, filled the empty husk with the monster he had become.

Some monsters were born. Some monsters were made. Sage liked to think that he was a little bit of both.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Below, the planet, unknown to Connor, not that he cared, was turning from a hazy white of cloud to a tapestry of purples, whites and blue. Blossom trees stretched far and wide, clearings were etched out between the fauna and rivers and large lakes. On passing, Connor had noted a number of ships outside the atmosphere itself, but now here it seemed quiet and devoid of much activity.

Listening to the words of Bane, Connor gritted his jaw as he sought a place to land his E-wing; on a grassy plateau beside a large, raging stream peppered with rocks from below, and lined with large pink blossom trees that swayed majestically together, blossom painting the ground below and carried along by the faint breeze.

It was a perfect, tranquil place.

Connor killed the engines as he landed with a bump, and sent out a reply to the signal that carried the goading words of the monster somewhere around this place. Bane didn't sound like a monster; but Sith never did. They tried to carry a certain elegance, control and assurity in their over-confident voices hidden behind a wall of raging hate and frustration. Bane sounded like he was desperate to come across as something Connor knew he wasn't. In control.

”You find me and I’ll show you the error of yours.”

The hiss at the end of his sentence was full of venom, and he pulled back the hatch of the cockpit, and pushed himself out, sliding down the wing of his faithful ship to land on the soft ground below. For the first time in months, his black and silver armour was fixed tight to serve the purpose he created it for – protection in battle. Cortosis chest plates, duraplast and armourweave would do the job, hopefully.

With his lightsaber hilt on his side, not used in battle again for a while, Connor turned to lean on the ship and control his breathing.

He was angry; beyond angry. He was sick with guilt and blinded by the mist of extracting revenge on the Sith Lord who had not only failed to show Syala a sporting confrontation, but had left her to die after mutilation. It proved the Sith were animals that had to be put down – abusing people’s dignity and exploiting one’s soul to tarnish it with pain.

If the Sith should exploit Connor’s, then he knew he would find little to tarnish that wasn’t already pained.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Sage loved games, and it seemed like Connor was ready to play. The Jedi Master’s baritone dripped with rage and hatred, which intrigued the Sith Lord. Unlike his former student, who had radiated the serenity of the Light Side, Connor’s voice had a darker, more emotional tone. He could almost hear the man’s fists clenching through the line. As the comm went silent, the Sith Lord turned to his crew, and barely able to contain his mirth, gave them an order.

“Trace the call to Harrison’s location, and prepare a dropship. I’m going dirtside.”

In his private quarters Sage meditated in his chambers until the the Admiral of the Obscurus later came calling with some news.

“Your dropship is ready, My Lord.”

The illusionist donned his armor, a full set of coal-black Vonduun Skerr Kyrric, with the left arm piece missing. As he stepped into it the, living armor responded and conformed to his shape, greeting him with a chitinous crackle and a tickling of segmented legs on his skin. Gazing down at his exposed arm, he watched as the pale layers of flesh peeled away to reveal his amphistaff. It had been a while since the trio of creatures had been fed, and they writhed with a dull hunger. Once he was fully gloved in the organic battlesuit, his lightsaber was clipped to his belt.

Sage made his way to the dropship sans his usual battalion of Sith soldiers. This game only had two players, he and Connor Harrison. He had maimed the Student. Now it was time to kill the Master.

The dropship descended on a patch of picturesque land, blanketed by a carpet of fallen cherry blossom petals. It was probably a place of peace and tranquility for most of Sakura's citizens, but today the gentle stream would run red with blood. The Sith Lord stepped down from the landing ramp, his spiky crab armor a punch through the canvas of the painting before him. His amphistaves wriggled at his side, sniffing out their potential prey. Two crab legs rose and inserted their pointy ends in either side of Sage's lips, tugging them into a wide, toothy smile.

"Hello, Connor. I've been waiting to meet you."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Looking to the sky, Connor heard an almost unnatural roar of a dropship coming from the sky above. So the Sith had been watching from above. As the breeze blew over the Jedi Master, Connor narrowed his eyes against the chill as he stood still to watch and wait. The black dot grew larger, more disgusting and lacking any sense of craftsmanship as it came around and settled like an ugly beetle on the plateau.

Connor didn't move as the ship settle, and soon the landing ramp came down and the one known as Bane made his way down, and a chill snaked up his spine. The hulking mass of unnatural armour was the first thing Connor saw; thick plates, animal-like spikes and strange crab-like creature markings that seemed real - they WERE real, almost forming one with the Lord as he spoke.

He appeared regal and quite young, an arrogance to his face that was hidden behind the armour that looked like a Vong creation. Compared to what Connor was wearing, this looked as if it was made to deliver pain. A soft dry swallow was all he could manage as he looked up at the figure ahead. Strip the Vong and he knew Sage would be nothing but a cowering man. But now he seemed to be a monster.

”Sage Bane. So what are you, a walking beetle?”

He didn't move, trying to piece together his opponent before he made his move. He was in no rush to die today.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

The Vonduun crab legs released Sage's lips, and settled down to tick quietly on the collar of his organic chest plate. The cutouts in the armor revealed pale flesh ridged with ritual scarification, too deliberate in pattern to be battle scars.

“My other suit of armor is at the cleaners," Sage quipped with an amused smirk.

"What? you don’t like it? Truthfully, I balked at its looks at first, but Vong technology is far superior than anything else in the galaxy, I've come to find."

Sage's amphistaves, a trio of black leathery tentacles, reared up at the sound of their master's praise. He reached over with his human hand, and gave one of the fanged heads a pat, as if it were a loyal hound. It coiled around his wrist lovingly and as the Sith Lord talked, he stroked the creature with two fingers.

"I've come to realize there's a beauty in its sheer ugliness."

A slow blink crossed his face. The cold fear he could feel in the Jedi Master was exquisite and heady. Better than an aphrodisiac. Just like pain and anger, the other man's dull terror fed the Sith Lord like a sweet wine. Sage made no move to activate his saber, instead pushing out with the Dark Side of the Force. An invisible hand reached for Connor's mind to find a way through any mental defenses he might have and feel around in the Jedi's grey matter. Sage continued to talk to Connor, as if the sound of his own voice was a gift to the galaxy.

"Have you never fought the Yuuzhan Vong before?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

As Bane talked, Connor took the time to look over his armour; it was alive. He had heard about the Vong, but never seen them. It seemed to mold with him; connect with him and move with him. It also seemed to allow him to hide behind it. Fighting the urge to spit and lash out, Connor surveyed his surroundings as if taking a gentle walk along the plateau surrounding by a picturesque postcard world.

”Can't say I have actually, no. I'm sure it's a lower class race I'll have to brush up on for next time.”

The sides of his head were aching, and he was doing all he could to keep his mental barrier up, to allow the power that he used to combat the Sith Magic to block Bane in probing too far. While mentality wasn't his strong point, he hoped he had pushed his own tolerance of the ability to stronger levels. He looked over to Bane and started to gently rock on his heels, casually, as if limbering up, but without an aggressive posture.

”Have you ever fought anyone physically and emotionally stronger than you? I only figure that hiding behind crabs and letting that...thing, where you arm was, spit poison at young girls and then run away, makes you a little bit of a coward?”

He laughed a little, shrugging, digging his right heel into the soft earth with each gentle rock.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

"Quite xenophobic for a Jedi, aren't you Connor?" Sage taunted. Behind Connor's eyes was a palatable disgust that he was trying to hide with nonchalance. It mixed nicely with the anger and hatred that radiated off the Jedi Master. The Dark Side was present in Connor's aura, which was a bit of a surprise to Sage, especially since Harrison's student was a child of the Light. The Sith Lord's hand slowly moved away from caressing the skin of his undulating, tentacled arm, and downwards, closer to his lightsaber hilt. He spit out the next sentence, repeating a version of the Jedi code as if the words were beneath him.

"What happened to "respect all life, in any form? Does that not extend to the Yuuzhan Vong?"

The first attempt to penetrate the Jedi's mind was unsuccessful. Connor's psychic membrane turned out to be thicker than he expected. Connor had strong mental defenses against his intrusions, but he was willing to bet if he kept up his attempts, like a mental battering ram, his powers would eventually break down the door.

Let me in, damn you.

At Connor's question, Sage simply shrugged. "I am a Hand of the Dark Lord," he boasted with a raised brow. "I spend most of my time controlling the armies of the One Sith. I don't take on an opponent unless he or she is worth my time."

His eyes glinted maliciously, mouth like a gash as the corner of his lips rose into that ever-present smirk.

"Your Knight simply wasn't worth my time anymore."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor was aggrivated by the sound of Bane's voice, and the Sith dripped a smarm that made the Jedi want to smash his face into the stones below in the water. Connor looked at the one who mutilated young Syala.

”I'm not here to represent the Jedi, and I'm not your 'typical' Jedi anyway. You want one of those? Look elsewhere. I respect the lives worth respecting, and that doesn't include freaks like you. Yuuzhan Vong? I may respect them in time. You? You're a little man with bits of Vong stitched onto him where the rest of you was obviously inadequate for your little Masters.”

He turned his body and pushed down slightly on the right heel. Connor's head moved down, eyes burning out from his piercing stare and his chest swelled with steady, deep breaths, pulling in the natural Force around him. This was for Sy and Chastity; he would protect them from Sith like this.

”Syala is worth more you. And Hand of the Dark Lord? Please. More like the bile!”

With that final word, he absorbed the Force around him and pushed down on his heel as he bolted forward, speed enhanced by the Force itself to move him quick and precise towards Bane. There was no saber drawn and no gentlemen's agreement - he just wanted to hit this man with the anger he felt after looking at his face far too long.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

At Connor’s insults, Sage gave the other man a mock-frowny face, and placed his hand dramatically on his chest.

“Oh, you think I’m a freak? I’m wounded.”

He smiled, shrugging off the taunts. Despite the Sith Lord’s facade of calm, there was a glint of irritation in his eyes. His mask showed a tiny, nearly imperceptible crack in its formerly flawless patina. Elegantly, the young Sith Lord gestured with his human hand towards the weeping cherry blossom trees, painfully perfect symbols of the impermanence of life.

“Nature makes heart-breakingly beautiful things, doesn’t it?” Sage said, letting a delicate, pink petal float into his hand. “What the Yuuzhan Vong have done is learned to harness the power of nature with incredible feats of bio-engineering. Perhaps it is we, the infidels, with our love of mechanical technology who are the freaks?”

He crushed the petal in his fingers and held his fist in the air. Blood, thick and red, poured from the cracks in his fingers, staining the pink ground red. It was a minor illusion, but a poetic one nonetheless.

Sage could feel the Force welling up around Connor Harrison as the Jedi stared him down, a sure sign that some kind of attack was imminent. The Jedi Master moved in a blur, using the speed of the Force to quickly close the distance, and barrel right into the chest plate of his impassable Vonduun crab armor. Sage braced himself for the impact as his trio of amphistaves shot forward to protect their master. The sentient creatures activated their power glands to change the molecular structure of the field around their skin, lining it with razor-thin edges. When Connor’s body was close-enough the amphistaff would crack itself like a whip, reaching out to lick at the other man’s torso. If it made impact, the razor-sharp barbs would sink into the Jedi’s armor and rend whatever part of him it came in contact with.

The impulsive attack knocked Sage back a few feet, but he kept his footing on the petal-covered ground. Now that Connor was close, he sensed a familiar aura coming from somewhere inside of the Jedi. An achingly familiar remnant lingering in Connor's body. A woman’s velvet voice dragging through his head, telling him that all of life is suffering, Sage, all of life is pain. He knew the creator of this magic.

The haunting melody of the Sith’s jackal-like laugh pierced the air like a discordant tune.

“You have fought my former Master, Matsu Xiangu, haven’t you?”

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor impacted against Sage as a polite way of shutting him up. Sideways on, the blow was harder than expected against the Vong armour, but as the Sith thankfully fell back a few feet, a stinging sensation ran up Connors right bicep, above his scars. The arm felt heavy, and soon his thermal suit under the armour plates felt moist. Glancing down to the arm, he noticed the marks of tiny indents on the plates, and a number of dark blotches where there was none.

Gritting his teeth, and starting to pace gently back and forward where Sage once stood, the blossom turning to nothing but debris under his boots, Connor saw it all click into place and make sense when the name ‘Matsu Xiangu’ was mentioned. Thankfully, his tunnel vision of annoyance was taking away from the pain in his arm from whatever the armour had been laced with that he had run right into.

”Former Master? That makes sense – she seemed deluded and a little damaged when I met her, and I can see she’s rubbed off on you.”

Connor stopped for a second, turning his head a little in mock thought.

”That’s quite sweet actually. I remember her arm wasn’t natural, some cyborg replacement. Now you’ve tried to do the same? There’s me thinking true Sith were their own person; Master of their own personna. You’re just her little queen aren’t you Sagey.”

The Master turned and stopped walked, and snatched the lightsaber hilt from his side, un-activated, and hoping his arm wasn’t going to give up on him with some vicious poison seeping through his veins alongside the bitter blood of revenge.

”Well I’m my own Master. No-one to prove myself to, no-one to impress.”

A smile cracked on his face, as if Connor was fuelled with surge of the natural Force that even made death look amusing and the Vong-Sith before him just a hurdle to get there. At least those he cared for were safe from here.

”Come on – make Mummy Matsu proud of the whelp you are and do your best and delay the time she takes in replacing you with stronger and more able-bodied grunt.”

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Sage’s amphistaves thrashed uncontrollably, riled up from the small morsel of combat he’d given them. Their fanged mouths opened, hissing in unison through strings of deadly saliva. His gaze dropped to Connor’s punctured armor, and he grinned. Good boys. Although Connor’s taunts only seemed to amuse the Sith Lord, there was a slight tic in his jaw when the Jedi called him Matsu’s queen.

“Speaking of cyborg replacements, is poor little Syala going to get cyber eyes? It must be tough to choose between dulling some of your Force sensitivity and seeing the sunrise every morning.”

Sage’s lightsaber pommel snapped into his hand, and he thumbed the activation switch. Snap-hiss. Where Connor paced, Sage began to circle him, posturing like an alpha wolf defending its pack. While they danced around each other, Sage continued to bump up against Connor’s mental defenses. Even the strongest mentalists had miniscule cracks. Sage was determined to find them, and like a hairy centipede, slither into the tears. He would find what he needed. Names of family members. The people and places Connor cared about. All of his most personal information would soon be exploitable. It would take all of the Jedi’s focus to keep Sage out.

“Everyone is someone’s queen, Connor. A better question is, whose are you?”

Sage’s self-satisfied grin never wavered. He could feel Connor’s hatred radiating off of every taut muscle.

Attack me. Come on. Do it.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

With the crimson blade of the Sith snapping to life, Connor didn't hesitate to mirror with his own blue blade and the familiar snap-hiss. The dull throb in Connor's head continued, the tap-tap-tap of the Sith Lord at his mental wall, something strong at first but untrained to withstand constant battering. He knew it was slipping, and the Force would be required to carry his body and muscle more than his mind. He could only do so much.

Wincing slightly, his jaw tensed at Sy's name. He closed his eyes for a split second and pictured her burnt, blistered eye sockets and torn skin under the bandages, but also the calm words she said as she gently held his face to hers. He was above goading...he was above this...

Sage continued, and aggravated Connor more. His eyes focused on the points he could make out in the armour - the armpits, when he moved certain ways, and the head. Fingers flexed on his silver hilt, blade moving with a soft hum in his grip. Blossom blew over them, as if it was a metaphorical flag falling to the ground for the combatants to strike. Sage's words only acted as the catalyst.

”I'm no-ones!” The Rogue shouted, and moved forward to kill.

Briging the blade upwards and forwards, there was no grand display for now, it was simply a punctuated full-stop after his words with an attack to get Sage moving. The blade came up with the flick of his wrist and, arched like a bat to hit a ball, swung violently left which would be ever so perfect in taking a head clean from the shoulders. If the swordsman wasn't fuelled with a careless rage.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Sage could always tell that moment when his opponent was pushed far enough. There was a surge in Force energy coupled with a tightening of every muscle in the body, limbs seizing like a tightly wound spring, followed by a release into rage. Sage gathered the Force around him as he moved his red saber upwards to counter the Jedi Master's exquisite bladework, letting the Dark Side bolster his defensive parries. A spray of sparks flew outwards as lightsabers clashed just inches in front of the bridge of the Sith Lord's nose. With a grunt, Sage lunged against his blade as it met Connor's, attempting to shove the other man away.

What the Way of the Hawkbat lacked in defensive maneuvers, Sage made up for with the aggressive offense of his Vong-formed amphistaff arm. The trio of sentient heads on his black, leathery tentacles struck out at the Jedi, hissing in unison as each head sprayed a geyser of poison towards Connor's unprotected face.

"The Sith are the thunder heard across the galaxy," Sage warned with a red flash in his eyes. "And a storm is coming."

"What was done to Syala will be done to all of the Silver Jedi a thousand times over until you submit to us."

Was that a challenge to the entire Silver Jedi Order? Oh, it most certainly was.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The force from Sage created the tension between their clashing blades as Connor span his down and away, eyes moving to the disgusting sight of the moving tentacles – the ones that took Syala’s sight with poison. Snapping his body away and clenching his eyes, Connor heard the hiss of the creatures, and nothing more – peering around he noted the watery liquid rolling down the side of his armour.

Connor held his jaw tight as Sage’s words were spat with more venom than his freakish tentacles. He noted the red gleam in his irises, and the Jedi focused on the root of his own darkness – jealousy, anger, pain. The things that had helped him tread the line between light and dark, and the line he had sworn would be used to combat the Sith.

The blue eyes started to cloud slightly, losing their colour as tendrils of grey snaked in every so slightly. Sage’s taunt again hit a nerve – this time, thinking about another he would fight to protect. With a snarl, Connor swung back to Sage with his right arm tense and outstretched in the attempt to silence those empty threats from that mouth with a sharp backhand.

Should that connect, Connor was ready to turn at the first sound of armour on bone and deliver a swift boot into the stomach of the Sith, followed by a slice with his saber – a trio of moves starting to be fuelled by a motive – destroy the arrogance and the monster that was Sage Bane.

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Sage’s light brown eyes locked onto Connor’s as he watched the Jedi come undone. One taunt too many had sent his opponent into a blind rage. The Jedi Master’s swift backhand connected with the Sith Lord’s face. With a sharp crack his head snapped. Then came a boot heel to the stomach which knocked him backwards into a sea of cherry blossom petals. The impact of his landing disarmed him of his lightsaber. The hilt flew out of his hand, the red plasma blade snuffed out like a candle flame. Using the Force to help him move at lightning speeds, Sage rolled away from Connor’s lightsaber strike, then performed a kip-up maneuver, which sprung him to a standing position.

“Careful there,” Sage said, his dark grin returning. He lifted a pale hand to his face and wiped away a rivulet of blood from his lips, chuckling as he licked the blood off his fingers. “I quite liked that.”

His lightsaber hilt flew back into his hand, and was re-ignited, red glowing blade matching red glowing eyes.

“You would make a very good Sith, Connor,” insisted Sage, giving his blade a twirl. “Your emotions are just on the brink of being uncontrollable. Palatable. Your anger towards the Sith. Your self-hatred...”

A leering smile came as he revealed the success of his intrusion.

“...your lust for your Padawan.”

Sage let that one sink in before striking again. It was simply too enjoyable to watch the man break before his eyes. He let the caress of his tenor seep into the Jedi Master's mind like a dark ooze.

Lose control. You know you want to. Come rend me to pieces. Rip my throat out. Make me suffer.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor held his blade and let it swing gently in his grip over the blossom, standing erect and strong, never letting his gaze move from the Sith. The sight of blood was welcome; Sage was nothing but flesh and blood – he was equal to Connor in every way.

Every way?

The Jedi mockingly lowered his head in gratitude as the words he’d heard before come from his bloodied lip, but his face dropped at the twist of the knife regarding Chastity. Before he could return fire, Sage moved – the crimson blade coming forward fast and hard, cutting through the air like his words.

Connor brought his blade up for a block, their feet dancing across the blossom as it swirled beneath them. A series of hits sparked their duelling weapons, and the taunt seeped into his head, making Connor hate his position even more. What did he feel for Chastity? It wasn’t just lust. Was it?

”Stay away from her!"

He arched back and span for a powerful swing, pushing his blade forward to clash with Sage, eyes burning into each other, brows furrowed in the stand-off.

”Don’t underestimate what I will do to you! I don’t care what happens to me as long as you feel the pain you caused Syala!"

[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

As Connor pressed his attack, his lightsaber slashing through the air, Sage pushed back, letting their blades hiss against each other. Although Sage moved like an acrobat, Connor's bulk gave him the advantage in pure physical strength. Sage's arms buckled under the pressure as if he were about to relent, his legs trembling. Gathering up the Force around him to bolster his speed, Sage gave one last push with his saber and then did a back handspring away, widening the distance between the two bladesmen.

A light wheeze pierced the air, the rigors of his chosen Ataru form winding the Sith Lord. His words came out in a breathless huff.

"Revenge for Syala would taste sweet, wouldn't it?" Sage laughed and deactivated his blade, clipping it to his belt. Time for the boys to stop hitting each other with sticks and let the real fun begin.

"You don't have to be turned to the Dark Side, Connor. You're already there. Aren't you tired of being shackled by the chains of the Jedi? Always being at odds with your own human desires? Your wants and needs put last after others have taken their fill?"

His chest rising and falling as he struggled to catch his breath, Sage extended his hand, fingers hooked in a claw shape. A thick, ropey tendril of the Force branched out in an attempt to latch onto Connor's life force, and like a leech, suck it right out of the man. If allowed to continue, Sage's Force drain would feed the Sith Lord with the Jedi's power while simultaneously siphoning it from Connor's body. Best of all, if successful, the attack would leave the Jedi Master exhausted and therefore vulnerable.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

A crack of a grin formed on Connor's face as he found himself pushing back Sage with each strike - the Force was a good tool, but the physical body it fed was even better. Light glinted from their sabers, and Connor scorched the grass below on the plateau as Sage bounded away. Wisps of smoke rose as Connor stalked sideways, noting the lack of energy from the Sith.

He sucked in the air and hesitated when Sage killed his crimson blade.

”You're going to regret what you did to her - you see that now."

Spinning his blade backwards in a cycle with his hand, limbering up to move in for more damage, Connor stopped and groaned gently, his brow knotting. The tendril of dark energy began to snake into the Jedi with the biting words of Sage - he spoke....no! Not the truth - he knew NOTHING of him!

In a silent gasp, Connor gritted his teeth and arched back, as if trying to push away the feeling of losing his Force connection.

Not again! No!

His knee giving way, blade kissing the blossom on the ground, Connor snapped his head up and clenched his fist and fell back to the sight of Sy in pain and being left for dead, and everything he could picture to take the head from the Sith's body that was draining him of his power.

”I am not shackled...! I AM the Silver Jedi!"

He let out a cry and did it for Syala and dear Chastity, and against what he had promised, his fingers burnt as he found that spark left by Darth Arcanix, and with the hatred for Sage and what he stood for, he pushed out with his left hand as a violent snap of Force Lightning erratically shot from his fingers. A conduit to the ground below, he curled his fingers out to control it as best he could.

The purple tendrils snapped towards Sage in a desperate, violent attack to show this was not a Jedi who played by the rules.

Forgive me, Taeli.

In control....in control.....


[member="Sage Bane"]

 

[Sage Bane]

Folding to his knee with exhaustion, Connor began to wither from Sage's drain. The Jedi Master's face was clenched in what seemed to be a mask of desperation, and he lashed out with a last ditch attack on the Sith Lord. The purple lightning of the Dark Side shot out of Connor's palm, hitting Sage squarely in the chest. Hairy, segmented legs flailed as branches of electricity crackled over the Sith Lord's Vonduun crab armor. The living armor was dead to the Force and absorbed most of the lightning without injury to Sage's body. The Sith Lord's face, however, was left unprotected by a Vonduun crab helm, a sacrifice for stronger mentalism skills. When the lightning snaked up his body and found his flesh and blood, it coursed through his face, lighting up his skull behind his skin, like an X-ray.

"Ggggnnnnnh!"

Sage's body seized up, back arched stiffly, as his exposed hands and face endured the painful lightning attack. Despite his anguish, the drain was not stopped. Contrarily, the lightning from Connor's attack was made of pure Force energy. It would allow even more Force power to fill Sage's reservoir, refreshing and strengthening him, while depleting the Jedi even further.

Once the current ran its course, Sage locked eyes with Connor again, his tentacles wriggling violently at his side. Although his face was crispy, his brown hair singed and falling out in patches, the Sith Lord's pale frame was filled to the brim with even more Dark Side energy. With an angry snarl, Sage outstretched his arm and used the overabundance of power to reach out to stike the Jedi with a devastating Mind Shard. If the presumably depleted Jedi did not have a defense for it, he would find his brain wracked with a pain so intense it would surely disable him, if not knock him unconscious.

[member="Connor Harrison"]