Weekend* Treasure Hunt 21: In Too Deep (open short story contest)

[Jorus Merrill]

Ooc:
Rules-

Suggested length 2000-7000 words.
Suggested duration two weeks from today. If you take a little longer, no sweat.
Effort>length.
Stories must NOT be non-canon. Feel free to use any of my characters if you see fit. Those events will remain canon for my characters.
Put a cumulative word count at the end of each post, and put The End at the end of your story.

Your protagonists must be out of their depth. Unbeatable threats, incredible challenges, cosmic horror, you name it.

As of now, this is an IC thread.

Go.

 

[Brooke Waters]

How long had it been since she had just done something for herself? Way too long. Leave it to her cousin to dump his problems on her. At least she had her own office number, so it wasn’t his conquests calling at all hours, wondering when he was going to be on X cruise or Y planet. Life wasn’t exactly hard for the half-Starchaser, but Token had so many things to do, that sometimes she just needed a break. She was part of the Seekers of the Rift, the… whatever group within the Primeval, and she had to tolerate and deal with Ryan Farnes as her representative to the Techno Union’s Executive Council. Marek had picked Ryan for a reason, so she let that slide. Besides, while he was a gorgeous man, sometimes she preferred to have Alana around.

Not for the reasons most would expect, though the blonde wouldn’t turn her down, but just having a woman to help with life like this? It was easier to be on the same page, mentally speaking. And that helped a lot. It made it even more easy to take this little trip. The Urban Witch had purchased a new ship, the Starlit Sea was replacing an aging Mon Cal ship. A beautiful ship, the Innesco yacht had all the creature comforts she could want and more. Today though, she wasn’t too concerned on what the ship had, she was heading out to Chroma Zed, where life was supposed to be a bit more relaxing.

The world had no overlying political leaning, and that was nice, maybe Bright Star could make a location there, maybe not. Right now though, she just wanted to get there.

The blonde had worked for Bright Star for a while now, being a Spacelane-runner, scanning for debris, hunting pirate traps and making sure that the liners could cross the paths they were supposed to without any issue. Sure, the ship she had flown for that was nice, but it wasn’t one for weapons and more for making itself known and out-running trouble, to the nearest Techno Union patrol. But now? She was making her way simply to the planet, an easy charter, simple course, and a weekend of staying somewhere nice and not having to worry about managing anything.

She couldn’t wait.

 

[Matsu Ike]

The Harlequin was going through space, the crew working hard as slowly Matsu sat in the observation dome with the holocron recovered from the jedi tomb. The work they were doing there with Ashin on the unknown world to recover anything they could had yielded this while she looked at the gatekeeper. A bull of a man and powerhouse within the jedi of old she was certain as the holographic room brought up the maps he was showing her. "When Ossus fell I was in charge of taking and hiding away the treasures of the jedi." She was looking at him while the thoughts went though her head of the different things displaying itself on the map before she relaxed a little.

They were heading in the new coordinates and she hadn't gone to that far off section of the galaxy... Well going to some of it sure but as her meditations were resounding Matsu let the force energies dance across her skin while she sat there in the center of the room. She allowed herself to enter a center of being while slowly and further from them they made a vertical hyperspace leap to get towards the hidden jedi vaults. They weren't going outwards but somewhere outside the main galactic disc while she was looking over it now in her mind and felt something for a moment. The force sending her a small vision as she deactivated the holocron feeling them leap.

The travel time was not something she was enjoying now but once they reached the strand of planets going from the galaxy to the other she watched and could see the beacons leading the way while now the anxious energy had her pacing. She couldn't sleep or meditate but standing there in the touched up and repaired robes Ulic had granted her. A token from his family and infused with the lightside of the force.... also she realized the man's family didn't need to breathe as these robes were tight in the chest area. She didn't need a sarashi wearing it. The light brown robes hugging while she finished securing the utility belt and the small circlet at her ankle.

The sensation of the anklet as it worked providing a thin layer shield over her made the recycled air see a little fresher then before, her hands brushing while she secured the armband that had worked to access the one vault. The final part was the robes she and Domino had found as the darker drown robes resonated with the lightsaber on the table now. Vima Sunrider's blade and her mothers robes cleaned and adjusted to fit her while she slid the collar of it up letting her shielding unit rest on her belt while she was looking over some of the things presented. Comlink and image caster, the new model toolkit as she was securing it on her wrists under the robe.

The whirring of the machines while she slid onto her thighs the tube casings in their special frame for grabbing and switching them out. Her hair in several tight braids able to be contained in a series of ribbons and set under the robes while the collar was up higher then normal as she finally got to the three blades. The first the saber disc blade with sleek blackened phrik casing and the distinct z shape as her hands went over the interlocking center securing it on her hip. Then the twin blades while she checked the one with its engraved electrum while she secured in on her hip and then the sunrider's blade with the baas' crystal humming within it while both were there in front on display.

She had her gear with a small combat knife in her boot while lacing it up while checking the gas levels within it, making sure the ejection system to launch it or release the gas into something she stabbed. With all of her attention on it as they were traveling she didn't notice the system they ended up in. Coming off of the string of worlds and into the unknown sections of the galaxy, her attention not on the worlds around her but more on that ship she couldn't really see in the distance. Orbiting the planet while she started to reach out and feel it in the force, it felt wrong and strange while they were moving into orbit of the world.

THe klaxon's blared on the ship while she was moving and getting down towards the bridge of the ship. Harmony was there and moving with her through the crew. "All hands are at battle ready positions, from the initial scans the ship ahead is warning anything off that the planet is contaminated." She knew that could mean anything but the feeling of wrongness came with the feeling of fear... fear in her body for the first time in a long time while she was moving towards it and the viewscreen displayed someone she had seen only in passing. It was a recording but the ship made sense now and given the holocron she had received from the woman on things.

"Ashin Varanin." The recording wouldn't be able to respond to her but if she was out here there were only so many reasons... One thought was she was trying to get something but the other was she was trying to protect from something.... Which given her being a wildcard at times usually had the jedi master moving towards the shuttle as she spoke. "Runs scans of the planet we will find her and I'll head down. Monitor my vitals and if they I want you to ensure this location and all traces of it are wiped as you are getting out of here and not returning understood." There were looks at her from the crew as they nodded and complied with her orders setting the location for the shuttle.

The quick drop down to the planet in the shuttle was a welcomed thing and she grabbed a few extra pieces of gear namely her satchel and glove. THe golden pieces glimmering at the crystal was there in her hand while she was slowly filling it on the way down. her small sigil glowing with the force energy before she was heading now towards an open area they were partially detecting human lifesigns. It wasn't a great looking place as the trees seemed fossilized and ancient, the grass while she was walking through it.. er body tense and at the ready while she was listening to the sounds all around her, the humming of the shields shields to protect it, the crunch underfoot of her boots on the grass and there was the scent in the air of amber and fear.

She didn't know what it was that was in the air while she was walking further searching and seeking with the force. For a moment there seemed to be a presence but then it disappeared almost detecting her. Given who might be down here she didn't doubt she knew how as the sounds of something large coming. There was the wrongness as she came to an edge of a cliff looking out upon a large ruin with a large ring that was glowing and pulsing purple. The sounds and feeling came to her when a large arm appeared with Matsu looking over it while crouching near a tree getting ready to head down when there was something.

The cracking of a branch and a hand on her shoulder before she turned her head with a hand on the saber. "Stand down Ike." There was a look and she was looking up at the woman standing there in a vest with her sword on her back. One of the few people she knew who actually did wield a large sword had Matsu nodding her head as she lowered her hand setting it on the ground while her eyes went back to the ring. "Is that a..." She was cut off when the woman spoke. "No not a hypergate like the gree made, an Infinity gate like the Kwa on Dathomir.... Stronger and serves the same purpose as these ones people learned."

She knew about the infinity gates but they were much like the hypergates, destroyed and not functioning since the system was mostly destroyed. She had her attention now though. "What did they do, this feeling in the air." Matsu was curious looking at the writhing creature's parts going through the ruins and the feeling in the air. "You know wht it is, where Rave and myself with others handled it being summoned the first time and then a second time... These ones weren't able to fight it back. There is more of the creature out of the portal and something is powering it." That Matsu could suspects as the infinity gates worked with the force while she knew the creature.

"Lotek'k." She said the name and the air seemed to shift while they were moving and jumping off the cliff towards the ruins. Matsu gliding with the force as Ashin seemed to drop like a stone but was cushioned by the force and the air seemed to thicker almost with the feeling of fear and there was the smell. It was getting to feel like a dangerous place even more while she started walking with the ex sith empress keeping her body ready to fight what creatures they might encounter as her attention was on the different things. That fear in the air had her pressing and trying to keep her mental shields strong even with the sigil that they both had.

The glowing necklaces on them matched as it seemed to be protecting them, mental barriers fortified but not perfect and this was a being that was from before anything they knew. Banished by who knew what from the galaxy and locked away only to be brought forth through hyperspace windows. They were heading inside as her eyes flicked to the stones while she was moving with her attention on the rock, it knocked the stone at them as Matsu dove to the side and her mental shield dropped for a moment letting a flood of emotion and anxiety come into her. Ashin was moving and clearing an open pathway for them as she climbed up kicking off the ground as she got inside the ruin.

She was moving with Ashin now, looking and they continued forward seeing parts of the ruins were covered in growing jungle. Area's where it hadn't seemed to die out but there was strange color in the trees outside the windows of the temple ruins Matsu noted while she held a hand up pulling at the ambient light to illuminate the area ahead. A personal flashlight while the wrist charric was ready to be used should anything come out of the shadows at them. Ashin seemed just as tense going forward with more attention on her hand clutching the saber while they entered a room opening it up into a larger chamber.

As soon as she entered the environment changed, the chamber becoming a black void around them and even Ashin was gone while fear washed over her and clung like tar to her body. It made her body move like syrup before she was looking over some of the things there. Feeling the fear there now though she wa looking at the sight of Ashin disappearing as she stood there with a man in a brimmed hat and she was looking over some of it. "Well this is a fine mess you got yourself into isn't it? Still wish you had stayed in that prison cell and not gotten let out?" There was a paling of her face and that was impressive with a pale jedi like her.

Looking at the man as he lifted his head she reached for her saber and it wasn't there on her waist while he was holding it in his hand. The blade of Vima Sunrider in his grip before she was moving to try and pull it back but nothing happened. The man's mastery of the white current something she knew all to well but also in making his enemies doubt themselves before she was moving now when he disappeared. Appearing behind her while he spoke. "Come on now you already know the answer." She was looking at him while moving around to stare with her body reacting and tensed up. "You're not really here, last I heard you had died."

"Yes that is true but you were afraid and there are only so many things a murderer fears. One is the executioner." She looked at him and had to really come to realize it, this wasn't some ghost of Je'gan summoned from the afterlife it was in her head talking to her. "Ah now you're getting it." He seemed to almost be smiling and she crossed her arms while the thoughts were going through her head. She was going to have to work on some of the things they had going but she didn't know what was happening and this was meant to delay them getting to the gate and shutting it off before she moved around a little.

"This is meant to keep us away from the gate, from turning it off." She was standing here talking with herself but it was a way to try and gain insight. Her sub conscious would allow her to do much as she was trying to find a solution to getting out of this mess and wondering what had been happening to Ashin or if she was in the same place... trapped in her mind. They needed to get out and Matsu was looking at Je'gan as the thought of facing her greatest fear was there in front of her or at least one of them while she didn't think she just be able to brute force her way out with the force. "Nope you let the fear in and now it has a hook in you."

"That is getting annoying." She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Don't tell me this is your head Ike. So how do you plan to get out of here?" That was the real question while she was thinking about it. "I am thinking finding a way to face and defeat my fear in you... though killing you won't do anything. If I could it would be simple... No I am thinking of facing this a smarter way to try and bypass the real pain of it all." That might be able to help and she could see the possible reaction on its face but there was nothing there as she moved and her body was loose again, able to move while she pushed the force into herself to calm her mind.

The force washed over her as she was listening to the force over the ones now slowly appearing ion her head. She had faced the real ghosts in the netherworld and dealt with her past sins when training and being taught by the five force priestesses during their trials. She had faced her hubris, seen her temptation of being with her love again and friends... even being adored for her action but that wasn't the jedi way. It was what she needed to do while she was moving forward now letting the past be behind her, the attentions she had now while she focused on the force energies allowing her will to drive out the fear with a scream.

It was like an ice pick was being driven in her skull as the blackness faded first to a harsh light and then slowly shapes started to take form around her. the Vines and the woman standing over her offering a hand as the fog over her vision cleared. A little before she was getting raised up back to her feet. "What happened?" Ashin was looking at her as the woman spoke. "You don't want to know." Her attention was on her though as she wondered what the ex sith empress had seen o if she had been ensnared by the fear creature. "We can't get up to the gate there is a large slot for a key."

Matsu waited until the ex sith empress was ready and then was moving as she held herself up moving through the ruins with the sun starting to filter in and dance with the vines that were over the things. Matsu came to an obstruction and started clearing it as she pushed energy into the stone around her and was shifting it. The sound of moving earth as below the earth jutted out to the side allowing the obstruction to slide down into the earth to give them an opening as she was controlling the earth shaping to keep the are secured as she walked across and motioned for Ashin to follow. A small smirk on her face as she looked out onto the jungle below them.

She kept going now and felt reinvigorated as she moved along the path and came out, a large central area with another structure below them in a crater almost. The rivulets of waters that were moving around directed before pooling into a moat almost then running out of three powerful and large holes to create a waterfall. running off into the jungle and valley outside it. She could hear it thundering while Matsu started moving quickly and securing a line for Ashin to take a sled down slower to be safe. She could fly if she slipped and was pushing the energies into the air around her before reaching the bottom.

Matsu hovered there and made the ending while she had it so Ashin could safely get down without obstruction and have a base area. She used the time for that to study what was there as she noted some images detailing jedi fighting. The destruction of the Cron cluster and a great deal more while she was looking up at the stairs leading to a statue. Beyond the sounds of water booming out of the holes there was silence and Matsu touched the steps as she looked up towards the symbol displayed before her. She couldn't make it out but started walking up the steps while she heard and felt that familiar sensation.

Out the corner of her eyes she was seeing the five masks for a moment before she lost sight of them and she was moving up the stairs. Her saber was at the ready in case she needed it to defend herself while she reached the top for a moment before she was looking down to see if Ashin had gotten there. She wasn't worried about the safety of her in this since it had been cleared and if the five were there they wouldn't hurt anyone. She knew they served far greater purposes while she was letting her energy flare out and was looking over the stone. She could feel the energy inside and it was covered in ornate writing.

She ran a hand over the words while they glowed just a little as she blew dust away from it and there was more power within it. Matsu walked around the stone as she searched for an opening and plunged her hand into a hole ignoring the bugs that were crawling over her armored arm and she found it. A lever as she gripped it for a moment and pulled it with the sound of grinding gears, the stone was going into the ground as she moved her hand coming out while she brushed some of the bugs off and went back to looking at the large opening that was revealed. Matsu grabbed the stone key and held it in her hands.

She wasn't certain what it was for but a temple in the unexplored sections of the galaxy detailing the destruction of the Cron cluster and she could feel the force energy within it while she was moving. Looking down at the bottom of the stairs towards Ashin as she slid the stone key into her pack with the roaring of something coming behind her. Matsu turned her head to look while there was something else that had been opened showing the outline of a large Leviathan roaring. Chains snapping with a stone slab being lifted up that had trapped it. She was almost blinded by the sun reflecting off the watery moat while she started moving.

"Ashin stay back." She wasn't certain what to really say, running would attract the creature since she would be moving and that would be dangerous as Matsu was moving now. Her energy flaring out before she was jumping up to spin and threw her z blade that activated with twin white lights slashing into the hide of the beast before it returned to her hand. The solari crystal activating with another white blade that glowed with the force energy before Matsu came down impacting on its back with the blade slamming and slicing into the blister pods. Matsu stood up and dug her heels in and started moving with her blade in its back.

She was thinking now, there was a brief moment in time between a leviathan like this waking up and being fully alert where it wouldn't be able to get moving. She needed to use this time to create an opening she could exploit while coming up to the creatures mouth slashing into its tendrils to sever it while she hooked the saber into an eye and brought it down and around to create a gash within its face. The damage seemed superficial as the creature was roaring and she felt it grab her, felt claws digging into the armor as it pierced getting into her shoulder with a warm sensation of blood running on her body in the armor.

Matsu ground her teeth to not scream but was hoping Ashin was safe and secured as she distracted the creature before curling up and deactivating her saber as it was eating her. Swallowing the petite jedi whole for a moment as she was in its mouth and slashing her z blade into the tongue and throat. he roars coming up as she could feel it moving and Matsu looking at the black gunk coming from the creature while her pack was on her shoulder and she dug into it with one hand withdrawing a small blade for last minute protection and when there was a thin membrane she stabbed it making a whole into the bile and blood filled cavity.

The creatures chest and body was huge still while she was being covered in blood and gunk but the jedi focused and breathed through the force. The air in her lungs could sustain her for a long while and with practice she had been able to go days even weeks on a single breath. Now she was focused and used the force to guide her through as the sabers deactivated and Matsu was in an empty cavity for a moment. She could hear the pounding of the creatures heart louder and faster then ever trying to pump blood and keep up with the lose that had happened from the injuries. Matsu gripped with her sabers a rib getting a scream.

The sound tore through her and reverberated through the creatures body for a moment while she shook her head and her hair was clinging to her face. With no way to wipe it she heard the sounds of the creatures heart and could see it over gunk covered eyes. Matsu started climbing up the creature from the inside as she plunged the knife into the heart and felt a fresh wash of blood coming over her face. Matsu kept her eyes closed as her blade hooked in to lift her up with one arm before she grabbed a flap that was moving. Matsu gripped the heart more as she almost crawling into the heart and was slashing it to get a death gurgle.

She couldn't feel life in the beast but was still trapped inside as she crawled slicing and cutting her way out of the chest cavity and squeezing through some ribs while she was moving out. The jedi breathed in greedily the fresher air as she let out a gasp. The sour air in her lungs being expelled as she plopped down out of the leviathan's chest and saw it had moved a little. She could feel Ashin was there and she even had her equipment pack as she laid on the ground laughing to herself. She was pack up on the raised structure while she looked at some of the creature sprawled across the stairs.

Matsu didn't try to move at first but she was looking at some of the things in the sky while silver wisps came around her vision before she was moving a little bit and tired. She had said there was nothing to worry about and that was true, she had made enough noise though that Ashin should know it was safe before coming back as Matsu rolled over and was looking at boots. Her mind foggy for a moment while she was looking up at one of the jedi who she had trained when she was younger. The small atrisian girl who had been wanting to learn how to use a double bladed saber and art of movement. She could hear her speaking.

There was a look on her face and Matsu recognized her from the realm beyond shadows as one of the ones she had failed to protect. She was leaning down and speaking as the jedi listened and tried to focus. "Oh pitiful shadow lost in the darkness, bringing torment and pain to others. Oh damned soul, wallowing in your sin... Perhaps... it is time to die." Matsu clenched her fist at that and refused, she was many things but not going to quit and curl up to die as some seemed to want her to. Her own insecurities coming to the surface while she was crawling little by little to her feet and coughing up blood that wasn't her own.

The fear hung heavy in the air making everything seem tiring and exhausting, her movements laced with the energy expended to try and keep the fear from creeping in again. Her body moving now while Ashin seemed to have been doing more then she had thought. There were other things here, almost like large bugs with armor that had become different weapons which had the jedi master wheezing a little before she was moving now with her hands on her sabers. The blades activating as she could see more of the charon coming out of the ruins across from them. Ashin was a tank and her sword cleaved one in half as Matsu moved.

Letting the force guide her movements while she was slicing through it, the stone key in her back and Ashin almost back to back with her blades slicing into one of them as Matsu went to that place with her brain shutting off. For the moment she wasn't facing dangerous beasts she was in the moment allowing the force to move and guide her hands over her brain thinking it over and slowing her reaction times. They were moving back towards the large stone doorway that needed the key Ashin had found while Matsu surged forward with one blade slashing into a leg while the other stuck out with her body corkscrewing to slash more into them.

Her foot touched the ground before she was still moving with the force, the motion important and keeping her ground into the speed of it all. The power of the force emanating from her sigil before once again she jumped boot coming up behind the blade as she cleave with the woman behind her. The claymore catching under her boots as Ashin pushed her up higher into the air over one of the charon slicing off a section of his head. They were making their way back and up the pathways while the creatures poured through. Matsu deactivating on of the blade while she threw it and the twin white blades activated with a snap hiss.

She kept the blades attached for a moment before she detached them and both her and ashin went up the middle while the sabers sliced and cleaved through the pathways above them. Keeping them protected and cleared for them before Matsu rolled and Ashin used her like a ramp to launch into the air letting black tendrils of lightning escape her hands before Matsu came up following suit. Purple pink electric judgement arcing out of her gloved hand as it stunned for the kill from Ashin before her claymore cleaved and batted them away. Matsu sent a wave of force energy into the walkway launching them up towards her blade until they entered the ruins.

The disc blade came back to her hand as she caught it and set it back on her hip allowing more energy to come out while she was running with Ashin back towards the large door with the sound of a thousand clawed feet on the stone. Ashin led the charge breaking through a wall with the force almost making a distorted shell of armor it looked like when she lept up grounding herself. For a moment becoming an immovable object of a tank and an unstoppable force with force speed guiding her movement. Then there was a crash and dust was heavy in the air while Ashin rolled making a Charon explode from her impact.

The woman rolled on the ground and popped up in a fluid motion as Matsu followed an it was her turned leaping up with the force as she flew high pulling Ashin and letting jets of flame propel from her just a jump onto the roof of the chamber they had started in. Getting up higher while both of them rolled Matsu brought her saber up slashing a spear from a charon as Ashin smashed into the room. With all the excitement of the battle now they were moving down into the hole Matsu tossing the key to Ashin as the woman ran towards the doorway slapping the key in and getting the ancient gears to turn and open.

With the grinding of stone on stone while they stood there and waited for it to get down far enough to get through and grab the key. Before they could get up to them and through Matsu lept as Ashin followed grabbing the key and leaving it to be smashed in the stone or hold it as they had a moment of repreave to be careful and relax... Well not relax but she was moving now with Ashin and the sense of fear was far stronger before she was moving with her attention on the pulsing and humming of energy that came from them. She didn't want to deal with the danger of destroying a gate but they needed to get it off first as the two went running.

Matsu then saw it, the large creature and all of its horrendous look while she was looking at Ashin as the two prepared to face the massive creature. "If you can distract it I can get to those control crystals and deactivate the gate. We'll be able to at least sever part of it from wherever it is coming from and that will hurt it." There was a look of agreement was there while Ashin went off to fight the massive beast or distract it at least long enough to shut down the gate down while Matsu was moving. The lightside of the force feeling very small with all of this darkness around but the robes were there as she activated the energy shield and took to the air to the side of the gate.

She as moving and this close to the gate Matsu could feel the creature and her hands were working on the force to try and deactivate it as she could feel it and understand. It was tied into the death of everything here that had been killed and whatever there was she couldn't just deactivate it as she had planned. Trying to remember how best to handle it while her body was fighting to maintain its control, the fear was like a thick ocean wanting to simply crush her but she could still move while focusing the force energies into her hands while she pushed to create tiny balls of kinetite. Their forms of compressed kinetic energy distorting the area above her palms.

Matsu raised her hands as she brought them down, the balls of energy smashing into the ring as the first smash cracked it and then slowly it was bending inwards. There were screams from the creature while it was fighting Ashin off to the side and Matsu kept it up. Raising her arms again to direct it down and into the ring until it pierced it and she held the glove out. Palm open with massive amount of force energy leaking out in lashes almost like a solar flare. Matsu started absorbing it as it touched the glove with her force letting the crystal charge up in one hand while the other created a large ball of Kinetite above her.

The larger ball she smashed down while the gate seemed to shudder and then there was a blast as she felt the force move into the center first with an intense pull towards the center of the ring and then it was pushing back hard. Matsu was preparing to be smashed against a wall as Ashin grabbed her and went down towards the ground as she seemed to glow with force barrier and had them both withstanding the blast. The infinity gate detonating in a force explosion that ripped and she could feel obliterating the charon while the wormhole to wherever it was vanished as Matsu grabbed Ashin and pushed the force energy from the battery in her and what she could into her.

The barrier shimmered and the more energy kept it strong as the blast she thought was reading like a supernova until it was over and everything was silent. Ashin standing above her while they looked at each other and rose up seeing the ruins were obliterated as well as everything else around them before she was walking and limping. The gateway destroyed and the two of them limping away as Matsu looked at the thing twitching. "It isn't still alive is it?" She didn't know what the woman was going to say but she felt a hand on her shoulder slapping it. "We'll nuke it from orbit, only way to be sure it and the other things are completely dead."

Well that sounded like a plan and going back towards the shuttle the sensation of fear was gone at least for now. "Well I suppose whatever was in the map was lost, what was it that brought you all the way out here?" Now Ashin made sure she was sitting on the ramp of her shuttle before moving and using her sword like a walking stick. "Oh you know exploring, saving the day and finding new things or people to fight.... Still none as good as Darron Wraith." That got a small chuckle from her while she was to sore to move now laying back. "I'll just be right here, wake me when we get back to the ship."

Ashin wasn't coming with her but the human replica droid managed to get her in as the two shuttles evacuated the planet and targeted the ruins launching tactical strikes on what remained of the terror from beyond. Matsu saying goodbye to Ashin while she laid there in the room looking things over and watching her vitals while Ashin departed in her ship letting the two ships pass in the galaxy exploring the different and dangerous routes while Matsu was heading off towards another set of coordinates to try and find what she could.The holocrons and maps she had managed to unlock and have worth what danger both known and unknown were out here.

THE END​

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Number of words: 6064

Note: During this adventure, Spencer Jacobs the great and awesome was on the ship protecting Ashin from the dangers of near expired cake

 

[Matreya]

Damien stared out of the port window of the Yacht he found himself being transported in. It was a boring journey, as well as one that took longer than he wished. If it was a straight line from point A to B, it would have taken a third the time that it had thus far.

Yet he had decided upon public transportation to attempt a chance at going unnoticed. Having recently been promoted to Master-hood, Damien had felt that something befitting the rank was in order! Though nothing immediately came to mind, eventually an idea had formed. He could go on a vacation, see some sights, as well as not have any kind of real threats for just a few days!

Sith turned Primeval, he was always at threat. Either in the form of others claiming him a traitor or even the Mandalorians which had long claimed him dar'manda. Yet he fought each threat that came his way, never backing down, nor giving up. Since there was the constant action, he felt it was something he deserved!

Thus he was on his way to Felusia, where supposedly he had won a weekend at a resort. It had seemed odd that he had not entered a contest, but the timing was perfect! He was on the way before he had given it much thought.

When the ship landed, Damien was one of the last to embark off the ship. With a bag thrown over his shoulder, a case that he drug behind himself, and his scarlet cloak wrapped about himself, he looked around his surroundings. It was a white platform with a large hangar ahead. Passing through, one would find that there were multiple doors along each wall that led to other places, but none were ones Damien wished to go to.

Seeing a man with a large holomessage above his head that read, 'Daemos', Damien went to him and smiled, "I guess your looking for me! Let's head out."

The Twi'lek nodded, bowed low, and took the case that Damien drug behind himself. Both then walked through the main exit that led from the building. Once in the open air again, the Ancient Sith took a deep inhale of the aromatic air that was Felusia.

He had only been here twice before, and neither time had ever been of any extraordinary length. If it had been less of a skirmish and more of a leisurely time, he may of noticed that the planet was extremely beautiful.

They headed for a nearby shuttle landing pad, where they found one such ship. It was large and round, with wings from the front as well as the rear. In essence it seemed like a quadraped bird of some sort. But against the back were 4 large thrusters, along the front was the larger viewport, and on the side was a sliding door to reveal the interior of the craft.

Climbing aboard with a glance at the interior, Damien sat in the lush seat found near the opposite window. With red leather, and polished silver trim, the ship had an oddly attractive space within. This thought traveled through his head as he clipped the belt ends together, in a cross intersection across his chest. The straps to were red, though of a much tougher fabric.

For a ship that seemed beautifully crafted, its engine took a long time to reach fully active status. But once it did the lift off began, and Damien relaxed against the rocking and jutting of the craft. Had he not been buckled to his seat, he quite possibly could have bounced from the space!

"Quite the pilot.." Damien muttered, before realizing that he was alone in the cabin.

Turning his head to the window he watched as the landscape began to fall away as their height rose. It was always an interesting feeling to watch everything around him grow smaller, as if he were hit with a growth ray that would inevitably raise him to ground breaking proportions!

Then with a slow start the scene beyond the window began to pass by, swiftly then after turning to a blur. With the Force enhancing his vision such seemed still as detailed as he wished, but for the time being he was okay with seeing the world around him as a swirling mass of color!

His thoughts began to swirl and whirl like those colors, and it surprised him to feel a sudden realization strike him! The man had named him by his Sith title...he was supposed to have known him by his true name...

Damien felt his hands tighten against the arm rest; why was someone here to take him up? Where was their destination? If someone went to this trouble, in giving him transport and the resort ticket, what did they have planned?

Glancing to the side, he eyed the Spirits that were murmuring cautions to the man. They sensed, witnessed, and knew of the dangers posed to their Master. If he died, their connections would be severed, yet they knew better than to turn on Damien.

He could easily drain them until they withered away, their place in the living world officially gone!

Go. Observe the pilot, then return to me! Damien whispered to the Spirits nearby. Three of which broke from the group and floated to the front, and passed through the door to the cockpit.

Damien pondered his situation. At the moment, he could face trouble. With no weapons, Damien would need to rely on the Force and his own martial skill to best anyone that would oppose him. It could be done, but that mostly depended on the size or type of enemies!

The Spirits quickly returned, their haunted echoes calling to his senses, "Master, they will take you to a warehouse hidden in the forests, where they plan to overwhelm you. Your life will he forfeit unless you leave now!"

Unbuckling his belt, Damien wasted no time in rising to his feet and heading for the escape hatch. Pausing a moment, he gathered energy from the Force, rose a hand then obliterated a large portion of the roof - while simultaneously pushing the emergency open button. Jerked free of his footing, he was thrown into the open wind!

Free falling was a talent he had, but one he wished to have had more time training in. As he cast his gaze over his shoulder, he watched the ship he vacated begin to descend swiftly with a smoke trail following it. Turning his gaze back to his own fall, he noticed in the distance was the warehouse he had been warned of! Spreading his limbs wide, he did his best to control the speed and direction of his ride to the ground.

Massive plant life loomed below, and he quickly calculated that one that appeared as if a massive lily pad could potentially be his best bet for safe landing. Angling his nose down, he beemed for the soft foliage as he flew hard and true. With wind whipping at his hair, nearly blinding him, and even tearing his cloak that billowed behind him, he felt utterly disheveled.

At the last moment, Damien performed a powerful trick, both a swift telekinetic updraft below himself, alongside a swift jerk down on the lilypad he was to land on - if it had a slight bounce to it already, the landing would be far less! Rolling to his back, Damien slammed into the leaf with a jarring yet non lethal blow. However he miscalculated, in moving the leaf he had managed to make it that much easier for him to roll off.

Plummeting the last 13 yards, he slammed into the ground with a hard crunch again. With the wind knocked out of his lungs, stars drifted in to warp his vision. His ears pounded with each pump of blood through his body, and his teeth clenched tight. It was a dully noted trip, one worthy of remembrance!

Little did he know though it was far from over! As he lay there trying to get his faculties returned, he began to hear dull humming noises in the distance.

His mind numbly recognized the sound, and tried to put them to an object....

...speeders! Someone was approaching quickly, and by the sounds of it there were more than one! As well they were coming from the direction of the warehouse!!

Rolling over slowly, Damien pushed himself to his knees against the fog that enveloped his senses. He coughed, then gasped against the pain in his body. Instantly he realized his body would need a moment to breathe, but it was one he did not seem to have! Thus his next step was pumping the Force through his body, making the pain seem non existent.

Moving next to his knees, he noticed the sound of the speeders were almost upon him. Throwing himself to his feet, Damien reached out and swiftly began to scale the nearest plant. It was some form of Venus flytrap, so he could not rise to the very top, but using it for leverage was easily the best bet.

Crouching down once he hit the top most leaf, he stared down as a group of a dozen or more men slowed then stopped their engines. One man swung his leg free of the bike and checked the ground where his slamming down had dented the surface. He called out to the others that Damien was nearby, to check for him in all directions.

Immediately one man looked skyward, as if sensing Damien...

It was at this point Damien noticed none carried blasters or ranged weapons of any kind, which dawned the likelihood that they were all Force adept of some kind! Reaching a slight tendril of his essence into the Force, he began to check the power of each down below....

Most were Knight level or above! He was in trouble! Ducking back, Damien hid from sight. Practically snarling, Damien cursed his luck. He had not a lightsaber nor Tantibus to aid him! No Betty Blasters, Scatterguns, Slugthrowers - nothing to aid in this fight.

Against so many this was also a battle of deadly proportions. Even one at a time would eventually cause Damien to tire and therefore make a mistake!

But what could he do....? The answer was obvious, he needed to stay stealthy, and in the height of the foliage! So with a talent among those of the Art of the Small, Damien lowered his Force signature until it was nigh invisible to detection. Next, he began to look about himself, plotting a course as he went.

There were enough plants of the same height as his current placement, or near that, that a simple leap would allow him to move on. So he picked a nearby mushroom like plant, paused to breath deep, then raced towards the end of the leaf where he leapt through the air like grasshopper.

Landing mid sliding motion, Damien sighed with relief. He was clear of detection this far...

Suddenly the mushroom beneath him was ablaze! They had seen him move! With a combined effort, so as to not weaken any one individual more then necessary, they were using the Force to keep the plant lit with blazing white flames.

Jerking around, Damien charged for the rim, and sailed to the next plant. As his form was moving through the air multiple bolts of lightning singed the air around him. Luckily none touched his person. Realizing the power he held would to need be used, he ceased the Art of the Small, to let his full power flow in his blood. It was a notable power, having grown even more since Knighthood.

He was not quite used to such, so knew not the extent that he could wield!

But now, atop a plant of a coniferous species, he balanced on a branch that held needles the size of small people. Which turned out to be a bad idea. The next plan of his opponents was to use these needles, by yanking them free of their housing, to launch at Damien like spears! Luckily a simple Force Barrier stopped many that were close enough to wound him if given the chance.

Quickly glancing around he spotted another lily pad like plant, with a deformity! Its stalk was intensely small, the entirety of the plant being so heavy that it leaned to the side. Focusing on the base of said plant, Damien set his own white hot pyre to the poor thing. Using his Spirits to back him, he burned through until it began to fall. With a powerful telekinetic throw, the plant was shoved towards the enemy.

Without pausing to see how many were wounded, Damien began to charge again from plant to plant in attempts to escape!

================================================================

Word Count:2140

 

[Mythos]

Darth Mythos Vs. Darth Bane

Back in Apartos I had been victorious, i had won my battle against the Massasi holding the gates in Javin and i arrived here... This Cortosis Mining world that no one even remembers existed at all. ... Here i am forever doomed to wander eternally and forever. It is here that my penance lies and it is here that my penance must be payed. For all the countless lives i have taken my Power must now be hidden away in shame...

This was Apatros... and in here there was no hope for the living and Death did not seem too bad. Living in Apatros if you could call it that, was as Harsh and as unforgiving as any living being can sustain, the closest thing to a Living Hell other than constant torture of the Vong. The very air was Toxic and the Stench of Death, but this Story does not take place in Apatros, Apatros would seem hospitable compared to the wastes that surrounded it, there was only One Colony in this planet, and for good reason, the outskirts were devoid of life and water, No Being could survive there for Long... Except for one Legend they called, The Ghost of Apatros, a Man or a Monster who took the form of a man wandering the wastes of Apatros for time immemorial, the story had grown into a folk tale with the passing of the centuries.
The Assassins are all dead, the One Sith is a Memory few even remain... the time of woe is upon the entire galaxy as an army of light fought a desperate war against the Order of Sith Lords who wiped out all who stood before them. Time was paradox as the Final Battle was waged and the Emperor blasted the Gates of Chaos releasing everything that was inside. After defeating the wave of Conquerors were swept aside by the Legions of Chaos the Emperor himself was killed and there was no one who would close the Portal to Chaos, All the Sith Lords of Mythos' Youth were now Dead, from his Master to ever apprentice he had. Apatros was still a Cortosis mining World, here time never changed, the stories of Sith Lords coming back from the dead did reach but were treated as Such, Apatros was owned by the Republic and was a massive recruitment ground for Republic Soldiers to travel the world.

Exar Khun had returned, and the Massassi were cleansing the Galaxy. Mythos had been able to escaped by was weighed down by his many years in exile and rigorous self training before Atrisia was destroyed. Mythos lived there alone, his appearance nothing Anyone would ever recognize considering he was once blessed with Eternal Youth.

Without prior injustices committed Mythos soon went into hiding from the republic for being a Sith and from the Sith for being Heretic and his face was plastered in every Bounty Bill under Sith and Sith Allied Territories as one of the Last Remaining Sith Lord of the Old Order and a Price on his head big enough to buy a Star Destroyer.

He had been relatively safe through all this time in Apatros, the place was as safe as a Toxic Pile of Cortosis could ever be, the hostile Miners and Patrons of Apatros kept the people from venturing here for not very much, people died by the truckloads every day here in the small Mining Capital of Apatros... but not Mythos, Mythos was a survivor. He did not live in an apartment, or in any of the Living Stations of Apatros but instead he lived next to the Shuttles Connecting the mines, he worked and ate there on his own surviving how he could... Honing his skills every day in secrecy... he knew his Time was short before some of the more Powerful Sith Lords came looking for him. This day was such a day. The Cortosis Mines were mostly Empty as Mythos walked through the Desolate wastelands surrounding the single Colony in the entire planet, no one would think to live in these wastelands because nothing here was thought to be capable of surviving. Sand and Dust for miles with the Color of Metallic Gray sediment shed over from the thousands of years of Cortosis mining that every single war in Galactic history needed and fought over, the Republic controlled Apatros for the many Centuries that Mythos Lived in it's outer surface, the Darkside consuming him, but his skills and power never decreasing, it was this day he saw a Figure in the sand. Covered in head to toe in a terrifying armor. So Many years alone in the sand had not made Mythos one bit Insane, he had claimed his Sanity, with more power. Wielding the Lightsaber he had for all his life, Pride, as the Shoto, Myth, was destroyed so long ago he could not remember.

Bane didn't say a word, but stood in the sand as Mythos approached not seeming to notice his presence but instead locking his eyes with the ancient dark Lord who stood before him. The Orbalisk armor becoming more and more detailed in sight until only a few yards stood between them, they had consumed him, entirely, giving his body the Look of a disgusting monster... But Mythos knew what those things were.

Bane took two steps to Mythos in Unison to himself and then they stood apart. The wind blew the Sand around them as Mythos looked through bane as if he had never existed at all. "Why are you Here Bane?" Mythos' voice was weary, he asked out of pure sarcasm, he knew why he was here, he knew that Bane was part of the Brother Hood of Darkness and it was him that systematically destroyed the Remnants of the One Sith and was now hunting down every remaining survivor. He was here to Kill him. Of Course. "You know why i am here Mythos, it is funny you chose Apatros to hide, did you really think i would never find you?" Mythos looked at him as Bane let out a sly evil grin that only let Mythos know of his overconfidence in the Orbalisk Armor. Mythos just Stared at him and ignited his Lightsaber without giving so much of a single emotional reaction from his Old, Aged Face.... As f he had faced a thousand years and more... and he had. "I Just wanted to make sure that you Died in the exact same Worthless Backwater Slime world that you and your father were born... Bane" He spoke the Name and shot him a Smile which bane lunged forward in a raging power to Snuff out. Overhand Two handed Strike filled with all the Anger and Rage of Thousands of Years being Dead... How predictable.

Mythos sidestepped out of the way as his lightsaber cut through air and nothing more, Bane turned his Hips and executed a Sideswipe at the Hips which Mythos riposted with Makashi still giving no Facial expressions but fueled by the Hatred of his old order being destroyed... He had been waiting for this moment... Vengeance or Death, either way it would be all over. Their sabers quickly met when Mythos entered with Shi Cho and blasted Bane in his Exposed Shoulder clashing with an Orbalisk, Bane immediately send his saber in a thrust to Mythos midsection only to tear at Cloth and meet his Songsteel armor. "You are not the only one with Tricks... Bane" His death toned voice was followed by a fist to his face encased in a Gauntlet of Alchemized Ebon Wood that smashed the Orbalisk protection his face had and dug the Orbalisk shards into his face sending him back. Bane widened his stance and used the pain of the attack and fueled himself with the Orbalisk armor, the Insect creatures, injecting their power into his blood stream increasing his power Ten Fold.

Mythos found himself in the air before he could move in for a next attack, his neck bound in a noose of the force, in an Unbreakable force Choke of darkness that sucked the very essence from his being as well as his Air. "This Farce has Gone on For Long Enough Mythos! Now You Die!" The Noose Tightened as the Dark Lord closed his hand/ Mythos was fading out but he still had his Will, He was Still a Lord of the Sith, and he was not about to Die Here while he still had strength. Before Bane sapped his neck with one more Pulse of the Force, Mythos reached out with his hand and Used a massive Force Crush to kill a Small Orbalisk between his Shoulder and his right chest. When an Orbalisk Died, the poison it secreted into the users body was akin to the most Toxic poison in the Galaxy, Bane broke his hold as the pulse of Venom entered his veins, That was the weakness of that damned armor, that is why Mythos refused along with many of his Fellow Sith to let even a single insect of those on his skin... he didn't need them. He had learned long ago that such things were of minor consequence, that true power lied within the force and withing ones self, not within Armor or Items.

As Bane Reeled back Mythos recovered and caught his breath, Bane screamed in pain as he ripped out the Orbalisk but Mythos was Quicker, Blasting him With Force Lightning and as he reeled back Mythos advanced forward angling his blade for the perfect thrust. Bane Swung his lightsaber desperately as he clutched his face scarred by the Force Lightning Mythos unleashed from his right hand, but it was not avail or defense for the speed Mythos unleashed in his dash aided by Force Enhancement, again their sabers clashed this time Mythos leading the assault but Bane quickly got his bearing and countered back. The Song of light and Sabers was heard again in the Sands of Apatros neither one seeming to have the upper hand but for someone trained in the art Mythos was Clearly in the better position with his feet angled perfectly the way,He wanted while Bane was forced to retreat back further and further with every passing. Once thier blades clashed against one another mythos bent his knees and kicked out with his Power Boot getting his stance and Bane once it by the boot recovered and came crashing down with an over hand sliced using both hands. Mythos angled his blade for the perfect angle, the Perfect thrust, the Attack that he had been planning for for a hundred years... The fateful thrust slammed into the broken face protection in Banes' face and the Ancient Sith lord Dropped motionless in the floor, his body jerking in spasms after the impact. Mythos held the position and jerked the saber viciously igniting the Symbol of house Chaf, a House who was now dust in memory from the onslaught of the brotherhood... the saber exploded the brain of the Sith lord who died now for a second time and Mythos slowly leaned back and shut off his saber, using his telekinesis to take the Saber of Darth Bane into his hand clipping into his belt.

Mythos showed no emotion in his old Face, scarred by everything his centuries old body had seen, he just blinked and wiped his tattered robe off dusting it off and passing his hand through his white beard stepping through the Body of Bane and on through the Sands of Apatros... to keep walking for eternity, to see if another Sith Lord would dare come before Mythos ever Again, until then... He would be the Old Lord of the Gray Sands... the Ghost of Apatros... So the Legend lived on for another time, so the Spirit of the One Sith that Remained after all those fallen Centuries was still there, in the Sands of apatros... Long ago, in a Galaxy Far Far away.

THE END....
(2003 words)
Hope you guys like it !​

 

[Brooke Waters]

The ship had landed and the young CEO had stepped from it, hurried into a waiting airspeeder that would take her to the hotel. That bit was boring, she could stay in her ship, but nope, she wanted to see how the other half of the galaxy lived, and instead of renting private dockage in a select location on Chroma Zed. Nope, she was taking her time, and her money and going to stay somewhere fancy that she didn’t need to care for. But that wasn’t the whole point and purpose of the trip. That was why we’re going to glaze over the fact that Token went up, took a shower, called in some room service and took a nap on a bed that was a dozen times more comfortable than hers in the Starlit Sea. Not for long. She’d buy one.

Still, that nap definitely turned into sleeping. Her com was shut off, and Alana and Ryan were just going to have to deal with running the company without her for a few days. If they really needed her, they knew how to get ahold of her, or they could go talk to him. She had seen him living in one of the long-term resort suites, it was under a false name. One of the personnel that the Tion Hegemony had snuck into her organization when Marek ran it was easy enough to turn, he was pretty, she was pretty, she was also amoral when it came to turning people to be her own. Manipulative, sometimes.

When she wasn’t busy cuddling space pandas.

But anyway, the next morning the blonde had suited up, typical, bikini, knife on a belt, short wetsuit, a day of exploration of some caverns. She was a part of the Riftwalkers and a Riftsinger meant that she had to do things that… well, she didn’t quite know, but when she went to the job fair, well, she was sorted.

She was fairly sure there was a talking hat.

Hufflepuff!

There was a mountain pass she wanted to check out, a waterfall, and something that may be a rumor, but she wanted to check it out.

385+361 = 746

 

[Matreya]

While fleeing, Damien was thoroughly surprised to be cut off just before making a leap to the next plant. A man had flown up before him, a lightsaber in each hand, and a billowing cloak around his shoulders. Slicing through the air towards his face and torso, Damien instantly dropped to his back. The moment he felt surface, he used a Force enhanced kick to send the other into the air.

Expecting that to be the end of it, he placed his hands above his head on the petal of the large flower, and threw his legs up and over, effectively changing from his back to a hand stand then back to his feet. After righting his form, he glanced ahead and saw the man on the tree opposite himself. It appeared that he had used telekinesis to carry himself backwards once the kick struck his chest.

"What do you want with me!?" Damien demanded, the Force carrying his words across the distance.

"You have made some people angry, and we of the Serpent Panel were hired to take care of you." The other called back. Though he was strong, it would seem he wasn't the most versed in the Force, else the words need not have been shouted.

Damien sneered, "The Serpent Panel?? Sounds like some Saturday morning cartoon villains!" He muttered but readied himself for battle.

Just then however, to his right appeared a trio as they jumped onto a nearby plant, and he quickly realized he was being surrounded! Choosing flight over fight, Damien leapt for the edge of the flower, and dove for the ground below. Catching a leaf close to the bottom, he was relieved to not need the Force's aid to slow his descent.

Boots on the ground, Damien charged ahead the way he came, not even pausing to see the way the others fell down. It would seem thus far that through collaborative efforts, the team chasing him expended little of their solo energies to achieve what ever actions were needed.

Racing through the minor deciduous and other plant life found closer to the ground, Damien dodged left, then right, then back again. Serpentine style was the optimal path to flee, as without needing be said, bolts of lightning and other manifestations of the Force were amassing destruction around him on a great level. Effectively without effort Damien was the cause of something that could inevitably be noticed by planetary government.

Soon enough, without a real plan to escape, Damien would face death. He was well more than three dozen miles from the nearest docking station, the one he began at, as well he was hardly familiar with this planet!

Thus he changed tactics and spun around, an arm outstretched that shot fire at a severe rate. Instantly the scenery was even more of a pyre, spreading swiftly from plant to plant. He could hardly see through the smoke and crimson blaze, so knew the same was for those that gave chase. Though it did not stop all, such a fire stopped a few. When he resumed running, only a few attacks came his way.

This time though, he planned to end the chase.

Watching as a massive stalk came close on his left, he swiftly ducked behind it to hide. Pressing tight against the biological wall, Damien awaited the approaching thuds of foot steps...

Thud, thud, thud, thudthudthudthud, they were upon him!

Turning from his place in the shadows, Damien unleashed his full mental prowess upon the trio nearest him with absolute silence. One man noticed him, but was shut up before he could warn the others - Damien already had seized the mans mind and was working on the other.

With the strength of a true mentalist, Damien gripped the intellect of each in turn, and used Mnemotherapy swiftly to visualize himself in their memories before erasing all that could be found. Effectively they were now no longer a threat, while the others were a separate matter. With his last motion to these few, he set them to sleep.

Just then, as he was about to lunge in to grab the next closest, the sounds of the fire behind faded. They had extinguished the fire!!

Realizing now that he had wasted time and energy, he once more raced for the nearest flower and scaled it again. Pausing at the top, he gathered his thoughts, and nearly growled. The effort to erase himself from those few, it was a waste!!

With a few moments of truly being able to hide, he now had time to think....

...and nearly roared with laughter! The sheer idiocy! He had forgotten that those chasing him had shown on speeders!

Reaching out with the Force, Damien began his plan. He made a large thump in the distance, by drop a leaf from a medium sized plant. Instantly the group that had regathered, charged in that direction.

Once more enacting his previous stealth through Art of the Small, Damien began to trek back the way he came. Instead of largely moving as he had when fleeing, he moved with a slow but sure pace. He would not slip up and be seen again!

Back he moved, over the still slightly burning foliage that he and the others had set ablaze. Each one would forever hold that mark of devastation, char along the bases and even up to the tip of the top on others! Even being the evil essence that he was, this was outright cruel to the man! How could they, no, how could he have done this!?

Killing men to achieve a greater sense of fulfilment, or to protect something, this was acceptable! Even warring to achieve peace, that to was a worthy cause! But outright, plain and simple devastation, it was sickening!

Past the battlefield of massive spear like needles he moved. It astounded him then, that so much could happen in so short a time. As well that he could survive such an onslaught! Luck was the largest factor in that final mark.

Next came the mushroom he had first been spotted at, and he recognized it for the very same place, so he would be able to find the speeders soon enough! Continuing along with the same careful pace, he was soon enough climbing down the original fly trap plant.

There to the far side of the area he found himself, was several dozen speeders side by side. Picking one at random, he gunned the engine, turned west of the previous direction he had been moving towards, and raced away from the scene of the crime. He would take a long time going out of his way to make an arc back around towards the shuttle bays that let him leave the planet.

THE END​

Final Word Count: 3270

(Just for note, I mentioned coniferous plants that may not be canon on Felucia, but I did so to add a potential wow factor. Maybe there are things that have gone unseen on a planet of such spectacular life forms.

Also, my story may seem to build up to such a feeble climax, but that is what I sought! A story that could be enjoyed, if read, but that could leave a person wondering how else things could have ended!)

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Brooke Waters]

Token Waters was a woman whose mind was sometimes fractured. Was it really, or did the girl just like to play pretend? The jury was still out on that. What the jury was not out on was that Token was a witch, but she was a very urbanized, metropolitan witch. Still, this was a world where there was no rose to protect, no beams to break, this was a world where the only thing that mattered was how well you could adjust to the changing tides of galactic influence. The Waters girl was half Starchaser, but the only similarity is that she liked to be on the move. For her? She’d be happy exploring worlds to her hearts content. It didn’t need to be a space thing.

It was a desert thing too, Token Waters, for as creepy as that could be, felt at home in a desert. When she dove? It was nice to see the reefs, but those times when the tide took you, the water currents moved you and you were on the sand flats? Where barely anything lived, a few sparse grasses, some fish that had been pulled in the same current? It was comforting, that area that put you on your own, where nothing was there, nothing but that which you take with you.

She made her way out to the waterfall, by the time she got there, it was becoming dusk. She wasted time, wandering the forests, just enjoying the connection to the world. But there was something dark. And that was why she was happy she got to the water. The water was always a haven, why was that?

746+276 = 822

 

[Sinistra]

823 ABY, Krassijk Eve.
Birnatha, the palace of Jundoon the Hutt, Peroon, Teth.

The party raged on; the music pounding the walls of the structure that every floor vibrated to a different beat. The drinks poured forth into the mouths of the revelers, pushing them on in waves of debauchery that seemed to get more and more debase with every passing hour. Not an ideal assignment in her book, but there was only one opportunity every 2 years to be allowed inside Birnatha, when the normally tight security was loosened up in favor of celebration.

Oh, there was still a very heavy presence of guards, but they were just as relaxed in some respects as the patrons who used every bit of the estate to sate their carnal urges on the altar of gluttony. Jundoon held court in the throne room, the bulk of the horde crowded around him in a writhing mass of flesh and lost inhibitions. Jundoon liked his drink, liked his spice and he liked to watch.

Asha looked around the room, the flashing lights falling on a tender piece of skin, off alone, dancing to the music and riding a high that she barely connected with reality. Skin just need a suggestion, it was nothing to let her presence go for just a second in order to slip it into her head. A simple force illusion. Just a thought, just an image or two. Skin and that guard, armor on the floor.

Needless to say, Skin took her cues perfectly, crossing the distance, her hands grabbing for him, trying to pull his armor off, climbing him as if he were a tree. Her lithe alien body evaded his attempts to pull her off him, her teeth gnashing at his fingers as they wrapped around her limbs. The driving beat of the music masked his protestations, and the sway of the rave enrapt everyone else. Guard was distracted, and her opening was now.

She kept to the shadows along the wall, moving swiftly to key in the stolen access code and slip into the restricted area before she could be detected. People had been coming and going from this corridor all night, as drugs, slaves and weapons were trafficked through deals in this collection of rooms nearly as easily as the liquor and spice flowed on the dance floor beyond. These meetings could make or break a newcomer in the Hutt cartels. There was one in particular she was interested in though.

Sto’cha Koranger. An information broker from Tatooine whose rise to prominence happened so suddenly, it begged the question, what exactly did he have that was so valuable? That might have been the most difficult question in the universe to answer. Those who dealt with him were rather tight lipped on their interactions and intelligence agencies all over the galaxy were scrambling to get someone close. However, that proved to be an even more arduous task. He showed no interest in expensive tastes for food, drink or sex.

Jundoon named Sto’cha the guest of honor for the Krassijk Eve party this biennium, shocking many because of his tendency to avoid those vices. However those in the know figured out rather quickly that Sto’cha was using the party as an excuse to expand his grasp on the information trade. How exactly Jundoon had made his acquaintance was still a mystery. Either he impressed the Hutt or he had dirt that the Hutt wanted cheaper than the asking price. She was going to bet on the latter.

It did not take long to locate the room Sto’cha had been using; there was a buffering device installed over the door to dampen the sound coming from within. She did not slow up as she continued down the hall, passing the warded room, seemingly on her way someplace else. Casually with purpose. The secret to not standing out when undercover relied on looking like you belonged somewhere. Right now, she belonged in this hall, heading for the last door on the left.

The long, darkened room had only the blue wash of moonlight coming through the windows to give any indication what it was. Large, narrow cases of artifacts lined one wall, enclosed in glass while rare species of animals, taxidermied into strange poses in sealed glass cases lined another. Jundoon’s collection room. It seemed grotesque in scope as she slipped past the glass housings to slide a listening device to the wall shared with the buffered room. Nothing. He was being very, very cautious.

As the lights flickered on in the room, she froze. Her position was obscured by the cases as long as the entering party didn’t venture too far in. She might be able to bend down and slip out along the wall if she could get them while their backs were to her.

“Looking for me?”

Sto’cha Koranger stood in the middle of the rows of tall specimen tanks, his hands resting at his sides, his back flanked by two Togorians. He was a menacing man; short, stocky and thick with muscle. Brown hair, dark eyes and a goatee. Description matched to a tee. She stood up slowly, a small smile on her lips. The helmet and face veil she wore obscured all but her eyes, her gloved hands dropping to her sides. There was something about him she couldn’t quite place.

“Perhaps. You can’t blame a girl for being cautious.”

There was a twinkle in his gaze that she didn’t like.

“Too true. Canha Turit. Bounty Hunter. A few notable names on the list but doesn’t stand up to a good scrub.”

She watched him as he rattled off her cover alias, the last little bit making her blood run cold. She did not move a muscle, but he paced to the nearest case, the glass glowing with internal lights to illuminate the preserved specimen of a strange aquatic species. He looked upon the corpse with some mild amusement.

“This is poetic, I suppose in a way. Trapped in a room with things that had been hunted, collected in a game they did not know they were playing. But you know. Don’t you Asha?”

There was a sharp intake of breath that drew his attention to her. A wicked smile cracked across his features, the Togorians now staring hard at her.

“Asha Belenar, codename Duchess, field operative for the New Sith Order. I know all about you. I hate to break it to you, but you’ve been burned by your agency for being a double agent for the New Imperial Remnant.”

“How?”

“Simple misdirection in your orders. They were never from the NSO to begin with. The NIR was only too happy to take you off their list of worries.”

“Who burned me?” Her cold, commanding tone seemed to excite him.

“I did, of course. I told you once, a long time ago that your mistakes would find you. You should have listened.”

Her eyes flew open wide. That was it. The thing she couldn’t place. The Butcher. An old assassin turned intelligence analyst from CorSec that hacked his firm’s NOC list and sold it to the highest bidder. From there, he became untraceable but his carnage was always marked with specific cuts on the victim and an initial carved in the flesh.

She had crossed him while he still worked in the field. A senator was in bed with a trade conglomerate to squeeze the Republic for more sanctions against a neighboring system except he overplayed his hand. The New Sith Order had uncovered his deceptions and were about to put political pressure on him through allies in the Senate when the Butcher popped up and took him out. They had traded shots on a rooftop behind their disguises before she made an escape but the damage was done. He had become obsessed with her, pursued her relentlessly from that point on. His fixation interfered with her operations to the point she had to be wiped. New cover, new territory, new MO. The Core was no longer a safe place for her.

Somehow now the past managed to catch up to her but only because someone careless must have left an electronic trail for the Butcher to find. She narrowed her eyes, surveying the room for an exit strategy.

“All this, just to catch me?”

“Oh, my darling, a thousand things just to catch you. You’re the only one to ever get away. I can’t have that.”

He walked towards her to the next tank, gesturing to the creature within.

“This is a new addition to Jundoon’s trophies. I gave it to him myself. It’s a ysalamir, are you familiar with them?” He asked casually, far too casually for her tastes. The glance in her direction held her eyes for a moment, then back to the animal.

“He was so excited that he wanted it in the throne room but I persuaded him to leave it here. See, I know your secret. You play like you’re one of us, but you’re not.”

Kark.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“DON’T!” He roared rather quickly, a half manic smile spreading his lips, the anger chased away by the gleam of insanity. “Don’t lie to me.”

This was going from bad to worse. Edging off the force suppression, she confirmed the small lizard was in fact nullifying her reach of the force. The edge of the bubble was near the windows, if she could just keep him talking.

“And if you’re right? And if I am, you think you have the upper hand?”

She walked forward, cool confidence and control. There was no question now, she was going to have to kill to get out of this room but she couldn’t let him control the flow of the action. Right now, he forcing her into a corner and she had to get him out of it.

“That’s quite far enough.” He crossed to stop her from advancing further in the room, a demented lecherous look in his eyes. “I think if you were any good at being one of those freaks, you wouldn’t be a spy.”

She looked at him a moment, the anticipation dragging across her mind, but his eyes locked with hers. It only took a second, a slight of hand and her fingers were curled around the T shaped grip of a particularly nasty serrated knife in her hand. Sto’cha cocked his head to one side, a silent acknowledgement of the dance they must have before there were a flurry of strikes exchanged between them. She nicked his thigh, his blade found her arm. She dodged when he went high, he parried when she went low.

She was running out of options as they were evenly matched it seemed, but as she got a body blow in on him, the Togorians grabbed her by the arms to drag her away. When they pulled up, she raised her legs and caught the Butcher under the chin, and used the momentum to flip behind the Togorians and stab each of them in the ribs with the pair of knives she was wielding. A blaster yanked from the one feline guard ending their suffering and was promptly aimed at Sto’cha while she backed towards the window. She fired off a couple shots at him, center mass before she turned for the window.

Rookie mistake: never turn your back on an assassin.

The shots sizzled on his chest but were dissipated by the armorweave under his clothes. A loud report and the searing pain in her side was a shock and rather than jump from the window, free now from the ysalamir to use the force once more, she fell rather unceremoniously two stories, landing off balance, off kilter and crumpling to the ground.

Gotta go. Gotta run.

She forced the urge to check the wound back as she let the force flow through her. The palace was not too far to the spaceport. She just had to get out of there. She heard voices, the refrains from the music emanating elsewhere in the palace. The blast from the slugthrower and the blasters would draw more guards. The palace walls were near. She stumbled forward, a blood trail on the ground as she tore off the helmet and ran for the city beyond.

Her ankle throbbed as she landed on it again, pain screaming up her left leg. She could see descending spacecraft in the distance. Drawing upon every lesson she could of her Ataru training, she willed herself to run as best she could with the crooked leg. A quick check revealed that the slugthrower was a through and through, nothing to tear her apart from the inside but she was bleeding profusely and losing a lot of blood.

Safehouse.

She looked around and darted down a few alleys until she came upon the dirty door leading under a restaurant that hadn’t seen a health inspector in years. The old guy peeling onions never looked up from his bowl as she busted through the seldom used door, bloody handprints on the frame into the basement level.

Pale worry started back at her from the mirror in the small bathroom, but a fully stocked wound care kit was opened across the sink so a measure of relief could be gained. She was tempted to pull her boot off to look at the ankle but the lacing and support of the kneehigh boots were probably the best thing for it. She wasn’t entirely certain she could get it back on if she pulled it off anyway.

She poured bacta on the holes, wincing at the pain, forcing her breaths to be slower to calm herself down. She couldn’t panic. Panic was death before you were dead. She grabbed a couple bacta patches, took a deep, pain-racked breath and slapped them on over the the bullet holes, screaming out in agony as the healing agent started to work.

Clothes.

There was a clean shirt and a poncho along with a few other things more appropriate to a much more formal setting. Poncho and shirt would do. She pulled them on quickly, freezing when she heard a commotion outside in the alley. Shouting, something she couldn’t understand. Feth. Her hand moved from pulling the bland tan hem of the shirt down to the grip of a slugthrower but the sounds of the pursuit faded. She squared the poncho away, pulled the hood up and scrambled for some ID and cash.

The case opened easily to her code, the contents looking back up at her, her face with different names and information from a dozen different systems. Why, she wondered would the NSO would burn her? What the kark was going on back on Gyndine? If he was telling the truth, if there was a burn notice, nothing in this safe would work. Every single piece of it would be a beacon to her location. In fact, she was on borrowed time the moment she entered the access code to get in the safehouse. She couldn’t risk it another moment.

The door of the safe clattered shut, a tactical belt ringing her hips and a pair of blasters sliding into the black leather holsters. She couldn’t afford to suppress the force, she needed it to get away in case she came across either Sto’cha’s men or the NSO.

The alley was clear as she peeked out, her deep hood concealing much of her features. Anger at the situation was starting to take over and she felt a measure of control again. The deep brown of her eyes had faded to yellow now, the green cosmetic contacts had been discarded in the sink, along with the curly blond wig that had been under the helmet. She was about as natural as she was going to get right now. The spy would have to take a back seat, as Sinistra the Sith Lord was doing everything in her power to get off this miserable planet now.

She took off, skipping her steps as fast and as nonchalant as she could get to the market area which bordered the spaceport. There were plenty of shoppers going through the open air stalls to slow down anyone looking for her. She bobbed, limped, weaved through the crowds, still pale, sweating and fighting back with everything she could against the shock her body was going into. Bacta patches weren’t going to fix the blood loss, but at least under the long, old brownish poncho, she could keep pressure on the bullet wounds. She couldn’t keep this up forever.

Outside the main doors for the port, the windows for passenger ticketing didn’t seem to have too many people in them. Her ship would be useless of course. Karking NSO bastards would pay for this if she survived this mess. She would gut every one of them and bathe the Expansion Region in their cowardly blood. Dried blood caked her hands as she presented her credits for a ticket to Nar Shaddaa. Further into Hutt Space was not her ideal getaway but it was the next transport leaving.

Her lack of identification should have barred her from moving on but a handwave smoothed the way for her ticket to be purchased with the name and the ID of the teller themselves. The mind tricks complete for the moment, she noticed that she had picked up a shadow or two. Moving through the crowd straight for her, she was more annoyed than anything that they would send amateurs to deal with her. These two might as well have been carrying signs that they were her murderers. Pain seized her abdomen as she turned for the door. NIR? NSO? Whoever Sto’cha was working for? It was anyone’s guess now. Burned assets were as good as dead and too often ended up that way.

Presenting her ticket, she got through security with another handwave and show of the teller’s ID. The booming loudspeaker was announcing the boarding for passage to Nar Shaddaa, the echo almost unintelligible and she lined up, checking a reflection off a screen next to her to see if the shadows were following her. So far nothing.

The looks of the people around her started to register with her and the next glance at a reflection was her own. Ghostly pale, sunken yellow eyes, lips with no color. A fine sheen of sweat made her look like she shined with a sickly light. Vaguely she thought she heard someone ask if she was sick. She tried to answer but nothing would come out. Focus on the ship. The line was moving. She leaned on the handrails as she passed onto the gangway, stumbling a bit.

She collapsed into her seat, the fight quickly leaving her. They just had to make it to air. The heavy drop of a body in the seat next to her fluttered her eyes open and she moved just enough to see a man next to her. Her vision was blurry, her eyes watering as oblivion flirted with her. She could have sworn that he was there with her; her student, her lover, her Reverance.

She tried to speak but incoherent muttering was all that issued from under the hood. There was a burning prick in her left arm, but she couldn’t feel the IV needle, just the cold chill rising in her veins. She felt the pressure of the engines, the whine of them filling the air as the transport ship lifted off, clearing the skyline. She closed her eyes. She would not belong to the Butcher. Not today. The will of the Sith was stronger. Fiercer. She pressed her sticky fingers weakly against the knot of cloth over the front hole in her stomach and closed her eyes. There was nothing but blackness now.

“Do we have confirmation that she’s aboard?” Sto’cha watched the ship rise above the buildings of Peroon through binoculars on the portico of Birnatha, Jundoon behind him, his wide face stretched with an interested smirk.

::Affirmative. Visual identification confirmed:: came the reply, cracking through a comlink.

Sto’cha dropped his viewfinder, glancing back to the Hutt. Jundoon looked between the rising ship and the information broker. He was about to get everything he wanted and all it cost was a little collateral damage. He waved a dismissive hand to the stocky man before him. Even Hutts don’t piss off people nicknamed the Butcher.

“Do it.”

From a rooftop on the outskirts of Peroon, a pair of missiles were launched from a shoulder mounted weapon, locking in on the engine flares of the rising transport ship roughly a hundred meters off the ground now. Sinistra was jarred from the clutch of unconsciousness, she grabbed wildly for something to steady her but she was covered by something else, something heavy as it encircled her and forced her to the ground.

The ship lurked, and explosions rocked it, throwing them into the aisles until it rolled over and slammed into the ground, a fireball erupting into the evening skies. The screams of bystanders eventually drowned out by sirens, the first responders worked tireless to sift through the wreckage, sending people off to trauma centers, the more dire ones medvac’ed to offworld hospitals more equipped for the carnage.

Quickly, quietly and calmly, the tall human replica droid carried the limp body of Sinistra out of the wreckage. That was close. Chatter indicated this was intentional, rocket trails had been seen right before the crash. Someone wanted her dead, so let her be dead. The Shard looked down at the comatose woman in his arms.

“She’s in rough shape, may not make it. I hope she is worth this hassle.” It spoke to an unknown voice on the coms.

::She isn’t yet. She will be:: came the response, the comlink killed after the short exchange.

The Shard looked ahead, climbing swiftly through fire and debris, before stealing an unattended speeder, and disappearing into the city.

Asha Bellenar died in the crash of transport ATD-2010 along with 57 other passengers and 289 people on the ground. Sinistra awoke from her coma ten and a half months later. But that is a story for another time…

The end.

Word count - 3709

 

[Darth Ayra]

The Battle of Coruscant: The Fall of Ella Nova​

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Present Day, 844 ABY

It had been three months since Ella Nova had been given the all clear. Years had passed by the Jedi Knight, as she had been kept confined to her bed or wheelchair, when her nurse or helpful Padawan learner decided to let her get some fresh air. In these brief hours, out in the gardens of Tython’s Jedi Temple, Ella had enjoyed the serenity, tranquillity and peace that the gardens had offered. A safe haven for the Jedi and one of the rare pockets of peace that the Jedi had managed to keep, in a galaxy torn by war and chaos.

Like the rest of the Jedi and Republic personnel, Ella had been transferred to a hospital on Onderon, to finish her recovery from the Battle of Coruscant. Forced to retreat from the Core, Ella had learned alongside the rest of the Jedi that their home world was now in the clutches of the One Sith. She had been successful in help the retreat that time. She had saved lives.

Guilt, however, still managed to find a way to grip her.

The sun was rising, on that early morning. Iziz was buzzing, now that it become a central part to the Galactic Republic. As Ella stood by the glass windows, watching speeders, trucks and cars blur by as their occupants went about their business, the Jedi Knight was now preparing to go back to active service to the Republic. Her legs, arms, head and internal organs had healed. She had been given a clean bill of health three months ago, upon finishing her physical recuperation. It had taken a long time, but she had finally learned how to walk, talk, and eat by her own machinations. It had been a daunting, trying and sometimes frustrating, angry experience. If not for the Force and the completion of her Jedi training under Sochi Ru, then she was confident that she would not have recovered.

Bleep.

Ella turned her gaze from the traffic, back around to the source of the disturbance. Arsix had rolled up behind her, his mechanical lights surveying her. He made a more exciting noise, now that he had gotten her attention.

Wabaipadrio!

“I know, buddy. We’ll be leaving soon. I just wanted to watch the traffic for a few moments. I find it relaxing.”

Borr...

Humming softly, Arsix rolled to her side. She lowered a hand onto the astromech, patting him with affection. Although Arsix was not a Humanoid, Ella considered him a trusted friend and confidant. The longer that she had spent time with him- especially in the years that had gone by, since her fall- Ella had learned that there was a form of life, that existed deep within a droids brain. As she thought about it again, Ella believed that the Republic should relook at the laws regarding droids. There was certain rights that droids such as Arsix required. Things such as a memory wipe, for example, was something that Ella was against. You wouldn’t just delete a person’s memories, would you?

Turning her eyes back to the windows, she knew that it was time to go soon. She checked the clock on the wall. Her time to be discharged was coming up and she and Arsix had an hour to reach the spaceport, where they would be catching a transport to Ossus. She had reached out to Jedi Master Corvus Raaf for a meeting and she had agreed. They had much to discuss.

Reminiscing over how she had got to this point in her life and how it had affected her career as a Jedi Knight, Ella found herself flashbacking to the cause of her injuries…

Seven Years Ago…

Smoke covered the skies, as fire rained from above. Explosions rattled the temple, as Jedi flocked to the balconies that had overlooked Coruscant city, to see that all manner of destruction had returned to the capital.

The Sith had returned.

Deep inside the temple, Ella had been sat at the Jedi archives, when the attack had begun. She had been consulting the list of old Initiates that found themselves stuck in the Service Corps. She had once been a drop out, much like the children who found themselves cultivating vegetables; fixing upturned monuments, flowers or trees in the gardens; or studying types of flora in the AgriCorps. If it had not been for a fortunate encounter with Jedi Master Carn Dista, then Ella might have never met her master, Sochi Ru, to complete her Jedi training. She had finished the Knight trials only two weeks ago and was eager to help those little Jedi in need.

Instantly rising to her feet, Ella instinctively drew her Lightsaber. She was then forced to grab the desk she had just vacated, in order to steady herself. There had been a disturbance in the Force. It had been torn for the briefest of moments. The moment had then passed, leaving only death and destruction in its wake. A thousand voices had screamed out in unison, only to then be put into silence.

Coldness spread across the new Jedi Knights body, as the dark side of the Force became prevalent.
Forcing herself to stand, Ella made her way out of the archives to investigate what was going on. Beside her, Arsix bleeped as he rolled at her side. She had almost forgotten that he had been with her at the time and was thankful that a familiar face was there to help her. Turning a corner, Ella jogged to the balcony that overlooked the atrium. Beside her, a Codru-Ji Jedi Knight had just arrived with her. Concern was etched across his face.

“Hey, do you know what has happened?” Ella asked.

The Codru-Ji turned to face her, shaking his head. “No idea. I was just on my way to the hangar bays, to pick up my Padawan. She’s just returned from an assignment on the Outer Rim, when suddenly I heard them…” He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Ella nodded. He had heard them too, as had all of the Jedi that had now gathered on the balcony. Ella had only ever seen the Jedi congregated like this during her Knighting ceremony, when she had been awarded the rank of Jedi Knight after successfully passing her trials. To see all of them now gathered on the parallel opposite of that happy event, was concerning.

Lifting her gaze, Ella heard a whir. The Codru-Ji Knight lifted his head as well, to listen. All the others joined them as well. Seconds later, there was a pop, smoke and then a deafening explosion. Ella was lifted off her feet, the entrance to the Jedi Temple collapsed beneath whatever had just hit it. Dust covered the area, among falling debris. Ella coughed, gingerly rising to her feet. The braid in her hair had become dislodged, falling onto the side of her face.

Wincing, Ella took a step forward. An eerie, odd calm had settled upon the entrance for the briefest of moments. Jedi around her began to rise to their feet, to watch as well. Stretching out into the Force, Ella found it to be of no help. She could sense nothing. Like someone or something had blinded her. It is the dark side you sense. In the calm before the storm, Ella lowered her eyes to her side. The Codru-Ji had not moved. She stepped over and bent down to investigate, to discover that he had died. His lifeless eyes stared up into her own. She would never forget this moment. Turning to see where Arsix was, she found him toppled off and whirring for help. Rising back up to her feet, Ella grabbed his body to help him up.

A sudden, explosive roar erupted from the mouth of the temple. Crimson blades appeared, alongside the black, cloaked figures that wielded them. The Sith twirled their blades, beginning their assault. Ella watched, as the surviving straglers on the ground floor raised to combat them, only to be butchered one by one. As red lights met green, blue, orange and the other colours wielded by the Knight of the Republic, Ella took a deep breath and sucked it up, pulling Arsix onto his feet.

Bleeping a thank you, Arsix rolled forwards. His sudden shrieking, akin to being terrified, joined the sounds of battle as the Jedi and Sith engaged each other in battle. Running over to the astromech, Ella knelt down to his side and got his attention, to say. “I need you to go to the nearest communications panel and alert the Republic that the temple has fallen under attack. Then I need you to go to the hangar bay and start getting our transports to be ready to go. I’ll meet you there.”

Waaaabaapadio!

Arsix quickly rolled away, to do as she had told him. Lightsaber still in tow, Ella allowed her heavy, brown cloak to fall off her body and onto the dusty, broken floor. Igniting her lightsabre, Ella quickly jogged away from what was left of the balcony railing. She would have to trust the Jedi around her to hold the Sith attackers at bay, for it had become apparent to Ella that an evacuation needed to happen; and it needed to happen quickly, before too many Jedi joined the already deceased.

Hopping over a toppled wall, Ella turned into a hallway, where the fighting was thick and fast. To her left, a Nautolan Jedi was engaging two hooded, masked Sith. To the right, Sephi Padawan had just been disarmed; and his attacker was edging in for the kill. Reaching out into the Force, Ella pulled the Sephi’s would be killer away from the girl. The Sith tumbled into the floor, as the Sephi stood up.

“Run to the hangar bays! Get out of here!” Ella shouted towards her. The Padawan nodded, turned and began to run down the hallway.

Turning around to the left, one of the two Sith had seen Ella and was making a his way towards her. The Nautolan was being engaged by the other. At her feet, the Sith she had pulled off the Sephi was about to stand back up. Raising her lightsabre, Ella deflected the right Sith’s slash into the wall and directed her blade into the path of rising Sith. He instinctively rolled away, hood falling off their shoulders to reveal that he was in fact a she.

The Zabrak woman roared in frustration, tapping into her hatred, fully intent to bring her powers of the dark side onto the Jedi Knight that had taken away her kill. Ella’s eyes darted back to the Nautolan. He was on the brink of defeat, his injuries clear by the blood that was gashing out of his right arm. No doubt, he had been caught by something in the initial blast. Ella’s own opponents were regathering themselves for another assault.

Reaching into the Force again, Ella tried to pull the Nautolan’s attacker away from him, but the other Sith broke her focus by swinging his lightsabre towards her outstretched arm. She lowered it to dodge, and stepped away for room, only to watch the Nautolan succumb to his attackers’ onslaught. The Sith above him cleaved his crimson blade past the Nautolan emerald defence, hacking him down into the floor in three, brutal strikes to the torso and head. What was left of the Nautolan collapsed into the ground. He was dead.

The killer stood back up right, turning around to face Ella. His lightsabre hummed nefariously, ready to claim its next victim. The two others stood apart, to allow him to take center stage. The battle echoed in a distant background, with the shouts, screams and sounds of lightsabres whirring, humming and clashing. Smoke filled the air, where fires at been set by explosions. The ground constantly quaked and shook. It was like being in a nightmare.

“Time to join your friends, little Jedi.” The center Sith mocked her, confidant in his abilities. He had slayed his opponent and outnumbered his next three to one. There was no assistance for Ella. The hallway had now cleared. She quickly turned to look over her shoulder. The entrance to the hallway had collapsed during her engagement with the Sith, blocking her way back to the entrance, where the main fighting was taking place. She was stuck and trapped.

“We’ll kill her. Then we’ll take the kids.” The Sith either side of the center one nodded. Ella frowned. She now sensed the children in the adjoining rooms. She now recognized the Nautolan. He had been an instructor, she remembered. She had seen him around, as they passed each other in the hallways or gardens of the temple.

A shriek came from behind the mask of the Zabrak woman. The center Sith and the one to the left joined her. Together, they moved in for the kill. Ella was instantly on the defence, moving backwards towards the freshly created wall. Blue met red, as the Jedi and Sith clashed. Every ounce her fibre concentrated on now succumbing to the Sith’s attack, unlike the Nautolan. Shii-Cho had prepared her for moments like this. Fighting three people at once was what she had trained for. But under circumstances like this, her chances didn’t stand up to much.

She tapped into the Force, to provide her strength. But she struggled under every strike and felt herself falling into the Sith’s grasp. With each clash of blue to red, Ella felt her strength waning. Desperate, the Jedi Knight searched for a solution. Only one came to mind, but it was suicide. She was likely to die, along with the Sith.

Better to take them with me, she thought.

Back clashing into the wall, Ella swerved and rolled along it to avoid the Zabrak’s strike. The Sith, who had killed the Nautolan, stepped into and slashed into Ella’s lightsabre. The power behind the strike sent the blue light into the wall, causing it to rebound and recoil out of her palm. Smoke rose from the hilt, as it fell to the floor. She had been defeated.

The third Sith closed in and slashed at her legs. Ella roared out in pain, as the blow tripped off her feet and down into the floor. She quickly scrambled to move into the wall side, to get away. The Sith laughed. She recognized the voice of the Nautolan’s killer, as he said. “Now, you die as well.”

Lightsaber rising above his head, the Sith went to administer the finishing blow. The Zabrak woman and the other Sith moved away, leaving their comrade to finish Ella off. Reaching out into the Force, the Jedi Knight summoned her powers and administered a Force Push into the base of the debris that had previously blocked her way. She watched as the rocks at the base toppled and moved from the power behind the blow. She had put everything into that. Nothing had happened.

Shocked for a moment, Ella’s would be killer turned his head to see what happened and laughed when nothing had. Sick, twisted glee radiated from the Sith, as he rejoiced in Ella’s failure. She had failed to save the Nautolan master. Failed to save his class. Failed to defeat the Sith.

The other Sith had paused for a moment, to see what had happened as well. Again, they laughed with the other Sith, before turning to continue making their way into the classroom. “You fail, Jedi! Just hurry up and die!”

All at once, the wall suddenly toppled. Falling down towards Ella and the Sith, she quickly stood up and reclaimed her lightsabre with the Force, to hurry away. Her leg pained her like hell, but she wasn’t going to allow herself to be crushed. Her would be killer quickly fell beneath the debris, as too did the others. Arrogance had cost them, as they had relished in their victory. They had won the duel, but had failed to kill her.

Diving forwards, Ella fell onto her front as the wall finished it’s collapse. Rolling onto her side, she turned to look back. The Zabrak woman’s head was barely protruding from the bottom, with crimson red streaming from the corners of her mouth. A pale hand appeared from the bottom, clenching onto the rock below it. It suddenly shook, froze and then went limp, as it’s owner died.

Gingerly standing to her feet, Ella winced. Pain gripped her. She tried to call onto the Force, but found her powers did not help her. The dark side was everywhere. She could no longer use it to help her. She felt Jedi falling around her and knew that the Jedi Order had been defeated. The battle had been lost. All that she could do now was get away.

Limping towards the classroom door, she saw eyes cramming into the corner to watch her approach. The Jedi Initiates within burst out of the door, when they saw who it was. One of them, who recognized her, proclaimed: “Master Nova, Master Nova! The temple is under attack. What are we going to do?!”

“It’s okay, now. I need all of you to come with me. We are getting out of here,” said Ella.

“But what about the others?” moaned a Rodian.

“Trust in the Order, little one. They will find their way. No stopping now, let’s go. To the hangar bays!”

Together, Ella and the children began to run- limp in Ella’s case- down the hallway and up the winding corridor that led up to the hangar bays. Security personnel from the Republic, alongside vanguards and surviving Jedi had cordoned off the area. They raised their blasters, batons and lightsabers as Ella emerged from around the corner, only to lower them at the sight of the children and the fact that she was a Jedi.

Bleeeeeep!

Arsix whirled forward, at the sight of Ella. She laughed at the site of him, thankful that he had both survived and that she could see him again. The initiates gathered around her and the astromech. Regathering herself, Ella said. “To the nearest transport, kids!”

Limping into the hangar bay, Ella saw astromech’s rolling about the place, refuelling transports; fixing broken pieces of equipment; or dragging something or another to the nearest ship.

“Over here!”
A Human man was calling from the cockpit of a transport. He hung out of the window, waving Ella and the group of children over. Ella nodded, turning to the children. “Into that transport, guys. Quickly! We don’t have much time.”

One by one, the initiates ran forward, into the transport. Jedi already on board helped them inside, instructing them to sit and fasten their seat belts. Ella began to gingerly make her way forward, relief flooding through her.

“We made it, Arsix. Let’s get out of here,” she said.

Wooooooooooooooooooo!

Arsix bleeped in jubilation, that they were still alive. Lifting a foot onto the ramp, just ahead of Arsix, Ella sensed danger. Lifting her gaze to the mouth of the hangar bay doors, with the city ahead of them, Ella saw it. There was a ship and it was firing inside. Streaks of red smashed inside, ripping into the transports. Ella watched helplessly, as hers and the children’s ship was caught in the assault.

Then everything went dark.

Present Day

Tears rolled down the face of the Jedi Knight. She had failed to save those children. The Jedi. Coruscant. Lifting a hand to her face, she cleaned her tears away, focusing on the Onderon skyline. She did not remember what had happened after the hangar bay. She had been told that it had been Arsix who had called for a recovery team to come by the hangar bay and lend assistance to the surviving Jedi.

Ella had been one of the few surviving Jedi, who had survived the hangar bay. But not the children. Not the people who had been on board the other transports and the one she had about to take. If not for the injury she had sustained on her leg during her duel with the Sith, then she might have got on board that transport, in time for it to be destroyed along with her.

Evacuated to Tython with the rest of the Jedi, that had been where she had spent the majority of her years. Recovery had taken several operations, visits with Jedi healers and consultation with the Force. At first, she had felt guilt that she had been the one to survive; and not the children, the transport passengers or the Nautolan Jedi Master, whose name she now knew to be Kax Lymito.

But she no longer felt guilt or suffering for what had happened. The Force had healed her, instead of allowing her to be delivered to the dark side. Suffering led to hate. Hate led to the dark side. No, instead, she had been given a sense of purpose. She had decided, during her very first days on Tython, that she would bring the One Sith to justice, for all that they had done.

“It’s time to go, Arsix. Say goodbye.”

Burrr…

Together, Ella and Arsix made their way to the exit. Pulling on a dark robe, she kept her lightsabre concealed beneath its layers, which hung from her hip. Led by Arsix towards the exit, Ella made her way to the reception to discharge herself. After signing herself out, the Jedi Knight pulled the satchel around her shoulders, allowing it to fall neatly onto her hip.

Stepping out into entrance, Ella sucked in a breath of fresh air. Ahead, the Iziz Starport loomed. Making her way along the streets, Ella walked free of her previous limitations. She enjoyed the walk. It felt good to be moving, out and about, among the general populace. She felt normal again.

Entering the spaceport, Ella checked in with a terminal. Oddly, Arsix was behaving. She enjoyed his pranks, but today, she didn’t have the time for such things. Perhaps he knew that she wasn’t in the mood. Quietly, she thanked him.

After checking in, Ella and Arsix entered the hangar bay, where their transport awaited. Green lights flashed overhead on the terminal readouts, telling passengers that the Ossus transport was now ready to leave. Drawing the cowl of her robe over her head, Ella climbed aboard after checking in her ticket.

Settling herself into a seat, Ella turned to Arsix and asked: “Could you get me a water?”

Bleep!

Arsix turned, to find her water. Averting her gaze away from him to the outside windows, Ella watched as the ramp was retracted. She felt the inertia dampeners activate. The landing clamps were pulled back in, allowing the transport to hover off the ground. In front of the transport, the hangar bay doors slid open to allow it to disembark.

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Rising Opar’s captain speaking. Please prepare for hyper jump in eta fifteen minutes. Thank you.”

As the intercom overhead went silent, Arsix rolled back to Ella, carrying a tray with a glass of water on top. “Thank you.” Taking the glass into her hand, she took a mouthful and turned to watch the outside again.

Engines activated, the Rising Opar flew out of the hangar bay and up towards the skies. Securing herself in her seat with a seat belt, Ella turned to watch what Arsix was doing. He was playing with a nearby Torgruta child. She could hear his bleeps from her position. She smiled, before lowering her gaze to the glass of water.

Ella studied her reflection and knew that her time of solitude, peace and serenity had come and gone. When the Rising Opar arrived at the Jedi Temple on Ossus, Ella knew that she was stepping into the war for the first time since the Battle of Coruscant. The Galactic Republic was on the losing side. Evil was everywhere.

Determined, Ella Nova, Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic, was ready to sink her hands deep into the dirt.

Ready, to bring the One Sith to justice.

The End.
[4016 words]

​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

OOC/ Alright, my schedule's eased off a little and everyone's posted who's going to post. Let's take a look.

[member="Damien Daemon"] and [member="Matsu Ike"], the action didn't let up and you stayed true to your characters. It's difficult to convey a sense of genuine risk when dealing with characters this powerful, but in some ways you both pulled it off -- Damien through a tough situation, Matsu through a freaking Lotek'k. You each win a sapling of an ancient Force-sensitive tree, justified IC however you like.

[member="Darth Mythos"], I think your story would have resonated more with me if it had been longer and less focused on your character beating up one of the most powerful people in canon history. It's tough to feel like anything's at stake. You win one lignan crystal, justified IC however you like, and may you have joy in it.

[member="Ella Nova"], you nearly took this by getting into the head of a damaged Jedi in need of fortified resolve. That's a side of the Jedi that I just don't see too often. Frankly, in terms of its strengths and its flaws, your story reminded me of Star Wars Adventure Journal stories from the nineties. Your prize is a Meshurkaan boarding craft, justified IC however you like.

The standout winner is [member="Sinistra"]. The writing struck me as evocative and heartfelt -- which is tricky when you're talking about a brutal spy caper. You were the only one who started with experience rather than exposition; your story arc was also the strongest. There were things at stake, and your characters were deeply invested. Your prize, justified IC however you like, is the Rave Holocron. Think a top-tier holocron (from the alchemist I wrote for the last decade) crossed with Aladdin's Lamp.

 

[Sinistra]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]
I am pleased you enjoyed it. I was surrounded by excellent writing all around, and this is an honor. I look forward to future challenges and what my fellow competitors bring to the table.

[member="Ella Nova"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Damien Daemon"] [member="Darth Mythos"] [member="Matsu Ike"]

 

[Mythos]

I get stuff! Cool! It was Fun Writing! I [member="Sinistra"] You rule, lovely avtr btw.

 

[Matreya]

[member="Jorus Merrill"]
I have some ideas for the tree, but wonder what you feel would be acceptable for the items usage? Could it become a weapon? Could it be any kind of aiding item (ie such as Amulets etc)?

Or is it simply an awesome keep sake from something long dead? If the latter, still pretty sick to say Damien can plant a sapling of a long dead plant in his estates.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Darth Pikiran"]

Ooc/ How you use your little tree is up to you. Might make a nice meditation spot. Not sure I would recommend making a weapon out of it though.