Battle of "Friends"

[Ardeo Sophos]

My jedi class ship touched down with a final jolt. I opened the cock pit, slipping out of my brown jedi robe, and stepping out onto Bimmisaari's jungle soil. I surveyed the area around me. Nothing huge, just some local Fauna. A dark feeling flashed across my mind, and I tried to hone in on it, but just as quickly as it came, it was gone. There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I had felt this presence before, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. My hands went to the two lightsabers at my side. My training saber, and Master O'nur's saber. I had mannaged to fix it's power cell, and got it operational again. It helped keep him close.
@Vi'kas Mirtas

 

[Lord Ajihad]

(Told through the viewpoint of Jurmund Aandar, temporary companion of Vi'kas Mirtis)

The sleek chrome Imperial transport shuttle glided through the atmosphere of Bimmisaari. The jungle world belonged to no known faction, and therefore showed no visible signs of civilization. This is a fool's mission, thought Jurmund. As a matter of fact, the only reason he was here was because of the young assassin, Vi'kas Mirtis. He had a "prophetic" vision that his old enemy, Ardeo Sophos was on this planet. He had asked Jurmund to come with him, with honey-coated words of adventure and mystery. The only mystery he had encountered so far was the nasty smell radiating off of the jungle-planet's surface.

Suddenly, the ship came to a quick halt. The hatch opened, and the humid air of Bimmisaari collided with the cool, crisp air of the ship's interior. Vi'kas stood up, took a deep breath, and said "We are here. Ardeo had best hope we die in the jungle." Then, they both left the ship for the tall trees of the jungle-planet.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I set off on foot, through the jungle. There wasn't much nearby, just some animals, and plants as far as the eye could see. Then suddenly a flash rang through my mind, yes I remember now. I channeled the force and leaped onto a large branch in one of the trees. If I stayed in the trees I would hopefully see him, before he saw me. I still have a mission to complete, and I'm gonna see it through. I concentrated for a minute, and subdued the force within me. after a minute of two I stood back up from my kneeling position.

"hopefully that will help mask my presence here."
I continued on through the trees, without using the force, which was easy enough, since the branches were huge and dense.

@Vi'kas Mirtis

 

[Lord Ajihad]

The main reason why Vi'kas had picked him in specific was that he was a trained tracker. He had grown up in a small village, on the edge of civilization. He was the premier hunter, until he was carried off by the Sith to undergo training. "He went this way," Said Jurmund. They continued down the path for a decent while, until, he suddenly halted.

"That's strange," said Jurmund, "His tracks just... disappear." Vi'kas kneeled down on the ground, and just sat there for a few minutes. Then he got up, saying, "Come, the trail is fresh. He shall not elude us for much longer." With those words, he began climbing the nearest tree.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I had gotten quite good at jumping from branch to branch, so much so that, I had really picked up speed. It was kind of fun actually. I was slowly just loosing myself in the wind blowing around me, and that was my mistake. I landed on a wet mossy patch, on a branch, and lost my footing. I managed to spin around before falling so that I was falling on my stomach. I with more grace than I thought I had, grabbed on to a vine, and using it to slow my descent, ended with a subtle flip and landed on the ground, uninjured. I stared up to where i had just been. "so much for stealth. well at least one good thing came out of the fall. I would have never found these ruins" I say staring at the huge stone, temple like structure in front of me. There was a large pit in front though, and I would need to find away around that.

 

[Lord Ajihad]

He slowly jumped from branch to branch, examining each one. It soon became apparent that his acquaintance was becoming impatient, as Vi'kas was gritting his teeth, and pacing with the little room he had. "Patience, Vi'kas, patience is the key. If you really want to be an assassin, then patience most certainly be a virtue." Vi'kas's face loosene, and his pacing stopped.

"Yes, patience is a virtue. I apologize, but this particular prey is one that I have been hunting for some time now."

"Your feelings are understandable. I felt the same on my first hunt," Jurmund calmly said as he went back to work. The bark of every branch he had encountered had been severely disrupted in some some areas, clearly the work of ignorant prey. They were getting close to their quarry, he knew it.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I slowly walked up to the pit, attempting to see how deep it was, but what I found horrified me. It was a writhing mass of tentacles, and at it's center was a large beach that had clearly noticed me. A tentacle shot out at me with incredible speed. "Damn!"

I did a quick back hand spring, and landed down, and ready to bolt. I activated my green saber, and grinned as the emerald blade hummed.

"Well this is gonna be a challenge." I said with a hint of excitement, clearly not understanding the danger I was in. Two tentacles at once lashed out at me. I jumped and rolled onto one, with expert execution. The tentacles were big, so I had enough room to run down the end of the tentacle. The second one tried to grab me off the first tentacle, and with a quick slash of my saber, I severed it from the creatures body. The animal let out a high pitched shreek. Two more tentacles whiped at me from either side, and I flipped backwards in a fast series of moves, just barely avoiding the grabbing arms.

"Looks Like I might need some extra help." I closed my eyes for just a momment and activated my special ability, It was time to get serious.

@Vi'kas Mirtis

 

[Lord Ajihad]

They saw the whole scene play out. Jurmund quickly explained to Vi'kas that this was a Sarlaac. He warned the young assassin that this was a deadly beast, and was not to be toyed with. "Oh, I do not intend to toy with it," said Vi'kas, "I intend to use it to our advantage." With those words, he leapt down from the tree and began walking towards his arch-nemesis. He crouched there for a few minutes and watched the mini-fight that was taking place. Jurmund quickly followed suit.

"So, what are you going to do about this," asked Jurmund. "Just let the Sarlaac eat him?"

"Oh, no! Of course not! I have to save at least a little satisfaction for myself," exclaimed Vi'kas. Then, he suddenly stood up and thrust his hand outwards, using telekinesis to shove Ardeo Sophos into the Sarlaac pit.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I never saw it coming. Suddenly I was flying through the air towards the pit. Luckily the monster wasn't expecting me to hurtle towards it, so I smashed into one of it's tentacles. This gave me enough time to push back off of it. I landed back on tthe ground in a roll, and popped up to face non other than Vi'kas, and some other guy. I didn't have time to think. I activated master O'nur's lightsaber, and charged at blinding speed, making it appear I was going for Vi'kas, but at the last second I switched direction and went for a double blade downward strike at his companion, making sure to keep one eye on Vi'kas. I wasn't going for a killing blow, just one to take off an arm. Arm's an be replaced these days.

@Vi'kas Mirtis

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

@Vi'kas Mirtis

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Jurmund was surprised to see the young padawan spring off the Sarlaac, but even more surprised to see him spring at Jurmund himself. He lifted his red lightsaber to deflect the blow. He could have gotten severely injured, but Vi'kas saved him at the last second. As the maiming blow was about to land, the other Sith sent a concentrated bolt of lightning into Ardeo's lightsaber hand. It was a clever technique, as only one who was trained for years to resist pain would have been able to resist dropping their saber. Judging from this boy being a Padawan, Jurmund guessed he was not trained to do so. Seizing the opportunity, he swung his lightsaber directly at his opponent's fingers that gripped his weapon.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I winced in pain as lightning shot up my hand holding my green saber. I couldn't resist the urge to drop the saber, and let it go from my grip. I twisted on the ball of my foot , and ducked down, avoiding the lightsaber cut from the companion. Once on my knees i quickly rolled forward, and at the same time used the force to push one leg out from under the companion. completing my roll back into a standing position, I held the yellow saber I had left in a Makashi fighting stance with one hand behind me, and the saber in front of me. It was a good thing I had trained in Makashi with another padawan, before coming on this mission.

"Good to see you Vi'kas. I see you've completed your turn to the dark side. You just couldn't help but find a new way to get back at me huh? Like you haven't taken enough from me. Do you recognize the saber in my hand?" @Vi'kas Mirtis

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Jurmund lay on his back, the wind knocked out of him. He wasn't entirely sure how it'd happened, but didn't have time to figure it out. He jumped to his feet, and saw Ardeo and Vi'kas arguing. Ardeo asked his companion whether or not he had seen his lightsaber before. Instead of answering, the young Sith used telekinesis to grab the fallen green lightsaber. He then pulled a thermal detonator out of his robes, and used a bit of string to tie it around the lightsaber. He did this at an angle so Ardeo couldn't see it. He then activated the detonator, and threw the small bundle into the Sarlaac pit, lightsaber and all. Even from all the way over there, Jurmund heard the muffled explosion from inside of the pit.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

i glared in anger at Vi'kas. "That was my favorite training saber! You are really lucky there is a chance that that is still in one piece! You should know lightsabers aren't so easy to destroy. Look Vi'kas. I don't blame you for being angry with me for what I took, but you took something precious to me too, and because you took that I was honor bound to follow through on the dying wish of my master. You should understand that. I have come to terms with what happened, and even have come to forgive you. The harder part was forgiving myself for being so angry, but I even managed that. If you truly hate me so much that you think we need to continue this fight be my guest, I will fight to survive, but I will not fight you out of anger."

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Jurmund watched as his companion nodded his head and began to speak, "You never understood, did you Ardeo? I not only carry the anger of myself, put that of the Massassi warriors as well. It's not just about how I feel, but how they feel as well I am simply the arbiter of justice for those who cannot bring justice themselves. You misconceive me, Ardeo. I know who you are, but you do not truly know who I am."

Jurmund was getting impatient. Talking was for politicians, and he was just here as a favor. His hand gripped his lightsaber hilt, and prepared for the Jedi to make even the slightest make even the slightest move. He would not be caught on the unawares again.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I sigh. "Very well, but I would look out behind you." With that I twit quickly, and coming back around with sufficient energy built up I extend both arms forcing it forward in a wave to push vi'kas and his partner into the wall of writhing tentacles, that was the monster, now that a thermal detonator had gone of inside it.

"Figured I'd return your gift to me earlier. I'm sorry, but really can't stay and chat. I'll just report back to the council and tell them this planet would be fine to take for Republic control."

I turn and begin to walk away, but I pause momentarily.

"You know Vi'kas, you are not a Massasi warrior, You are a Miraluka, you have no allegiance to them, you don't owe them anything. Also the Massasi were one thing, but the sith? I thought you were better than the sith. I know you and you are not meant to be with them. You know I hope one day you can bring your self to let go of the feeling of rage you have towards me, and we can go back to being the two unlikely friends that we were."

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Jurmund gasped as he began to fall into the Sarlaac. He looked over at Vi'kas who was squinting in concentration. Suddenly, Jurmund realized what was happening. The other Sith was attempting to combat the mind of the Sarlaac. Suddenly, the tentacles froze. Vi'kas plunged his blade into the side of the pit to stop himself from falling, and Jurmund did likewise. They had not fallen far yet, so they both used force jump to scale the side of the pit. Vi'kas was skilled in the ways of the assassin, so he shrouded himself rom force detection, and then sprinted silently towards Ardeo, who still had his back turned. With his companion moving like that, there was no way he could be detected. Jurmund stayed where he was and remained silent, to avoid detection. He then watched as Vi'kas plunged his blade towards Ardeo's exposed middle back at close range...

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

All the air rushed out of me, as I gasped for air. I looked down at where the sharp blade of a vibro blade was protruding from my left side. I coughed, crimson red blood splattered on the ground. I looked back at Vi'kas, and smiled a genuine smile. "I hope you can finally find peace, my friend. If my death extinguishes your rage let it be put out like a fire is put out with water. I closed my eyes, an walked forward a few steps to pull off the sword, and fell on the ground.

 

[Lord Ajihad]

Jurmund watched as Vi'kas stabbed the jedi padawan through the left side, who then fell to the ground. The other Sith apprentice picked up his opponent's lightsaber, and said a prayer in some foreign language that Jurmund did not understand. Then as was his custom, Vi'kas stabbed his vibroblade into the ground next to Ardeo, is it was the instrument of his opponent's destruction. He then clipped Ardeo's former lightsaber onto his belt and sped away into the forest, and Jurmund followed suit.

[member="Ardeo Sophos"]​

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

I rolled back up into a siting position, and grinned.
"Man it's a good thing I'm always on my guard. If i hand't enveloped myself in the force, I never would have been able to shift Vi'kas' blade into an area that wouldn't do much harm. 8mm in at about the height of my elbow. It was between my intestines, and my muscles, and out of the way of any major arteries.
I quickly pulled out my med kit, and cauterized the wound, and put on a basic med patch on either side, then stood up, after injecting some simple pain meds into the wound area, mixed with adrenaline. It was time to get moving.

It was hard, but I caught up with Vi'kas and his companion. I was deffinetly in some pain, but as a jedi we were made to endure, besides I had learned basic force heal techniques and had done some slight healing on the wounded area. I was in the low branches o the canopy. I had something to return, and something to get back. Vi'kas had already taken one of my master's mementos from me, he will not take another one. I moved fast. I took the vibro sword i had been carrying, and threw it into the ground infront of the moving group of 2. While they were busy with the sword from the front I came in as fast as i could manage, and swiped Master O'nur's saber from Vi'kas belt, and then leapt back into the trees. I landed with a sting of pain. back on the branches. I took out a small device and pushed a button activating a homing beacon on me, triggering my ship's auto pilot to come to my location, It wasn't very far so it wouldn't take but a minute to get here.

"Well Vi'kas I'm sure your wondering how I'm still alive. It's not all that complicated. I wasn't just going to walk away from you totally unguarded, now was I? So I enveloped myself in a sort of force shield. I will admit I'm not very good, so if you had been aiming anywhere other than my torso I probably wouldn't be in front of you now. I opted to protect my internal organs, since I can't fully project the shield. When your blade hit, again since I'm not all that strong in that ability, I was able to shift your blades trajectory by a little bit, to avoid any serious damage. I was hurt but not in any serious danger, but I really needed this lightsaber back, you see, so I had to come and say good bye."
As I finished I could hear my jedi fighter pulling close behind me. I took a small step back onto the top of the small craft.
"Enjoy my little return present. I figured you'd want it back since you failed to kill me. I added a little something extra, as a thank you."
I pressed the detonator in my hand and the micro explosive I had stuck to the blade of the sword I had thrown back began to beep.
"I'd say you have about 5 seconds"
I said as I stepped into my cockpit, and let the over head window came down and sealed me in. I gave a happy wave good by.