Episode V: Akala Strikes Back

[Thurion Heavenshield]

Garden of Thorns​

​

[member="Coci Sinopi"] | [member="Mrrew"] | [member="Shane Williams"] | [member="Dak Canton"] | [member="Gareth Yalthik"]​

With great hesitation, Thurion stepped towards the portal. It looked like something out of a dream... or perhaps a nightmare, considering. He turned to look to Coci and the others before carefully reaching for the gateway, touching it with just the tip of his fingers. It felt like nothing he'd ever experienced before, like a mixture of water and fire, hot and cold at the same time. It didn't hurt any, but again it felt so strange that it became uncomfortable, almost. Getting down on his knees before the large gaping rift, he stuck his entire forearm inside it. "I'm alright", he told the others knowing at least Coci would be worried.

After a moment or two he pulled it back out, and it was completely drenched from elbow to the tip of his fingers. "Rain water", he told them. Thurion then stuck his hand back inside the portal and cupped it, and in mere seconds his hand had been filled with water which he proceeded to drink from. Never had water tasted better. "I'm convinced. Whatever that place is, it's better than here. Who's coming with me?" He reached out for Coci to join him while again putting a cupped hand inside the portal to fill it with water for her to drink.

 

[Connor Harrison]

Location: The Field Of Blades
Companion(s): [member="Nyos Val"]

About to speak, Connor narrowed his eyes at how the stranger knew he was – of course, the lightsaber hilt. A big clue for anyone. With a little chuckle, he waved the hilt at the stranger.

”Yeah, Jedi. That’s me. Although you wouldn’t think so. Just call me Connor. Nice to make your acquaintance in this wonderful world of nothingness.”

Looking at the being, who appeared human, there was no Force aura or anything about him, but right now that meant nothing. Connor walked slowly forward to the next large blade hilt emerging from the rocky ground.

”I’ve seen nothing – I don’t even know where I am,” a hint of desperation seeped into his voice, ” but do YOU know where we are? I can’t find any -”

The silent flash above their heads stopped him and caught his attention, a frightening wave of green energy that seemed to stem from the orb in in the sky. Rippling across the atmosphere, Connor stopped and watching in awe as it headed down to the ground in the distance. As it did, a large boom echoed around them, sending a violent shockwave across the ground, kicking up a few blades and lots of rock and debris.

Connor turned to shield his eyes and was pushed forward onto his knees by the blast.

Looking back as everything seemed to go quiet; a small fountain of green energy was billowing up from the ground on the horizon.

”Nyos, whatever THAT is – I don’t know if it’s good, or bad. Are you ok?”

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Location: Garden of Thorns
[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Mrrew"] | [member="Gareth Yalthik"]

She almost reached out to Thurion to stop him from going near the rift, but as his hand entered it, he confirmed to her he was alright. But still she held concern as this place is unpredictable and shifting just as is the rift. They also did not know if the rift would have a time limit on it, but that knowledge was only open to speculation and not really of importance.

Again she watched with alarm as he took mouthfuls of water her had retrived from the rift, it could have been anything, but Thurion confirmed it was water and as he drank of it, there appear no harm had befallen him. As he offered her water cupped in his hand she drank, holding his hand with both of her and felt the life giving liquid enter her body and help to begin to quench her thirst. "Thank you", she whispered.

"Naturally, I will come with you, you already know my answer" she said looking up into his bearded face. Coci had once told Thurion she would walk into the mouth of hell with him, and all he had to do was ask. They had already been through so much together, faced many dangers and will again, and now standing on the edge of another precipious she would not falter.

She took hold of his hand and squeezed it firmly ready to walk through the rift and into the unknown. "Shall we", she said once more to all of them. At this moment, the vines gave way and the demonic creature crashed through into the clearing and roared, not beautiful music this time but pure rage and hunger. "Now!" she yelled as she lead Thurion into the rift, and hoped the others would be right behind them.

 

[Garza]

The information I had gotten. all about this secret cult, Akala, The Netherworld of the force. It was all making no sense, yet all of it was connected. I kept trying to run ideas through my processing units. The dagger was shown to be used to kill this girl. A girl with powers and abilities to kill just about every living being. As the man vanished behind the gate. I looked at the Jedi. Seeing that he would follow. I pulled out my rifle. Checking it was loaded.

"Well I came here to kark stuff up and chew bubblegum..."

I locked and loaded up. Taking my final steps in this world to move into the next.

"And I can't chew bubblegum"

There was a few seconds where I was in limbo. Floating in bright lights before I landed in a blood puddle. Raising up already, I could see the two men ahead of me. Hearing the Jedi ask why we were in a Blood swamp. Literally. I shook my head standing as I walked after them. Looking behind us, I watched as the little portal closed off.

"Well we better find out soon as we only have one way to move."

I walked up to stand next to both of them.

"Forward."

[member="Bol-Jahir"], [member="Gherron Vael"],

 

[Mrrew]

Location: Garden of Thorns
[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] [member="Coci Sinopi"]

Mrrew watched closely as Thurion reached into the puddle,... and retracted a handful of rainwater. And by the looks of things after Thurion took a drink, perfectly good, clean, rainwater. He had a feeling something like that couldn't come from a place like where they were. So the... hole.... it was safe? Mrrew nodded as Thurion asked who was coming with him. "Better than here." Mrrew stepped over and handed Coci her lightsaber, first off. He knew how important lightsabers tended to be to their force users- and there was always a chance he'd loose it jumping through the hole. Or he'd be disintgerated or bust into flame, r who knows what. Just because Thurion's hand survived, dosen't mean the portal was all it seemed to be... It could be a trick. The girl could still be nearby, waiting to turn the portal into a hellish trick as soon as they stepped in. But they didn't have a better option.

Plus, the hellish screams of the monster that just burst from the vines was a great incentive. Without another second's delay, save a glance at Coci and Thurion, the Togorian leaped into the portal.

 

[Malok]

Location: The Blood Wastes
Objective: The Way Out[
Allies: [member="Ailyn Cyar'ika"] | [member="Vassara Raxis"] | [member="Elizie Adasca"] | [member="Shuduc Macar"] | [member="Silas Mantis"] | [member="Solan Charr"] | @Raven Hiyashi | [member="Aeizori-Mei Kaeirosae"] | [member="The Onyx"] | [member="Apoc"]

OOC: Dipping out folks, missed too much to effectively catch up. My apologies for not keeping up.

The Way Out.

The acquaintance of the Padawan knew the way out. The southern trek through the Blood had not been in vain, not in the slightest. Before the eyes of the Sith Lord was...a void. It billowed. It beckoned. It was the means of returning to the world of the living. Darth Metus did not waste any time in marching forward, taking only a moment to motion is apprentice to follow suit. Then, without hesitation, he plunged himself into darkness. The sensation that occurred could only be described as falling. His stomach flew, his eyes watered, but when it was all said and done his feet touched down upon solid ground once more.

And he felt it. The Force was his ally again.

He did not know exactly where he was, but that did not matter. He was free. He had returned. He...felt something churning inside. It was a boiling mass of malice and hatred; anger at all for the sin of existence. They had to pay, they had to perish. But who. Who?! Who would be the first to fall victim to his blade?! Tentative steps were taken away from the rift, where he managed to find himself amongst the lost souls that had been caught up in the rift's opening. There was violence. There was blood.

And Darth Metus struck.

One fell. A single swipe of his saber extinguished the liberated life. Then, the most peculiar thing happened...the rage subsided. It was if his malice was a bad dream that had been destroyed by waking. "That was...Ugh." he managed to croak. Taking a moment, he accessed the HoloNet via his helm and ascertained his location. Alderaan. Great. "Time to go." he muttered, calling for a pickup by one of his corporate vessels. It would take a little time for them to arrive, and in the meantime the Sith Lord decided to distance himself from the lost.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

Location: The Garden of Thorns
[member="Thurion Heavenshield"] | [member="Mrrew"] | [member="Gareth Yalthik"]

Just before they stepped into the rift, Mrrew handed Coci back her lightsaber, in return she presented the butt of the pistol to him. He would need it and no doubt would feel more comfortable with a weapon as they entered the unknown.

"Here goes everything", she said.

 

[Aeron Kreelan]

Field of Blades

[member="Azrael Asura"]


With a padding of dusting off of the sleeves of her jacket. The Icarii would take a glance around. Was she alone? No off in the distance she caught sight of someone.

A frown drew over her face.

Who was there?

 

[Feena]

-Blood thingy whatever-
[member="Keter"]

What was there to be confused about? How could she not love Naboo? It was her home.

"She's not too young. The youngest Queen we've had was only thirteen. Age is meaningless on Naboo. It's emotional maturity we look for in a leader. ...Keeping that in mind, perhaps you are right. She is too young."

 

[Edric Vanyan]

[member="Nicole Sarah Feanor"]

"I can...But not until i send everyone back to the world of the living Nicole... then i will come back to the world of the living and maybe then we can be a family again, i promise." Her eyes ran over to the side of the shore as she thought about hugging her daughter again, being with her above everything and anything. Could she truly just abandon her work now and be with her daughter... "Nicole, tell me about what you like to do again, i want to know everything about you..."

[member="Seris Vant"]

And with just as quick a movement as she had made the canteen would go flying and a pole would slam hard enough into Seris' chest to knock her out of the water as the form of a boy no more than nineteen stood there on the banks of the river now. It was almost as if he come out of no where and the appearance he wore was clear of what species he came from. He was a long lanky human with white hair and grey piercing eyes, his pole much short but the side probably a manipulation while also seemingly made out of dust. Literal grains of dust that ell through his hands and left him standing there in a pair of trousers, a loose shirt, and no cloak like the others. "Are you stupid miss?"

[member="Nima Tann"]

"You are in the land of the dead my dear, there should be no reason for you to drink as you can't really kill over from it. So i am sorry to disappoint you but no that is not how it will work in this world, unless you are really that thirsty that you would risk your own well being for just a taste of the waters over there, but that is a bad idea miss Tann." He watched her with a sigh and looked about the area, there had to be something to help calm the girl down and all he need was it to stick out, to show itself. But alas they were in the land of the dead, its quite clear they are not going to find anything.

 

[Nei Laa]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

[SIZE=12pt]Nei harrumphed, crossing her arms as Jacen shot down her idea. Clearly, he wasn’t getting the point – since he was a Force User, she was going to suggest he just use the Force to float themselves up. After all, Force Users were always going on about how in-tuned with the Force they were, and how they could do this and that with it. Well, alright, not all of the Force Users were braggarts, but still. The same principle applied. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Her tresses flicked when he mentioned having a crazy idea. Bah, what the kriff, she thought. Let him say his idea, then I expand on mine if his is stupid. “Yeah, well, if it gets us out it doesn’t matter how crazy it be.” The Nautolan paused, then added, “But if it includes blood sacrifice, count me out. I don’t wanna be injured here. Does it involve the Force?”[/SIZE]

 

[Keter]

Blood Wastes
[member="Feena Mason"]

"Besides, with her being on Dis for so long...don't you think that she could be overwhelmed a little?" the blond continued. "I mean, you saw how she was like the minute she started noticing boys..."

 

[Neyana]

[member="The Ferrymen of the River"]

She looked over to her, and her smile never really leaved her face. "To... to be honest I.. I don't know what I like to do. On Korriban, no one really... wanted to do anything with me. I don't have any hobbies... I don't know anything of the Galaxy, and my only friend wants to kill me. ...Sortof." She looked away at that, and shook her head. "And... when your done here... we could.. ....Do something.. I don't know..."

 

[Shuduc Macar]

Blood Wastes
Allies: [member="Ailyn Cyar'ika"] [member="Vassara Raxis"] [member="Darth Metus"] [member="Elizie Adasca"] [member="Silas Mantis"] [member="Solan Charr"] @Raven Hiyashi [member="Aeizori-Mei Kaeirosae"] [member="The Onyx"] Apoc

With the portal the fellow sith found she ran to it desperate to leave and as she did followed Darth Metus and exited the hell she was in. From there she could see again and enraged she slaughtered her way onto a small ship to escape. Her rage saited finally she was much happier. The force outside was in flux but she could handle that compared to blindness.

[ooc: exiting too characters lived in a hellish place for herself]

 

[Feena]

-Blood wastes-
[member="Keter"]

"Oh, we are not talking about that!"
Her face went pale. She really did not want to even think about her daughter with boys. It was bad enough when she was with tht Glyph boy and Feena had to keep an eye on them. Thankfully, Keter had her in his sights... or he did. Now, who knew what she was up to.

 

[Aeizori-Mei Kaeirosae]

Location: Valley of Lies
Objective: My fur is getting wet!

Aeizori continued to run, but was rather decieved. She had thought she smelled her Mistress ([member="Ronin Xyhn"]) but instead she ended up in a storm of some-kind. "Wha-... A-Arf. . ." She sniffs and would go down to her hands and knees, then she would start to cry. "W-What... b-but... I-I swear I-I thought. . ." Her tails drooped down, and she remains there in utter defeat. She wouldn't even look up at [member="Solan Charr"].

 

[Keter]

Blood Wastes
[member="Feena Mason"]

"Relax," Keter laughed. "Since she left that Glyph, she hasn't hung out with anyone. Well, maybe Owain but the two of them are rivals so you know how that is - always egging each other on," he casually observed.

 

[Feena]

-Blood wastes.... still-
[member="Keter"]

Rivals. Yes. Just rivals. And as long as it stayed that way, Feena was more than fine with it. That boy was not one she approved of and he certainly was not even close to being on the same level as her daughter. She deserved someone-

Oh sweet Force, I'm starting to sound like my mother...

That was an awful realization. She was the very last person in the Galaxy she wanted to be. She refused.

"Keep an eye on him," she warned, "you know how teenage buys can be..."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Nei Laa"]

OOC/ Sorry, just wanted to carry on here!

“It doesn't involve the Force no. I’ve tried walking with my back turned to the horizon and I just came back here. This is going to sound stupid, but I think we have to beat it and the only way I can think of doing that…” he explained. Feth this really is going to sound a nonsensical half-wit. “...is to walk backwards?” he offered tentatively.

Discipline, focus and conviction. As a proud youth at the Jedi academy he had lacked all of those qualities. Yet now, somehow, he knew he would need them all. With all of his belongings strapped to him he didn’t waste any time in turning to look into the distance. His eyes immediately went wide and his jaw slack. His knees trembled as if they were about to give beneath him.

It almost felt like he was starting to leave his body. Why stay there? Why live in that oddly formed shell when he could transcend. He could leave it behind and lose himself in the horizon. Explore the serenity for all eternity and be free from the all the trappings of his biological form: pain, emotions, confusion. No more failure.

I want to leave this place!

But he didn’t. There was no need to fight this. Why fight this?

I want to leave this place!

Something anchored his mind back in the physical. It was his right foot. It had moved, just a few inches backwards, but that was enough to start it.

Good feet, you always get me out the the worst scrapes, despite my stupid brain. I want to leave this place!

He took a full step backwards. His foot found solid ground and the other was trying to follow.

I want to leave this place!

That was it, he was no taking steps back away from the infinite horizon. The canyon walls were starting to move. Each step was easier now. It occurred to him that the horizon was no longer anything mythical, or enthralling. It was simply a view of a plain stretching out ahead of him. e couldn’t even comprehend how it had held him in place. His feet kept going and he kept marching away.


"You have to beat it! You have to want to leave!" he called, as he trudged backwards towards the Blood Wastes like a fool

 

[Keter]

Blood Wastes
[member="Feena Mason"]

He stared at his wife. "Er...no, not really. Teenage-hood sort of passed me by, remember?" he pointed out before shrugging. "But as you wish. What, should I send him to you the minute any...advnaces are taken?" he asked, curious.