Hello from the other side...[Darth Ferus]

[Zef Halo]

credits to: cylonka @ DeviantArt​

It was nasty hot outside in the deserts of Tatooine and Aris was glad to have gone into this seemingly deserted for centuries bronze colored building. It had been here where the clues lead him, it was here supposedely where he had to find the base of operations employed by an illegal spice trader.

Now, Aris wouldn't have been on this mission as it was not part of the Silver Sanctum Coalition but major appeals from parents that their children had died from these spices had been brought all the way to Voss due to the Techno Union's reluctancy on dealing with the matter. It was his second assignment as a Warden in the Silver Sanctum, previously he had been able to eliminate a small-time drug cartel on Silver Sanctum-owned planet of Saleucami.

The Hellyn proceeded carefully through the dark corridors of the abandoned building his steps unfortunately echoing far ahead. Fortunately for him though, numerous holes on the building gave him enough vision to be able to see if any sillhouttes would appear at a range where he could efficiently activate his lightsaber of which the hilt was already in his right hand.


Deep in the back of his mind, he felt a taint...



[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Spice Traders. Scum. Thieves. Murderers. And employees. The Sith Lord Darth Ferus used many within the criminal underworld as spies and informants. This specific group was meant to keep him appraised on what was going on in this quadrant of space. But they had played both sides. Gone against the Sith Lord, and now that Ferus knew, his wrath was unleashed.

The taint [member="Aris II"] felt was just that. Ahead, in the den he was sent to clear and deal with Ferus had let his dissatisfaction with their service known. This was done with lightning. Lots and lots of lightning. The closer Aris got, the more scorch marks could be seen, and eventually the charred remains of those who stood in the Sith's way.

In the main room stood Darth Ferus, who had the leader of the group in the air. The Force was closed around his throat, and slowly the Sith paced back and forth, both hands behind his back. "Now now, you knew the deal. You provide information for me, and I don't kill you. But then you started selling my information. You knew for a fact that selling my information would end like this, didn't you? Uh uh, don't answer. Just hang there and reflect on how you failed."

 

[Zef Halo]

Aris proceeded walking cautiously through the dark corridor until something caught his eyes on the wall beside him. He focused his eyes on it and crouched next to it, as if going closer to it the feeling of taint seemed to increase within the back of his head. The Hellyn tried waving it away to comprehend the marks but it wouldn't go away. Putting his fingers on the marks he quickly understood what they were - scorch marks. The abrupt smell of burn filled his nostrils and the bad stench of...death.

With double the caution as before, his way lead him a few scorched bodies. The corpses were desecrated just before a door. Adrenaline rushed through him as Aris approached the door where muted voices were coming from. His soldier's habit of grasping his lightsaber occured as the voices confirmed that the bodies were quite recent. Taking one step further and pushing the buttons on the panel of the door, Aris was in dread at what the sliding of the doors revealed.

A man who fitted the description of the dealer seemed to be choking with no hands around his throat apart from his own and a pacing back and forth a dark, slender and slightly taller figure than him that projected fear all around with his aura and was certainly the source of the taint that his mind felt. His newbie skills in the Force were enough to feel the man's intimidating presence while his general knowledge immediately explained what the man was.

A Sith.

As if automated, Aris collected himself as much as he could and activated his cyan colored lightsaber. He focused all his feelings in the one thing he was good at - wielding a lightsaber in combat. Aris' spoke bluntly to the dark figure, straining to put as much as authority and words as he could muster.

"Leave him."


[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

"Do you think you've reflected upon your actions long enough? I don't, you still haven't turned blue. I'd love to see you turn bl-"

"Leave him."

A rather assertive voice interrupted the Sith Lords speech. Someone snuck up on him? It seems he was getting too lax in his apparent victory over these smugglers. Though, who ever this was wasted quite the opportunity to strike first. A slow pivot on his foot, one clearly meant for theatrics, had the haunting red eyes of Darth Ferus focus in on first the lightsaber, then [member="Aris II"] himself. A Jedi? Maybe, he couldn't really tell at this point. Darkness shrouded all of his features, another intimidation factor, save for those glowing red eyes.

An unsettled Jedi is a weak Jedi after all.

"Leave him? Very well." With a single raise of his hand and a single close of a fist a loud snap filled the room. The smuggler who had been so close to suffocation had his head turned completely around, and he hung there, limp. Then it would drop after a dramatic second. Extravagant as always with this Sith Lord. "He has been left. What happens now?"

 

[Zef Halo]

"Leave him? Very well."

The slender man's tone was something between sarcasm and mockery. That reflected immediately on the snappin sound of the drug dealer's neck. It was the Force and this was nothing else but a Sith. It was hard to press on the fear within, he had been in numerous combat situations in his life - true - but he had never faced the dark side of the Force. Aris had no comprehension of it nor of those that wielded it, it was just labelled as a dangerous path to walk by the scholars in the Silver Sanctum.

The Sith's next question lingered in the air as only the vibrating noise of Aris' cyan blade was heard in the averagely big room. It would be close quarters. A dangerous game Aris had gotten himself into against a foe possibly, if not definitely, stronger than him. Yet, the Hellyn had learned a really good lesson throghout his life, especially in his military service, but first coined by his father - Doubt is energy, focus it into the thing you are capable of. And so he did, Aris raised his blade retaining a rather defensive stance with his movement, and even his look changed. The Hellyn looked determined, to some degree, his focus on combat. The thing that was his strongest point, he believed. There was no other option possible.

Lunging assertively yet with caution, the Hellyn went for a feint at the man's torso and then an attempt of a slice at his legs...


Into the maw of Death...


[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Combat. So that's the choice the Jedi would make. That was.. Odd. Aren't the Jedi suppose to choose peace over war? Well, he wasn't going to say anything about it to [member="Aris II"] . This was a path to the dark, and what was better than killing him would be to break him. A hollow grin spread across the mans shadowed features. A potential? If he could be converted, who knows what the boy could bring to the table? A snap hiss of a lightsaber filled the air as Aris closed in. The blood red saber of the Sith came to life, and with a quick swipe down the burning blade would catch the cyan one, roaring at the contact. With the blades so close the wide eyed and terrible grin Ferus had was clear as day. And while he didn't attack, or speak for that matter, he went about a different approach.


Ẃ̷͢͠ḩ̶̛͜y͟҉̵ ̸̡̨d̶̨͜o̷ ̶͜͠ý͟o҉̴̛́͟ư̴̴҉ ҉͢f̸̕̕͜͝i͢͠͞ģ̶̡͟h̵͘͘͞t͏̵?́҉


An echo of a voice, coming from all directions.


D̸̸͞͞ó̢ ̴̴̕͠y̴̛̕͝ǫ́̀͡ú͝͞ ̧̛h͟͏͜͡à͡͞t̴̨͏e̸̷̴?҉̨ me?

Slowly the echo grew louder.


Ą̛͢ŕ͘͘͝͠e͢҉͏̵ ́͘͡ỳ̶͘͘͝ò̶̶u̶̧͠҉ ̴̨͜a҉̷̵͏f̸̀͘͠ŕ̵͡a̸̷̧̨i̷̢d̷̸̷͝?̧̀̀


Clearer and louder.

[SIZE=medium]Y̷̧o̡͜ų̕͘ ͟͝s͏͏͠h̶̸ờ̴̶̕u͞l͡҉̷̶͝d̶҉̵ ͏͟b̵̛͘͜é͡ ͘͢͜a͡҉̢́͟f̵r͞͏a̡̧ì̶ḑ̴̴.̶̕̕[/SIZE]​

Where this voice was coming from was clear now. Ferus was speaking through the Force, bending it to burn the words right into the mind of the boy.

Ỳǫu͟͜͢ ́wi͏ļl ͞di̛e̷͘ ̶͞her͜e̕.̧̕​

 

[Zef Halo]

The opponent had caught his actions easily and both blades clashed resulting in a buzzing noise similar to a static spark. The Hellyn would immediately focus on an another assault against the Sith, he did not plan on giving the intiative to the opponent. It was at the next attempts to having a few combinations of quick slashes from each side that something echoed in his head. Initially, the apprentice was too engulfed in the combat to notice. As the fight proceeded, it seemed the echos were gradually becoming louder and more comprehensive, yet the apprentice's focus was on the combat.

Y̷̧o̡͜ų̕͘ ͟͝s͏͏͠h̶̸ờ̴̶̕u͞l͡҉̷̶͝d̶҉̵ ͏͟b̵̛͘͜é͡ ͘͢͜a͡҉̢́͟f̵r͞͏a̡̧ì̶ḑ̴̴.̶̕̕

Another slash followed but confusion was beginning to stir within Aris, the intimidating figure that was his opponent did not seem to open his mouth yet he seemed the source of this echoes in his mind. Could it be the For-

Ỳǫu͟͜͢ ́wi͏ļl ͞di̛e̷͘ ̶͞her͜e̕.̧̕

The sudden statement filled with dread made the apprentice stagger and fall back erratically from his next attempt to assault, his self-preservation instinct triggered within the apprentice. Aris' eyes widened at the surprise, it had to be the Sith infront of him. The man was emitting death in the Force and in reality.

"What is this?!" The Hellyn asked confusingly demanding an answer, a few steps back from the Sith. His guard up physically but his mind in wonder at what had happened. Aris did not know what were this tricks nor did he know if the Sith would respond.


This Sith might be a too big of a bite for Aris...



[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Strike by strike the Sith blocked [member="Aris II"] 's blade, never once striking out against him. The screech of energy against energy filled the building, lighting up the corpses of the recently fallen. The smile always remained, taunting, haunting. But once the boy faltered, stepped back and away as the Lord's message finally hit home, he stepped in. In a quick step forward the red blade lashed out, thrusting for the boys chest in what one could consider a Makashi strike.

Never once did he speak, at least out loud. Instead, he kept with the mental messages, assaulting the boys confidence. Unsettled, he would be a much easier mark to defeat. At least he didn't completely succumb to his fear so far, maybe Ferus could enjoy this.

Ỳ̭̭̤͓͉o̸͎͓̻̞̜̫ͅu̩͚͢'̱̖̠͈̼̟̣r̙̘̦͇̝͍̮e͉̪̼͍͕̤ͅ ̶A̛͉̖͈͍͕f͉̩̲̞̳r̪͚͖̹͙̞a̷͇͓ͅi͉̫̘̜̱͈͚d̰̪̖̩͈.̱̘͍̘̦̥̮ ̖̮̻̥͉̯ͅW̜̥̗̬̝h̠̮̙̦y̡͖̹͍̰ ̲̘n͏̹̥̜o͕̰͎͔͙t̤̻̠̦͉̹͉͜ ͇̝͖͇̕g̪̥͔͍̭̮͡i̢̖̞͈̹̙v̸̱̠e ̫̝̤͈͙̳u̵̞̜̤̪̙͕͉p̹͍͙̘̰̗̦͘?

 

[Zef Halo]

Aris' guard was indeed shaken but still fair enough for him to be able to parry the chest strike that the Sith had attempted, the latter's red lightsaber slightly piercing the flesh of the Hellyn. Its heat brought sweat upon Aris' forehead. Along with the parry, Aris had jumped back but unfortunately close to the door. Fight or flight. Something within him told him that flight would not even be succesful. The Hellyn stood with his guard up once again, he knew that he had given the initiative to the Sith who seemed quite expert with the blade. Now it was his turn to defend...

Ỳ̭̭̤͓͉o̸͎͓̻̞̜̫ͅu̩͚͢'̱̖̠͈̼̟̣r̙̘̦͇̝͍̮e͉̪̼͍͕̤ͅ ̶A̛͉̖͈͍͕f͉̩̲̞̳r̪͚͖̹͙̞a̷͇͓ͅi͉̫̘̜̱͈͚d̰̪̖̩͈.̱̘͍̘̦̥̮ ̖̮̻̥͉̯ͅW̜̥̗̬̝h̠̮̙̦y̡͖̹͍̰ ̲̘n͏̹̥̜o͕̰͎͔͙t̤̻̠̦͉̹͉͜ ͇̝͖͇̕g̪̥͔͍̭̮͡i̢̖̞͈̹̙v̸̱̠e ̫̝̤͈͙̳u̵̞̜̤̪̙͕͉p̹͍͙̘̰̗̦͘?

As if that statement had the opposite effect of what it was intended to, hate and anger built up within Aris' veins similar to what had happened to him when he had fought a compatriot of his a few years ago. It was the same strength he tapped into to hold his damaged body intact so he could fight a bit more. Yet, his body was not damaged now and the strength he tapped into with his hate seemed to reinforce him, as if in increasing his skills overally. The urge to kill the Sith was growing chaotically fast.

Afraid....Afraid.... It echoed in his mind and the more it echoed the more litter and things around the ground began to wildly and aimlessly circle in the air. As if a gust of wind was brewing within him that chaotically picking up everything in the surroundings. The Sith's tactic of dreading the Hellyn had backfired, fear had disappeared. Then it happened.

"WHAT SON OF A KING IS AFRAID?" His voice boomed and he repulsed everything around him. The bodies of the fallen flew away into the walls while some walls gave in to the pressure becoming slightly bent. Aris' eyes had the slight taint of red within them as he lunged at the opponent into a series of hack and slash combinations.


Little did he know though about the machinations of the Sith Lord...


[member="Darth Ferus"]

 

[Darth Ferus]

Surprise was the emotion the Sith Lord felt as the boy unleashed the Force. Such anger, hate. It was becoming of a Sith. [member="Aris II"] was no Sith however. Ferus was blasted backwards and through the air, but a quick twist of his torso sent him feet first to the ground, landing with the grace one could expect from a duelist. As the boy came in, the Sith stopped his mental games. Something had clicked, or broken, within the boys head.

Red clashed against cyan as the Sith deflected the strikes. Up, down, left, right, the Sith was there, challenging with his smile. Aris was passing the threshold into mindlessness, a dangerous path. And it wasn't a place he was going to let the boy get to. Lightning surged around his saber as he caught the boys saber again, letting the electricity flow off and cause the cyan blade to get knocked upwards. As he did so, his left hand shot out, aiming to grasp the Wardens throat.

All the while, the sound of metal slipping against metal could be heard.

 

[Zef Halo]

Aris was obsessed with his assault that he could not see the flaws in his defence. His skill much lesser than the one of the Sith Lord and his knowledge of the force much less as well. Surprisingly what came next was not the absolute defence that the man demonstrated but at the final clash when a surge of lightning threw the cyan blade of his hands and the Sith's obnoxious hands grabbed his throat.

In his rage he could not hear the clash of metal that echoed from the man's hand. When he saw it, it was already too late as the hidden blade pierced sharply through the Hellyn's throat.

A lifeless body yet again in the hands of the Sith Lord, how many dreams had he shattered before ?

The man who would be king...

[member="Darth Ferus"]