Invasion Rains of Contruumere [One Sith vs GR Invasion of Contruum]

[Vexen]

There was an almost imperceptible movement of air as Vexen turned and fired the dart gun she carried. There was the click as a plastoid armour plate snapped and another pursuing stormtrooper went down. "It's clear!" she called as she stood back up, having taken a knee to make the shot. She turned and leapt over the unconscious form of one of the stormtroopers she had downed with her stun baton. The corridor ahead was pitch dark from when she had brought down the lights to get the jump on the guards.

"Two more ahead, but they're down!" she cried, her little heart racing.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]


"Good girl," he said with notable admiration, running alongside her. Everything was pitchblack, but Micah had long since learned to utilize the Force to enhance his vision at low light. This wasn't even including the bond that had grown between Vexen and he. There were moments where they were in tune with the other. Right now, however, Micah's mind was saturated by concern over his mother and a growing sense of fear.

His breath came in short, quick hitches. His heart thundered within the phrik of his helm. Hooking his saber at his hip upon that metallic clamp, Micah encouraged the Defel to move on ahead.

"Go!," he would tell her, glancing behind them to see if any had followed. None came, but he didn't miss the two prone bodies. He almost tripped over one!

A curse went ripping from his mouth, gaining his balance as he quickly reached for his wrist. Slave circuits allowed for remote control of the stealth yacht. Forefinger and thumb depressed two switches and typed in a quick code over the holographic display. That next moment saw the engines of Kalee's Shadow roar to life, twin cones of blue illuminating the hangerbay which they were running across.

Ramp down, both would enter the ship.

 

[Vexen]

Her claws made a loud rattle as she almost lost her footing. The ship lifted up smoothly from the landing bay, gracefully turning on its axis before accelerating through the shimmering blue field and out into space.

The dark shadow slumped down into a chair in the cockpit, seemingly melting into it. She ran her fingers across some of the controls, checking the diagnostics she'd run when Micah had called her on the comm. Her reading was good enough to get through them slowly, even if she didn't fully understand all the concepts. She knew what good looked like, at least. Her piloting however, was shaky at best.

As they flew, she pulled out the small black dart gun from her fur. She held it with her crooked left paw and manipulated the release catch with her right. She pulled the magazine loose and found some more darts to fill it up.

"Where are we goin'?" she asked, trying not to let the fear creep into her voice. Her fingers were shaking now, from the adrenaline. He'd helped her train, but she'd never been through an ordeal like that before. Never had to genuinely hurt someone before they could hurt her... Or Micah. She hadn't seen him look this upset before, her eyes watched him carefully.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"] wouldn't be able to to see his face under the helm, but Micah's visage had turned into a steely mask. Adrenaline was running hot in his veins, but also underlying under it, coating him was the presence of fear.

"To the surface." he said flatly, still tense as he worked the controls, the Force surged outward from the Talith -- searching. Pinpointing. Micah couldn't fly like Kai -- the curse and all prevented that. Something about bad luck and crashing ships. The bulk of his life had the use of piloting droids for going from place to place.

Vexan, however, had picked up on the skill. With every new lesson, whether it be in basic or the Force, she was soaking information like a sponge.

He felt her worry. Felt her try her best to be strong. For all her bouts of fear, Vexen was more courageous than he. How she had managed to knock down the Imperials at the station and overcome her fear was commendable. It gave him more strength and focus for what he had to do.

"It's mum," there was a pained tone in his voice. "I felt her." he explained.

Swallowing hard, the ship swooped down into Contruum's atmosphere. A shudder wracked the ship and the hull began to glow red.

Searching... searching...

"Something happened to her."

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Breath...breath...she told herself. This was like riding a wave now. The adrenaline was causing her to shake from before as she came down, but already her nerves were jangling again. Micah's mum had always shown her kindness, but it was the crack in Micah's voice that disturbed her. She was so used to his confident, easy going tones. Even facing down multiple Sith he'd always seemed to possess infinite confidence.

Vexen looked down at her traitor paws until they stopped shaking.

"Okay," she said stoically. "What do you need me to do?" The dart gun was hidden back under her fur, her eyes turned to the scanner. But it was Micah's connection to his flesh and blood that would direct them to her, Vexen knew.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

A deep exhale erupted from Micah.

"Prep the Med-bay," he would relay, knowing that if he felt this much through the Force, the spike of pain and the sudden silence, his mother would need it. She wasn't dead, that at the very least he could tell and grateful for it. His mother was strong; stronger than any other woman he knew. She still had breath in her, had she ...

Well he would have known. They all would.

Scattered clouds now went streaming across the viewport, condensation sticking as they dipped further into the atmosphere. There was a storm brewing, dark clouds swirling and starting to affect the controls. However, Micah's compass was the Force. She was out there...

There!

Breathing in and out, the Talith would focus on the lifeforce that was his mother.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]

Vexen's breath came out in a stuttered burst before she replied quietly. "Yes." This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. As she slid off her seat Micah was slowing the ship, his eyes scanning the ground. Vexen had one last way to help her alarmed friend. Vexen took off her goggles. The half-light that filtered to the ground was enough to cause her significant discomfort, but there were more important things at stake. Her immensely sensitive eyes scanned the ground ahead of them as Micah honed in.

"There!" she cried, spotting the shapes on the ground off the starboard bow. Her goggles slipped back on and she ran into the back of the vessel.One ear stayed pricked up to listen for Micah running for the exit so she could follow.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Vexen"]

Landing in this storm took some skill, but thankfully, having automated systems helped a bit. The landing may not have been the cleanest, but Micah certainly wasn't too concerned about it. No, his focus was on the faint aura of a singular life force. That bloom of energy that came from the woman that had birthed him and his sisters.

His mother.

He didn't bother killing the engines. He didn't bother much on security. The singular mission at hand was the extraction of his mother. Pounding the corridor, his heart thundering in his ears, the Talith went rushing to the back of the ship, the ramp already lowering. Rain would pelt the dark hull, water trickling and then erupting around his armor. He didn't care.

He did not wait for the ramp to lower all the way. Instead he jumped, the Force surging him forward to land in a wet splash upon the rain soaked battlefield. Water beaded his visor, the wash of the engines blasting him, but the young man would not be halted.

He didn't care for the others. No tunnel vision had taken over. Every stride, every length of ground, every meter he covered was now thrumming with a singular purposeful rush. The Force surged through him, crashing down the length of his body, electric jolts arching under his armor, across his flesh.

Over the ink that stained his right shoulder and upper arm where the crest of the Talith family lay.

A singular pulse echoed in that instant.

And as Micah's body sank down beside the unconscious, diminutive form of the blonde Jedi Master, a half galaxy away, [member="Soliael Devin Talith"], his father, would feel the flare of connection from his only son as Micah drew his mother into his arms.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Micah Talith"]

It wouldn't take more then a second, maybe less.

The force reached out, the connection instant, the pulse racing through the veins of the patriarch of the Talith family. Almost as soon as Micah touched his tattoo, as soon as the force flowed through it, the air seemed to shift and change above him. It twisted in upon itself, changing, and flowing into itself as nothingness suddenly became obscured. Space folded in upon itself, and then expanded in an instant. It would pain the eyes to look upon it, the force would recoil as one would try to sense it.

Then suddenly Soliael stood there.

His torso was revealed, his hair was soaked, his beard was a disheveled mess and his eyes slight circles beneath them as though he had awoken from a deep sleep. He wore sweat pants, his hands were clasped into tight fists, and the force seemed to flow from him in titanic waves that distorted the very air. Danger hung about him, power that seemed to linger and singe the nostrils when one took a single breath. The once false God stood ready to kill.

Bright orange eyes immediately sunk to the forms beneath him, horror crossing his features. "What happened?!"

He fell to his knee's, grasping his wife.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Micah Talith"]
[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]


A loud splash heralded the arrival of the small defel pup as she skidded to a halt. The light now reflected off her soaked fur, giving her a black sheen. He knees sank a few inches into the mud as she slammed down the medical case. Micah had gone so fast, he had appeared almost a blur as he rushed past her to the rear of the ship. She felt the sudden shift in the Force. Its regular flow suddenly perturbed as a nexus drew it in, only to be replaced by different kind of nexus. The tall, broad form of Micah's father was suddenly before them. Vexen barely suppressed a yelp of surprise.

A small triage droid floated out of the case. It was a small almost flat disc only ten centimetres across. It floated towards the patient and the air between them shimmered as it started to conduct its scans.

Signs of respiratory paralysis. Blood oxygen dangerously low. Venom detected in blood stream. Apply respirator, take blood sample to determine venom.

A warm red light appeared underneath one of the items in the case. It was a clear plastic mask with a small device attached. Vexen pulled it out and passed it towards Micah. Her eyes darted between the three humans as she tried to process what was happening.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Vexen"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

Stunned, frozen, near catatonic. Darth Ophidia stood like a muddy statue for a few minutes before her consciousness came through. Having delivered its’ bite, the Tsaisibola slithered through the cold mud to reunite itself with its master once again. The flat serpent coiled up her leg and huddled against the warmth of her still flesh. Bit by bit, the assassin could feel herself overpowering the hold on her. She could sense something, something approaching. The sensation of dire circumstances tied the approaching ones to this place, and by the time she could hear the sound of a ship approaching, she was able to force a hand down to the rim of her armour and flick the switch of her stealth field generator.

The field of practical invisibility enveloped her as she withdrew into herself. Her presence in the force shrunk, faster, faster, smaller, smaller until it was the size of an atom. She allowed herself to sink into a crouch, and calmed her breath. She could hear feet in the mud, the worried one approached. Clearly, the assassin had hit a nerve. Her head could still not move, so she relied on her sense of hearing.

Splashing of boots, skidding. She caught something in the corner of her eye as Micah rushed for his mother. The connection, the emanating emotion, it was extremely powerful. One side of Ophidia’s mouth curled into a vicious smile. Then, something odd. A very odd sensation indeed. She could not see space fold upon itself, but she could feel the sudden emergence of another figure, a powerful one. For a moment, she wished she had her lightsabre, but the hilt was lost in their scuffle and trampled into the mud somewhere. Its circuits were fried to a crisp, but it had been a gift once, and making a new one worthy of succession was a laborious affair.

[SIZE=9pt]"What happened?!"[/SIZE]

Horror in the voice, close to the blonde one; family?

[SIZE=9pt]Signs of respiratory paralysis. Blood oxygen dangerously low. Venom detected in blood stream. Apply respirator, take blood sample to determine venom.[/SIZE]
Terentatek and Tsaisi venom, both highly potent, deadly if not treated quickly, painful to survive. They would have a field-trip with this one, she had no doubt.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Darth Ophidia"] [member="Vexen"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Micah had known all his life what his father was capable of.

Blinking, is what his mum affectionately called it. The ability to just suddenly appear as if with a blink of the eye. IT was a skill through the Force that Micah had always wanted to learn, to make it his own. An ability that his father had never relayed to either of his children or his wife.

But it was an ability that allowed him to travel to get to his loved ones in times like this. It took a lot of effort, a lot of concentration, and an amount of Force power that was unlike any Micah had ever known.

There wasn't much time to talk. Or even to explain. His mother lay far too still. Her face blanched of color and smeared with mud and her blood. The faintest hike of her chest spoke of breath, the rapid fire heartbeat that said the poison was working through her quickly. The Med-Droid's diagnosis was met with a thinning of Micah's lips. Something was stretching to a near snapping point within the Talith.

Around them the battle was still on going, and it appeared that Republic Forces were getting overrun. Their sudden appearance was not to be ignored.

The snap-hiss of enemy sabers and then a volley of blaster fire came their way. That tension coil within Micah, snapped.

Orange blazed to life as both sabers blazed to deflect the bolts. "VEX!" he shouted out, moving himself forward to be a physical barrier so as the Defel would be less of a mark.

Right now there was no time to think. Merely act.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"] | [member="Darth Ophidia"] | [member="Vexen"]

There was his problem.

Kira needed help, she needed to get out of here, but there was a war raging beyond them. Soliael knew it, he could sense the pain, the desperation and hate. Once, it would have made him stronger, but now it only sent chills down his spine. His eyes flickered to his son, then to the creature at his side, then to his wife. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, his thoughts began to race. He started to think, plot, plan. He knew his own limits, even with the ring that he carried upon his finger, knew what he could do.

He could easily take Kira back home, but that would leave Micah and Vexen here. He could just as easily take Kira and Micah to somewhere safe on the planet, but that would leave Vexen.

Could he take all three?

His lips thinned, his eyes falling on the three figures that stood below him. It was a question that he didn't want to know the answer to. Do the wrong thing and they could all end up dead. Do it right and it may not land them in safety at all. It was that realization that brought Soliael back into the waking world, that thought which made him settle on a plan. She wouldn't like it, but then again she didn't have a choice in the matter. His right hand balled into a fist, his left reached out and grasped Micah by the scruff of his neck. "Micah!"

Soliael gathered his sons attention, his voice strong.

"Take your mother and your friend, go." Stern still, strong. "I'll clear a path."

With that, Soliael released his son, the rain soaking into his skin as the force began to build up all around him. In ages past, Soliael had fancied himself a god. He had lead billions and changed the path of many lives. Power had always been his focal point, had always been what he sought. Now, he would use what he had gained in that life, what he had learned. The rain seemed to slow, the air seemed to become bitter and cold, the clouds above seemed to shift and change. The soldiers around them would feel their skin tingle, the hairs upon their arms raise. A line of Sith Soldiers approached the small group, and Soliael half turned to them.

The storm above seemed to lash out. A great bolt of lightning summoned from the sky, slamming down into the midst of the Sith. They seemed to explode, rendering them into little more than dust as a surge of power rushed through their line.

 

[Vexen]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]
[member="Micah Talith"]
[member="Darth Ophidia"]
Vexen yelped as one of the bolts scythed thigh Micah's defensive blade work and passed perilously close to her shoulder. She dropped to all fours and stayed quite still. Even a less sensitive nose that hers would pick up the acrid stench of burnt fur. The din of battle was overwhelming and for a moment she found herself rooted to the spot. This wasn't a place for the skittish defel.

Then she heard Sol talk to his son, his voice deep and gruff. His family was in danger, yet there was no trace of despair in his voice. This was Micah's family. But as far as she was concerned Micah was the only family she had even known, save for the blurred shadow with the soft voice she occasionally heard in her waking dreams. Fierce loyalty to the family was a genetic trait for her species and she suddenly found her resolve bolstered.

“Dun’ worry bou’ me,” Vexen called above the noise. “They won't see me! Carry her!”

Her language was much better now, but the stress of the situation had her regressing to her earlier years in an instant. She splashed through the mud as she skittered to one side. In the storm and the waning dusk light she was little more than a shadow, not even infrared goggles would make her stand out, only ultraviolet light.

One of the soldiers picked himself up from the ground, still smouldering for the sudden bolt of lightning. It was fortunate that Vexen had been looking away at that moment, for the streak would likely have blinded her even through the goggles. It took a moment to steady her paws. There was a barely audible ‘click’ and the soldier went back down.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Micah Talith"] [member="Vexen"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

The Dominion of the One Sith pushed forward, troops closed in as they scoured the planet clean of its taint. Ophidia’s body was just about cleansed of the stunning effect when the ruckus begun. Blaster bolts made impact around her. One hit her in the back and deflected off the backplate. Some had argued she would not need one; she was glad she insisted. The angry snap-hiss of lightsabres brought her something of a comfort. She was going to need one of those.

"VEX!" "Micah!" "Take your mother and your friend, go." "I'll clear a path."

These words clarified a lot. Micah; she would remember the name. Indeed, there were three and they were family, related to the Jedi she had fought. Mother; the word gave her bad taste in the mouth. Judging by the voices, she would guess the one staying behind was the father. Something stirred within her; a deep-seated hatred for which she had no explanation. As this emotion begun to bubble up.

The lightning struck in the midst of the approaching Sith and their troops. Electricity crackled amidst their forms and she could sense the lightsabres falling. Her influence stretched out and snatched a pair of hilts from the hands of a dead Sith. The two hilts flew towards Ophidia’s location as she stood up calmly and quietly. The moment they connected with her palms, she released the suppression of her presence.

Not a heartbeat past releasing her presence, Darth Ophidia charged Soliael. Fuelling her body with the Force, she enhanced her speed significantly and as she came within three paces, the lightsabres ignited. Her stealth field closed its circuits to avoid overload, While her form blinked into existence, she feinted as if she was running to the man’s front before darting to his back. One of the two lightsabres lashed out for his midriff while the other simultaneously swept for his ankle.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah did as he was told. The tone of voice his father said there was no arguing the matter.

After all, this was his father.

The blades of orange were deactivated, clipped to the magnetic hooks of his belt. He took his mothers diminutive, bloody body in hand. Curling her close, the briefest of moments would be spent in a lingering glance at his father. Twin orbs a hue reminiscent of the brightness of suns would meet beyond the black visor that stood between father and son.

A curt nod, then Micah spun on his foot. Mud splattered and the Defel and the Talith made haste to their ship. The cover provided by his father would assure their departure, the acrid, burning strench of flesh thick in the wet air.

"Go Vex!" Micah shouted, the black shadow speeding up towards the ship. The Force went surging through his limbs, speeding his steps, leaving the splatter of mud in his wake. There were a few bolts sent their way, striking at the hull of the ship. A jump and surge of energy sent him and his precious cargo up, where he landed on the ramp with a loud clatter. He ducked inside the ship.

Thank Inari the Reviver for slave circuits.

Auto pilot would take them out into atmo soon enough.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

It was often thought that the body was capable of reacting at speeds much faster than thought itself. The Human mind, or perhaps the minds of all sentient creatures was simply too slow to properly comprehend and act within a timeframe that many would consider effective. Jedi had long since realized this, and their realizations had been passed to the Sith. The force was a guide in this, it was a way to react faster than the mind could comprehend. It was how lightsaber combat worked, instead of reacting, one simply allowed the flows of the force to take them. The battle became innate, a reaction to that sixth sense, a channeling of the force. It became about prediction instead of reaction.

Soliael did not need to react, nor did he need to predict.

The storm had become his own. It flowed through him and around him. Every gust of wind, every strike of lightning, every drop of rain. He felt its effects to his very core. So as the rain drops fell, as they scattered and splashed against soaked clothes and exposed flesh, he felt apart of them. They sang to him, called to him, and as the Sith ran towards him, her face a snarl and her thumb slowly sliding over the activation switches of her lightsaber, Soliael only turned.

His body shifted, his bright orange eyes locking on the figure just as she began to appear within the storm. Her eyes were gray, broken and faded, the darkside ravaging throughout them. Soliael watched those eyes, looked through them and into the womans soul. His expression was blank, his lips thin, his eyes regarding her own. Half a breath passed from his chest, his lips parting as he spoke. "I used to have eyes like that."

Reality shifted again, tearing into itself, and Soliael disappeared.

Within a blink the former false god reappeared, three meters behind where he had stood only half a second ago. His eyes had widened, a soft glow rushing through bright orange. He stared at the woman, looked at her, searched for something. It took a moment, but then he saw it, faded black string. They hung from her body as though suspending her, holding her up and moving with her every twitch, even as she followed through with the fast slashes that would have seen Soliael eviscerated.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"] [member="Vexen"]

Raindrops evaporated against the humming bloodshine blades. He appeared not to make any action except turning. Had she caught him off guard, was it sheer arrogance? She had no time to get a close look at him and determine before her sabres tore through his space. However, the moment she expected there to be a minuscule impact and the scent of burnt flesh, there was only air, air and lingering words.

Ophidia stopped and stepped into a taller posture. The lightsabres glided out to either side in a mindful, but relaxed position. Was it an illusion? No, he was there, she was sure of it. As his words reverberated in her mind, the Rattataki pivoted and placed her right shoulder in the direction of Soliael. Her face adopted a neutral expression; the moment had faded, but her fury was not sated. Her eyes still burned with the fury and corruption of the Dark Side.

Normally, she was of quick wit, but this time she had no retort. He had not likened himself with her or opposed her like so many of her adversaries did. Calling him weak would only point to ignorance. Clearly, a person who could avoid her so thoroughly was not weak. At least not in his prowess and knowledge of Force. His words, they did not fully make sense to her yet. Had this man once been a Sith?

The slender female in her dark, mud-soaked clothes and scuffed armour only stared at the man she had so nearly cut to ribbons. The rain battered on her helm, diluting the blood of his wife and sending it running down the patterns of her visor as she stared through her visual ports. While she kept Micah, Vex, and Kira in the back of her mind, she did not offer them the same attention she did towards Soliael.

“What is your name?”

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Darth Ophidia"]

His lips thinned.

Soliael said nothing for a moment, his eyes only watching those strings form. More and more seemed to attach to the woman until knotted cords began to form. The former False God watched, observing as the strings one by one followed her actions. To him, she appeared a marionette, a puppet controlled by a force that was understood by so few. Soliael shifted, his back stiffening as he began to call upon the force. The storm seemed to shift, slowing and stalling. The lightning ceased, and the rains began to hang within the air.

It seemed like time began to slow.

"I've gone by many names." Soliael said quietly as the force built within him. Power began to sear across his skin, the ring upon his finger began to sear and burn, a soft glow enveloping it. Power flowed through every inch and part of him. "Beloth. Sammael. Neth."

The string's upon her back began to vibrate, shifting as though something were gripping them and pulling them taught. "You may call me Soliael Talith. Remember that name."

The power of the force that had built in him, the strength that he had created and built within himself suddenly burst. It shifted and moved about before coming down like a guillotine. The effect might have been instant, it might have taken time, it was impossible to tell. The force seemed to shift time around the two force users, perhaps stalling it, perhaps speeding it up, it was difficult to tell, but in that moment Soliael took the strings that pulled at Ophidia's back, grasped them, and began to cut them. One by one Soliael began to slice through them, piece by piece severing them completely.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

The Force was building in him she could sense it, but the assassin was not deterred. She gathered her strength as he replied to her question. Energy surged within her and the odd spark crackled over her form. It was rare for her to ask one’s name. Generally, it meant she recognised one’s strength. A tingle spread down her back, or was it a pull? Her feet shifted in the mud. This man was doing something, or about to do something.

Soliael Talith. She needed no more. The name was etched in her memory. While she had waited long enough to hear the name, she was not polite enough to let him finish.

In that very moment, she moved. Despite his tugging on her invisible strings, Ophidia surged the Force through her body for speed. First, she threw the sabre held in her left hand. The red blade spun like a buzz saw towards Soliael’s legs. Ophidia followed right behind, and once more, she made it ambiguous on which side she would attack. Then, the Rattataki shifted to Soliael’s right and lashed out with her blade in a swift, diagonal cut at the man’s torso. If left to pass (and her Force affinity still uncut) the thrown blade would arc and return to her left hand, where it would assume a defensive position.

The time for words was over; she would not allow him a moment of rest or concentration. Ophidia did not know what he was trying to pull off, but she did not like it; she did not like him. She did not like any of them. She hated the lot of them. One day, she would look upon their corpses and smile.