The Cleansing of Ruusan

[Haytham Kaze]

[member="Akhilleus"]

Athyssius remained silent.

He had no need to speak, to comment on the insults spoken. Never had he been pushed over the edge, to give in to the rage that a typical Sith would. His words meant nothing.

He was inferior?

He still lived.

Two moves?

Athyssius hadn't even taken the offensive.

He was relatively passive in this.

"Nikias," he said curiously. This was the person Orcus had been telling him to kill when it came to harming the former.

Should've listened.

"But no, it was another who killed Nikias. Himself mostly," in this he did not lie. Not truthfully. "Darth Vanitas." He spoke the name as if it explained it all. "Darth Vanitas died on the day that your brother did. You seek the wrong Sith."

He turned.

The hilt was met with the Force. As per usual. But not a wall of telekinetic energy. Merely a destructive power that destroyed without impunity. Light metal components, that's what it had been made with. Easy to destroy. Force Combust. The hilt was there one moment, and then it was gone.

"Would you like to see their bodies, or do you wish to continue attempting to anger me?"

 

[Connor Harrison]

LOCATION: Sith Triumvirate Temple; Ruusan
ALLIES: [member="Akhilleus"] | [member="Joza Perl"] | [member="Aria Vale"] | [member="Zephyr Carrick"] | [member="Celiana"] | [member="Solan Charr"]
ENEMIES: [member="Dagorn"] | [member="Haytham Kaze"] | [member="Jorryn Fordyce"]
ENGAGING: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

The sensation soon dropped as Matsu did, and he couldn't help give a satisfied grin to himself as he took a couple of steps, blade angled out. If he had to literally pin the Sorceress to the ground with a blade through her skull, so be it. He wasn't here to make chit-chat, or give her the chance to break his Order apart again.

But, as he moved, a strange electrical-charge alerted him and forced him to stop with that sense that something wasn't right. An ethereal growl and churning of metal and rock enticed him to turn around to see what was happening behind him, where said noise was coming from. He was just in time to see a Silver soldier torn in two and the top half of a torso get flung towards him. He ducked, and a trail of crimson streaked up his navy tunic blending in with his cowl.

Forcing himself to look up at the nightmare unfurling from the depths, dark tendrils emerging from a sooty mist that seemed to throb and shriek, searching for prey. Now he was on the back foot - he witnessed not just another Silver soldier instantly disintegrate, but also one of the zombie horde crumble into dust.

Connor had seen it all now; from facing the Sorceress hand to hand on Ord Mantell, to engaging in the outer forest of Dromund Kaas to this - the Dark Side literally clawing for him and tear him in two. Snapping his head back over to where Matsu was crouched, as if she was feeding from the tendrils and their power, she was just baiting him to die one way or another. He shot another look to the tendrils. If the beast was going to die, the head had to be taken.

Turning his full attention to Matsu, Connor ran towards certain death, but had his entire life as a flawed Jedi led to this? Would he be able to give his life to take that of one who had caused so much death, destruction and damage to the galaxy and those he loved. He snarled and gripped the hilt that had been used to take down Sith Lords of past and was ready to cleave a new notch into the history of such a blade.

Pushing off with is full power he ran, blade out, towards Matsu. While he didn't excel in mentality, he made up for physically and he would get as close as he could to that magnificent creature and force her to fight out of her comfort zone before he lost those close to him in the Order fighting all around him.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

LOCATION: Sith Temple - Ruusan
OBJECTIVE: Kill the worm before it gets its wings.
ALLIES: The usual.
ENEMIES: The usual.
ENGAGING: [member="Connor Harrison"]

Though less independent than her zombies running through the temple and its hallways feasting on those less fortunate of intruders, the tendrils still ‘felt’ some sense of obligation from all those channeling the Light. It was their due that they be fed - the Dark Side was hunger and greed and they were its most pure manifestation. They chased him, licking at his heels as he ran from Matsu.

The Dark lady, for her part, felt the cloying sickness of his virtue approaching - a knife in the comfort of her darkness. Wrapping her fingers around rubble she attempted to pull herself out, a sound that would have been something between a hiss and a growl escaping out of her nose as she felt something wrench in her side. Looking down, she saw some pointed piece of what must once have been some connecter in the crashed ship’s wiring sticking out of the space between two ribs. A wound had never stopped her before and wouldn’t now, not when she could sense him getting closer. She pushed and dragged her way through the pile of ruin, clawing through wild-eyed and hungry as he bore down.

He was closer than she’d thought, blade glowing bright and pure and obscuring anything else from her vision as it threatened death. Shooting to her feet through the shooting pain in her side, she reached up with her left hand and caught the saber in her palm, its phrik inlay giving her at least a few moments to work back against him - she had the element of surprise after all, considering grabbing a lightsaber blade was an uncommon move at best. Her claws shot out of her right hand, five inch monstrosities of phrik that could slice through any metal softer than them. She went for his face first, slamming a mental wave against his shore to numb his motor nerves as she slashed wickedly in an attempt to blind him or simply ruin rugged features as his kind had seen to ruin hers.

But then she went for anything else she could reach. She was more machine than woman as she attacked him, arm pulling back over and over as she stabbed at him. If he blocked she went lower or higher, letting go of his saber as her artificial nerves were screaming she was about to lose the hand. And still she came, letting loose something between a scream and a laugh in his head as she slashed for his face again.

 

[NightSister]

LOCATION: Ruusan Temple
ALLIES: [member="Akhilleus"] [member="Solan Charr"] [member="Zephyr Carrick"] [member="Joza Perl"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Celiana"]
ENEMIES: [member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Haytham Kaze"] [member="Jorryn Fordyce"] [member="Dagorn"]
OBJECTIVE: Don't get killed.
ENGAGING: [member="Onley Xiangu"]

Aria barely had time to register the fact that she had landed another successful hit before a wave of energy came for her, more powerful than she had expected the Acolyte to be capable of. Caught unaware, she didn't have time to form a shield - even if she had, the skill was not one she was particularly good at doing while being thrown backwards - and so the Sith's telekinesis tossed her through the air.

The zombies seemed to have disappeared, effectively eliminating any chances of a soft landing, so Aria had to try and use a small burst of power to keep her from crash-landing. It worked to an extent - she landed with a thump that knocked the air out of her lungs, but it was considerably less than the laws of gravity would have dictated. As long as she could keep her enemy from maiming her severely, Aria would not stop fighting.

Another push of energy lifted her to her feet, and yet another suppressed the pain. She wasn't good enough to heal her bruises, but it would be enough if she could numb their effects. The Sith was advancing, hoping to catch her before she could look up from her wounds, but he'd already gotten her once - it wouldn't happen again. She had twisted her wrist on her lightsaber arm, however, so for the time being she'd have to stick to the Force.

Summoning her energy, Aria extended her other hand to pull her enemy to her, letting all her emotion, from the fear to the excitement to the dull pain of her bruises, leech into the move. If successful, Aria would follow up with a push directly downwards to let him smack right into the floor, and if not, she would advance, ready for his next move.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Location: Citadel
Allies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"], [member="Onley Xiangu"], [member="Haytham Kaze"]
Enemies: [member="Connor Harrison"], [member="Aria Vale"], [member="Celiana"]
Directly engaging: [member="Joza Perl"]
Gear: Sig

A toothy grin was on the Trandoshan's face as the slug had made contact with the pretty Jedi. However, he was very upset that it didn't seal her fate or caused any significant injuries other than a bruise. Dagorn wasn't the type to exact pain and torture on his victims. No, he hated playing with his prey as he wanted to get down to the bottom line on feeding his deity's immeasurable hunger of souls. Before he could aim down on the Zeltron, something started to push the Sith away from where he stood. The reptilian would bang the bubble with the butt of his gun, trying to shatter it. He also tried to break the projected invincible shield with a few rounds of his slugthrower, but there was no success in his actions.

He growled viciously at Joza and unsheathed his blade as his rifle was slung around his shoulders.

He was determined to kill the pink Jedi before Matsu's unique zombie could land a scratch on her. Even if it meant killing the Lich in order to take Joza as a tribute to the Scorekeeper. And so he waited until that barrier which protected Joza was no more.

Spoiler

I'll happily take that floating zombie friend, Matus.

 

[Connor Harrison]

LOCATION: Sith Triumvirate Temple; Ruusan
ALLIES: The Silver Jedi
ENEMIES: The Sith Triumvirate
ENGAGING: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

Sparks flew, and not in the romantic fashion.

The lightsaber sparked in her cybernetic hand, illuminating her face to show a true picture of Dark Side manifestation. She wasn't human, that much was clear. She was a beast, fuelled by a rage like no other that couldn't be stopped.

As her cry came - or was it a laugh - so did her claw like hand and he shot his own out to grip her wrist. It was cold, like her. And the greatest stalemate began that would last seconds but feel like a lifetime. His lightsaber sparked as her pushed down as hard as he could, all the while his left had straining to hold back her lashing claws aiming to rip his face to crimson shreds.

Connor closed his eyes.

Be the Light. Blind the Dark.

He sent the message out to those near him and especially [member="Joza Perl"] and [member="Aria Vale"] - both whom he had tried to help take their first steps forward with the Order. If he fell today, they would be his only lasting legacy going forward.

His eyes snapped open as the left hand buckled, and he let out a roar of final adrenaline, but it was too late.

First it was the index finger, then the middle, and the ring finger all curled into his flesh under his left eye, and he felt it burn. It burned as they seemed to sink into the skin and melt that muscle under the eye and bridge of his nose. Her laugh seemed to echo through his skull as so came the moment she attemped to pull his skin right off the bone, but he'd be damned if he was going out this way.

Connor killed the lightsaber, still crying out, as his left hand held back further penetration as the blood seeped from under the eye socket as she broke the muscle towards the bone, and it gave him a free moment as she held onto nothing and the momentum of her grip pulled her forward, and enough for a blind but strong swipe across the face with the metallic hilt. It was that or dying; he had to fight. He had to fight!

 

[Joza Perl]

Location: Ruusan Citadel
Engaging: [member="Dagorn"] and [member="Matsu Xiangu"]'s fancy flying zombie
Gear: In bio

The protection bubble held well against her two assailants, but was not meant to be a permanent fixture. It afforded her the time she needed to take in her surroundings—from the floating demon above her to the sniper who’d struck her in the shoulder. Her eyes finally managed to track to Dagorn as he attempted to break the bubble, slamming the butt of his rifle against the Force energy. It shimmered a distinct red hue with each impact, but did not yield yet.

Green eyes narrowed a she analyzed the Sith marksman. A Trandoshan. Not to be racist, but Joza was racist. She hated Trandoshans. From the scar on her cheek to the lash marks on her back, she had an unhealthy dislike for their kind.

[member="Connor Harrison"]’s voice rang in her head as a reminder, and she inhaled sharply through her nose. Then came his cry of pain, and she exhaled just as sharply. There was no place in battle for indecision.

After a few moments of fending off their attacks, the bubble dissipated into nothing and the pink woman launched upwards, preparing a heavy underhand strike to cleave the Lich in two from wherever the hell its lower half was up through its skull. Dagorn and his blade were not forgotten, but the Trandoshan was a bit further away than the zombie and Joza would deal with the more immediate, acid spraying threat first. Perhaps she could use the floating creature as a meat shield—er, bone shield. What was it even made of? Either way, it was clear that she had two opponents to deal with.

 

[Celiana]

LOCATION: Ruusan Temple (Hangar where everyone is duking it out
ALLIES: Akhilleus Solan Charr Zephyr Carrick Joza Perl Connor Harrison [member="Aria Vale"]
ENEMIES: Matsu Xiangu Haytham Kaze Jorryn Fordyce Dagorn
OBJECTIVE: Make things difficult for The Sith, Blow their belongings to hell, Assist Allies, and oh yeah not die
GEAR: Character Bio

The download had been at 60% and climbing last I'd checked but there was something....off. I could sense Master Harrison and Aria the clearest and they both were engaging different foes but I felt like a coward down here skulking about downloading the Sith archives. I heard a buzzing on my left forearm datapad that I'd ejected for the download. Walking back over I saw the the download had reached 100% and could be disconnected. Securing the files on my datapad I uploaded a virus that would purge their archives and backups, as the archives contained a physical copy of everything I'd downloaded I was satisfied with the data purge I'd initiated. I still needed to destroy all the physical copies though.

Grabbing a roll of det cord I twisted it together and lined the entrances with it, then I set several acid and incendiary explosives about the archive room. The acid I placed in places that would weaken the structural supports and the incendiary devices I placed in the shelves, book cases, and artifact cases. After setting the explosives for the maximum possible yield I wired them all to remote detonate from my data pad. Aqau saber still ignited I walked out the door and started making my way back to our entry point at the hangar. Right before I crossed back into the hangar I triggered the explosives and felt the roof above the archives cave in and the doors I knew would be collapsed as well.

Walking back into the hangar I saw several things and all of the people I'd come with were in their own battles looking around for anyone to help I saw Master Harrison wasn't doing well but I knew that the foe he faced I was nowhere near capable of fighting. Joza was dealing with an acid spewing zombie as well as a Trandoshan. Then there was Aria who was in the midst of a duel with what looked to be a Sith acolyte. The Pilot was still trying to deal with getting the ship up and running... Making a snap decision I pulled my DC-17m Omen blaster rifle free and lining up a shot on the acid spewing zombie I fired a three shot burst at it followed by a three shot burst at the Trandoshan.

I probably wouldn't hit them both but it was a distraction mor ethan anything. The fuel from several ships was coating the floor in parts of the hangar and rather than let the zombies keep trying for our escape route I used The Force and pulled severed fuel lines in front of the ship before firing anothe shot from my rifle and creating a wall of flame that the sithspawn would have to go through to get to the ship. Channeling The Force into a burst of energy I aimed the lance of rejuvanating Force energy towards Aria and I launched it. While I couldn't find Zephyr in this mess I knew he'd be okay. I also knew that more than likely I'd end up being involved in one of these battles due to my recent involvement...

OOC: I'm not sure where I fit in everything here but I'm down to help out Aria or Joza

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

LOCATION: Sith Temple - Ruusan
OBJECTIVE: Kill the worm before it gets its wings.
ALLIES: The usual.
ENEMIES: The usual.
ENGAGING: [member="Connor Harrison"]


Be the Light. Blind the Dark.

Had she a mouth she might have burst out laughing. Matsu may have given her eye teeth to see the Jedi in front of her dead, but she was under no delusion: the dark did not exist without the light. Jedi would plague her kind until the very end of time. Perhaps he knew that too - but the belief that they could ever stop something so beautiful all-seeing was so very laughable.

As flesh gave way beneath her claws she pushed harder. Once she’d watched one of her children turn a living man in to something like a flower, flesh dripping back from his skull as acid washed away every pointless feature. He was far more handsome as ivory, zygomatic process peeking out from cheeks dissolving, teeth snapping together as lips gave way. She could do the same, peel back what made this one Connor, free him by ending his vanity. And suddenly she understood - what did it matter? This vessel was so temporary. She would show him now.

Her claws came ripping from his flesh and for a moment her world was white when his fist connected with her face, the hilt of his saber digging in to the scarring already marring what was left of her jaw. The pain was overwhelming as gnarled tissue was ripped anew, blood pouring out of the dark hole in the side of her face. She reached up, pushing her fingers in to the wound and pulling a clot she threw at Connor’s face - effectively the same message as if she’d been capable of spitting it at him.

And then once more her saber was ignited in her hand, burning red blade crossing up to cleave him in two.

For Miss [member="Joza Perl"] -

The Lich was decidedly more rotten than its counterparts, though Matsu had found a way to preserve its brain longer than the putrid bits of flesh clinging to its skeleton. Legless, bits of cloth clung to its fleshy bones, skinny hands clutching the saber in the same way an acolyte might. However, the Lich held none of the important respect for the weapon’s deadliness. It swing the blade with abandon - it was already dead, what did it care for getting hurt?

Admittedly, it wasn’t very smart. It kept track of the Jedi by her hair - simple things like color and sound directed its vision, but it knew how to hunt. Hunger was as basic an instinct.

When she reached for it, the bottom half of its spinal cord went flying as it was cut from what was left of its body. It tilted its head in confusion at her, trying to figure out what had just happened as it felt much lighter. It vomited again, a purulent torrent on to the blade of the saber which it then flung sideways at her - it didn’t need aim when it was just spraying acid heated near to boiling off the blade it held in its head. Maybe it would sear her skin off - how nice! And then it felt Mother’s tug…

It lifted a finger at her as it floated backwards, dropping all pretense of fighting her and beckoning her to follow.

Spoiler

[member="Celiana"] As far as I go, I'm more than happy to have you helping on either side as long as Connor/Joza/Aria are okay with it.

 

[Onley Xiangu]

LOCATION: Sith Temple - Ruusan
OBJECTIVE: Decide if its in poor taste to ask the Jedi for her number.
ALLIES: The usual.
ENEMIES: The usual.
ENGAGING: [member="Aria Vale"]


Onley, unlike his Mother, had only minimal skill when it came to seeing the thoughts of his opponents - and even then, he wouldn’t be attempting it in the heat of a battle that required his entire concentration. Thus when Aria sped his approach with a Pull, he had no idea of her ulterior motives and thus threw himself in to her generous momentum, leaping in to it and curling himself in to a ball so that he would hit her like he was shot out of a cannon, lightsaber pointed forward and away from him to spear her.

And then the momentum shifted downwards. Feth.

It wasn’t one of his more graceful moments. He slammed in to the ground on his left shoulder, turning end over end with a grunt as pain scythed out of the joint. His warrior’s mind was screaming at him to capitalize on the momentum before he ended up flat on his ass and making her deception even more of an embarrassment.

He used another telekinetic push as he turned over end again, using the momentum of her pull as if he were a ball bouncing off the ground. Without the power of a Master he was hardly a rocket, but he still managed to find his feet just in front of her - the proverbial bull in the not-so-china shop as he aimed to run her over like a freight train. He took after his Father in that respect too, a tall and muscular wall of rage fueled by the nexus. If he managed to knock her to the ground it was all he would need to beat her to a pulp despite the dull agony of his shoulder. He’d feel that soon.

 

[Connor Harrison]

LOCATION: Sith Triumvirate Temple; Ruusan
ALLIES: The Silver Jedi
ENEMIES: The Sith Triumvirate
ENGAGING: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

The sensation increased as if a mental block had been released, which it probably had, and Connor’s hand shot right up to feel the damage. His finger went into the flesh deeper than it should, evidently the chunk she’d pulled out and wet with his blood. The left eye was partially closed, trying to blink every second or so to protect itself and avoid the strain of trying to have it open.

Blurred vision, stinging pain and a blood streaked face.

He didn’t even register the clot that Matsu threw. He wiped more blood form his cheek, holding his left hand to the gaping wound. He spat out a wad of blood to her feet.

The blade came at him, and his activated in the step back he took, hearing the snapping power of the Dark Tendrils behind him, but not registering. The pain was enough, but he was in a dangerous position now. As was she. The Sorceress and the Wizard; both wounded, blades in hand, out for the others head.

Matsu came, her face a beautiful nightmare of perverse joy and rage, and he met her mid-strike.

With a right-hand swipe as it batting a ball from a post, he went to knock her blade clean off course and moved once more into her weak spot – personal space.

With his bloodied hand, the primeval warrior in Connor came to life. This wasn’t a woman or a Sith he was fighting . This was HER. Years of hurt coming out in a sole attack to hurt Matsu as she had hurt him. He slammed his hand forward to her disfigured face as he blade was countered and shoved it hard to grip her mutilated jaw.

The sound was sickening as he made contact as was the rugged, sharp feeling on his skin, but he didn't care. Connor wanted to squeeze as hard as he could – to crush the muscle, snap the bone – anything he could do in these seconds to make this queen suffer as much as he and the countless others she had to bring her to her knees for a final strike. The lightsaber shone bright in his right hand, the only beacon of light in this otherwise dark duel.

 

[Akhilleus]

Allies: [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Solan Charr"] [member="Celiana"] [member="Zephyr Carrick"] [member="Aria Vale"] [member="Joza Perl"]
Enemies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"] [member="Jorryn Fordyce"] [member="Haytham Kaze"] [member="Dagorn"]

Gear: See Sig

Here and still was this Sith posing as though he knew everything, as though he were a true manipulator. It did nothing for Akhilleus, nor did he have plans on following the Sith anywhere. It was an idiotic gesture to follow him, instead if he wouldn’t give Akhilleus what he wanted he’d simply destroy this entire building. The structure and supports were already on the verge of destruction anyways. It only needed a catalyst to bring it all down. Looking down and off to his allies that continued to fight down below. Some for their lives others for revenge. This had been the way of the Sith and jedi for so long and yet none of them could break the chain. They would still charge into the fray to meet the Sith or those embedded in the dark simply because of their views of the force.

“I have everything I needed from Nikias and he has already been celebrated on my world. As for Vanitas if he’s dead than I have no need for any of you. Sith nor jedi, I came for one simple reason and if its not here than why should I stay? Especially with such a weakling.” Turning away from the Sith Akhilleus reached out with the force stretching out to the very foundation of the building. Palms facing the ceiling he began drawing in the power of the Dark Side nexus. Sith weren’t the only ones who could use it. Far from it in fact, a dark side nexus could be harnessed by any so long as they were willing to accept the burning heat into themselves.

Letting the inferno in his heart build Akhilleus released it. The entire building began to shake as the damaged support pillars began to crumble falling free of their places. Dust and rubble fell from the ceiling to the ground below. Chinning his com Akhilleus signaled to those that had come with him. “I suggest everyone get back in the ship… This place is coming down.” This naturally excluded himself. No he’d find his own way off the planet. Who knows maybe become its leader it was evident the Sith didn’t have the strength nor numbers to hold onto it.

 

[Haytham Kaze]

[member="Akhilleus"]

Athyssius was going to do them both a favour.

If he wasn't already facing the Dark Jedi apparent, he turned when he felt the immense use of the Force, along with the Dark Side being employed to strengthen his opponent's abilities. He watched him, curious as to what he was doing. Not only would the Dark Jedi have to reach into the earth itself to find the main supports of the entirety of the Citadel, them being many was for certain. The spires of the Citadel reached high into the sky, to think differently of the supporting infrastructure would be silly.

No matter how deep the aforementioned supports were, it'd take a vast amount of strength to do so, even if the Nexus was strengthening him.

The Dark Lord of the Sith didn't hesitate with his next action.

There was no thought to it, for his mind was thoughtless. No hostile intentions could be sensed for him, just that constant sense of 'existing' nearby to the Hellyni.

The Dark Jedi had turned away from him.

A mistake.

Even as he turned away, when the former Jedi Padawan felt the summoning of the power he had acted.

Instantaneously.

How could he possibly avoid the attack?

From his palm was released a net of pure Dark Side energy, lunging from him hungrily, as if reaching Akhilleus would quench their thirst.

A blessing of the Dark Side of the Force.

Even as they sought out their target, he whispered words, muted by his helmet in the Ancient Sith language. There were certain words to speak, and he spoke them. Every now and then he'd add, or replace a word however. To what end? Merely to continue the existence of the energy lines. His parents spoke the Ancient Sith language. He was descended from the Sith species, though their blood had long since been polluted with breeding with humans. Humans like his parents. Still, despite the minuscule percentage, it still flowed through him. And that was enough for him to latch onto the language instantly so long ago.

Before he had left Dromund Kaas, his parents had recognized his perfect memory.

They locked away the darkest of their family's secrets within his mind. As he grew in the Dark Side of the Force under Orcus's tutelage, he recovered more of those memories. Knowledge of the Sith language was revealed to him as well. Force net. It had become an easy thing to summon. Masking his emotions and intents in the Force? That too was easy. It'd be difficult to realize you were under attack, especially if you looked away from your opponent.

Shame.

He had struck him once.

 

[NightSister]

LOCATION: Sith Temple - Ruusan
OBJECTIVE: Decide if it's in poor taste to give the Sith her number
ALLIES: Silver Jedi
ENEMIES: Sith Triumvirate

It wasn't usually in Aria's nature to get cocky, but when her opponent took yet another hit it was hard not to assume an arrogant demeanor which prevented her from considering that just maybe, she wasn't the only one of the two who knew how to take pain in her stride. Thanks to her momentary lapse in caution, in a moment the Sith had bounced back up and was running her down.

The notion that brains bested brawn, Aria had proven many times over. When she and her brains were taking a moment to fix her hair, the slim and light Echani was powerless against the Sith and his brawn. She slammed to the ground, only managing by a fraction of a second to prevent her skull from being cracked. Panting, Aria brought her saber up and across her narrow frame as a shield, which did nothing to help her twisted wrist but kept her opponent from delivering the killing blow from a few more seconds. She wasn't panicking just yet - Aria wasn't so skilled as to never have been in a position of disadvantage, but she was skilled enough to have gotten out of it nearly every time.

Nearly.

Distraction. That was Aria's tactic when she needed to waste time coming up with a way out. Holding her lightsaber away from her body, she rolled to one side, and if her opponent followed she would go the other way. With his attention supposedly on not letting her stand up, he hopefully wouldn't notice her hand going to the blaster on her leg. A few more twists and a potentially cracked rib later, Aria had the safety off and fired a bolt of energy as she rolled to the left. The flash of light would, hopefully, catch his attention for a moment, and the moment his head was turned Aria could leap to her feet. When she did, she'd stash her gun - she couldn't aim one-handed anyway - and fighting to steady her breathing, would hold her saber out, ready for whatever came next.

Spoiler: OOC

Onley, I'm terribly sorry I took so long.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Location: Citadel
Allies: [member="Matsu Xiangu"], [member="Haytham Kaze"], [member="Onley Xiangu"]
Enemies: [member="Aria Vale"], [member="Connor Harrison"]
Engaging: [member="Joza Perl"]
Gear: sig

Dagorn wasn't the brightest Trandoshan as many of his kind that were aggressive and violent into gaining Points from the Scorekeeper, but he wasn't that dumb. He knew the bubble protecting the Zeltron had dispersed as the Lich could continue its assault on the pretty Jedi without the Force Bubble to stand in its way. The Sith snarled and his tongue slithered, not to taste the odors around him since he'd be overwhelmed by the rotten smell of Matsu's undead children and blood spilled by both the Jedi and the Triumvirate. He was hungry in killing Joza and be rewarded by his deity with a handsome quantity of Points.

The reptilian began to stalk Joza, letting her deal with one of Matsu's pets and have most of her concentration on the zombie. Whenever he hunt, he would use any methods to kill his prey. Even if it meant allowing the Lich to do most of the fighting. So long as the creature didn't try to kill the Jedi, then Dagorn would use the filth as a distraction in order to get a good position that would, hopefully, overwhelm Joza into submission.

For now, the Acolyte would follow the Zeltron without triggering her senses, knowing he would find a perfect position that would give him the upper hand. Or possibly aide Joza to divert some of her focus and concentration on him and the Lich. Nevertheless, he would stalk his prey and hope for a good outcome.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

LOCATION: Ruusan - Sith Temple
ENEMY: [member="Connor Harrison"] | [member="Joza Perl"]

Would it have mattered if her jaw snapped in his hand? Likely no. She already ate through a pump - since that day on Dromund Kaas she hadn’t been able to enjoy food or drink. It was simply a biological function like breathing or sleeping - it had to be done to stay alive. If he broke the bone now it would make little difference except to further disfigure her. Their duel was rising to fever-pitch, their proximity a press Matsu was unused to. She was so smell, so petite, her bird-like wrists bending under the weight of his onslaught.

She drew and drew from the Nexus.
And then her face was in his hand.

At first she tipped back, trying to escape his grip, pull away before he could crush her in his fist. She heard something crack, a hairline pain skittering along her face - wrong wrong wrong.

And then her eyes rolled in her head to look right at him, pinprick pupils in eyes glowing in her ecstatic rage. Once she’d leveled two city blocks fighting Siobhan Kerrigan, and then she hadn’t had a Nexus to draw from, didn’t have a Jedi right in front of her to fuel that never-ending rage. Had she a mouth, she would have smiled at him then. Instead he might feel that she would have offered him that, all lips and teeth before she drew and exploded.

In all the texts she’d read it had been referred to as a blast, the Sith of old warning of its indiscriminate destruction. It was pure hatred, an expulsion of rage on a grand scale. Heat and light and death rushed from her, sound escaping her as her body felt ripped in half by the pure power of her letting. She imagined him - or just his bones, charred and stripped, smoking in the wreckage of his hubris.

It flattened everything around them. The zombies were vaporized, all rubble too small to withstand the blast disappearing the same way. Silver Jedi and unsuspecting Sith alike died instantly in the fire. The Lich drawing the red-haired Jedi closer to the top of the pillar was vaporized in the blast, screeching as it died but content in the knowledge that it may have drawn the Jedi close enough to perish in the blast too.

She burned and she burned. She screamed. She laughed. She clutched at whatever was left of him if he was even there. Her hands felt disconnected from her, her senses far off - he could have been dead, blown back, nonexistent and she wouldn’t have known.

And then she collapsed, the eye in the center of a storm that had ripped through that section of the temple they had been fighting each other in. The Temple was coming down around them all, all the pillars in the area having crumbled in the wake of Matsu's expulsion of thee dark-side. Everything was dead. Everything was dead…everything was dead…

 

[Connor Harrison]

LOCATION: Sith Triumvirate Temple; Ruusan
ALLIES: The Silver Jedi
ENEMIES: The Sith Triumvirate
ENGAGING: [member="Matsu Xiangu"]

Something gave way under his thumb, and hopefully it would soon be most of her jaw. Locked in a stand-off, Connor was sure this fight was his, until she did something he saw as warning sign. She looked right at him, calm in her devilish eyes and a sound that was akin to a rumbling volcano coming from inside her throat; that and the magnetic pull of the Force gripping him to her.

She was either suicidal, or simply insane. Or both.

He let go quickly and turned his body away from her in tee deathly silence that preceded her expulsion of the Force; sucking it all in around her and then letting it explode outwards in an unleashed wave of darkness, hate, rage and power.

What came next was a force like he'd never felt before and it required nothing but his resolve, concentration and determination to hold against it. The roar of noise around him was deafening - wind ripped around them as the blast shot out and reduced everything to rubble, dust and pulped mess in the near vicinity. A tsunami of the Dark Side washed across the ruined temple.

Connor was back on his knee, making himself as small as possible. If he ran, he'd be dead. He had one chance to counter the blast with the Force. He shot his arm out across his body and formed a Force Shield, pulling as much energy as he could from that around him and his own inner-strength. He felt the pressure building on his arm as the Dark Side blasted away at the wall of energy before him, sparking and flaming with the clash of intense heat and rage buffering against it.

His eyes were closed, and he focused like he had never focused before. His body took over. His mind shut down. The Force worked for him in those few moments the world fell away and hell erupted around him.

They say the eye of the storm is the calmest, and maybe it had been the best place for one to survive the blast. In moments it was all over as if someone flicked a switch. Connor fell sideways as the pressure he was battling stopped. The Force was drained from him and he was played on the gritty floor. It was calm once more, and even the dust had subdued with the power of the blast. It was just a ruin. He didn't know who was dead or alive. With a groan, Connor forced himself to look up as his eye has forced itself closed now, and he saw her in a crumpled mess. The small, delicate frame of Matsu Xiangu who had brought so much death and destruction to the galaxy was out for the count.

He crawled a few feet over to her, lifeless but breathing gently. Not even a blast like this could kill her. A lightsaber blade to the head would though. He could end it, here and now. A lazy kill, but one that would be justified. Connor pulled himself up to her and turned her face to him. Behind all the distortion and corruption, he glimpsed what she would have been like before the Dark Side took a hold of her and broke her humanity. She was nothing but a causality of the darkness.

"Got you," he said, letting out a weary sigh as he fell onto his back and passed out beside her.

All was quiet once more.

 

[Joza Perl]

Location: What is left of the Ruusan Citadel
Enemies: [member="Dagorn"] and the [member="Matsu Xiangu"] bomb
Gear: Who cares we’re boned

Joza was not all that surprised when the Lich didn’t seem to care that part of its spine was missing, which made her distaste for the creature grow. Suddenly though, it didn’t seem interested in trying to melt her face off or bisect her. Instead of launching into another beastly assault, it drifted backwards and motioned for the Zeltron to follow with a come-hither motion. Joza’s brows furrowed. What? Something was definitely up. A trap, she presumed. From somewhere around the room, she could pick up the detail of another Force sensitive, but it weaved in and out through the shambling undead. She couldn’t get a good lock on the Trandoshan, but the sniper’s presence was in the back of her mind from before. Perhaps these two were somehow working together.

The Rogue wasn’t thrilled with the idea of following the floating murder corpse, so she prepared to do the next best thing—light it on fire. In hindsight, it might have been a bad idea, given she didn’t know if this creature would succumb to flame like a normal flesh and blood being. It might just attack her again, this time on fire.

Small orange flames sparked to life in her hand just as she felt her stomach drop. Before the Zeltron could even properly process what her senses were feeling, an eruption of Dark Sided energy burst rapidly from somewhere nearby. Ohhh chitttt…

Throwing up a hastily materialized Force Barrier, Joza fended off the attack for a few moments before it burst clear through her shield and sent the woman flying backwards. Her exposed skin began to singe and blister, mostly on her face and neck. A cry of anger and pain ripped from her throat as the stinging set it, and she could feel an inkling of another Darker presence in the vicinity. Riding the force of the blast, her body made contact with a certain hungry Trandoshan.

Sith!

Her body twisted, and she sent a horizontal slash towards the lizard man’s torso—just seeing him for the first time.

 

[Lok Xiangu]

Location: Citadel
Allies: Just me
Enemies: [member="Joza Perl"]
Objective: Points

The Trandoshan's stalking of his pink, pretty, and high valued would come to a halt after what she had done to Matsu's Lich. The explosion of the creature caused the Jedi to send her flying across towards Dagorn while also giving some battle scars to the Zeltron. The Sith was not expecting this to happen which would leave him unprepared and off guard from the flying Jedi coming right at him. Her saber did indeed made contact; however, his armor had minor resistance from lightsabers which saved him from being cut in half. Of course, the area of the slash was weak and if concentrated enough, then the protection of the armor would be breached.

But that wasn't the end of it.

The Zeltron's armored chest had came into contact with the Trandoshan's face and was a bit buried into them for just a moment. This would most likely be the first and last time Dagorn would come near to a woman's chest.

The Sith Trandoshan was left flat on his back against the ground and stood up on his two feet, his infrared eyes focusing on the pink Jedi that was several yards away from him. With his blade in hand, he would slowly approach the Zeltron with a lust of blood and Points. "Time to die, Jedi," the reptilian said, his tongue licking the air to smell her odor.