The Demands of the Commenors (CSA Incursion)

[Ruby (Incursion)]

TEN HOURS AGO

Ruby stood before the four Knights who were to accompany him to the world known as Commenor. He was a being of actions rather than words, but loyalty deserved to be rewarded.

The Argent Knights were an ancient and secretive order, even among the Contingency. They served no master but the Trapped Ones, who whispered dark truths from beyond the walls of their ethereal cells. Even Lord Onyx could only request their services, though he seldom interacted with the physical world these days.

The Argent Knights were as fanatical a bunch as Ruby had ever encountered. They were perfectly willing to kill for the Trapped Ones, and eager to die in their service, that they might join them in glorious service beyond the Veil.

He had requested a single Argent Knight to accompany him on this mission. Four had answered the call.

"Brothers, I thank you for your steadfast loyalty to our cause. You knew that this was likely to be a suicide mission, and yet, you came anyway. I hope that the Knights of Commenor will see reason, but we all know that organics rarely do. Though we come as emissaries, we can hardly expect them to observe the old courtesies. So we will send them a message. Should they attack, I will take one of their own, and you shall teach them what it truly means to serve. May the Trapped Ones keep you and guide you from this world unto the next."

The Argent Knights bowed their heads reverently at the mention of their ancient gods. They would indeed teach these organics a lesson. They would teach them exactly what it meant to serve a higher purpose, and they would do so gladly. They had shed their names, their identities, and their families in the service of the Trapped Ones. Now they would shed their lives.

PRESENT

As the Knight's head began to crumple, he regretted only that he couldn't smile. An outward expression of the joy that suffused his being would have been magnificent.

The head of an Argent Knight was little more than a shell meant to attract attention. There was nothing important up there, nothing that wasn't easily replaced. But the Knights had an agreement. If it looked like they were to be overwhelmed, once major structural damage was suffered, they would initiate the final cleansing.

Inside his chest, there was a cylinder made of songsteel. It was not standard kit for Argent Knights, but for this mission, it had been issued to further their glorious purpose. Inside the cylinder were two bulbs. The first contained antimatter, roughly an ounce of it. It was safely contained away from anything that might cause it to prematurely detonate. The second bulb contained a substance not of this world. It was black, blacker than anything created in the stinking, fetid reality that held them all prisoner. It had the texture of partially congealed blood.

As soon as the head was crushed, the two substances began to mix. Antimatter typically reacts to matter by converting to energy in a violent explosion. The ichor, however, was not matter, not in the way that mere mortals understood it.

Sickening waves of psychic energy rolled outwards. It was the pulse of maggots on a days old corpse, the miasma of rotting meat, scorched flesh, and voided bowels on the battlefield. It was the cancer that ate away at a child's bones, the insidious whispers that made men stuck their guns in their mouths and paint the walls with their brains.

It screamed of despair and anguish, of pure, unadulterated madness. It was the call of the Trapped Ones made manifest.

Anyone within a hundred meters and possessing even a quantum of Force sensitivity could feel it. They could also sense the danger as the ichor and antimatter reacted. Pressure was building within the cylinder. It could not be stopped. It could not be contained. It could be escaped, but only if they were denied entry into the compound.

The remaining Knights had their own cylinders, and in each one, the miracle of the Trapped Ones played out. In moments, they would go to meet their masters.

"Push into the compound!" Cried the Knight with the crushed head. "Let no one escape!"

[member="Atheus"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Darlyn Excron"] [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Vlarem"] [member="Hark! An Iron Knight"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

 

[The Major]

For all the internal debate on whether or not organic beings had a collective frenzy state when agitated as group, there was a twinge of hypocrisy to it all on the side of the Contingency. Machine fusions were above all that. Iron knights had to believe that.

A pillar smashed into the shaft of the pike that was currently impaling a warrior.​

Constructed, it was, of an extremely durable metal; a truly fine solder.​

It could not stop the course of the rock.​

It all might seem like bad luck.​

​

The damage done to the dying was made worse. Axis changed, the pillar strikes its target into a most unfortunate posture. [member="Cassius Droma"] may have intended to play medic, but thanks to his compatriots rally the Iron Knight, Mr. Pike, was now pinned and crushed into the mighty [member="Calder Icehammer"]. Blood was paid for in oil, revenge for the valiant in glorious combat. Even more unfortunate was that the smashing had the effect of breaking the songsteel kit -or had the knight forsaken this mortal coil and broken it himself with Force Crush, sensing the end was nigh?

Who could say.​

​

"You fought well, ​

Organic. May. ​

May. ​

May The Trapped Ones ​

sing-sing-error-error-praise-sing ​

sing sing of you in song." ​

​

This the pike knight said to the Bear-man, honored-error-horrified as ink met anti-matter.​

​

Those who lived on had to move or protect themselves from the second blast. The radius of the explosion wasn't more than a standard outpour. The real danger was both the overpowering madness within the Force, along with the more immediate shrapnel from the knight's metal serving as a mother-of-all fragmentation grenade. In fact, these bits and heat would now be touching upon another duel very close by. . .

At Atheus, user of the dark side, Titan of War. This selfsame Dark Side, yes, the true blackness and culmination of every warped living thought, had a question: what use would titles be after the truly infinite end? War was an entirely organic concept, or post programmed by organics. It was the final solution to their natural progression and ironically the living being's first instinct. Strikes were coming in from every angle and would soon overwhelm the Force Pushing Iron Knight. His superior training told him that the mathematical probability of their survival was declining rapidly as more and more combatants joined the fray. Determination increased. This knight now retracts his left as the enemy begins a well aimed strike. Right hand already on his own activation stud, he executes a precision parry in a clockwise (to Atheus' perspective) wrist balanced sweep as the silver saber snarls to life and catches the strike -knocking away the danger for a measure of microseconds. Usually a riposte was in order, but this clever knave had come in with a combo: preparing a punch for the knight's chest. Were the organics clouding the stalwart knights? There was not enough time to dodge, and instead the vicious machine concludes that holding his opponent was his last, best recourse.

Earlier in the verbal exchanges, it was shown that this particular knight had what was effectively a chainsaw toothed blender housed exactly inside his jaw. Communications were handled with external speakers, and this terrible anti-flesh device was clearly activated before the younglings were taught the true meaning of war. One step backwards as the fist came in was enough open a bit of chest to chest space -enabling the Knight to scrunch up his shoulders and neck attachment in order to catch the Titan's hand with an disturbingly wide spreading jaw. Should the strike complete, Atheus would be greeted to a horror unbridled as his fist became entangled into the jaw of this knight. No doubt the strength of the punch alone would jam the blending device from doing its most grizzly work. It was now, after committed to the counter that the Iron Knight realized that the hand was sizzling electricity.

Oh. Dear.​

All this knight could do without breaking the laws of physics was to flick his sliver saber in a light cut from the inside of the enemy's guard in a downward slash aimed between the Titan's neck and right shoulder. Of particular note were two facts: one, from this position the slice was mechanically powered but not exactly savage or even a strong cut; two, the explosion of the pike knight would now be providing warming, admittedly non-lethal pressure to both duelists.

Shrapnel is heard pinging along with the final, other knight barking for forward momentum.

Spoiler

[member="Ruby"] [member="Atheus"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Darlyn Excron"] [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Vlarem"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Teynara Jeralyr"] @Everyone else (sorry if I missed a tag)

 

[Garza]

The smacking of my lightsaber away from me was expected. Considering these were droids, they could process actions much faster than any person could. However, it didn't expect my fist to come right at it. Yet it reacted fast enough to open a chest full of teeth and bolts and whatever else to try and literally eat my arm.

Instead of ending the punch directly into his chest, my palm opened up and exerted a force push. Keeping my arm well away from the droid. It was barely enough to push the droid even a half a meter back. However, that is not what I was worried about. The lightsaber coming directly for my neckline and shoulder. I tried my best to flick my lightsaber up. However, with the angle and my lightsaber already being extended out from the slap, the best I could come up with was a twist of the wrist and bringing it around to just barely prevent the full attack.

However, My own lightsaber was smacked into my face. Cutting the outter cover of my mask to reveal the metal plating within, and leaving a nasty burn down my forehead and just outside the rim of my eyesocket. Yelling out in pain, I flung my lightsaber with a twist again to let the sabers return back to their owners. However, it was with a strange gut feeling that I had to get the hell out of here.

Looking over to the pillar of where the large bear had been, My eye's widened. This was bad. Soooo bad. Reaching out with the force, I grabbed onto a Jedi who was kneeling next to the bear. ([member="Cassius Droma"]). Yanking him away from the bear as a bright light began to pour out from the crushed droids head. I yanked Thalia too me as well. Wrapping my arms around both of them. Both of their weights slammed into my body at the same time.

I fell onto my back and as quick as I could rolled them, and myself over for me to be on top of them both. My body then started to glow with a purple hue as an aura manifested itself around me. All I could feel after that, Was the blast of the explosion.

@Hark! An Iron Knight, [member="Ruby"], [member="Veiere Arenais"], [member="Darlyn Excron"], [member="Jagen Wren"], [member="Calder Icehammer"], [member="Vlarem"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Teynara Jeralyr"], [member="Cassius Droma"],

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay was sickened. And it wasn't just from what she was seeing, death happening around them, but it was what she felt, the psychic wave of dispair and anguish, of all hope being lost. She had been there before, having been shred of all of her hope during months of constant torture by her abductor.

She had to escape it, had to run. The two wolf-beasts that plagued her mind during her recovery appeared once more. Kay hadn't seen them in months, the help that she was given by [member="Veiere Arenais"] and [member="Atheus"] had seen to that. But the wolf-beasts were no longer at rest. They snarled and bared their teeth as they approached her in a slow pace that just begged her to turn and run.

And run she did. Kay turned on her heels and ran through the forest, fear taking it's hold as the beasts gave chase. No one else could see them, she was sure, perhaps they'd deem her to be a coward for not staying, but she didn't want to be caught by the monsters that were once again back in her mind. The visions of the fallen Padawans kept popping up as she ran, and she could almost see [member="Bradshaw Ku"] among them. But he wasn't there. Thankfully.

Kay kept running in the dark forest until she was out of breath. The sounds of the wolf-beasts seemed further away, but she couldn't be sure. It could be a trick. She hid behind the bulk of a tree trunk, her heart racing, her pulse pounding in her ears. She slid down until she was seated on the ground, feeling her lightsaber wedged between her back and the trunk, but not caring to move it. She needed to beat the madness in her mind.

[member="Ruby"] [member="Darlyn Excron"] [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Vlarem"] [member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

 

[Viviana]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4​

​

Death was certain. Calder could feel it as the hole where his heart was continued to pump out the precious life blood over his fur. He looked to [member="Cassius Droma"] with a sad smile and simply shook his head. One last time, I ask of you. His gaze turned to the Iron Knight before him, then to the rest. Dread, terror, death. Even the spirits that sang around him warped from the taint of of the Trapped Ones. Give me strength.

The massive paw that once held the mighty Icehammer raised without the weapon. The red that had soaked his fur climbed across it to his palm, mixing with every other source of water he could obtain here in the courtyard. From the air, from the ground, from the plants. All of it was drawn to his palm. Guide me. As [member="Atheus"] would reach the boy who would risk his life to save a dying man the moisture in his palm rapidly expanded. A sphere of ice continued outward as it pulsed with energy. Where it would hit the flesh of the living they would find themselves pushed away from the courtyard to safety, and where it met the metal of the Knights it would freeze.

All of his friends, his allies, even those he did not know, would feel as if they were lifted by the soft embrace of the large Beorni, and once it expanded enough to cover all the droids Calder's arm dropped. The ice solidified in an almost pink color, and the song of the spirits that originally only his people could be heard by all. For the last time Calder shut his eyes and let the blast of the Iron Knights take him over.

The ice cage he had made glowed with the destructive power of the Antimatter bombs, yet it was never breached. The blinding light remained for only a few seconds, and when it died the cage shattered. Snow fell from the sky over where Calder had frozen the Knights and himself, the Icehammer the only thing to have survived the blast.

[member="Ruby"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Darlyn Excron"] [member="Cassius Droma"] [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Vlarem"] [member="Teynara Jeralyr"]

 

[The Major]

Chaos continued to rain as players moved in and out of the stone arena now awash in snow, scalding oil, and hot blood. It was a mess, and the stench was not something to be taken lightly for the uninitiated. Flashing, rushing movement, almost beyond the human eye, continued between the knight and his enemy, but Atheus' final Force Push at point blank was unavoidable. No fancy dodging could save even a master of combat. The power and magnitude of it, fueled by the hatred on the field, would most likely have smash a human skull.

The metallic crunch that stabbed the air was almost just as unpleasant sound.

Photo-receptors. chainsaw blades, and computer components flew high into the air as the knight was pushed off balance and his metallic feet slid backwards about one meter. True, the knight did not need that head to continue to fight, but thanks to the counter, the silver clad warrior was now locked in recovery as subroutines tried to correct the problem. His arms were completely open -and his saber was not in position to guard. It would take three seconds for this dueling platform to regain its senses and continue the fight.

Without help, now was the time to strike.

Spoiler

[member="Ruby"] [member="Atheus"] [member="Veiere Arenais"]@ Darlyn Excron [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Vlarem"] [member="Lady Kay"] [member="Teynara Jeralyr"] @Everyone else (sorry if I missed a tag)

 

[WolfMortum]

Redacted.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

Alexandra had been away from the temple, moving the moment the sounds reached her and the world turned into a mess. She didn't understand what was happening, she didn't know who was attacking and her body shot through the forest with the disguise she so carefully created abandoned for now so that she may focus on getting to the temple. Something was very wrong, she didn't know what was happening, who was causing what she felt and her body clipped a limb as she pushed through the trees and plants. The sting kept her focused on not getting caught off guard and her body finally reached the temple to find the place engulfed in chaos, and a ice dome burst, shaking the air around her and she blinked, feeling something gone from what had once been there. Her eyes stared, trying to figure out what was going on before pulling from the small of her back a cylinder.

Letting it extend she held now a full length staff, staring and figuring out slowly what had happened. Someone had attacked, Calder was no longer in the force, and she could feel a darksider who she vaguely recognized. He was protecting people, not harming them. She would trust the Dark Sider to do as he could, knowing that [member="Atheus"] would not be here protecting the students if he wasn't an ally. Something else felt off, her eyes turning back into the forest and she stared for a few moments before starting into a heavy sprint. The person she felt was [member="Lady Kay"], curious and shutting out everything but what would be of a danger. She didn't know why she felt the woman's presence this far out, or why she was not closer to [member="Veiere Arenais"].

She would be passing tree after tree, careful to not draw too much attention to herself and quickly turned direction. She didn't hide her presence, letting Kay know something was coming to her and it was lightsided, but who it was would be up to Kay to figure out if she intended to do so before Alex arrived. The woman would not let her guard down that much and even if strands of silver hair poked free.

It wouldn't take her long to find the woman, her own breath breaking as she stared from where she stood and spoke, careful not to shook the woman into action. "Are you ok, or did you become injured. What happened to the temple and whats attacking?"



@Hark! An Iron Knight [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Ruby"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay's skin was a shade paler than normal, however her cheeks were reddened from her running. Her breaths still came in short gasps as she sat and waited. Outside of her heartbeat she only listened for the two wolf-beasts. Their growling still seemed far away, but their footsteps she could hear. No doubt they were setting up a trap for her.

But there was something else too. A beacon of light in the darkness that had engulfed her since on the the droids had fallen. Kay peered around the trunk of the tree that she was hiding behind in time to see [member="Alexandra Feanor"] approach. The younger lady was unfamiliar to her, so she kept a good distance away. Just to be on the safe side. Her eyes would dart around, watching for the wolf-beasts. For both of their sakes. "I'm not...I'm not hurt. But others are...younglings are dead. Onyx brought the monsters back. It's punishment...punishment for attacking them. I tried to stop it. But the younglings...they charged." And it all fell apart after that. She didn't see [member="Calder Icehammer"] 's sacrifice. She lost track of everyone and everything in that moment that she ran. Her focus was on herself, a moment of selfishness that was in bad timing.

The wolf-beasts circled around them, but kept their distance. They seemed to be observing. Kay just wanted them to go away. She just couldn't remember how to make them.

 

[Ruby (Incursion)]

In the aftermath of the battle, examination of the Argent Knights will reveal a few things. Firstly, though they appear to be droids, there's not much in the way of a droid brain to be found. Basic processors and memory banks, based on technology hundreds of years out of date, could be found connected to the harness that held the crystals. The crystals themselves are silicon-based, a compound not found naturally on any world known to be controlled by any of the major factions.

Secondly, the composition of their armored chassis will strike analysts as highly unusual. Though mostly durasteel, the exact blend contains several trace elements found only near Rishi. Furthermore, the chemical composition is based off metallurgical techniques that fell out of style centuries ago, sometime after the fall of Palpatine's Empire.

The lightsabers are also highly unusual. They lack conventional activation studs, instead relying on internal switches that can only be activated by the Force. If there was any doubt that these droids could somehow use the Force, it was gone. Secondly, they all use a synthetic crystal, much like the eralam crystal, which produces a clear, precise blade ideal for dueling. Perhaps investigation along that route would lead to further clues.

The day following the incident, a video arrived, addressed to [member="Lady Kay"] only.

In what is clearly a medical facility, the stolen padawan is strapped to a gurney. She has been throughly restrained, so much so that she can barely twitch. Her eyes, colored a brilliant blue, dart around the room, wide and fearful. Her long black hair has been cut away, leaving only a harsh stubble on her scalp. Her torso is covered with a thermal blanket, less for modesty than to ward off shock and hypothermia. An IV unit drips saline into her left arm.

The stumps where her hands and feet once were have been exposed. They've been treated to an extent. The seared flesh has been removed, but the healing process has not yet begun. It's not clear how the bleeding was stopped, but nothing drips from the stumps. Her mouth is held open by surgical steel clamps, clamps that force her jaws painfully wide.

Ruby stands next to the girl, a stoppered vial in hand. The substance inside it is pure black, and appears to be pulsating.

"I know what you're thinking, milady, and I want to assure you that, despite your unwarranted assault on a diplomatic envoy, your apprentice is not being mistreated. I'll admit that she would likely be a lot happier back home, but there is a price that must be paid for violating the rules of hospitality, and she and her peers chose to pay that price when they took up arms against us. I warned you not to test my patience a third time.

"The substance in this vial is not a poison. It is not some arcane alchemical method of torture. It is, instead, the future, a powerful biorestorative that would have changed the course of organic history under better circumstances. Though your apprentice has refused the gift, she forfeited any right to make her own choices on the matter as soon as she and her friends attacked us. You will see, milady, the future you rejected."

Slowly, deliberately, the Knight Commander removes the cork from the vial. Even though the recording is only that, the air in the room seems to thicken. The light takes a sickly green hue, and the glow panels begin to flicker for a moment. Ruby holds the vial over the girl's mouth, than quickly empties it. The liquid is thick and lumpy, and moves far too much for something that should be inert. It wriggles and writhes with a life of its own.

The girl tries to spit it out, but it forces its way down her throat. She wretches and gags, but after a few moments, goes limp.

A nearby medical droid removes the clamps from her mouth. Her jaw hangs slack, her tongue lolling to the side, lifeless. Her eyelids close.

After a few moments, it's clear that something is happening. The girl's skin begins to ripple, as though invisible waves are passing through. The veins around her throat turn black, and the blackness spreads up her face and down under the thermal blanket, where it reappears traveling down her arms and legs. As it reaches the stumps where her hands and feet once stood, the concoction beings to seep out. The tissue begins to swell rapidly.

The girl's body goes rigid. Her eyes snap open as a scream of pure agony rips its way through her vocal chords and out her mouth, the shriek painfully loud even through the recording. Her eyes are purest black now. Jet tears streak down her face, and spittle down her chin, flecks of it spattering the blanket.

The exposed tissue of her stumps continues to swell rapidly. It's clear now that it's regenerating, forming the groundwork for hands and feet, but something is clearly wrong. It's all moving too fast, the proportions subtly off.

As the process draws to a close, the girl goes limp once more. She pants heavily, as though she's just run a marathon. A sheen of sickly black sweat coats her body, runs down the table.

"I won't pretend that the process is pleasant," Ruby continued, "but there's no doubt that it is effective. I suspect that she's in the best health that she's ever been, sound of body AND mind. Isn't that right, child?"

The girl gives Ruby a beautific smile as he removes the restraints. She slides off the table and stands, her body slick with the coal-black fluid.

"I've never been more alive
never been more free
my life is now whole
And I give to to thee, my Lord, to Thee"

Her voice is strange, oddly resonant, as if a thousand voices, all in perfect harmony, escape from the same throat, are shaped by the same lips. She bows before Ruby, the gesture oddly graceful. It is not the grace of a human, however, but of a spider, tiptoeing through its web to give a fly a kiss. Ruby pats her on the head.

"If only you had seen reason, you could all know this freedom. Free from pain, from truth, from choice. Free from all the poison devils that eat away at your souls, that make your lives dirty and short and painful. Your apprentice knows this freedom now. She will go far in the service of Onyx, and of the Trapped Ones. Perhaps you'll even see her again, one day."

[member="Lady Kay"] [member="Alexandra Feanor"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Hark! An Iron Knight"] [member="Calder Icehammer"] [member="Atheus"]

 

[Cassius Droma]

When the pillar struck the shaft of the pike still within Calder, that was when Cassius knew it was over. The death blow had been dealt, and Cassius froze as he did not know what else to do. The fighting continued around him, and he knew that he shouldn’t be there, so close to it while being so inexperienced, but he had felt the need to act.

Suddenly, an immense amount of psychological pain and horror struck him without warning. Cassius almost glossed over as the fear, dread, and near-insanity started to encapsulate him like a heavy cloak. Weakly, he fought against it, having been taught to overcome stressful situations as a pilot. This was different, though. This was through the Force, something he still only had a rudimentary understanding of relative to the others here. He couldn’t block the horrific images inside of his mind, visages of the bisected Padawans crawling towards him, reaching for him. Being stuck outside of a Rinn compound with the sun setting. Stranded alone in the darkness of endless space – every star pilot’s fear.

Through the terror, the white bear looked at him and shook his head, as if he were accepting what was happening. A wave of empathy made Cassius lucid from the psychic attacks. Before he could reach out to at least comfort Calder, however, he found himself yanked backwards. Cassius’s hand was still outstretched, unsure of what was going on. He roughly hit another body and then that body rolled over top of him – one of the other Jedi was trying to protect him.

Cassius closed his eyes, bracing for the coming explosion, trying to feed what Force energies he had into the man on top of him to protect them… but then felt an icy, strangely comforting presence moving them away even further. He peeked out to see a flash of blinding light, then heard the shattering of ice, a sound he knew all too well.

When an eerie calm took over the courtyard, Cassius barely managed to stand. His mind had begun to clear, free of the influence of whatever had been attacking his psyche. His hands, as well as parts of his face and chest were covered in blood – Calder Icehammer’s blood. The falling snow landed in his thick hair, many of the snowflakes coming to rest on his face and eyelashes. In an almost daze, he looked around at the courtyard that had been so peaceful just minutes ago. The Padawan’s bodies, hands and feet that belonged to the girl that was taken, mechanical parts and droid limbs… all covered in a thin blanket of snow. It looked like a warzone – there was no other way to describe it.

Just what had happened here? It was sure to be a question that would plague his mind in the days to come. Right now, more than ever, he felt the need to be in a starship, to just fly away. Things made sense up in the sky, out in space. He had control over his destiny. What had just happened here, though… he’d seen some strange things, but nothing that had rattled him this badly to his core.

“Everyone alright?” he asked shakily, looking around. It was within his nature to ignore danger to himself in order to help others – not completely out of altruism, but it gave his mind to focus on other than the fear of death. There was the man who had pulled him away ([member="Atheus"]), who might have completely saved his life were it not for the sacrifice of Calder. Many of the others were within eyesight, except… where was [member="Lady Kay"]?


[member="Ruby"] | @Hark! An Iron Knight | [member="Veiere Arenais"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Vlarem"] | [member="Darlyn Excron"] | [member="Kahne Porte"] | [member="Teynara Jeralyr"] | [member="Atheus"] | [member="Virak Ip"] | [member="Calder Icehammer"]

 

[Garza]

The blast never came. Instead, it was the last remains of a hammer in the center of a frozen embrace. Some of the structures that had once been standing were blown up within the casing of ice, and from the ice forming around this area as well. Literally standing over two bodies, The purple aura faded from me. Drifting off my body much like smoke. Standing up, Thalia twisted herself away and got up. Trying her best to assess the situation.

The young man still semi-beneath my shadow asked if everyone was alright. Turning around, I could see that one of the droids that had been fighting with us was still active and kicking. I had lost my lightsaber in the explosion sadly. My release of the weapon to use the force caused it to be within the blast and the encasing of ice.

I growled as I closed the distance between myself and this droid. My right hand extending into the air at my side. Suddenly sword was summoned into my hand. I could instantly feel the affects of the weapon empower me with the force. The blade shown brightly into the even the darkest of shadows caste by the destruction. Closing the distance between the droid and myself. Even if the droid was now coming online from what seemed a downed state.

I reached out with my hand. Casting what looked to be a field around the droid. It was a force shield. However, what can't come into the shield, can't come out. If this droid really wanted to detonate itself, then it would detonate within the shield and not harm us.

"Karking blow yourself up droid. I dare you."

The pure anger and hatred for the droids, the contingency, and their leader Onyx made my blood run hot. Even more so now with the deaths, and the self-sacrifice of the one being who shouldn't have to be forced to do that. The hatred was thick in my voice as I snarled and ground the words out through my teeth.

"Even if it's the last thing I do, it will be to tear down every one of you."

This was not a threat. It was a promise.

[member="Cassius Droma"], [member="Ruby"], [member="Lady Kay"], [member="Alexandra Feanor"], [member="Veiere Arenais"], @Hark! An Iron Knight, [member="Calder Icehammer"],

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Enough... was enough. Darlyn could feel everything, this sickening, pounding sensation, filling his skull and threatening to consume him. Perhaps some part of him was better equipped to handle it than, say, Veiere was, as he indulged in darker emotions, festered in them to grow strong, but even he, and even Atheus, were feeling the pain as it crawled in their skulls. Whispers at the edge of consciousness, a raging storm of pain and emotion, in some ways it fed him, made him stronger. But he couldn't... do... anything.

That's what made him hate what happened even more.

HE could feel Calder, through the force, making his final stand of sorts to protect them all. Pushing out those on their side, and containing the droids self destructing. But.. as he was sent away, he still felt the waking nightmares in his skull, growing closer to a scream. He needed something real, something to hold onto... as he was sent away he rolled back, reaching out to grab hold of the only things he saw, the only things he could. The only things that could offer any sort of relief.

The bodies of the padawans were pulled well and away from the sphere, where they would be safe, and the upper half of the youngest, the twelve year old boy, flew into Darlyn's arms as the explosion rocked the sphere, rocking him as he clung to the dead for the sense of safety and will to live. And when it was over, silence gently descended, letting everyone have a moment to think. Letting everything that had happened have time to settle.

The boy was the first to speak, wondering if everyone was alright, whatever that could mean here, and Atheus was the first to act, moving to the body of the sole remaining droid, holding it in a force shield. So it... so it couldn't... finish the job. They didn't have another Calder to stop it.... come to think of it did they have a Calder to bury?

Honestly, he didn't care. Instead, he only held two concerns, two things he needed to do, to say. The first was easy, lifting his hand, still filled with the darkness from before, eyes even betraying the hints of yellow specks as he unleashed everything at the standing droid. Whatever Atheus did, let it through, stopped it, used his weapon to absorb it, it didn't matter. Something had to be done. The surge of electricity would kill most any normal person near instantly, for a droid it would certainly fry any detonation switch, assuming its head in the remains of the explosion hadn't been what held the detonation device.

What came next was harder.

He moved his hand, and held onto the dead child, holding tightly to it, and buried his head in its shoulder. And he started to cry. Not a movie cry, not something you'd see on a drama, or an action flick, heart wrenching, voice shattering, tear staining crying. Whatever the others saw in that moment he didn't know, what he did he couldn't remember. Later, perhaps, they'd tell him what he said to the dead boy... "Darren I told you... I told you how to do ambushes. You don't give yourself away, you don't hold your saber like that, you don't leave yourself so open. You did it all wrong boy right at the final stretch. Come back here and do it again, get back here and do it properly this time. Please, just... do it right."

Perhaps they wouldn't. Perhaps he was just a sobbing, babbling mess of a man who put on a show of cocky arrogance and aloof alcoholism. Perhaps that's what he was, what he wanted to be. But for a short moment of time, he wasn't Darlyn Excron, Minister of Justice and knight of the darkside.

He was Darlyn Excron, the young child left alone to frigid Arkania, having lost that which he knew and cared for.


[member="Calder Icehammer"] | [member="Vlarem"] | [member="Hark! An Iron Knight"] | [member="Lady Kay"] | [member="Veiere Arenais"] | [member="Ruby"] | [member="Atheus"] | [member="Teynara Jeralyr"] | [member="Cassius Droma"] | [member="Romi Jade"] | [member="Jagen Wren"] | [member="Kahne Porte"]

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Lady Kay"]

Alexandra listened to the words and then looked at the creatures before sighing and setting the staff she held against a tree. Her hands reached out before placing one on the same tree, and the other was held towards the first creature. She didn't appear to do anything, but as she stood there a small creature crawled out from within her robes, appearing and its snow white form glowed lightly. The Vulpine creature took its place on her shoulder and watched the other as she focused on the first, breathing lightly and with a smile reaching out to the creature. She did not know what it was, or why the woman was so worried but slowly she let her presence expand out. First she touched Kay with the force, siphoning off the stress and worry with a smile held calmly on her face, trying to keep the woman from reacting too quickly now and knowing that the woman would be more able if she could think calmly. The next thing she focused on was the creature.

She didn't know how to deal with the creature, even what it was but her voice spoke to it as she reached out to it in the force.

"Calm yourself, turn your eyes away from this woman and return to your place. These people do not wish to harm you or bring more harm to your home." She was only a few inches from her staff with the hand touching the tree, drawing on the tree to help her project her presence through the forest. The roots touched other roots, connections that let her project herself far beyond her body and connecting to the strands of the force that flowed through the forest, able to grip onto the creature's strand as she stood there.

Her mind split, focusing on Kay again and trying to get to woman to come closer, that way they would be able to watch eachother far more easily. She would spare a few thoughts, aimed at the woman nearby, trying to communicate in the same way she was forced to communicate with Daeda, though without the connection she could only send Kay small one word messages. 'Come. Tree. Safety.' The message was fractured, and if Kay had not seen her probably impossible to realize what it meant, but Alexandra was certain the woman could decipher the short message.

Her hand reached out once more to the creature looking at her, not sure what it was or what was going on. Her hand glowed a bit as she projected a small bit of her power out, letting it leave her palm like ribbons and reach around her and flow outwards. It ran across the ground, splitting towards the three beings nearby, crawling to them and if able to reach the beings, wrapping around them. It would be warm, comforting, a creation of the lightside of the force to calm and relax the beings. That was assuming those beings, those were beast were not creations of the dark. Kay would feel no pain, even if she was deep in the darkside, but the beings if created from the darkside might find the light just as damaging as any nexus or blast meant to harm.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay furrowed her brows as she watched @Alexandra Feonor as well as the creature that appeared from beneath her robes. The light kept her there in her spot, not so much that she was afraid of it, but more so that because she wasn't afraid of it, she didn't run. Light was warmth, light was hope; things that had ended once [member="Ruby"] and the others were attacked by the Padawans and others. Tears started to fall as she once again saw their corpses lying on the ground. So young. They were all so young...

But then the strange women spoke, and not to Kay but to the wolf-beasts. Only one other had seen them, but it wasn't exactly in this reality. Kay knew that these creatures were all in her mind, but how did this stranger see them too?

Other words came into her mind then, words that were broken but seemed to be instructions. There was no darkness in this stranger that she could feel. So in that there was safety. Hopefully. Kay got to her feet and slowly moved towards Alexandra, her eyes on the wolf-beasts that had ceased their circling and now stood still, heads raised and ears pointed forward.

Kay reached the tree that she was beckoned to, placing her hand on the trunk by instinct alone. The scene that unfolded was like the scene from a dream. Light encircled the wolf-beasts, their growls and yips heard as they were almost devoured, disappearing into nothingness once more. When all were gone, Kay felt stronger as the gripping fear had left her, but she still slid down to the ground. A hand pressed to her forehead and when she spoke, her voice was quiet. "Thank you..."

Whatever those droids were, they were dangerous and they had to be stopped.

 

[Alexandra Feanor]

[member="Lady Kay"]

Alexandra sighed as she noticed Kay quiet her mind, waiting a bit longer until the woman was slowly released from the fear that held her. While Alex couldn't see the beast, she was still creating those ribbons and tracing the forest, going where her mind urged her to and what the feelings around her suggested. It was only after another minute that her hand lowered and her body fell against the tree, sliding down until it was on the ground and sitting. Her hand reached up, pulling the wraps around her head tighter to correct any holes that showed the silver hair under it. Once done she would reach up and release the mask from her face, letting her breath, but careful not to look in Kay's direction as she did not wish for the woman to see her face.

"No need to thank me. I merely felt your mind and followed where the force led my hand. What was it that you had seen? If you do not mind my asking." She kept an eye out, unsure if anything had actually been there or if there were more of those droids she had seen before but unsure of either appearing. She did shift her head, what might have been a nod or a simple change in how she sat against the tree, either way the small white Ashlan wolf that had been on her shoulder dropped to the ground and moved to Kay. It was the same kind that Kay might remember an old friend having, though unlike his this wolf was pure white and glowed a bit when the light vanished from the area.

"We shouldn't linger too long, I would suggest leaving now but I myself am out of breath from that."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Both Kay and [member="Alexandra Feanor"] were low of energy. That made her not feel so bad. Of course she didn't ask for help, but it was given anyways. And for that she was ever thankful. It was odd though, that the lady had chosen to hide herself behind a mask. But some were like that. As always she wouldn't point it out, instead she would just pretend that it was all normal.

The inquiry on what she had seen puzzled her a little. To which part of the evening Alex was referring to, she didn`t know. It could`ve been the beasts, or those Contingency droids that served some Lord Onyx. Or it could`ve been all of it. Kay chose the latter as she spoke. `Strange visitors came, a new enemy to all life in the Galaxy. They spoke of a Lord Onyx that we were all to serve or burn to ash if we chose not to. Twice I tried to stop the people under my care to not attack, but after the third time, after I was warned...some of the Padawans jumped on them and were killed in in a second. One was taken...and then there was...some kind of explosion. Madness...fear...all brought on from my past came after me. I had to run or I`d be devoured, but they gave chase. That is until you came along.``

Her eyes were drawn to the little wolf then. She had seen one before, but wasn`t sure if it was in a dream. All of her memories were back yes, but so too were the memories of dreams that came to her in her sleep, so trying to sort through them was a task upon itself. Kay slowly reached out her hand towards the wolf so that it may sniff her scent. `We`ll go when you`re ready. Though I know that we`re not going to like what we see when we get there.`` [member="Veiere Arenais"] was okay. She could feel that. But the others she couldn`t be certain. They`ll learn soon enough.

 

[Virak Ip]

The waves of psychic energy that had billowed off of the destroyed droids, the wave that had impossibly carried upon then the stench of maggots and the feel of ink and oil, had slammed into Virak with strength that they did not physically possess. His mind halted, attack halted before it could have even started, the Zabrak had just stood there as everything else carried on around him; frozen in place as the Demons within his mind that had been awoken by the psychic waves had sought to tear apart his mind. Long had he dealt with the Beast, a persona that was once him but had eventually grown into something separate through the mysticisms of the Force, but, he had been able to corral it, work with it, and had never experienced trouble. But, now that impossibility had sought to become real as it was bolstered by the psychic attacks.

Claws of mental shadows had clashed, Beast against cold and frozen fury, as He and the Beast had fought for dominance. Teeth that did not exist had torn at equally non-extant flesh, tasted blood that served only as a representation of remaining vigour. And, in the end, despite the mental wounds he had gained and the pain that did not exist within his body and yet seemed to live within his aching bones, He had one. The Beast had been defeat, torn apart until no semblance of power or through remained within the entity, before He had consumed it, taken its power into himself once more.

Now, though, the tiredness that settled within his body weighed upon him, even if his weariness was mental and not physical. His eye glazed and fighting to focus, Virak stumbled forwards, paying no attention to the bodies of the young that littered the ground. Later, he would honour them, but, other business called him, emotion was useless at the moment.

Coming to a stop before [member="Veiere Arenais"], Virak only stared at him for a few moments before he leaned in slightly to whisper words for the Grandmaster alone to hear. However, just before he did, he allowed a shadows of Darkness to play across his eye, he allowed for the man known as Virak to fade away and leave behind only the Shadow within; a dark smirk pulling at scarred lips. "Tell your wife that the Wolf wishes to speak on this matter. Tell the [member="Lady Kay"] that I wish to address you both as I exist and not as I am."

Drawing back, the man known as Virak was back and, with nothing more than a nod, he turned to stumble away from the group, back towards where he knew his ship to be. What he had witnessed deserved a devotion of thought, a level of devotion that could be not applied should he remain around others.

 

[WolfMortum]

The days turned to a full week passed since the incident on Commenor, the Illaria Woodlands had been scarred and seen it's first blood letting since the establishment's creation. In that time, Veiere Arenais had done his best to keep the spirits of the Order as high as could be, coordinating with the government based within Chasin City and going against his prior intent to see the Jedi Order allocated the Praxeum. Instead it would continue to be a place of Commenor, where force users could come and be trained so to avoid other such happenings and repeats of the losses that were willed upon their soil that day.

The death of the younglings, the students of whom many of his own people had witnessed had left a shadow over his back, the final moments of [member="Calder Icehammer"]'s life being extinguished and the sacrifice he had given up for those of the Jedi had burned itself within his mind, recollecting the fight at the worst of times when trying to otherwise focus on the priorities of the people relying on him and matters of the Jedi Council and their cooperation with the people of the Systems Alliance. Calder had been a personal friend in the little time he had come into the Order, the two had gotten along well despite the massive and intimidating look of the Beorni, Veiere had hoped to guide him into becoming a worthy Jedi Master one day that the great bear would lead in other area's of the future of the Jedi. Mourning for this loss would take time, a struggle that he would seek to overcome in private, yet not the sole Jedi to feel the weight of this defeat.

Together with his Wife, [member="Lady Kay"]; the pair would continue to push the ahead for the future fight that lay upon the hands of their legacy. The Commenor Systems Alliance had been thrown into a growing conflict that they knew not the severity of yet; however for the first time in their coming to power within the Expansive Region of the Galaxy neighboring the Core Worlds, the time had finally come where they were forced to consider that a War might finally be on their horizon. Blood had been spilled and the warning song had been sung. These Iron Knights and their Contingency would again return...

They needed to be prepared.

~ Exit Thread - Veiere Arenais ~​

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay headed back to the Praxeum, seeing the destruction and the melancholy on everyone's faces. It was a devestating blow to Commenor and to the Force users that studied here. The young Padawans and the Knight that lost their lives, did so to protect those that survived. The threat that loomed over them persisted, even though the intruders had either disappeared or were destroyed. Despite all that, those that perished were going to be honoured in ceremony. Kay was determined to have them immortalized in a memorial, a statue that she'd commission sculptors to build. Their deaths will not be in vain.

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

The next day, her datapad beeped as a video was sent in through an address unknown. The sender's name however she did recognize; the Knight Commander. Kay opened it and watched the video. Her jaw clenched as she saw the poor Padawan strapped down with a clamp over her mouth. It reminded her of the times she was experimented on, as well as the times that she was tortured.

She swallowed as the Knight Commander began his speech, blaming her for what the Padawans did while they were not hers to command. And now this poor girl was suffering for it. Tears began to fall as she watched, unable to turn her head away while the Padawan writhed in agony as the foreign substance forced into her mouth took hold of her. Feet and hands regenerated, though in not the same manner, and when the Padawan was released and spoke, Kay sat further back in her chair as though trying to distance herself from what she saw and heard.

The video came to an end, though she remaind still. [member="Veiere Arenais"] will have to know. This was a new threat that they had to plan for. Their scientists would need to be notified in case the Padawan was brought back. They needed to find some way to counteract that substance, or some way to stop it from spreading.

Dark days were coming. Their safe little bubble had burst and was no more.